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Forum Discussion
Orbi RBR350 + 2 satellites internet speed question
Hi!
I use a RBR350 Orbi connected to 2 RBS350 satellites in my house with 2 floors. There is a big concrete wall in the middle of the house.
So basically, the router and the RBR350 are downstairs, on one side of the wall. Internet speed is around 500Mb/s there.
Me and my partner are working on the 2nd floor, on two separate rooms. The best configuration I found is the following:
First satellite is on my desk, on the same side of the wall as the router and Orbi, but 2 floors above. I get around 180 Mb/s with my Macbook Pro M1 Max with an ethernet cable. A little less in WiFi.
Second satellite is on my partner's desk, on the same floor but on the other side of the wall, so I use the first satellite as a bridge to the second one. On her cheaper Asus laptop, she gets around 90 Mbs/s with ethernet.
My question is: will I be able to gain some speed at the second floor with another Orbi system? I can't have ethernet cables directly from the router ATM.
Thanks in advance.
Cheers!
Max
47 Replies
Humpf, just did a speed test in my room and it went up to 300Mb/s. So the signal oscillates between 180 and 300Mb/s. Not sure why so much difference.
just did a speed test in my room and it went up to 300Mb/s. So the signal oscillates between 180 and 300Mb/s
Speeds also depend on other factors. You and your neighbors share the same internet "pipe", and sometimes the speedtest servers are overloaded. Some appliances generate interference - microwave ovens being one example. Hard to say at this point whether this variation is due to the Orbi backhaul (though it is possible).
On her cheaper Asus laptop, she gets around 90 Mbs/s with ethernet.
Can you test using your laptop in her room? That will ensure we can compare the results.
It would also be useful to take a speed measurement there with her satellite turned off.
maxpuissant wrote:
There is a big concrete wall in the middle of the house.
Does that wall extend to all the floors? Are there rooms on both sides that wall on all floors?
Are you getting good speeds throughout the first floor?
Can you test using your laptop in her room? That will ensure we can compare the results.
150 Mb/s in WiFi. 95 Mb/s with ethernet and I think it's because it's plugged into a Belkin Usb-c dock. Me, I use ethernet on a Cladigit TS4, probably not the same league?
It would also be useful to take a speed measurement there with her satellite turned off.
165 Mb/s, so a little bit more than with the satellite on.
Is there anything on the path between your two rooms that that might be blocking the signal? For instance, a pipe chase or a chimney? Or perhaps a bathroom?
No, it's the attic, so just plasterboard walls.
Does that concrete wall extend to all the floors? Are there rooms on both sides that wall on all floors?
The concrete wall goes from the ground floor to the first floor. Yes, there are rooms on both sides. Second floor is the attic, so it does not go up there.
Are you getting good speeds throughout the first floor?
Pretty much the same as in my partner's room: 165 Mb/s ATM. On both sides of the wall.
Something to check into as well, maybe a powerline adapter between the RBR and the far side of the wall to get a RBS ethernet connected to the RBR.
Concrete and steel will cause problems for any wifi mesh system.
Something to check into as well, maybe a powerline adapter between the RBR and the far side of the wall to get a RBS ethernet connected to the RBR.
Or maybe just run an ethernet cable between the two satellites. Though that depends on whether the goal is to improve the performance in the partner's room, or whether it is just to get the best overall speeds possible.
Powerline could be part of the solution, though I've found its performance to be hit-or-miss in my home (depending on the specific circuits I am using for it). If there is an accessible pipe chase or shaft, then shifting to a wired backhaul might be possible. maxpuissant - if you do that, you do need to make sure you have the proper grade of cable. This is about fire safety, not just electrical performance. In my location, that would be "riser" cat 6a cable (which has different insulation than normal cat 6a cable).
Concrete and steel will cause problems for any wifi mesh system.
Yeah, especially if the concrete has rebar in it (as it almost always does).
Or maybe just run an ethernet cable between the two satellites. Though that depends on whether the goal is to improve the performance in the partner's room, or whether it is just to get the best overall speeds possible.
Well that could be a solution, but first, do you think I have good speed in my room?
Something to check into as well, maybe a powerline adapter between the RBR and the far side of the wall to get a RBS ethernet connected to the RBR.
OK.
But currently the RBR is on the ground floor and the RBS on the second floor (attic). In your configuration, should I move the RBS to the ground floor or the first floor?Powerline adapters make it so you can use the house hold power outlet as a form and way to communication over power coverted to ethernet from where the RBR is located to where the RBS is located at it's remote location. May help if there are wifi barriers in between the RBR and RBS.
OK.
But currently the RBR is on the ground floor and the RBS on the second floor (attic). In your configuration, should I move the RBS to the ground floor or the first floor?
