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Auggie11's avatar
Auggie11
Aspirant
Jan 07, 2020

How many Orbi base stations

Hi,

 

I have a large concrete house, and my IT guy says I should have one base station per floor and satalites on each floor.  Can 3 base stations work on the same network?

 

Thanks

3 Replies

  • Your IT guy isn't correct.  You might want to get a new one of those while you're at it!  LOL

     

    Orbi works with a single router (base station in your terms) and then one or more satellites to extend coverage to other areas of your home.  You can typically only have one router in your local network.

     

    In your case, a single orbi router (ideally on the main floor) and satellites as necessary on other floors.

     

    How many square feet are we talking about per floor on your home?

    • Auggie11's avatar
      Auggie11
      Aspirant
      He was not sure about Orbi using more than one router so im here asking. House is 8200 sqf. Concrete floors so worried satalites will not work so good. How many can I use with one router?

      Thanks
      • Chuck_M's avatar
        Chuck_M
        Mentor

        I have read that the number of possible satellites is far above what you would need.   The main issue at this time is the availability of satellites to purchase separately.  Netgear has yet to offer the satellites separately -- but is expected to sometime in the near future.

         

        A typical AX system (one router and one satellite) can cover about 5,000 square feet.   With dense construction materials (concrete), a system would need probably two additional satellites that would be spaced apart on different floors.  The next consideration is how you make the satellites talk to the main router.


        Do you have ethernet cables within the house?  Satellites can be connected to the router by either hard wired (ethernet) or via RF (radio).  Personally I prefer having the satellites hard-wired back to the main router but the RF backhaul system is pretty fast if you can get a good signal between the two.