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Forum Discussion
160Mhz for Mesh?
I know the Orbi 6 AX6000 doesn’t support 160mhz currently. Could it ever (is this a hardware limitation or firmware)? I ask because I have gigabit internet and see some routers do 160Mhz and get to...
Still not getting how their math on advertising adds up. Each of the 5ghz bands are allegedly capable of 2400mbps so if what you’re saying is it can only do 80Mhz 2x2 that doesn’t add up. Either it should be able to do 4x4 at 80Mhz or 2x2 at 160mhz in order for them to advertise 2400mbps per 5ghz band.
How is that 2400mbps calculated if what you’re saying is theoretical max or 1200mbps?
Is that shady advertising of 1200 up + 1200 down? When I connect to the Orbi on a new dell yoga laptop with a 2x2 mimo AX card it says linkrate of 1200mbps in the Orbi app. Am I correct in assuming the AX6000 can’t achieve a download theoretical max of greater than 1200 mbps?
How is that 2400mbps calculated if what you’re saying is theoretical max or 1200mbps?
Is that shady advertising of 1200 up + 1200 down? When I connect to the Orbi on a new dell yoga laptop with a 2x2 mimo AX card it says linkrate of 1200mbps in the Orbi app. Am I correct in assuming the AX6000 can’t achieve a download theoretical max of greater than 1200 mbps?
Here it's possible to find the max speeds of all the wifi protocols:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ckfrx8lHCQuYKEiu6F-XUFAygobckSdFLTwGj1EpE_Y/edit#gid=0
- Thanks. Yeah I saw the same numbers on the other link I posted. It says 1200 for 2x2 and 2400 for 4x4 at AX speeds. (@80mhz that is)
If both 5Ghz are rated at 2400 (Both backhaul and actual Broadcast) I would have to believe the broadcast is 4x4 if it’s 80Mhz and they are making the claim of AX6000 (1200 @2.4ghz Broadcast+ 2400 5Ghz broadcast+ 2400 5Ghz Backhaul). Thoughts?
Do any AX 5ghz 4x4 client cards even exist? The intel Ax200 is only 2x2 but does support 160mhz. I cannot find any AX cards that do 4x4. From all I have read the broadcast is 4x4, for each of the bands on the Orbi RBK852
"Performance of the industry leading Orbi Mesh Wi-Fi Systems is improved by adding 1024 QAM with a 4x4 Wi-Fi 6 backhaul, increasing the speeds, coverage and capacity of this dedicated wireless link between the Orbi router and satellites. It does this by maintaining the 4x4 wireless backhaul of the previous generation Orbi router, but bumps it to Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) for a theoretical link of 2.4 Gbps compared to 1.73 Gbps on the older Orbi RBK50"
The only 4x4 WIFI 6 clients I'm aware of are other Routers, Access Points, or extenders, not adapters.
For example, I'm using the Netgear EAX80 4x4 WIFI 6 Extender as a media bridge connected wirelessly to the Orbi RBK852. This allows devices wired to the EAX80 Media bridge to get closer to WIFI 6 speeds compared to wireless AC 2x2.
https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-range-extenders/EAX80.aspx
From duckware.com:
Why haven't devices switched to 4×4? Because (1) there is (currently) no compelling need for that speed today (there is no app that 'requires' 300 Mbps to function) and (2) the increased speed is not worth the tradeoff in reduced run time for battery powered devices (4×4 takes more power, and for battery powered devices, runtime is FAR more important).
- The power draw for phones on 4x4 may be significant, but I don’t think for laptops it would be (compared to screen power draw and CPU); power usage for 4x4 would also be irrelevant for desktop PC’s.
