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Forum Discussion
Orbi - why can't we change channels on satellites?
Wireless design best practice when installing multiple access points in an area is to have non-overlapping channels. So if you have 3 APs (RBR50, 2-RBS50) in an area, for 2.4 GHz, one AP would be cha...
It has been suggested on this thread that Mesh networks by definition share the same channels for satellites, that is simply not true. The Google Wifi mesh network negotiates channels amongst the satellites and each can be on its own channel to avoid interference.
I see that people have asked for manually setting the channel, I would much rather that Orbi was smart and picked optimal channels for each and every satellite. To be honest, I niavely assumed that Orbi did just that and have some regret about not discovering the limitation before my purchase.
As someone mentioned, the only advantage is more seamless low-latency switching between access points. However, in my home the latency is hardly an issue when compared say to cellular tower switching.
I certainly hope a software update might add channel optimization !
The problem with auto channel assignment is radios tend to pick in between channels. In 2.4 Ghz, there are only 3 non-overlapping channels: 1, 6 and 11. If the radio picks Channels 4 and 7, there will be a lot of noise.
Wireless 101 for 2.4 Ghz is to have the two APs on the same channel spaced so the signal level from AP1 when you are standing at AP2 is under -72 dBm. Otherwise you have co-channel interference that reduces throughput.
That is not really achievable with the Orbi since the 5G backhaul would likely be too weak (5G is shorter range than 2.4G). Add in the complexity of competing wifi signals from your neighbors, and you have quite a problem. I can see the wireless networks of 12 of my neighbors.