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Orbi RBK53 - I need WiFi coverage beyond range of router
I am considering the purchase of the Orbi RBK53 but have the challenge of getting a signal to my guest house's satellite that is beyond the range of the router (about 225'). The guest house is currently ethernet wired to the router location. Based on my reading of the ethernet backhaul connection feature, I'm not sure if I can use the ethernet backhaul connection to provide wifi coverage to this satellite or whether the backhaul connection is solely for transmitting data back to the router. Although setting the satellites up in a daisy chain configuration could work, I don't have an option for putting a satellite between my house and the guest house. Any guidance on how i can get the Orbi's router signal to my guest house would be much appreciated. Thanks.
bmeighan wrote:
Thanks for the responses. Just to clarify and/or add more details:
Perhaps I'm confused by the "backhaul" terminology. I read this to be the data from the satellites that is transmitted back to the Orbi router. I understand that through a firmware update the backhaul can be Ethernet wired. But does backhaul also mean that the Orbi router can communicate TO the satellite by way of Ethernet cable? I'm trying to solve for the problem that my guest house is beyond the range of WiFi signal but does have Ethernet to the main house. I also don't want the performance degradation that comes with extenders. So, can the Orbi satellite work in the guest house if it is wired to the Orbi router? (I seem to recall reading that an ethernet wired Orbi satellite cannot be used as an access point.)
Another suggestion provided here was to purchase another Orbi router and connect it in the house in access point mode. While this is an expensive solution, it does sound like it will work (but don't want to if satellite will work).
With regard to the last paragraph, I assume one of my old routers (like an Apple Airport Extreme) can serve as an access point too, right? To configure that as an access point, do I do that through the Orbi software or by using Apple's Airport Utility?
Thanks for the feedback.
Don't read too much into the marketing-speak. Backhaul is bi-directional. You can plug your satellite into Ethernet in your guest house and your guests will access the Internet via WiFi as if they were in the main house. The SSID will be the same as in the main house.
I would not recommend buying a second Orbi system for the guest house, unless the guest house is very large and requires multiple APs to cover it. How large is the guest house? How many floors?
You configure your old router as an access point via your old router's user interface. You do not set it up via the Orbi.
There is confusion about extenders, in part because there are multiple types of extenders. Some extenders simply receive the existing WiFi signal and rebroadcast it on the same channel. These suffer at least 50% degradation in throughput, because they share the same channel. Other extenders take the existing WiFI and rebroadcast it on a new channel. These are better, but they use more channels so are more prone to interference with nearby WiFi systems. Orbi functions similar to the latter extender.
Using your old Airport Extreme in AP mode in the guest house sounds like the best approach here, unless it cannot cover the required area. The Airport Extremes are very good and fast routers. Possibly faster than Orbi.
14 Replies
bmeighan wrote:
Any guidance on how i can get the Orbi's router signal to my guest house would be much appreciated.
Are you asking if you can use the satellite as a wireless access point?
The manual does not mention this, so it probably will not work.
Why not use the existing Ethernet link to feed an access Point? One of Netgear's wifi extenders would do the job.
You could use the RBK53 router as an access point in the guest house. But not its satellite.
Then again, I may not have understood the challenge
Check this discussion:
Why attach streaming devices to Orbi satellite eth... - NETGEAR Communities
Maybe the manuals are incomplete.
Yes, if you have Ethernet in your guest house, you can plug-in an Orbi satellite out there and it will provide WiFi to devices in the guest house. This is called wired backhaul. This isn't the most sensible approach, as you would be using an expensive satellite where an inexpensive access point would do the same thing.
If it were me I would probably use the satellite in the main house and put an old WiFi router (or a new inexpensive router) in the guest house and run it in access point mode.
st_shaw wrote:If it were me I would probably use the satellite in the main house and put an old WiFi router (or a new inexpensive router) in the guest house and run it in access point mode.
Good thinking. Let the guests use the old kit.
One good thing about the span of this network is that there is not likely to be any interference between home and guest house. No worry about overlapping channels and clashing SSIDs and passwords.
