Orbi RBR750 WLAN Latency!

Question

Interesting thing going on here. I've been a orbi fan for a while now and for the most part have not had an issues. That is until I recently "Upgraded" to the RBR 750 WiFi 6 dealeo. Right off the bat I'd like to say the throuput is great, just the TERRIBLE latency. On average the latency over WiFI ranges from 10-160 ms. Look I undertand there is some inherent latency with WiFi, but 160+ is absolutly disgusting. Anyone else have this issue? And for the reccord, no it isnt my ISP or whats behind my orbi. Currently have a PfSense box (v22.01) with a 10th gen i31011 , M.2 SSD fro the OS, dual Gig card for the Arris surfboard modem (32x8) (WAN) , 10 Gig SFP+ card and cable that then feed into a Cisco SG500 (LAN) and the Orbi pulls LAN off the SG500 in AP mode alongside every other LAN device. So cant really blame the backbone that feeds the Orbi because this thing SCOOTS in an Iperf and evything else I've thrown at it. Have ran MANY tests and it all always coems back to the Orbi adding uneccesary latency over WiFi. My assumtion is that it has too much overhead itself and maybe a little underpowered compute wise? not sure. Have messed with Channels, Premable modes,&nbsp; CTS/RTS threshold. Any thoughts on this?

plemans · Answer

Have you ever tested it with the Orbi connected directly to the modem and the orbi in router mode?&nbsp;
Its tough to say its the orbi when its running in ap mode as it doesn't do any inspection/monitoring/etc as its leaving that to pfsense box.&nbsp;
Plus between the modem and the router you have the pfsense box and a managed switch. both of which do packet/data management.&nbsp;

CrimpOn · Answer

On average the latency over WiFI ranges from 10-160 ms.
&nbsp;
Could you be a bit more specific about which latency is being measured and how?

Using ICMP packets?
Which tool?
From which device to which device? For example:

To measure a single WiFi link, from a device on WiFi to the Orbi unit it is connected to.
To measure the WiFi backhaul link, from a device hard wired to a satellite to the Orbi router (in AP mode)
To measure both user WiFi and backhaul?
To include a target outside the Orbi

Cisco switch
pfSense
ISP modem
Internet resource (DNS server, etc.)

Thanks
&nbsp;

Mikey94025 · Answer

Your wifi speed is substantially lower than what other Orbi owners are experiencing.&nbsp; There is a list of standard steps to try in the community FAQ to further isolate the root cause of your slower speeds:&nbsp;https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-WiFi-6-AX-and-WiFi-6E-AXE/Community-FAQ-My-Orbi-speeds-are-slow-inconsistent-and-don-t-my/m-p/1984305/highlight/true#M7944

sysadmnbizz · Answer

I have tested it just connected to the modem with zero difference. It's not the sg500 or the pfsense box either. Every other lan device gets less than a quarter ms back to the pfsense box. I would also like to add that any latency the cisco switch adds is almost undetectable in a normal home environment, and even in a heavy use production environment. It's no 3850, but it's still a well respected 10g medium size switch. To add about the orbi doing anything besides layer 2 maybe 3 in AP mode, you're right it really doesn't and shouldn't in AP mode, which is why i'm amazed that it has any latency to begin with. It does have a little bit of its own over head though. It still periodically phones home, checks for updates, and all the other magic that keeps the wifi radios going. So not too sure on this one

sysadmnbizz · Answer

Hey man appreciate the reply. To keep it basic, all im measuring is ICMP between a couple of my laptops and phones and those same laptops and phones back to the router (Macbook Pro 2020, Samsung Galaxy Book, iPhone(s)) and get a pretty wide sweep of latency, but all devices report on average 50+ ms over WiFI. I know 100% for a fact it is the orbi because any of those devices plugged into the switch get sub zero latency every single time no questions asked.&nbsp; I do however understand there will be maybe a couple ms lost when on the satellite, which is why in every ICMP request I ran I also did one without the satellite in the equation to eliminate that as a suspect. Outside DNS or whatever else that leaves the network at my house doesn't really matter though. As long as it still has latency from a wireless perspective, whatever wireless device reaches outside the network will just have those MS tacked on, which is unfortunate because the actual throughput is great! And look I know I'm being a brat about the added latency, it's just the OCD in me lol&nbsp; .&nbsp;

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Orbi RBR750 WLAN Latency!

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