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Forum Discussion
Orbi Speed Issue wired and wireless
I have used a Netgear nighthawk for the past couple of years and was pleased. We started to have some issues with the old router so I thought I would upgrade to the newer Orbi system about 3 w...
Randsee, I don't know how to tell if the LAN ports are bad, but this is certainly a high maintenance router... at least it has been to this point.
Some times my wired connection is excellent, others it is slow and sometimes it is non functional. I have even tried buying new cables, that has not helped either.
After trying the solutions suggested, things seemed better last night, but this morning it is slowing down again. Speeds haven't stopped, but it is dragging then cycling back to being fine. Seems more like a firmware issue than hardware, but I'm not an expert. I still have not heard back from customer support, maybe later today??
I'm getting ready to box this unit back up and try something else. I have had several routers over the years. None has been as unreliable as the Orbi.
I'm uncertain (as are a lot of folks) why the ORBI is not working to specs for some users. I've been quite lucky with decent speeds and very few issues related to dropouts/slowdowns. My environment is not very demanding but I do have a large area (about 4000sq feet) I'm trying to cover through concrete block/stucco walls.
I also don't do a lot of roaming back and forth between my satellite and main router while streaming video or other high bandwidth users. I do have nearly 20 devices on WiFi almost 24/7. Most are on the 2.4 gHz band but several are dual band and seem happy on the 5 gHz band--even when switching between main and satellite.
Another tip is to manually set your channels on both WiFi bands. I did a "sweep" of WiFI signals strength (using an outdoor wireless bridge/access point-an Engenious ENS202) around my house and found that clearest was channel 1. My nearest neighbor is about 100 yards away and any signals were very low strength but I still chose the least clutttered on both 2.4 and 5 gHz bands.
My settings on the ORBI are nearly default except for the WiFi channels. I do not have fast roaming selected either.
Here's a link to a good explanation of what channel crowding does to WiFi speeds: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/03/802-eleventy-what-a-deep-dive-into-why-wi-fi-kind-of-sucks/2/
I hope you can find a solution to your issues without resorting to another system. Either way: Good Luck!
