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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 am thinking about purchasing an Orbi and am confused about the home placement. All of the examples I have seen are for a ranch style or colonial style home. I have a split level, so there is really no such thing as a "central" location in the house - the central location is stairs everywhere. How well does the Orbi work in a split level home and what is the optimal placement? Thanks.
With a split level I'd say it would really not be any different than a first floor with a basement or a ground floor with a second story. I would just place base unit and the extended unit accordingly -- based on where your internet connection comes into the house and the extension unit on whichever floor doesn't have the initial connection. If you go to Netgear's installation suggestions, you can see how the signal covers an area of the home.
I have my initial connected router in the basement with my additional unit on the main floor of my new home and it's working great. The basement unit is probably to the very far left side of the home and the main floor unit is located in about the middle of the home and coverage is great so far.
Hope this helps!
Brian
Thanks. I'm not sure that really addresses the issue though. Although my house is pretty average - I think it's about 1700 sq ft - I have four floors. If you were looking at the house from the outside, the underground basement is on the right side of the house, then the left side of the house is the family room (my office) which is half a step up - it is on slab, but has concrete walls for about the first 4 feet on the outside, about 5 feet on the inside. Then back on the left half a level up from the office is the main living level and then back on the right half a step up are the bedrooms.
In addition to the fact that there's no middle level, the Internet comes in at the family room / office level. Ideally, I was figuring an additional unit should go somewhere on the next level up to capture the left side of the house, but there's no midpoint - I'd have to put it in the entry hall (which has no outlets) or the stairs (which has no outlets and is less than ideal).
Would it work if my satellite unit is on the family room level (bottom level on the right - though technically the second level up) and then put the other unit in my kitchen or living room, both of which are pretty far over on the left side of the house?
I just don't want to spend about $400 - $500 for these units only to find out they are not ideal for my home configuration.
Thanks.