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Forum Discussion
Is Google afraid of Orbi?
I ran across this article today, and was quite amused that Google entertains going head-to-head with eero and Luma, but not a single mention of Orbi. Granted, Orbi isn't "mesh" (yet?) as these three...
Can you cite a source? Mesh systems use standard 802.11 b/g/n/ac protocols for delivering payloads, so it cannot be any lossier. Mesh systems are differentiated from standard Wi-Fi by running a routing protocol, HWMP, to route traffic through the mesh.
Here's a paper that describes the signal loss between mesh hops.
http://www.strixsystems.com/products/datasheets/StrixWhitepaper_Multihop.pdf
This is the reason google wifi, Eero, luma, etc will never beat netgears system of a dedicated backhaul. I wonder if netgear has a patent on this idea. If not, I would expect others to follow suite in the near future.
Thanks for the paper. It's important to put what it says in the proper perspective. It's a white paper published in 2005 by a manufacturer of mesh networking gear. It's not a scientific, peer-reviewed paper. The paper's main point, actually, is that a properly designed, multi-radio network can operate with only 4% loss. So, not all mesh networks are the same.
The paper does paint a rather dire picture for single and dual-radio, multi-hop mesh networks (aka Eero, Luma, Google Wi-Fi). Interestingly, the Orbi would be classified as a dual radio, single hop mesh network. While it is 100% efficient in this configuration, if Netgear does add multi-hop support, as rumored, it will suffer equally the same loss in efficiency as the other systems.
There are posts where the Orbi did not provide the expected performance. This is not a criticism of the Orbi. The Orbi has a specific target in mind (likely a 2 story, medium to largish, drywall on woodframe structure) and it could be argued that in this setting, the Orbi will always outperform a mesh network. That could be true. But there are situations where a multi-hop mesh network can reach that the Orbi can't.
certainly agree orbi has its place and usage pattern and for those in dwellings as you say ( would be most of us ) the orbi is a great solution , these other mesh systems also will have their place but i dont see a great usage as most are wanting these where ethernet is already in place
with ethernet in place there is no usage case for ether the orbi or mesh systems as standard AP's can be used , just think ppl may be getting blind sided by what all of these systems can achieve and how they will and would work
pete
