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Forum Discussion
What Back-haul Channels are Available?
Hey gang, I just bought an RB50 pair and have 2 questions.
- Can I adjust the bandwidth of the backhaul channel down to say, 20MHz? If they are .11ac radios, a higher MCS on a 20MHz channel might be desirable in certain instances.
- I know the Orbi isn't DFS certified, but what channels are acually selectable for the backhaul radios?
20 Replies
Orbi doesn't support any user configurations of the backhaul. Only the main front haul is available for user adjustments. Only 4 channels available on 5Ghz(36-48). All channels available on 2.4Ghz. The backhaul is handle automatically.
What Channels does it "automatically" select from for backhaul?
Can I edit the backhaul to use 20MHz Channels?
149 thru 161 on 5Ghz.
You can set 20/40Mhz or 40Mhz only. This is for 2.4ghz. The backhaul on 5Ghz can't be changed as its max rate is 80Mhz for 1733Mbps on 5ghz on the 50 series Orbi.
jetter2 wrote:........
- I know the Orbi isn't DFS certified, but what channels are acually selectable for the backhaul radios?
Orbi adheres to DFS regulations. Orbi has a radar detection and avoidance capability.
When the Backhaul is operating on a DFS channel, it continuously monitors for the presence of radar signals appearing on that channel.
If a radar signal is detected, Orbi ceases transmission on the channel and moves to a new channel.
jetter2 wrote:......you double your noise floor with every channel bonding I would get better results out of a single 20MHz 5GHz channel than sitting there and having to fight CCI contention.
.......
Orbi automatically adjusts the 5 GHz backhaul channel bandwidth depending on the quality of the radio environment. In my Orbi I frequently see that my backhaul link is operating with 20 or 40 MHz bandwidth, and this keeps changing.
Wait...can someone confirm for me the firmware level for the RBK50 that supports DFS Channels? I was under the understanding that Orbi never recieved DFS certification?
There is a really thorough explanation of Orbi radio channels in this post:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Understanding-Orbi-Radio-Fronthaul-Backhaul/m-p/1671092
I haven't seen a definitive table ANYWHERE that lists the Backhaul, nor the fronthaul channels as DFS capable..
Fronthaul is only using non DFS channels. These are only available for users to select from.
Weather backhaul is using DFS automatically would need be confirmed by NG support.
Can we Tag someone on this forum that is with NG support that can verify this by chance?
jetter2 wrote:
Hey gang, I just bought an RB50 pair and have 2 questions.
- Can I adjust the bandwidth of the backhaul channel down to say, 20MHz? If they are .11ac radios, a higher MCS on a 20MHz channel might be desirable in certain instances.
- I know the Orbi isn't DFS certified, but what channels are acually selectable for the backhaul radios?
Do you have a problem that needs fixing? Or are you just seeking information so that you can redesign how the Orbi technology works?
Problem solving can happen here. Reworking Netgear's engineering is probably beyond the scope of this user-to-user community.
There are third party firmware sites where people craft hand knitted firmware that can subvert Netgear's intentions.
Do you have a link to these sites that have bespoke firmware?
If the Orbi can use DFS channels for Backhaul, that is the main thing I am after. UNII-1 & 3 bands are generally as congested as 2.4GHz due to ISP CPE devices littering these bands.
Fronthaul DFS would be a wonderful tool as well, but I suspect the chipset they are using for fronthaul isn't DFS certified (typically for cost saving reasons).
jetter2 wrote:
Do you have a link to these sites that have bespoke firmware?
I hardly think that Netgear would welcome the appearance here of links like that. But you probably know how to use Google/Bing.
OpenWRT and DD-WRT don't seem to support Orbi as of yet. Been long enough, not sure why. The orbi FW is based off caos calmer.
