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robademar's avatar
robademar
Aspirant
Sep 16, 2019

is it normal that rbr satellite looses contact with rbr20 router if placed at 6 meter distance

is it normal that rbr20 and satellite placed in a flat at the distance of 5 meter loose control?

This product is supposed to cover a full flat and mine is only 100 square meter large and the signal does not cover end to end. I had to place the satellite at 4 meter from router to have stable communication.

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  • ekhalil's avatar
    ekhalil
    Master
    Sep 16, 2019

    This is not normal. This can be caused by many reasons, I could think of the following:

    1. Faulty units?
    2. Powerful interference. Please check the radio environment using a wifi scan.
    3. Wrong IP settings that will cause the router and satellite to be on different networks:
      1. Is Orbi working in Router or AP Modes?
      2. Is the ISP modem providing DHCP capabilities? Please provide the make and model of the ISP modem/router 

    Please provide us with more information about your setup so we can try to help you.

    • robademar's avatar
      robademar
      Aspirant
      Sep 16, 2019
      orbi is in ap mode, modem is a vodafone station revolution with dhcp (I have
      my pc directly connected to it), modem wifi is disabled.
      If I switch off the satellite and I measure the RBR 20 wifi signal at the place where I would like to have the satellite WiFi analytics gives a -83/-85 dB level for both 2.4 amd 5 Mghz.
      2.4 network is set on auto channel, while 5 is on channel 48
      no daisy chain, yes beamforming and MU-MImo, no speedy roaming
      v2.3.5.26 sw version for both router and satellite
      this is all that comes to mind as info
      thanks
      • CrimpOn's avatar
        CrimpOn
        Guru
        Sep 16, 2019

        Another possibiliity is the number and composition of obstacles between the router and satellite.  (walls, fireplace chimmneys, air conditioning ductwork, etc.)  You can see what signal strength the Orbi measures by enabling telnet.  (Navigate to http://<IP of Orbi>/debug.htm and check the box "Enable Telnet".  Then, use a telnet program and connect to the IP of the Orbi. (mine is 192.168.1.1).  Log in with the administrative credentials, "admin" and the admin password.  Then type this command:

         

        satelliteinfo  wifi

         

        Here's what I get on my Orbi RBR50:


        root@DickRBR50:/# satelliteinfo wifi
        {
        "mac address" : "A0:04:60:0D:96:FA",
        "hop" : "1",
        "bridge mac" : "A0:04:60:0D:96:FA",
        "backhaul conntype" : "5GHz",
        "backhaul rssi" : "-68",
        "backhaul macaddress" : "A0:04:60:0D:96:FD",
        "backhaul phytxrate" : "780",
        "backhaul phyrxrate" : "780",
        "backhaul parentmac" : "A0:04:60:1C:02:39"
        }
        This shows the Orbi measuring the WiFi signal at -68 and the transmission speed at 780mb/sec.  Since the satellite is portable, you could measure in the same room as the Orbi and in various other places and see which gives the best results.  The RBR20 does not have the same maximum backhaul rate as the RBR50, so I do not know what you should expect.

         

        There is no problem conducting experiments with the router and satellite close together.  The optimal placement is a "balancing act."  When the Orbi's are too close together, the backhaul rate is higher, but the radios interfere with each other and the total coverage area is not expanded enough.  As they get farther apart, interference is less and coverage expands, but the backhaul connection gradually decreases.  10 meters is usually stated as a good "starting point", but much depends on the area to be covered.