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My Orbi RBRE960 and RBRS960 network will sometimes just drop the wifi networks
I keep having problems where my RBRE960/RBRS960 network will be working just great and then without warning the internet is no longer there. I know the connection to the internet works because my wi...
How does one change the power for the system to a lower setting, I do not see that setting exposed in the UI? Is it in some command line config?
Transmit Power is a setting on the web interface, Advanced Tab, Advanced Settings (bottom menu)
Open Advanced WiFi settings. There is a separate control for 2.4G and 5G Transmit. Setting it affects every Orbi unit.
I seem to recall from the conversation above that satellites are deliberately placed against outside walls so that half of the WiFi signal radiates outside.
Do you have Android or Windows devices? (There are tools that can generate a WiFi Heat Map and show the actual WiFi signal levels in all parts of the building.)
Just to throw my .02 in, 4 satellites in this size house is way too many, most likely. I have a 4300 ft.² house across four levels, including basement, and I only have two satellites. It works great, I even get signal in the attached garage and outside terrace. I used to have three originally, but then I used a signal analyzer for satellite placement and discovered I really only need two to cover everything. I had problems as well when I had 3 satellites. These Orbi systems have very strong signals.
You can get a wifi/signal analyzer for free for your computer - I used 2 apps on my Mac and they worked great. I am sure there are a number of them on Windows.
I would highly recommend to do this right, you need a software app that shows real time WiFi signal strength. There are a number of free ones. I use a Mac laptop, and walk around the house running either/both of 2 tools - WiFi Explorer Lite and iAnalyzeWiFi. Both are free and in the Mac App store. I am sure there are comparable tools in the Windows world, if not more of them. Both tools will give a real time view of ALL signals in your house where you are standing. As a bonus, you'll even see neighbor's signals if they are close enough, so it gets really easy to determine channels to set up with the NG routers for 2.4GHz and 5Ghz so that contention between networks is minimized.
Now there's two options with how you do this - you didn't say if your backhaul would be wired or wireless. With wired, pick the WORST signal area that you can get a wire to, to increase the coverage. With WiFi backhaul, pick a STRONG signal area so the backhaul connection is fast and reliable.
I would recommend starting with an RBR and 2 RBSs to start. Get the RBR working, walk around with your laptop signal app, and place the second RBS - THAT'S IT. get them both up, and then do some more walking around to see what the final strength is. You can see them in RSSI so it doesn't take any "figuring" to know if the signal is good enough for WiFi. Once that is working, you will know whether you have an area with weak signal to set up the second RBS. Try putting it as far as you can in your house from either the RBR or RBS - I think Netgear recommends 30 feet minimum?
With 2 RBSs in place, just keep walking around checking signal strength - and do some speed tests. Only then will you know if you have an objectively weak signal area demanding a 3rd RBS, or a 4th. Keep in mind as well, if that area for the third (or even the second) RBS is weak but small in size, you may need to reduce the signal power from that RBS so it doesn't overlap - you want it just strong enough to cover the weak area. Note on the two signal apps I mentioned above, I can see signals from each RBR and RBS individually - so I know if I have a strong overlap in a region of the house.
The other thing these analyzers will show you is the signal from each RBR/RBS. So in a given place, if you see strong signal from multiple devices, that's trouble - you could just play around with reducing the power from one or the other - below the default 100% - until there isn't contention in signals from multiple devices.
I really think you will be shocked at how few satellites you need. I was SHOCKED how strong the signal is, in some cases going to a room directly above on the next floor, but at the other end of the room - it has a lot of interference to get through but it does GREAT. I will also say, this is important to do imho - competing signal from multiple router/satellites will cause nothing but trouble. I see more people here that have problems from that than they do from weak signal.
Good luck and keep us posted!
