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Feature Request: Orbi Satellite Ethernet Backhaul
As good as Orbi looks on paper I don't understand Y you would cut yourself so short and not support Eithernet backhaul for the satellites, I have 5 locations needing a system like this but without su...
Let me acknowledge that our customer base has been clamoring for this feature for a while, and we are trying to be responsive to their needs. To provide context on why it's taking a while to get it out, during the first quarter, the Orbi Engineering team was focused on bringing out the two new products (RBK30 & RBK40) to market. Now that it's accomplished, we're actively working on bringing this feature and a couple of other interesting, market-requested features to you.
Orbi Product Team
I am not arguing the fact that wires are better. You guys don't seem to want to look at this use case where I want to use wires when wires are available but they don't always are. So the benefit of the wired backhaul is to be able to use both as needed. I would have some on wireless as the orbi has been orginally designed for, and some on wired. Yes, there are cheaper solutions for wired, but they don't address my wireless case. So I want to have an efficient way to cover both...
You both don't have to be so thick about it. It may not apply to you but others do see a benefit from it. Many other mesh offerings have this option by the way.
rafale7 wrote:I am not arguing the fact that wires are better. You guys don't seem to want to look at this use case where I want to use wires when wires are available but they don't always are. So the benefit of the wired backhaul is to be able to use both as needed. I would have some on wireless as the orbi has been orginally designed for, and some on wired. Yes, there are cheaper solutions for wired, but they don't address my wireless case. So I want to have an efficient way to cover both...
You both don't have to be so thick about it. It may not apply to you but others do see a benefit from it. Many other mesh offerings have this option by the way.
I am not being thick about it. I understand the multple technical reasons why Orbi is not the best choice for someone who doesn't own Orbi yet and who already has Ethernet wiring throughout their home. I'm simply stating facts based on product capabilities. You don't have the same knowledge as I do, so you don't understand my point, and you think I'm being thick.
The limitations of Orbi include, but are not limited to: 1) Orbi forces you to use the same WiFi channel for all units. 2) Orbi does not allow fine control of the power for each unit, only 100/75/50/25%. 3) If you do adjust the power, each Orbi unit must use the same power value. 4) Orbi provides no report on the connection speeds and signal strength of connected devices, making it hard to configure the system for optimal operation.
I will also point out that the Ubiquiti APs allow one wired AP to provide a wireless backhaul for up to four additional APs. This is similar to the idea behind Orbi and seems to be the exact use case you are referring to. More info here: https://help.ubnt.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002262328-UniFi-Feature-Guide-Wireless-Uplink
Don't misunderstand me. I have nothing against adding Ethernet backhaul to Orbi. It just doesn't change the fact that there are better solutions if you already have wiring throughout your house.
All these months later, I'm still trying to understand this argument.
Netgear *NEVER* marketed or advertised Orbi as having wired backhaul - QUITE the opposite, in fact.
If I buy a sports car, I'm not going to **bleep** that the trunk is too small for a hefty supermarket run - that's not its intended use case and I knew that going in.
Why do people buy Orbi and **bleep** about a lack of wireless backhaul when that's not what it was designed for? If you're wired, use a wired AP - there are *many*.
I can't understand why this is a difficult concept.
Rodney
Thank you. This was informative on the Orbi. It seems to be lacking more features than I thought.
The biggest drawback of the ubiquity is that the wireless backhaul is using the wifi network and will slow down the base ssid. What Orbi brings is a separate wireless backhaul which is what I am looking for. I have friends running ubiquity using both wired and wireless backhaul. The band steering and the interface management is very buggy and the platform is slower than say a bunch of ancient apple airports. Actually Ubiquity offers nothing new compared to having Apple airports in bridge mode or as repeaters. The goal is to have the uplink wireless unit run at full wifi speed while serving the satellites.
Orbi's innovation is the separate channel backhaul. What we are asking for is also a wired backhaul to work in parallel and the ability to kick out dumb devices which get hooked up on one AP even when the signal has become weak which from what you are saying does not appear to be the case. I thought this was one of the key advantages of the APs. Ubiquity does this but very poorly from what I observed.
If Ubiquity not using wifi as their wireless backhaul then I would agree with you but so far I am only seeing the velop and the orbi offering this feature.
Again, I do not have wiring throughout the house. I have wiring at some places and not at others. This is the reason why I would like to have both so I can use wires where I can and wireless where I cannot instead of bogging down the whole house through a wireles only solution.
rhester72 Sorry if you don't understand and it frustrates you. I am using wired APs. They are not covering areas where I don't have wires very well or with repeaters reduce the speed of the AP the repeaters are connected to.
rafale7 No problem. You raise a good point about the Ubiquity wireless backhaul reducing throughput. I think this is the case with several "mesh" solutions. You need an additional radio, like Orbi has, to address that.
I have both Ubiquity and Orbi operating in two different sites. I've tested throughput with iPerf, and the WiFi throughput is equivalent with with both systems, with a slight edge to the Ubiquiti. I get maximum data throughput of 250 Mbps vith an Ubiquiti AP-Pro vs 225 Mbps with Orbi. This is probably limited by my 2011 laptop though. I don't have an ac client to test with.
I don't see the buggy interface issues you mention with Ubiquiti, and the handoff from AP to AP, and the handoff from 5G to 2.4G, seems to work about the same on both systems.
Why is Netgear not providing wired backhaul if other similar systems are? what is the problem? Why are other similar systems offering this feature why can't Netgear.
What we are asking for is also a wired backhaul to work in parallel and the ability to kick out dumb devices which get hooked up on one AP even when the signal has become weak which from what you are saying does not appear to be the case. I thought this was one of the key advantages of the APs. Ubiquity does this but very poorly from what I observed.
No Unifi does not do support that anymore (because it never worked right). Clients decide when they change, not the APs. Just like the Orbi.
Still trying to figure your explanation of what you want. You want wired to your Orbi router than out to a mix of wired and nonwired satellites? AFAIK, Orbi can only do 2 satellites. So you want one wired/ one wireless? If you have more than one wired AP now not sure how that is going to solve your problem.
Also not sure what you mean by the Unifi platform being slow. Are you talking about the controller? Are you talking about AP througput? The controller isn't slow. AFAIK the APs arent either.
Dan_H wrote:No Unifi does not do support that anymore (because it never worked right). Clients decide when they change, not the APs. Just like the Orbi.
Still trying to figure your explanation of what you want. You want wired to your Orbi router than out to a mix of wired and nonwired satellites? AFAIK, Orbi can only do 2 satellites. So you want one wired/ one wireless? If you have more than one wired AP now not sure how that is going to solve your problem.
Also not sure what you mean by the Unifi platform being slow. Are you talking about the controller? Are you talking about AP througput? The controller isn't slow. AFAIK the APs arent either.
Dan_H What are you saying Unifi doesn't support anymore? The minimum RSSI feature and the band steering feature are both still active in the latest AP firmware.
