NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
Feature Request: Orbi Satellite Ethernet Backhaul
As good as Orbi looks on paper I don't understand Y you would cut yourself so short and not support Eithernet backhaul for the satellites, I have 5 locations needing a system like this but without su...
Let me acknowledge that our customer base has been clamoring for this feature for a while, and we are trying to be responsive to their needs. To provide context on why it's taking a while to get it out, during the first quarter, the Orbi Engineering team was focused on bringing out the two new products (RBK30 & RBK40) to market. Now that it's accomplished, we're actively working on bringing this feature and a couple of other interesting, market-requested features to you.
Orbi Product Team
There is no dispute that APs wired to an Ethernet backbone have the highest theoretical throughput. That's how my network is set up.
The Orbi is not designed to compete against this. It is built with a different purpose in mind: to outperform range extenders. While adding Ethernet backhaul would increase the performance, it doesn't really make sense to provide it. Why spend so much money on a system and not use its main differentiating factor, the 1733 Mbps wireless link? One would be better off buying a bunch of APs, for much less money.
BTW, that 1733 Mbps link will likely have no better than 800 Mbps real world throughput.
The main reason I could think of to provide it, is to make it user friendly.
I haven't set up the ubiquiti unifi AP's, but it looked like a lot of low level telnet sessions are required due to the UI not being very complete.
Also, ubiquiti's setup I believe requires a radius server to do roaming, and you have to do a lot of backdoor commands to get it to work.
I might take a stab at going that route and bring these orbi units back. Was just hoping to save time. Which the orbi definately does. And it works pretty good for what it does.
I'll probably go and purchase a set of unifi AC1300 AP's and set them around the house and see if I can set that up and do some wifi tests.
It looks like the Unifi 802.11AC AP's are $133 each, x 3 = $366, please cost of cloud key (83.95), plus cost of USG (108.99), for a total cost of $558.94 for enterprise grade equipment.
So the netgear stuff is cheaper, so if they could implement ethernet backhaul that would be AWESOME.
xantari wrote:
1 .I haven't set up the ubiquiti unifi AP's, but it looked like a lot of low level telnet sessions are required due to the UI not being very complete.
2. Also, ubiquiti's setup I believe requires a radius server to do roaming, and you have to do a lot of backdoor commands to get it to work.
3. I'll probably go and purchase a set of unifi AC1300 AP's and set them around the house and see if I can set that up and do some wifi tests.
4. It looks like the Unifi 802.11AC AP's are $133 each, x 3 = $366, please cost of cloud key (83.95), plus cost of USG (108.99), for a total cost of $558.94 for enterprise grade equipment.
1 . that would be wrong all ubiquiti unifi stuff runs on a gui
2. nope they usse standard wpa2 as all normal ap's do
3. you understand the 1300M unifi ap,s which is the one they call the lite version are still only 867M on 5 gig just like the orbi is
4. wouldnt really call the unifi lite stuff enterprise grade equipment.
It does run in a UI. I said the UI is not very complete. The radius issue is actually the VPN setup. They only allow VPN setup using radius servers, if you want to do user/password you have to revert to command line because their GUI is not yet capable of setting up the VPN that way. Sorry for the confusion.
The AC-PRO's are what I was looking at, they have 1300 MBPS on the 5ghz band. I'm not looking at the lite versions, those are even cheaper though. https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-pro/
You can get an AC-PRO AP for $133 on amazon. They are water proof as well, so you can put them outside :-)
xantari wrote:
The main reason I could think of to provide it, is to make it user friendly.
I haven't set up the ubiquiti unifi AP's, but it looked like a lot of low level telnet sessions are required due to the UI not being very complete.
Where did you see that? All of the basic setup should be doable through the UniFi Controller software, which is GUI based.
Also, ubiquiti's setup I believe requires a radius server to do roaming, and you have to do a lot of backdoor commands to get it to work.
I don't believe this is correct.
I might take a stab at going that route and bring these orbi units back. Was just hoping to save time. Which the orbi definately does. And it works pretty good for what it does.
I'll probably go and purchase a set of unifi AC1300 AP's and set them around the house and see if I can set that up and do some wifi tests.
It looks like the Unifi 802.11AC AP's are $133 each, x 3 = $366, please cost of cloud key (83.95), plus cost of USG (108.99), for a total cost of $558.94 for enterprise grade equipment.
So the netgear stuff is cheaper, so if they could implement ethernet backhaul that would be AWESOME.
The Orbi can only support link speeds up to 867 Mbps towards devices, so the Unifi UAP-AC-LITE would be the comparable unit. These are $77 each. Unless you live in a gigantic house or have concrete/brick walls, you shouldn't need more than 2 of them.
You can run the UniFi Controller software on a PC, so the Cloud Key is optional. The USG would only make sense if you don't have a router. If you get the USG, then you don't need the Cloud Key, because it has the Controller software built into it.
The UniFi Controller minimally needs to run it once just to set up the APs. It only needs to run continuously if you want to collect statistics or to do some more advanced features. Otherwise, the APs can run fine on their own.
So, the cheapest option is to get 2 UAC-AC-LITES for a total of $154 or 3 for $231. Personally, I would skip the Cloud Key and run the UniFi controller on a PC. If you need the USG, then your costs go up to $262.99 or $339.99 with 2 or 3 UAP-AC-LITEs, respectively. In all cases, this is less than an Orbi.
xantari wrote:The main reason I could think of to provide it, is to make it user friendly.
I haven't set up the ubiquiti unifi AP's, but it looked like a lot of low level telnet sessions are required due to the UI not being very complete.
Also, ubiquiti's setup I believe requires a radius server to do roaming, and you have to do a lot of backdoor commands to get it to work.
I might take a stab at going that route and bring these orbi units back. Was just hoping to save time. Which the orbi definately does. And it works pretty good for what it does.
I'll probably go and purchase a set of unifi AC1300 AP's and set them around the house and see if I can set that up and do some wifi tests.
It looks like the Unifi 802.11AC AP's are $133 each, x 3 = $366, please cost of cloud key (83.95), plus cost of USG (108.99), for a total cost of $558.94 for enterprise grade equipment.
So the netgear stuff is cheaper, so if they could implement ethernet backhaul that would be AWESOME.
Your knowledge of the Unifi, is way off.
You do not need Radius to roam. WPA passwords work fine.And it's quick Also, you don't need to telnet to configure. The controller has a UI that more than does the job.You can also use a phone app to conifgure the Unfi AP's. But the controller makes more sense, as some features are missing from the Unifi app.
I have two UAP AC Pro's running idevices andriods and intel, with a Cloudkey controller. Configuring guest networks with vlans is a snap. All you need for a router is an Edgerouter ERX (I prefer the ERX-SFP), which I mostly use on my home network, or the EdgeMax PoE5. The USG may be the way to go, for someone who is CLI challenged. No issues roaming with any of the devices. Fine tuning of Tx power, correct channel selection and minRSSI will go a long way in achieving a stable wireless environment.
At the end of the day, it depends what you want. A wireless network that works, or one, that sort of works. All in, I think the Unifi / Edgerouter kit is still cheaper than the Orbi, or one of those monstrosity routers..
I admit, UAC-AC-LITES are tempting, even the PRO version is. Unfortunatly, outside the U.S these devices are double the price. For example I would require 3 of them, and the controller, which ends up being about the same as Orbi.
If orbi added the wired backhaul in the future, it would be the better option as its a standalone router with more ethernet ports.
This is totally an options though, I am actually thinking about switching reguardless of price.
