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Forum Discussion
Orbi RBR50 Connection Issues - AX201 160 MHz
I've been having WiFi connectivity and internet issues when trying to connect to my Orbi RBR50 from my new PC that has an Intel(R) WiFi-6 AX201 160 MHz adapter in the motherboard. All other devices c...
Was able to turn off the WiFi and waited to test the speeds again, but didn't seem to be any improvements.
So this is a rough layout of where my PC is and where the routers and satellites are. It's not drawn to scale obviously, but it gives a general idea of where things are placed. I moved Orbi Satellite #1 directly next to my PC and connected to it via Ethernet and got the full 300 up and down. Disconnecting the ethernet and connecting to the Orbi Network gave me 280-300 up and down. So it's possible for me to get the full speeds on the Orbi Network, but I'd have to move the satellite into the same room which would make it a bit redundant since I should be getting the same speeds with the Orbi router in the next room over.
I can see on orbilogin.com and the Orbi app that my PC is connected to the Orbi Router with a link rate of ~300 Mbps on the 5GHz Connection Type with 2/3 bars of connection. I can also see that there are other devices connected to the Orbi router with a link rate of 650+Mbps with 5GHz connection type and 2/3 bars of connection.
Moving a Satellite to the same room as my PC solves the issue, but isn't an actual solution to my problem. Hopefully some of this information seems useful to any of you to see what else I can try or see.
- So it looks that the issue is related to the wifi coverage.
As I mentioned earlier, I have no issues with AX201 in my laptop, that makes me think that it can be that the AX201 might have lots of obstacles when in a desktop case that can block the wifi reception?
I also saw that you can add internal antennas for the AX201, not sure if you already have this in your desktop? Here is a link sample of these antennas: https://www.ebay.com/itm/294838110806?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=aVb3_1o1Tye&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=QAEgjnAhSae&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY I'm not entirely sure where the WiFi adapter is located on my motherboard, but there are external antennas that were provided and I have on. I might just grab a USB WiFi adapter from Amazon and see if it ends up working better. I don't necessarily need it since I can achieve the fast speeds on the other WiFi network, but if I end up moving my PC some time in the future I would be able to use the USB adapter. I might try moving my PC to the same room as the router to test if there is a speed improvement and narrow down what might be causing this issue.
I appreciate all the help I've been receiving and any other suggestions are welcome.
ekhalil may be onto something with regard to the antennas. The Intel AX201 is an M.2 format, which indicates that it will be inserted into one of the motherboard M.2 sockets. i.e. a replaceable component rather than permanently soldered to the motherboard.
Notice the two antenna connectors at the top of the card. If you open the case, there should be tiny coax cables running from the external antenna location to those two connectors.
Ended up moving the PC into the same room as the router and got the faster speeds, so I guess there's something between the PC and the router that ends up gutting the speeds. Still a bit confused on how speeds were drastically increased by changing the channels from 48 to 40 compared to how it was on my old PC, but that's probably because I don't fully understand how it all works. I think I'm going to end up buying a NetGear Powerline and connecting it to the router and my PC since it seems a bit better than running an ethernet cord along my ceiling to my PC from the other corner of the room.
I'm not 100% sure where the M.2 WiFi adapter would end up being on the motherboard, but from where the antennas are situated on the motherboard I don't really want to take apart the shielding to see.
Thanks for humoring me about the antennas. That preinstalled shield certainly blocks access to everything underneath it. Would have been nice to verify that nothing "shook loose" in transit. Oh, well.
