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Forum Discussion
Inconsistency with Orbi Speed
Hi I've recently bought the twin Orbi router system and I have mixed feelings about it. I have seen the fastest speed I've ever experienced using it purely by speed testing it on my iPhone 7 i.e. 3...
True... biggest roadblock to the Velop for me is the inability to set a DHCP range (and I'm assuming it has no "access point" mode like the Orbi has, so I wouldn't be able to use my existing router with the Velop just handing WiFi). Still, I'm tempted to give it a try, as this is my second Orbi and it's still giving sporadically terrible (but sometimes excellent) performance on the satellite.
Just an update... rolled back to 1.4.0.16 and then 1.1.0.16, had the same speed inconsistency problem with both. However, after I had done these tests I decided to go back to the latest version (1.4.0.34), and was a bit surprised when I opened the Orbi's web page to see that it was already at that version! Tried to roll back a few more times, and apparently the Orbi, no matter what version I roll back to, promptly updates right back to 1.4.0.34, and I can't seem to find a setting to stop it.
So, in other words, I can't say whether or not this problem existed in older versions, because my Orbi immediately updates to the latest. Any way to stop this?
Well, I reluctantly threw in the towel and returned the Orbi for a refund.
In hindsight, I don't know if the problem I was seeing was exactly the same as the starter of this topic, as his speed tests indicated a bad fluctuation in downstream speed, while my initial tests, as it turns out, were actually upstream (from my device TO the test server). However, I reconfigured the test and saw a similar, though not as extreme, fluctuation in downstream speed.
So, just to recap and update, despite having a solid router to satellite connection (stable 500mbs+) tested by hardwiring a computer to an ethernet port, when I was connected through the satellite's client-facing WiFi (in easy conditions, in the same room as the satellite with no obstructions, and a strong signal), my upstream speed would sometimes be the expected ~200-250mbs (and sometimes even better), but often would drop precipitiously to 20-80mbs. Downstream speed was also affected, though to a lesser degree... sometimes 300mbs+, but often dropping to around 100mbs or less. This occurred on an iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6s, and also on a MacBook Air. Curiously, when I tested with my old MacBook Pro, which has 802.11n WiFi, I saw consistent speeds in the 250mbs+ range with no slowdowns (still on the satellite's 5ghz connection), so perhaps this is only related to ac devices?
Tried moving the satellite to other locations (and again confirming a good link speed via ethernet connection to the satellite), with similar bad results on the ac devices. In contrast, with the ac devices directly to the router's WiFi (with a similar signal strength), I saw good speed (300-400mbs) consistently.
A replacement Orbi system did the same thing. I find it unlikely that I got two bad ones in a row. Yet, few (or no) others are reporting this same problem. Something environmental specific to my house, or a coincidentla problem with all 3 ac devices I tested with? Perhaps, though again I'd note that connecting to the router's radio worked fine, only the satellite showed these slowdowns, despite very "easy" conditions.
michael814, I've been testing my Orbi using iPerf between two MacBookPros. I also see inconsistencies, but so far I've only seen them when measuring speeds between two wireless clients.
Between the satellite's wired port and the router's wired port, I measure a consistent ~500 Mbps across the backhaul.
Between the satellite's wired port and a wireless 5G device on the satellite, I measure a consistent ~230 Mbps.
Between two wireless 5G devices on the satellite, the average throughput is ~90 Mbps, but the speed always drops down to ~30 mbps for a few 1 sec intervals.
Maybe this makes sense? With two clients on the same 5G channel, the bandwidth needs to be shared between them, so the overall throughput should be less than half, and there may be intervals where interference drops that way below half. I tried the same test on two different 802.11n WiFi routers I have here, including an enterprise grade Cradlepoint and a Netgear WNDR4500. Both of these units behave exactly the same way.
I'm curious, have you done your tests on any other router and seen consistent speeds?
Yes, with my R7800 router, I get good speed (same conditions as the Orbi test, between an iPad or iPhone and a hardwired computer)... varies beteen 375-500mbs, but never drops abruptly like I saw with the Orbi satellite. And again, that same test with the Orbi router also delivered solid results, it's just the satellite that I'm seeing this on.
Interesting. Thanks. I'll have to try my tests connected to the Orbi router. I also noticed highly variable ping times between machines, varying from 6 ms to 200 ms. That doesn't make sense.