NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
RBR50 satellite
Hi All
I have an RBR50 router + RBS50 satellite. Works well, but I need another satellite. I know you can pair RBS20 and RBS40 with RBR50, but will that compromise the overall backhaul speed between my RBS50 and RBR50? Or will it only affect devices connected to the RBS20 or RBS40?
Are there any other options? I cannot find an RBS50 in Australia which is annoying.
5 Replies
Adding another satellite means that the WiFi channel connecting router to satellites will be shared with three devices instead of two. This additional connection will have a maximum (theoretical) Link Speed of 866Mbps rather than 1733 Mbps for the RBS50. (This is not as terrible as it may appear, since actual WiFi Link Speed never comes anyplace close to the theoretical speed.) This will tend to slow the performance of devices connected to both satellites, but whether users will be able to detect any difference is not certain. My guess is, probably not.
At some point, all of us have to confront the "elephant in the room". i.e., our WiFi5 Orbi systems are almost nine years old. WiFi6 mesh systems are readily available and affordable. Whereas before I could say, "none of my devices support WiFi6 anyway", today both our cell phones, our tablets, and laptops all support WiFi6.
If you can get an RBS40 or RBS20 at low cost, what the heck. Go for it. On the other hand, eventually........
Sorry I don’t follow, how can a device be connected to both satellites? I’ve found an rbs40 and I can cable it to the RBR, does this mean this backhaul issue now goes away?
understand wifi7 is out but I don’t think I need it. The only reason I want another satellite is because I have a room in my house where I can only get about 160mbps wifi speed. I think this is because I’m about 15m away from the satellite through a few walls and my internet is about to upgrade to 500mbps so all I need is another satellite in the same room for one laptop.
how can a device be connected to both satellites?
Most Orbi mesh WiFi systems are "tri-band":
- One 2.4G WiFi network connects user devices to the router or to a satellite. Any specific user device communicates with only one Orbi device.
- One 5G WiFi network connects user devices to the router or to a satellite. Any specific user device communicates with only one Orbi device.
- One 5G "backhaul" network connects the router and all satellites. Because WiFi is "one device broadcasts at a time", adding another satellite means that when the router broadcasts to that satellite, it cannot be broadcasting to the other satellite (at that instant) nor can either of the two satellites broadcast. This is all invisible to users.
Sorry to have caused confusion. "Go for it."
https://kb.netgear.com/000065169/Which-Orbi-routers-and-satellites-are-compatible
IF you can hardwire in a RBS40, it'll perform at the same speed as the RBS50 as the wired backhaul will have lower latency and be faster. Technically the RBS50's wireless backhaul is faster but it decreases quickly with distance/obstruction/interference. I"ve always wired them in when possible.
