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Forum Discussion
House WIFI Help (4 levels)
Current System (all on current firmware)
- RBK50 x 1
- RBS50 x 2
- Fios Router (wireless turned off/ routing through RBK50, wireless to both RBS50)
Current house:
- Basement (workout room)
- Main level
- Upper Floor
- Attic (office)
The Main Orbi unit (RBK50) is on the main level on one side of the house closet to family room. 1st satellite (RBS50) is on main level other side of the house. 2nd satellite upper floor (RBS50).
We have many wireless units in the house (video games, cameras, laptops, desktops, phones, apple TV, etc).
Problems:
1st problem: iphones lose wireless connectivity and constantly have to manually rejoin the network.
2nd problem: Main orbi (RBK50) carries most of the workload. I have noticed that each wireless unit tries to join that unit more then the rest even if the others are closer in proximity.
3rd. I cannot get full 'good' coverage over my house. a little signal makes it into the basement (1st satellite- RBS50). A little signal makes it into the attic (2nd satellite- RBS50).
What I would like to do is the following:
1) If I can wire each satellite to the main orbi should I? Will this improve the Wifi on each floor and give a greater extension. I believe this is called wired backhaul.
1A) If I did this would I then purchase more satellites or wall plug to reach to any dead areas? would those link to a wired satellite?
2) could I add a switch off the main ORBI and each satellite to allow for wired connectivity in those areas?
Based on your feedback would you have any directions to accomplish what I am looking to do?
Thanks for all your help.
2 Replies
Your first problem MAY be caused by the second. e.g. devices falling off line may be because of insufficient communications between the Orbis.
Would be good to spend a few minutes answering questions like How far are orbi's from each other in feet (yes, through walls)? What is building material? What Firmware is Orbi running?
I thing a good rule of thumb is you would always want a wired network versus an Radio Freq (RF) one.
I have my 2 RBS50s hard wired because my home is a very long ranch. I havethe main router (RBR50) where cable modem is and two extremely long ethernet cables that go to each satellite. By hard wiring you are no longer dependant on RF and any potential intereference that may occur with backhaul. Ethernet backhaul is certainly faster and more reliable than RF.
The next thing I would do if I were in your shoes is conduct a signal survey of your home. Are there competing signals from neighbors etc that may be "jamming" the effectiveness of your router? Try downloading on Android or Iphone any "WiFi analyzer" software and take a look at the channels on both the 2.4 and 5ghz bands... do you see "peaks" that are close to your router that belong to your neighbors or are unaccounted for?
You will probably see a printer "peak" -- that is normal. You will also see on the 5ghz band a "hidden SSID" peak... that is also normal and is in fact your ethernet RF backhaul channel.
Answer these things first and lets go from here.What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials.Yes you can add switches to the mix. Be sure they are non managed, non smart and non green ethernet switches.