Is this YOUR house or a rental?
hint: My solution to this situation involves a carbide drill bit to create a hole through the concrete wall for an Ethernet cable (down low, in the corner)
Yes, it's our house. I might just call the electrician and see what can be done.
o you think it's also the mesh backhaul that gives me around 300 Mb/s with the first satellite (first room) and around 150 Mb/s with the second satellite (second room) in the attic?
The RBR delivers 500 mbps, the two RBS deliver 180-300 when connecting to their LAN ports.
That difference has to be due to the backhaul, it's the only wireless link on the path.
Well in that case, we wouldn't need the Orbi anymore, we could just run the cables between the router and our laptops.
Of course you could do that, but if you want to improve the wifi speed throughout the house, you'd want to keep the RBS in place.
Maybe a stupid remark: but why not just link the router to the laptops directly with powerline adapters then, instead of using the Orbi?
Again, you could. I doubt you'll get much performance gain over what you have now. The conversion rate for a good powerline link is about 30% of the powerline link speed. With AV2 powerline, that works out to 300 mbps. And you might not get nearly that much - it depends on the wiring. You'd be sharing the powerline bandwidth across the two rooms (as you are sharing the wireless backhaul now).
The net here is that you are aiming for higher performance than powerline can deliver.
I tried it and the whole sytem went berserk. I had to reset everything. Because the RBR and RBS N°1 are not daisychain, it just can't work that way, right?
The wireless backhaul can set up as a daisy chain topology: rbr->rbs->rbs. My own system has sometimes done that.
Anyway, since the direct ethernet connection didn't work, that rules that approach out.
OK thanks a lot to all of you!
I'm gonna try the powerline adapters in combination with the Orbi and see what I can get from that. And I'll talk to my electrician to see how to make a wired connexion eventually.Hi!
Actually, I have one last question for you, because now that I think of it, it's not clear on my part:
Does the second RBS satellite communicates with the first RBS satellite? Or does it communicate only with the RBR?
Thanks!Does the second RBS satellite communicates with the first RBS satellite? Or does it communicate only with the RBR?
The backhaul itself can either go directly from the second RBS<->RBR or it can be daisy-chained (RBS<->RBS<->RBR). The web ui should tell you which topology you have.
As far as control goes, AFAIK Netgear has never disclosed the details.
The web ui should tell you which topology you have.
For backhaul, depending of the RBS is in star formation, the RBS would connect to the RBR. If the RBR and RBS are in a daisy chain configuration, then the RBS would connect to the nearest RBS that is closer to the RBR.
When you give the power line adapter configuration a try, then the RBS wil connect to the RBR if you connect the PL adapter behind the RBR and then the other adapter to the RBS.
When you give the power line adapter configuration a try, then the RBS wil connect to the RBR if you connect the PL adapter behind the RBR and then the other adapter to the RBS.
maxpuissant: Before you connect the RBS to the adapter, you should first connect your laptop and run a speedtest. It's important to use the same outlet pair for the adapter that you plan to use with the RBS.
Hello everyone.
I just installed a powerline adapter and tested it on my computer's room. I got 165 mbps, which is the lowest I had when the RBS was connected in wi-fi. But I guess it'll be more stable.
I'll check what speed I have in my partner's room tomorrow.One thing though: I only use Cat5 cables, does it make a difference?
Thanks!
I recommend CAT6 UTP for best operation and performance. CAT5 was rated for 100Mpbs. CAT5E and CAT6 are rated for 1Gb.
Sorry, I'm using Cat5E, not Cat5. Should I still upgrade the cables?
installed a powerline adapter and tested it on my computer's room. I got 165 mbps, which is the lowest I had when the RBS was connected in wi-fi
As maxpuissant remarked, the only way to know if the satellite connection has switched from WiFi to 'wired' is to check the Attached Devices web page. It takes a few minutes for the system to recognize a change in connection possibilities, evaluate them, and decide which to use.
the only way to know if the satellite connection has switched from WiFi to 'wired' is to check the Attached Devices web page.
FWIW, I've never completely trusted that status.
If I wanted to test the performance of just a powerline link, I'd connect it directly to my pc and then run some speedtests. That way I know for sure that the powerline is the bottleneck.
Correct. Thanks. However...... if the Attached Devices display shows 'wired Good', my impression is that it is referring to the Powerline connection (there being no physical Ethernet cable). If the Attached Devices display shows "WiFi"......
p.s. Some time ago, I spent $20 on Amazon to purchase a 100ft. CAT6 cable. When there are few family members to annoy, I can string that cable through the house (up stairs, down hallways, etc.) and connect devices to "see what happens". For example, using a temporary Ethernet cable would provide a demonstration of "what might happen" if someone drilled a hole through that concrete wall and ran an Ethernet cable through it.
