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Wireless bridges in an Orbi setup
I'm moving into a larger house. I've been spoiled the last few years network-wise, as my current house is wired with ethernet cable. The new one will not be; so, I'm looking for a good wifi solution and currently I'm leaning toward an Orbi setup.
I do have a fair number of wired devices; and these will be in particular rooms in the new house. Where that coincides with the location of an Orbi unit, great. Where it does not, I'll have two options: either a conventional wireless bridge or an additional Orbi satellite.
The property is ~3700 sq ft, two levels. The Internet connection (FiOS) will be coming in on one end of the house. At this point, I'm wondering if I'd be better off starting with the one satellite unit (RBK50) or the two satellite one (RBK53). (I realize I can get another satellite later; but it would be a bit cheaper to go ahead and get the RBK53 if I'm going to need it anyway.)
My question is this: disregarding the additional wifi coverage, is there any reason to prefer an Orbi satellite to a conventional wireless bridge for wired devices?
Posed a slightly different way, if I'm sure I'm going to need at least one bridge for wired devices in a particular room, should I go ahead and get the RBK53 even if I don't know that I'll need the additional satellite for wifi coverage? Or should I just get the RBK50 and a conventional wireless bridge?
I would recommend using an additional satellite, instead of trying to use a wireless bridge with Orbi. Orbi uses a lot of spectrum, and it could be difficult to avoid interference between Orbi and a bridge, unless the bridge was 2.4 GHz only.
11 Replies
Don't know if your able to get to Costco in US, they had the best deal on the three unit Orbi. I know some people are posting having major issues but it's actually worked out well for me except for using UPnP which I had to turn off.
The Two unit router should likely cover your house just fine in Wifi, but having that extra unit for a wireless bridge is definitly good and I am sure you know how useful it can be. It would definitly cost a lot more later to add a satellite, and the 4 band backhaul that the Orbi satellite provides is unparralled - it's almost like having the unit's wired.
Thanks for the heads-up re: CostCo. I do have a membership; and the price there for the RBK53 makes this decision a no-brainer.
I have a similar situation and looking for a solution for wired devices in my home-office. I too had considered putting an orbi-sat in the office for this.
However, my office is directly upstairs from the Router and I thought too close to put an additional satellite. In fact, I tried to put my single sat in the office and things became very unstable, I think the closeness cause too much wifi overlap. My Sat is now safely back in the other corner of the house.
I would recommend using an additional satellite, instead of trying to use a wireless bridge with Orbi. Orbi uses a lot of spectrum, and it could be difficult to avoid interference between Orbi and a bridge, unless the bridge was 2.4 GHz only.
