Contemplating upgrade to Orbi Mesh

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LSoares1 wrote:

I'm looking at potentially upgrading my router (X6S) to the Orbi Mesh system.  The router is currently located in my living room (central area of the front of my house).  I have a 2000sq foot 2 story home.  To be honest, it actuall works fine, but my only issues is that when I go into my backyard patio, the signal isn't the greatest (and we like to control the music on our outdoor speakers via Sonos)..

 

So I was looking to possibly get an extender to put toward the back of the house (which should solve the range issues), but I figure it might be easier/better to simply upgrade to the orbi Mesh. 

https://kb.netgear.com/31029/Where-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite 📡

 

We use wireless, but I have hardwired a few rooms with Cat6 (including my work from home office and my son's room for his PC).  If I get the Orbi Mesh, they would be connected via hardwire.  Note: The main router needs to stay at the current location.  While different areas of my home are hardwired, the living room is the only one where I have multiple CAT6 cables feeding back into the basement where my Modem and Switch are located.

 

Here are the questions I have, and I'm hoping to get some advice from those with more experience..

1- I was looking at both the Orbi 75 or 85.  I was able to get the 75 3 pack from Costco on sale for 399 (haven't opened it yet).   The 85 3 pack appears to be just under $1000.   I don't think I really need the extra features of the 85 series, but maybe I'm missing something... 

Check the spec sheets between the 7 and 8 series to see the differences. 

 

2- The 85 has a faster processer than the 75, but of what importance is this?   I wouldn't ever expect to have more than 30 devices connected to wireless (and that's probably a stretch). Better CPU has better handling of devices and bandwidth. Also needed for the 2.5Gb WAN speed support as well. 

 

3- I know the 75 has a 1gb WAN port where the 85 has a 2.5gb one..   Does that mean that I would never see more than 1gb download speed with the 75?   Correct. Samething goes for the 8 series, however this is only effected by the 1000Mbps LAN ports both systems have. Wireless, depending upon client device support, could see over 1000Mpbs theoretically. Might not be a big deal, while my internet download speed is currently provided at 1.2gb, given my modem and switch top our a gigabit speed (which I'm not looking to upgrade anytime soon)..  1gb is plenty fast for my needs.

4- If I directly hardwire the Orbi Satalites to the main unit via CAT 6 (not through my switch),  Is that always better than letting the Orbi use the wireless backchannel? Depends, if connection between the RBR and RBS is GOOD and to spec speeds, the wireless backhaul can work better than 1Gb ethernet backhaul, however wired is always more stable.

 

5- Finally, is having one of the satalites close to the main unit an issue (like if it's only placed 15 feet away?

 30 feet or more is recommended in between RBR and RBS📡 to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.

 

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