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Cameron49's avatar
Mar 16, 2021

Slow wifi with Orbi RBR20 and satellites

One, last ditch attempt before these go back to the store. I have Gig ethernet to my home. A wired connection gives me 973 Mbps download. Before Orbi I could get 900+ Mbps wifi but the kids complained about the coverage to the attic and second floor bedrooms. So I bought Orbi. Now I get 90 Mbps. The Hitron cable modem/router has all wireless turned off and the Orbi is set to AP mode. I have read most of the postings about this and I have tried most of the settings. Has there been any progress on resolving this issue?

Thanks.

8 Replies

  • have you tried the Orbi in the router mode?...or is that even possible with your ISP?

  • FURRYe38's avatar
    FURRYe38
    Guru - Experienced User

    What devices are you using to test speed on wifi?

     

    What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
    What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet or more is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.
    https://kb.netgear.com/31029/Where-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite

     

    What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.
    Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
    https://kb.netgear.com/19668/Link-Rate-and-Transfer-Speed

    Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or may not be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

    Try disabling the following and see:
    Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Set Short preamble instead of Long preamble modes. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).

     

    One User Experience/Configuration:
    https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Most-Stable-Orbi-Configuration/m-p/1941087/highlight/true#M97026

     

    FYI, you not see anything near 900Mpbs on wifi on Orbi AC. Max speeds for most devices cap out at around 400-500Mpbs on 5Ghz AC. 


    Cameron49 wrote:

    One, last ditch attempt before these go back to the store. I have Gig ethernet to my home. A wired connection gives me 973 Mbps download. Before Orbi I could get 900+ Mbps wifi but the kids complained about the coverage to the attic and second floor bedrooms. So I bought Orbi. Now I get 90 Mbps. The Hitron cable modem/router has all wireless turned off and the Orbi is set to AP mode. I have read most of the postings about this and I have tried most of the settings. Has there been any progress on resolving this issue?

    Thanks.


     

    • vajim's avatar
      vajim
      Master

      FURRYe38 wrote:

      What devices are you using to test speed on wifi?

       

      What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
      What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet or more is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.
      https://kb.netgear.com/31029/Where-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite

       

      What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.
      Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
      https://kb.netgear.com/19668/Link-Rate-and-Transfer-Speed

      Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or may not be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

      Try disabling the following and see:
      Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Set Short preamble instead of Long preamble modes. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).

       

      One User Experience/Configuration:
      https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Most-Stable-Orbi-Configuration/m-p/1941087/highlight/true#M97026

       

      FYI, you not see anything near 900Mpbs on wifi on Orbi AC. Max speeds for most devices cap out at around 400-500Mpbs on 5Ghz AC. 


      Cameron49 wrote:

      One, last ditch attempt before these go back to the store. I have Gig ethernet to my home. A wired connection gives me 973 Mbps download. Before Orbi I could get 900+ Mbps wifi but the kids complained about the coverage to the attic and second floor bedrooms. So I bought Orbi. Now I get 90 Mbps. The Hitron cable modem/router has all wireless turned off and the Orbi is set to AP mode. I have read most of the postings about this and I have tried most of the settings. Has there been any progress on resolving this issue?

      Thanks.


      Help me out here.  Why can't we allow the original poster asnwer my question before you post?  Should I delete my question?


       

    • Cameron49's avatar
      Cameron49
      Tutor

      Thanks for your response. I am testing with Linux laptop and Windows laptop.Also the speedtest within the Orbi itself.

       

      I believe I have found the problem but not sure of the solution yet. I noticed some lights on my cable modem ports were flashing green (including the one connected to the Orbi) and some were flashing yellow. It turns out that yellow means 1Gig ethernet connection and green means 100 Mbps connection. So I logged into the Orbi again and looked at the port statistics for the ethernet ports. It turns out the connection from the Orbi back to the Hitron cable modem/router is only 100 Mbps so that is where the bottleneck is. Both the Orbi ports and the Hitron port support Gig ethernet. So now I just have to figure out why the port is only operating at 100 Mbps.

      • vajim's avatar
        vajim
        Master

        Cameron49 wrote:

        Thanks for your response. I am testing with Linux laptop and Windows laptop.Also the speedtest within the Orbi itself.

         

        I believe I have found the problem but not sure of the solution yet. I noticed some lights on my cable modem ports were flashing green (including the one connected to the Orbi) and some were flashing yellow. It turns out that yellow means 1Gig ethernet connection and green means 100 Mbps connection. So I logged into the Orbi again and looked at the port statistics for the ethernet ports. It turns out the connection from the Orbi back to the Hitron cable modem/router is only 100 Mbps so that is where the bottleneck is. Both the Orbi ports and the Hitron port support Gig ethernet. So now I just have to figure out why the port is only operating at 100 Mbps.


        Nice work 

         

        Think of all the time you saved not answering all the questions in this post