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Forum Discussion
Orbi 850 satellite low performance
I have an orbi RBS850 with one satellite. The satellite is about 60 feet from the router. Both the router and the satellite have the latest firmware updates. My issues is, if I connect to the sate...
DBATTB wrote:
The satellite is about 60 feet from the router.
the satellite is connecting to the router at 850+MB/s.
60 ft. is pretty far for the WiFi connection between router and satellite. 5G WiFi performance falls off rapidly with distance and when passing through walls. The 850 Product Data Sheet proudly touts a maximum theoretical link rate between router and satellite of 2400Mbps.
https://www.netgear.com/images/datasheet/orbi/rbk852.pdf
However, as the footnote mentions
† Maximum wireless signal rate derived from IEEE 802.11 specifications. Actual data throughput and wireless coverage will vary and be lowered by network and environmental conditions, including network traffic volume, device limitations, and building construction.
Where does the system indicate that the link between router and satellite is 850+Mbps?
If this number appears on the Orbi web interface "Show Statistics" panel, it is not clear (to me) how this number is derived.
For example, my ancient RBR50/RBS50 system proudly states on Show Statistics that the Wireless backhaul link is at 1733Mbps. (Identical to the Product Data Sheet.) That original Orbi system had a command line feature which displayed the actual transmit and receive link rates for each satellite (I have three satellites). None of them are over 860Mbps, and they are all less than 45 feet from the router. Alas, Netgear removed the command line interface when the AX products were introduced and it is no longer possible to show this information.
A relatively inexpensive experiment would be to purchase a 100 ft. Ethernet cable (under $20 on Amazon) and temporarily connect the satellite directly to a LAN port on the router. After the connection switches from 5G WiFi to 'wired', try the performance test again.
p.s. As the 850 system has only 1Gigabit LAN ports, it is categorically impossible for a laptop to record a speed test greater than 1Gbps. Around 950Mbps is the highest possible speed to measure. The Orbi router may record a higher speed because the WAN port is a 2.5G port as long as the Internet Service Provider device also has an Ethernet port that supports a higher speed.
I do have a cat8 cable which is long enough to cover the distance, I'll give that a try and see what the outcome of the speed test is. My fiber has a burst to 2.5 gig, my wireless card is wifi 7 but as we know this version of the orbi does not support the speed. if you have the command i can run to see the actual link speed that could be helpful. I'll report back my findings.
You can see link speeds of the wireless adapter connected to the RBR or RBS in the network adapter settings.
We can't see the link speed between the RBR and RBS unfortunately.
If you have 2.5Gb ISP speeds, then the RBR850 will see this on the WAN port. You may seen well over 1Gb speeds with your Wi-Fi 7 Wi-Fi card if it's backwards compatible with AX modes on 5Ghz. It should connect at 2400Mpbs on 5Ghz on the RBR. If it does then you could see well over 1Gb speeds on the down. You'll not see anything over 1Gb on the LAN ports since they are only 1Gb.
Another experiment would be to take a device which reports signal strength (RSSI) and Link Rate to the satellite location.
Power off the satellite so that the device will connect to the router.
Run a Speed Test on the device and record the signal strength and Link Rate.
Alas, when Netgear removed command line access from the Orbi product line, they improved security (no access means one less feature to attack) but also removed access to all sorts of information.
okay so here is the result of my testing. and some discovery.
router to satellite on cat8 901+ (getting a little cross talk as my connections are not cat8 rated.
router to satellite to device 885+ first leg cat8 second leg, satellite to device cat6
router to satellite to device 350+ first leg cat8 second leg, satellite to device wifi
router to satellite to device 35 to 42 Mb/s first leg wifi 2.4ghz second leg, satellite to device wifi 5ghz.
if I could pull cable in my house I would have completed that 3 years ago when I purchased the house, that is not an option.
how do I force the satellite to connect at 5ghz? Anything else I've missed let me know.
What happens if you turn down the power on the RBR from 100% to 25%?
Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
1200 Sq ft maybe too small size of home for the RBR and a RBS.
