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Help: RBS350 WiFi forwarding performance issue
I am currently using an Orbi RBK352 mesh system, and I've noticed that the WiFi performance of the RBS350 satellite is exceptionally weak.
I conducted network speed tests using iPerf3. My server is a desktop PC with an X870 motherboard, consistently connected to the RBS350 satellite via an Ethernet cable, with a reported port speed of 1200Mbps. My client is an Intel Ultra9 185H laptop, which shows an aggregated wireless link speed of 1081/865 Mbps.
When the client is connected to the RBS350 via WiFi, iPerf3 tests to the server consistently show bidirectional average speeds not exceeding 200Mbps. Internet upload and download speeds, tested via Speedtest, both cap at 100Mbps (my internet connection is 300Mbps downstream, 100Mbps upstream).
When the client is connected to the RBR350 (main router) via Ethernet, and the server is connected to the RBS350 via Ethernet, bidirectional average speeds for the dedicated wireless backhaul test reached 500Mbps. This strongly suggests that the wireless backhaul functionality itself is working correctly.
When the client is connected to the RBS350 via Ethernet, iPerf3 tests show bidirectional average speeds of 900Mbps, which indicates that the wired functionality of the RBS350 is not an issue.
However, when connecting solely via WiFi to the RBS350, regardless of whether the traffic requires wireless backhaul (like internet access) or is for local forwarding that should not require backhaul, the peak speed only reaches 200Mbps, with an average of just 120Mbps. I consider this to be an abnormally low figure.
3 Replies
I have a very silly hunch: it's possible that my client device, when connected via WiFi, is persistently connecting to the farther, weaker-signaled RBK350 (the main router). The Orbi mesh algorithm can sometimes be incredibly foolish. Even when I'm stationary near the RBS350 (satellite), the WiFi system automatically roams my device to the RBK350. Then, upon realizing the RBK350's signal strength is too weak, it roams back to the RBS350, causing my device to briefly lose connection periodically.
This is just utterly foolish.
Some observations:
My server is a desktop PC with an X870 motherboard, consistently connected to the RBS350 satellite via an Ethernet cable, with a reported port speed of 1200Mbps.
The 350 Product Data Sheet indicates that the RBR350 and RBS350 have gigabit Ethernet ports. A port speed of 1200Mbps is impossible. The maximum iPerf3 performance for two computers (server/client) connected with gigabit Ethernet is just a bit over 900Mbps. The connection could be a straight Ethernet cable, an Ethernet switch, or Ethernet ports on a router or satellite. This is what the Original Post describes:
When the client is connected to the RBS350 via Ethernet, iPerf3 tests show bidirectional average speeds of 900Mbps
Regarding the laptop:
an Intel Ultra9 185H laptop, which shows an aggregated wireless link speed of 1081/865 Mbps
Specs for such laptops indicate a WiFi7 (802.11be) capability which is irrelevant because the Orbi 350 system is a WiFi6 product with a maximum theoretical speed of 600Mbps on the 2.4G WiFi channel and 1200Mbps on the 5G WiFi channel. Unlike WiFi7 systems which claim to support simultaneous use of multiple WiFi frequencies, the Orbi 350 system supports only a single connection. My guess is that the laptop connects to the router WiFi on 5G.
The awkward part of the Orbi 350 system is that the 5G WiFi channel is used for two purposes:
- Communication between Orbi router or satellite and user devices, and
- Communication between Orbi router and satellite(s) (often referred to as the "backhaul" channel.
Thus, when any 5G WiFi device is sending or receiving to/from either the router or the satellite, the backhaul channel is not available for backhaul. When the 5G WiFi channel is being used to transmit between the router and satellite, it is not available to user devices. The more costly Orbi systems use separate 5G channels for user and backhaul communications. Netgear designed the 350 product to compete with other brands that also are "dual band" (and less costly).
That theoretical 1200Mbps Link Rate on the 5G WiFi channel is affected by distance and building construction. Netgear does not provide access to the actual Link Rate between router and satellite as it does for the Link rate between user devices and Orbis.
My impression is that the system probably offers enough performance for typical use.
The only obvious way to improve performance would be to connect the router and satellite with an Ethernet cable. I would do that myself except that installing cable in my 60 year old two story house is simply impractical.
Thanks for your reply!
Regarding the laptop, I believe a Wi-Fi 7 device should have comprehensive backward compatibility with Wi-Fi 6. The reason I listed those specs is to clarify that in my network environment, my end-devices are not the bottleneck. Therefore, I can focus more on network issues caused by the router itself.
The actual problem I'm encountering is that in both of the following scenarios, I experience extremely slow speeds and periodic, severe speed drops:
* Internal network forwarding: A device connected via Wi-Fi (for example, a wireless streaming VR headset) communicating with a computer that is connected to the RBS350 satellite via an Ethernet cable.
* Internet access: Browse the internet on the computer that is connected via an Ethernet cable.
I live alone, so there are no other devices competing for bandwidth.
The test data I've gathered suggests that the router and satellite are functioning properly:
* Direct wired transmission: 900 Mbps
* Wi-Fi forwarding to a wired device (on the same node): 600 Mbps
* Dedicated backhaul speed (measured between the router and satellite, each connected via Ethernet): 500 Mbps
* Wi-Fi device -> through the backhaul -> to a wired device: ~200 Mbps
However, in any real-world usage scenario that is even slightly more complex than these tests, the actual forwarding performance drops to less than 100 Mbps. That's only one-sixth of the tested speed!
I have checked and confirmed that all my devices are connected to the satellite router during use, and they are not making any requests that should heavily utilize the backhaul channel. Nevertheless, the network remains extremely slow and experiences intermittent disconnections. This is very difficult to explain.
