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Orbi placement concerns
Having one router / WAP near the edge and the other WAP (satelite) near the middle of the home is a poor layout for optimized coverage. Reminds me too much of single WAP systems this Orbi mesh system...
Every home is different but this is our general guide for common house layouts: http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/31029/~/where-should-i-place-my-orbi-satellite%3F
The optimal placement does very depending on the layout of the home.
You can experiment a bit to see what works best for you, but there's a good chance you'll find the first place you put the Satellite works great.
Most internet connections have wiring that terminates at the edge of the home. Yes some of the coverage of the router would fall outside the home. Unless you are able to place the router in a more central location (due to internal wiring) there's not much that can be done about that.
Our focus has been on performance with a dedicated wireless band. As we've gone for performance rather than trying to minimise the size of the unit at the expense of performance, we also put a lot of effort into designing Orbi to be aesthetically pleasing. Whilst the router might be tucked away somewhere the satellite could be e.g. in the living room where it could be in the field of vision a lot.
I have a small 915ft house with a basement around the same size. Would have both the Orbi and Sattelite turned on just be overkill? I went form a Nighthawk X8 to Orbi and have seen a considerable drop in WiFi signal strength in the rooms furthest away.
Mind you, it's a Scandinavian brick house, so the walls are considerably thicker then typical US houses.
Is the Orbi not suited for my type of house?
I really believe that Netgear has built some very intelligent technology into the Orbi system. I think they have designed the system that there wouldn't be issues with overlapping or conflicts between the Router and Sat unless they were obviously sitting right in the same room. Even at a 915 sq. ft level and basement, the system would perform very nicely. In regards the other posts about placement, after I have thought through my complete network, I can actually reverse the setup with my router on the second floor and the Sat on the 1st floor and utilize the recommended layout that Netgear suggests. After I drew out a diagram, I actually will be able maximize more of my devices through wired connections and free up some of the WiFi connected devices on the network. I performed a speed test this morning and on my 1st floor level sitting about 100 feet away from the Sat currently, the results were 233Mbps!
I know placement is critical to Wi-Fi performance. In addition to my current router being located in the center of the house, it is located high off the floor (about 8 feet). Is that good or bad?
I too looked at my hardwired layout and even though my cable modem comes into my wiring closet in the center of the house, I think I can patch the output from the cable modem to my office, which is more towards the outer area of my house were my home server, desktops, and printer is located. This will allow me to put the Orbi router there and the satellite in the center of the house. It will also allow me to patch my server directly into the router which should improve the distribution of my Plex files throughout my wired network.
Freway01 wrote:I know placement is critical to Wi-Fi performance. In addition to my current router being located in the center of the house, it is located high off the floor (about 8 feet). Is that good or bad?
hight shouldnt matter that much as the signal work somewhat like a doughnut pattern
Freway01 wrote:I too looked at my hardwired layout and even though my cable modem comes into my wiring closet in the center of the house, I think I can patch the output from the cable modem to my office, which is more towards the outer area of my house were my home server, desktops, and printer is located. This will allow me to put the Orbi router there and the satellite in the center of the house. It will also allow me to patch my server directly into the router which should improve the distribution of my Plex files throughout my wired network.
because the orbi router is the center of the system i still suggest you run it in the center oif the house and just run the ethernet from the router to the study and use a simple network switch for what you need and locate the sat in a better location , the reason for this is if you find wifi doesnt get to the other end of the house you cant run a sat of a sat
eg the orbi system needs to be
sat ---- router ---- sat
so it makes sense to leave the router at the center
pete
So Pete are you saying, maybe one should have their Sat on the 1st floor, router in middle of the house on the 2nd floor, then if you want another Sat on the second or a third floor, then you'd need the Sat next to the next Sat? I hope his makes sense?
My post earlier had the systems reversed, meaning I am wanting to have my router on my 1st floor, then my Sat in the middle of the house on the 2nd floor?
Thanks for your advice!
Brian
