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Forum Discussion
Orbi backhall signal dropping to Zero
When I upgraded to the latest firmware the backhall signal started to drop to zero. It was smooth prior to the upgrade. This has to degrade performance. See below. What can be done?
I did more testing this weekend with a couple 802.11ac USB adpaters. My conclusion is still the same-->Whether the backhaul appears stable depends upon the wifi adapter and wifi scanning software used to make the measurement. This is because detection of hidden SSIDs is poorly supported by common chipsets and scanning software.
Most combinations of software and wifi adapter I have tried do not properly capture the Orbi's hidden SSID backhaul signal. The signal is either spotty or not shown at all. I have an Techncolor AP with a hidden SSID and it behaves the same as Orbi's hidden SSID.
According to Netspot Pro, their software will only work properly if you connect to the hidden SSID. That's not an option with Orbi.
inSSIDer says their software does not officially support hidden SSIDs. inSSIDer Office on a Mac will not show the Orbi backhaul or hidden SSIDs at all. However, inSSIDer folks say certain WiFi chipsets will work under WIndows.
One of my cheap USB WiFi adapters, an Edimax EW-7811UTC, happens to have a chipset that inSSIDer says works with hidden SSIDs. I was able to capture solid graphs of the Orbi backhaul with Windows 10, inSSIDer Office, and this adapter.
Retired_Member You said you have inSSIDer on a Windows 10 laptop. I haven't seen any plots you shared from that setup, so I assume the results were spotty also. Will you please get one of these Edimax adapters ($15) use it with inSSIDer and Windows 10 to measure your backhaul? The results should be very interesting.
hi st
i thought that may have been the case as i too have noticed it all depends on the adapter and or software used , have even tested this by running a transfer over the link and watching its prograss while at the same time watching the backhaul link , the backhaul link can show drops but the transfer remain solid
not saying its the only reason but it certainly does look like in this case its more a reporting issue than a hardware / software issue of the orbi
peteytesting I've also run a UDP transfer when the backhaul was spotty on other scanning apps. No dropped packets.
It seems like the combination of the Edimax EW-7811UTC (Realtek RTL8811AU chipset), inSSIDer, and Windows10 will reliably show the backhual. The makers of inSSIDer say that chipset works for hidden SSIDs.
If anyone who sees the backhaul dropouts can try this combination, it would be very informative.