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Forum Discussion
Trish9fair
Dec 14, 2020Follower
Hi I have a Netgear modem CM1150V and the Orbing Router RBR20
I have three children with online classes, Roku Tv, Alexa devices, Ring dorbell, Cell phones, XBox gaming.... you get the idea... my house is aprox.2500 sq feet and brick and my children are always ...
CrimpOn
Dec 19, 2020Guru - Experienced User
Trish9fair wrote:I have three children with online classes, Roku Tv, Alexa devices, Ring dorbell, Cell phones, XBox gaming....
you get the idea... my house is aprox.2500 sq feet and brick and my children are always complaing that the WIFI
is slow. I bought the Nighthawk but I can I add to this? Or am I better off to get add on to my Orbi system? Is my
Orbi too old? I have the fastest speed inernet I can have from Xfinity. Any suggestions???
Thank you...
It would help to see how all this equipment is connected. What is connected directly to the modem? Which Nighthawk is this and what is it connected to?
Netgear has two completely different product lines: Nighthawk and Orbi. (sort of like Ford and Honda). The parts are generally not interchangeable. Orbi is one of the first "mesh" systems, which broadcasts one WiFi network that covers the entire house. If another Orbi satellite is added, then the amount of square feet of coverage will increase. Devices can "roam" from one Orbi to another automatically without the user even noticing.
There are dozens of Nighthawk models, with varying features. They will not become a part of the Orbi "mesh". This is fine when WiFi is needed for some devices that never move, but sucks for mobile devices.
To cut to the chase, "yes, it would have been better to purchase another Orbi satellite." Amazon sells the The RBR40V for $100US. It has a speaker and integrates with Amazon's Alexa, althought that feature can be ignored. (It's a pretty punk integration unless all you want is to play music.)
CrimpOn
Dec 19, 2020Guru - Experienced User
p.s. I was going to say that there are tools that can be used to determine whether the kids' opinions are valid.
One of the simplest is to walk around and run Speedtest in various places.
Being a "Total Nerd", I downloaded a free "Heatmap" app for my Android tablet (not available on iPad's) and made a colorful picture of my house WiFi signal levels. This led to replacing my old R7000 with an Orbi four years ago.