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Forum Discussion
Orbi 3D radiation pattern
I have an Orbi RBR40 with two RBS20 satellites (just like an RBS40, but only 2 RJ45 ports) in what is effectively a 3-story house. We're currently renovating and I'm taking the opportunity to rearran...
jwkilgore wrote:
My concern is if the Orbi antennas are designed to optimally radiate horizontally or upwards, then putting the satellite above everything and everybody could seriously degrade the signal.
- Is the concern valid, or can it radiate efficiently downwards as well?
People have been mounting Orbi units "on the wall" for years. Before Netgear released their own wall mount, there were several companies selling wall mounts on Amazon. The FCC filings for Orbi units show typical dipole antennas mounted vertically, which create a typical "donut" shape radiation pattern. https://fccid.io/PY317300393/Internal-Photos/Internal-photos-3562497
Not a thing to stress over.
I understand typical "on the wall" mount locations for mainly horizontal applications, or even slightly down.
For more detail, the ground floor RBR40 will be in the south-east corner of the house and the top floor RBS20 will be on the north end. I'm not overly concerned with access speeds on the top floor. But the top floor AP will be the closest one to things on the north end of of the ground floor, which will be straight below it.
Currently the AP's aren't spaced very efficiently in an effort to get good wireless backhaul links, and therefore a few areas have spotty coverage. Everything about the new arrangement with wired backhaul will be much better, except potentially the AP that's so far above its coverage area. A basic ceiling mount AP would be perfect there, but for right now I have an RBS20 and have to make it work.
All that said... looking at the pictures at the link you posted, specifically the shape of the antennas, I agree the radiation pattern will be almost entirely horizontal as you said. Above or below will be equally not as good, so flipping it upside down wouldn't accomplish anything. The new arrangement should be better than the current arrangement no matter what. Thank you for the information.