I’m on Comcast’s gigabit Ethernet and am using the CM1100 with 802.11AD link aggregation to the AX6000 which actually lets me pull in beyond gigabit — a speed test on the QoS of the router shows it’s getting 1.2gbps. When I use an AX 2x2 client right in front of the router (Lenovo Yoga laptop), it only pulls in 800mbps (on the link rate max of 1200)... so losing 400mbps. If I could get my hands on a 4x4 card, I should find it maxes out my internet connection (however that would only be if I was connected to the router... I have the other satellite hard wired and so that would cap devices connected to it at 1gbps and not the 1.2gbps).
I hope we start to see 4x4 client wireless cards come into the market — with gigabit speeds and beyond being offered by ISPs, it starts to make sense to want to have parity on WiFi transmit speed, albeit at increased battery consumption in laptops and desktops. They could even allow turning off 4x4 in favor or 2x2 if Not connected to a power source within the drivers / settings. Users should see beyond 1Gb speeds on wireless. Yes it takes specific HW and ISP services need to also support speeds on the down beyong 1000Mbps. Also remember for wired speeds, you'll not see anything much over 900Mpbs on the wire. LAN Ports are rated at 1000Mpbs so thats the max. I usually see around 930Mpbs on mine.
1200+2400+2400=AX6000. This is a marketing number of the combination of the connection speed rates of the wifi radios. These are connection rates only between the Orbi system and conneted devices which differ from actual thruput speeds and will not be the same.
- I get the max speeds can never be attained. When I sit right next to the router on my 2x2 AC iPhone radio with a max linkrate of 866, I get 600. 70-75% of the max link rate is pretty good on average.
I guess my question now is more so around what prospect is there of getting a client WiFi card, adapter, etc. that will have a 2400mbps linkrate that can connect to this AX6000 Orbi.
It seems like since 160mhz is out of the question (because this isn’t permitted on the broadcast / non-backhaul band of the AX6000 from what I’ve read), then that only leaves the option of 4x4 on AX 5ghz 80Mhz if we’re to believe 2400mbps is attainable. I see none of these client facing cards, so maybe 2400mbps on the broadcast band is more advertising mojo than realized speeds (if no devices exist).
Edit: I should clarify that I see wireless AP’s that do 4x4 AX at 80Mhz... I’m referring to a client device. I see some 4x4 AC cards that will do 2100mbps but none that are AX; also don’t see any external USB 3.0 devices with 4x4 at all
ASUS PCE-AC88 AC3100 4x4 802.11AC PCIe Adapter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H9QMOMY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_nQ1WEbPA2Y29R Actually there aren't yet also wifi 6 USB dongles at all...:smileysad:
AX is still fairly new and I believe still hasn't been approved fully from it's draft forum. So seeing any AX supporing PCI or USB adapters maybe on the drawing boards still and Mfrs havn't gone to do anything until the AX standard gets fully approved and certified. I heard some rumors it was supposed to be this year. With what happening in the world currently, this could be delayed.
Rogelio1 wrote:
I get the max speeds can never be attained. When I sit right next to the router on my 2x2 AC iPhone radio with a max linkrate of 866, I get 600. 70-75% of the max link rate is pretty good on average.
I guess my question now is more so around what prospect is there of getting a client WiFi card, adapter, etc. that will have a 2400mbps linkrate that can connect to this AX6000 Orbi.
It seems like since 160mhz is out of the question (because this isn’t permitted on the broadcast / non-backhaul band of the AX6000 from what I’ve read), then that only leaves the option of 4x4 on AX 5ghz 80Mhz if we’re to believe 2400mbps is attainable. I see none of these client facing cards, so maybe 2400mbps on the broadcast band is more advertising mojo than realized speeds (if no devices exist).
Edit: I should clarify that I see wireless AP’s that do 4x4 AX at 80Mhz... I’m referring to a client device. I see some 4x4 AC cards that will do 2100mbps but none that are AX; also don’t see any external USB 3.0 devices with 4x4 at all
ASUS PCE-AC88 AC3100 4x4 802.11AC PCIe Adapter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H9QMOMY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_nQ1WEbPA2Y29R
