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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...
That would isolate things, yes.
You should test using two devices on your LAN, one wired and one wireless to the Orbi. You should not test your wireless network using a connection to the Internet. The Internet speed can vary, especially at the high data rates you mentioned (250 Mbps.)
You should test with a tool like iperf. You should use iperf on laptops or desktops which are powerful enough to handle the data rates, and which will report the detailed results of the test, including the average throughput.
We all want to make sure we have our gear setup to work at maximum speeed, but it's easy to draw the wrong conclusion with these tests.
UGGGGGHHHHH!!! Ok, the bad news is that my sporadic speed problem is back... I don't think the wire shelving in the closet was the main factor. The good news is that I am getting closer, but this demon is still proving difficult to exorcise.
Trying to figure out what was different between yesterday when my speed was good, to today when it is suddenly inconsistent again, I noticed that sometimes the Velop connects clients to channel 36, and other times to channel 153. Yesterday, I observed that my devices were connecting to a particular node on channel 153 (and speed was good), but right now it's using channel 36 (and speed is intermittent). That sparked a memory from when I got my first AC router a year ago. I recall that for some reason, I got poor throughput when using the lower 5ghz channels (36 - 48). The high channels (149 - 161) were fine, much faster.
While I can't directly control which channels the Velop selects, some trial and error this evening has revealed that when the client happens to connect to a node on channel 36, I get intermittently bad speed, while if the client is connected to channel 153, speed is excellent and consistent. That mostly corroborates with my Orbi experience, since the Orbi always uses the high channels for satellite communication and the low channels for clients... a laptop wired to the satellite gave good speed because that wireless link from the sat to the router was on channel 153, while a wireless client would be on 36 and would get intermittent speed. What doesn't totally add up is why I got good speed connected wirelessly directly to the router (again, on channel 36), the only explanation for which I can come up with was perhaps I was just lucky and happened to test during a good period.
Another aspect of this theory that is difficult to explain is, with the Velop, if I happen to end up in the "good" configuration where the client is communicating with the wireless node on the channel 153 radio, my assumption is that the backhaul to the wired node would then be on channel 36. Yet in this configuration, I get consistently good speed. Perhaps the nodes are better able to cope with interference than the presumably weaker radios in the client devices?
Here's a screen shot that shows the channels in use. The 2.4ghz channels occasionally register a little noise, 153 is clean, but 36 is showing considerably more noise (varies from -90 to -80, occasionally as high as -74).
I don't know if that's enough noise to cause problems, but still, it's hard to ignore as a potential factor. There are 2 other weak networks in my vicinity on channel 36, which maybe could be the source of the interference reading, but on the other hand, there are 3 other networks on channel 153 that are not causing an issue.
Does anyone know of any other potential sources of household non-WiFi intereference on the 5ghz band besides certain cordless phones? peteytesting, help!
Ok, after scouring my house I've identified a likely culprit...
A Vizio soundbar, which is in the living room (where I encountered the most difficulty) and also happens to be right below my office (where I also had problems during testing). This soundbar transmits wirelessly to the subwoofer (which also feeds the rear surround speakers), and operates on the 5ghz band. While I'm not going to make the mistake of once again prematurely pronouncing this mystery solved, I am very hopeful that this will prove to be the case. Sitting in the living room with this soundbar turned off, I can run test after test getting 250-350mbs+. Turn the soundbar on, speed becomes more sporadic and frequently drops to around 50mbs. Turn the soundbar off, speed goes back up to normal. Turn it on, speed goes down. I repeated this cycle perhaps a dozen or so times with identical results.
So, it is without a doubt *A* problem, but what remains to be seen is whether or not it is *THE* problem. What makes me hesitant is that in the WiFi scanner app, it still shows channel 36 as having more interference than 153, so I'm not sure what to make of that.
I was going to tell you Sonos uses 5 GHz to link the speakers. Looks like you have pretty much the same thing. Certain radars also operate in the 5 GHz band.
Yes, it was actually a thread elsewhere about Sonos interference that put me on the trail of my Vizio soundbar. There was conflicting information, as one review site said it uses 2.4ghz, while a few people on Amazon and elsewhere said Vizio told them it was 5ghz. It's looking more and more like it's the latter, and that this is the root cause of the problems I was having with the Orbi and Velop. Since turning the soundbar off last night, all through late morning, periodic tests have shown no drastic slowdowns, but as soon as my little boy turned it on, the speed tanked.
Now, of course, I'm screwed in a different way... due to the layout of my living room, I have no practical way to run wires to the back for surround speakers. I've been searching around for a different wireless option, but if I'm not mistaken, any wireless speaker system is either going to interfere with 5ghz or 2.4ghz, correct? Would would be ideal is some sort of WiFi audio bridge that, rather than just transmitting its own non-WiFi signal, instead JOINS my WiFi and sends the audio through the network to another unit in the back of the room.
