Hello An ORBI RBR50 with very slow 2.4Ghz performance. I have a 50Mbs fibre service and wired connections and 5 ghz connections reach full speed but I have a tablet which is 2.4 only and it struggles to get up to 1Mbs. Often the speed test starts at 10Mbs but rapidly falls back to next to nothing.The whole system seems a mess to be honest. The admin page shows the satelite but nothing connected to it, wireless devices show up as wired - trainwreck.Some of the things i have tried:Switching off all other wireless devicesSwapping wireless chanelsSwitching off settings - daisy chain, mimo, fast roaming, beamformingreset and reconnect sateliteHardwire satelite backhaul I have been away for much of the last 3 months and the issue has only been noticed in the last three weeks and my 90 days support expired 3 days ago while i was mucking around. Should I just return it? Any ideas?

The satellite connection shows as "wired" and "good"?Does this old tablet get faster speed when connected to a different WiFi system (elsewhere)?Are there any other devices like phones, tablets, laptops, etc. which show "full speed" on 2.4G?Are there any REALLY OLD WiFi devices connected to the Orbi?(802.11 2.4G WiFi is "backward compatible" so that even the earliest WiFi device will still function. However, this can have the side-effect of slowing ALL 2.4G devices to the slowest speed.)

The next time the issue comes back, please see if this provides any information.Log into the Orbi web interface.Select the Advance Tab and make a note of the Orbi IP address (often 192.168.1.1)Change "index.htm" to read "debug.htm" and connect again.Check the box toward the bottom "Enable Telnet"Open a telnet program and connect to the OrbiLog in using "admin" and the administrative passwordType this command:wlanconfig ath0 listThis will list all of the devices connected to the Orbi router at 2.4G.It's one very long line of values for each device and will probably wrap around more than once.What you care about is the beginning of each line.Here is the first part of mine:ADDR AID CHAN TXRATE RXRATEb8:c7:5d:52:02:fa 1 3 65M 65M 30:ae:a4:6c:c8:40 3 3 72M 65Mf4:b8:5e:43:88:84 4 3 58M 5Mf4:b8:5e:06:79:4d 2 3 58M 72M The TX rate is the speed the Orbi is transmitting (TX) to the device.The RX rate is the speed the Orbi is receiving (RX) from the deviceOne of these should match the MAC address of the problem iPad.(Which can be looked up on the iPad or on the Orbi "Attached Devices" page.What, it isn't there?This means you have to go through the process on the satellite.Connect to the debug page, enable telnet, log on with telnet, type the command.This seems an enormous task at first, and I realize that only a "desperate person" would attempt it.My hope is that it shows something interesting.

Sorry I assumed the problem tablet was an iPad. "Apple people" often have homogenious environments. I feel comfortable with things like "Internet of Thiings" (IoT) controllers transmitting at a low rate. They are sending only a few packets at a time, and not very often. My guess is the IP camera was probably not sending a video stream at the time and could be just doing "heartbeat" connections. It appears my theory of everything being constrained to a low speed was not correct. Now that you know how this works, can you take a snapshot while the Lenovo is downloading something? (that takes long enough for you to start the process and take the snapshot before it finishes. Or, maybe run Speedtest several times and repeat the data capture.)

Thanks for doing the test. We may not have solved your problem, but along the way this has exposed how little I knew about the "inner workiings" of WiFi on the Orbi. Things like:The transmit and receive rates are usually not the same. (Maybe because the antennas and radios are different, with the Orbi having larger and more powerful antennas/radios?)The transmit and receive rates can change dramatically over time.The router and satellite can be on different channels (11 and 6).The Orbi setting is either for "Auto" or the user selects a channel.I thought the router and satellite were always on the same channel and that "Auto" just meant that the Orbi would select one channel for both.So, I am running out of ideas.

Hello Thanks for the reply. Here are the answers to the best of my knowledge:The satellite connection shows as "wired" and "good"? YesDoes this old tablet get faster speed when connected to a different WiFi system (elsewhere)? Yes - tethered to iphoneAre there any other devices like phones, tablets, laptops, etc. which show "full speed" on 2.4G? Most of the other stuff on 2.4 can't be tested (ipcameras and smart switches etc) My wife has a iphone 6 and she is having similar issues with often connection and full signal but no through put at all.Are there any REALLY OLD WiFi devices connected to the Orbi? - the oldest thing is an ipad from about 2012. Everything else is less than 5 years old(802.11 2.4G WiFi is "backward compatible" so that even the earliest WiFi device will still function. However, this can have the side-effect of slowing ALL 2.4G devices to the slowest speed.)

ORBI 2..4 gHz speeds | NETGEAR Communities

13 Replies

CrimpOn
Guru
Oct 12, 2019
The satellite connection shows as "wired" and "good"?
Does this old tablet get faster speed when connected to a different WiFi system (elsewhere)?
Are there any other devices like phones, tablets, laptops, etc. which show "full speed" on 2.4G?
Are there any REALLY OLD WiFi devices connected to the Orbi?
(802.11 2.4G WiFi is "backward compatible" so that even the earliest WiFi device will still function. However, this can have the side-effect of slowing ALL 2.4G devices to the slowest speed.)
- FredFlintston
  Aspirant
  Oct 12, 2019
  Hello
  
  Thanks for the reply. Here are the answers to the best of my knowledge:
  The satellite connection shows as "wired" and "good"? Yes
  Does this old tablet get faster speed when connected to a different WiFi system (elsewhere)? Yes - tethered to iphone
  Are there any other devices like phones, tablets, laptops, etc. which show "full speed" on 2.4G? Most of the other stuff on 2.4 can't be tested (ipcameras and smart switches etc) My wife has a iphone 6 and she is having similar issues with often connection and full signal but no through put at all.
  Are there any REALLY OLD WiFi devices connected to the Orbi? - the oldest thing is an ipad from about 2012. Everything else is less than 5 years old
  (802.11 2.4G WiFi is "backward compatible" so that even the earliest WiFi device will still function. However, this can have the side-effect of slowing ALL 2.4G devices to the slowest speed.)
  - CrimpOn
    Guru
    Oct 13, 2019
    Thanks for the answers. Hmmmm. iPhone 6 is "Dual Band", so it is not clear (yet) which band it is connecting on.
    
    Do you use the Orbi "app" or the web interface?
    Are you comfortable with telnet?

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ORBI 2..4 gHz speeds