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Forum Discussion
RBS750 Not "Meshing"
I recently purchased a 750 system with a router and two satellites. We have a very long house. The internet cable enters at one end of the house. That's where the RBR750 is located. The first RBS...
Dungeness wrote:
In my mind it should be connecting the other satellite, since it is closer to the router and has a good connection. Is there a way to force the furthest satellite to connect to the closer satellite?
Your impression is correct, and what most users would assume should happen. Alas, the Orbi system has no mechanism to force satellite connections (or user device connections, either). FURRYe38 has a good suggestion (powering the far away satellite off and then back on again). I have done experiments observing how user WiFi devices connect when Orbi systems are powered on that suggest that some devices will connect to the first Orbi unit they "see" and may (or may not) change to a stronger signal later.
Netgear does not provide documentation on how the router to satellite process works. It is obvious that connecting a satellite with an Ethernet cable will cause the connection to switch from WiFi to Ethernet (and removing the Ethernet cable will cause it to switch back to WiFi). The transition does not happen instantly, however, which leads to a conclusion that there must be some process which looks for what connections are available on some sort of schedule. Whether there is a similar process which compares signal strength of potential WiFi connections from time-to-time is not clear.
The very first Orbi system in 2016 had a setting for Daisy Chain, with the default being "enabled". That option remains today in the very latest firmware. When AX systems were introduced, the option was eliminated and the Daisy Chain feature is permanently enabled.
One of the most attractive features of mesh WiFi systems is that they do not require physical wiring between units. Connecting satellites to the router with Ethernet cable provides a faster connection and higher performance. If there is existing cable wiring in the house, a pair of Multimedia over CoAx (MoCA) adapters can create a high speed link. If two units happen to be on the same electrical circuit, a pair of Powerline adapters can provide a good link. (Powerline struggles going through circuit breakers.)