Thanks for the responses. Just to clarify and/or add more details:
Perhaps I'm confused by the "backhaul" terminology. I read this to be the data from the satellites that is transmitted back to the Orbi router. I understand that through a firmware update the backhaul can be Ethernet wired. But does backhaul also mean that the Orbi router can communicate TO the satellite by way of Ethernet cable? I'm trying to solve for the problem that my guest house is beyond the range of WiFi signal but does have Ethernet to the main house. I also don't want the performance degradation that comes with extenders. So, can the Orbi satellite work in the guest house if it is wired to the Orbi router? (I seem to recall reading that an ethernet wired Orbi satellite cannot be used as an access point.)
Another suggestion provided here was to purchase another Orbi router and connect it in the house in access point mode. While this is an expensive solution, it does sound like it will work (but don't want to if satellite will work).
With regard to the last paragraph, I assume one of my old routers (like an Apple Airport Extreme) can serve as an access point too, right? To configure that as an access point, do I do that through the Orbi software or by using Apple's Airport Utility?
Thanks for the feedback.
bmeighan wrote:
I also don't want the performance degradation that comes with extenders.
This myth seems to have gained some traction. I've seen it spouted here earlier this week.
Do not get fooled by ignorant twaddle that you find in a Google search.
What evidence is there that extenders are any worse than putting a router in AP mode, or using an Orbi satellite?
In reality a satellite is an extender. It is just easier to configure and comes with wireless features that do not apply to you and the stretch of your wifi.
The cheapest option would be to buy one box, an extender, and put it on the end of the LAN line to the guest house.
If you buy an Orbi, you get a router and an extender. If you are happy with the current router, apart from making your existing router redundant, what do you gain by using an Orbi satellite?
Yes, you can do this (buy an Orbi, put the Orbi router in the main house, adjacent to the modem, and put the Orbi satellite in the guest house, with a wired backhaul, since they're out of range). The backhaul is bi-directional. It's for the Orbi satellite to talk to the Orbi router, and vice versa. It wouldn't do much good to be unidirectional (e.g., when you request a resource, there needs to be a way to get that resource back to you after it's retrieved). "Backhaul" just generally refers to non-endpoint-facing infrastructure. E.g., your cell phone company has a backhaul between the cellular towers and the larger phone and computer networks. "Fronthaul" refers to the connection between the tower and your phone/tablet/data connection, and to anyone else's, and backhaul is their connection to everything else. Same for your wifi: from your Orbi router to devices, and from the Orbi satellite to devices, is a fronthaul connection, and between the Orbi router and satellite, is a backhaul connection. Both front- and backhaul connections are bi-directional.
You will have the benefits of a single wifi network, and a single point for configuration (if you change which wifi channels you're using, the SSID, or password, the change will be effective in both places). Assuming the coverage areas for the router and satellite don't overlap, you will lose some of the benefit of having a mesh system, as a large portion of the reason to have one is the seamless handoff from one wireless access point to another (though you could add an outdoor satellite in the future if you want, if you have a power connection, and then either run a second wired backhaul to it, or daisy chain them in some combination of wired and/or wirelessly). If there's a dead zone in the middle, where devices don't get a signal from either the router or the satellite, you could just as easily use a router in your house, and a second router (in AP mode), or a wireless access point, in the guest house. You also potentially miss out on better wifi coverage in your main house by having only the router in it (though this depends on the size and construction materials of your house, and placement of the modem, and, consequently, Orbi router, within it). If you want to use an old router as the AP in the guest house, you'd configure that from the old device itself, not from the Orbi (e.g., set the Apple Airport Extreme from its own configuration page to operate in access point mode, an connect the WAN port on the Airport to one of the LAN ports on the router in your main house). And you could give it the same SSID or a different one, having it use the same wifi channels or different ones, and give it the same wireless password(s) or (a) diffferent one(s), since the Airport and whatever other router you're using won't be coordinatng with each other anyway.
