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Forum Discussion
Satellite placement question
I'm thinking about buying an RBK50 but am doing my due dilligence first to see if it will work well for me. Our house is approximately 5,200 sq. ft, two levels. It's wired for ethernet. There is ...
With the upstairs satellite connected with ethernet, distance is not much of a factor. My guess is that upstairs coverage would be better with the satellite upstairs because antenna strength is better "horizontally" than vertically for omnidirectional antennas.
A bigger concern is 2,500 sq. ft. on a single floor. Yes, that should be well within the model 50 capabilities when the Orbi is located in the center of a square building. However, if those 2,500 sq. ft. are in a long rectangle, there could be issues at the far end.
Of course, the only way to test this is to install the Orbi and find out. I am not aware of any tools (free to consumers) that will produce a coverage ("heat") map just from a drawing.
Thanks. I am still in the process of mapping ethernet wall jacks to ports in the termination hub—I haven't yet figured out which one corresponds to the upstairs networking closet, so I may initially connect the Orbi satellite via WiFi.
Fortunately, our house is pretty square. So I'm hoping that a router downstairs and one upstairs in roughly the same central location will be enough. If not, I can always get a satellite.
- Vendors like Amazon and Costco price the two satellite package a lot less than buying the one satellite set and adding a satellite later.
Good Luck