New - Firmware Version 3.2.18.1 for RBR750 / RBS750 Series Released

Update regarding my RBK753S:

My wireless speeds were VERY inconsistent with 3.2.18.1 (not enough time with prior firmware to see if this is specific to the firmware or Orbi itself).

Right after resetting wifi adapater and / or Orbi, the speeds start out great for a couple of Speedtest tests, e.g. 475 - 480 Mbps down (I am on a 400 Mbps Xfinity plan which they always overprovision by about 20% as others have noted).

However, on the 3rd or 4th Speedtest (this is the same across different servers), the speed starts out looking fine, then quickly drops by about 50% and the tests end at 200 - 250 Mbps.

Truly frustrating - I spent hours today trying different things in an effort to resolve it, including trying different wifi drivers for my Killer AC1535 wifi adapter, deleting adapter and driver files and then reinstalling. I also restarted the Orbi to no avail.

To rule out the adapter as potentially being the cause, I tried my old top-rated Linksys WUSB6400M AC wifi adapter and it reports a low receive rate for some reason and is even slower than the Killer on speedtests even though it supports 867 Mbps on 5 Ghz...

So I unplugged the Linksys WUSB6400M and re-enabled the built-in Killer AC1535 wifi adapter.

Finally I just did a factory reset of the Orbi and just got 479.98 Mbps result on the 3rd Speedtest (first two after the reset were close as well at 461 Mbps and 477 Mbps).

I just ran a 4th test and it came down a bit to 435 Mbps; I was a little concerned that this could indicate it was going to start dropping again, but on the 5th test, downstream speed came back up to 476 Mbps!

Before the factory reset, no matter what I tried (all the other steps above), I could never get more than 2 consecutive tests today of at most 475 - 480Mbps before it dropped to anywhere from 150 - 250 Mbps in subsequent tests (3rd test onward); speeds only came back TEMPORARILY after I reset the wifi connection and / or reset / reinstalled the adapter etc.

So hopefully the factory reset did the trick, but it is too early too tell (i.e. perhaps the issue starts after 1 hour or after a day).

I will keep an eye on it for the rest of the evening and also check each day for the next several days... 

Don't Killer adapters have there own QoS features? Something to disable if there is on your adapter. 

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FURRYe38 wrote:

Don't Killer adapters have there own QoS features? Something to disable if there is on your adapter. 

 

 

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I uninstalled the Killer Control Center software earlier today, leaving only the actual drivers. So presumably that took care of disabling any built-in QoS.

Ok...

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Mastra11 wrote:
njwebHello, so now the firmware 3.2.18.1 is giving you problems? but before with the firmware 3.2.16.22 you had the same problems?

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Hi,

Good question. In fact I mentioned this yesterday in my own thread, but not in this thread here:

I did not have the RBK753S long (3 or 4 days) before upgrading to 3.2.18.1 and did not test speeds / record tests results on this laptop yet with the RBK753S with the old firmware. I had spent time first testing speeds in all the key rooms of the house on my old RBK53 before I disconnected it, so I could have a baseline measurement). 

The bad news is that this morning, the speeds are again lower (not quite as low as before the factory reset, but they drop off before the test ends: The test starts at 475 Mbps BRIEFLY but very quickly drops to 330 range and stays there - end result 337 Mbps only. :(

Actual download speeds are also bad today via wifi (e.g. 170 Mbps).

Just conected the laptop to the Orbi ethernet port and real world dowlonad speeds are fine via ETHERNET, just about 480 Mbps (stable at 478 - 480), so it is Orbi wireless that is an issue. 

I can rule out my ISP and cable modem and the Orbi wired connection.

These poor wifi speeds in same room as router are very disappointing and frustrating. I may as well go back to my RBK53 in that case...

I do not know if this is due to the router firmware or router. Doubt it is due to the adapter though since 2 adapters were unable to get proper wifi speeds.

Per another thread, I will try to experiment with disabling WMM on 5 Ghz band just to see if it has any impact. The problem is QoS is supposed to be enabled, so I will have to turn it back on.

Then I will try to go back to the 2.16.x.x firmware to see if that helps speeds...

:(

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Mastra11 wrote:
njwebOk but are the WiFi speeds all with ups and downs on all wifi devices? tablet smartphone etc? what wifi channels do you use for 2.4ghz and 5ghz?

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I am using Orbi defaults:

2.4 GHz channel set to Auto

5 Ghz channel set to 48

Laptop wifi adapter on laptop link rates are 866Mbps/866Mbps (receive/transmit) and from prior tests, including the ones I mentioned yesterday after factory reset, we know it is fully capable of 475 - 480 Mpbs in the same location (that is out of the 480 Mbps my ISP is provisioning).

My phone (Galaxy Note 9) on 5 Ghz is also only getting 313 Mbps (302 Mbps on 2nd test) and it is located only 2 feet from the Orbi router (ran tests just now), similar to the 337 Mbps my laptop wifi got.

So it is NOT the wireless adapters but something with the Orbi wireless.

Going to try disabling WMM and any other settings that might impact it and, if that does nothing, then install 2.16.x.x firmware again...

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Mastra11 wrote:
njwebOk .. but did you have these problems even with the firmware 3.2.16.22? have you also tried speedtesting with the wifi of your ISP's modem / router?

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As I mentioned in my first reply this morning, I do not know because I did not test actual speeds with 3.2.16.22...

Never expected it to be an issue and only had the router a few days before 3.2.18.1 came out and I had a few stability issues the first 4 days, so I upgraded to 3.2.18.1.

Not sure if those temporary stability issues were just due to the orbi settling in with all 35+ wireless devices or...

Had no disconnects the last week now (on 3.2.18.x) after rebooting everything once more last Thursday (1 week ago), so I am now just trying to resolve wifi speeds...

Not looking forward to going back to 3.2.16.x since I prefer to run the latest firmware...

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njweb wrote:

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am now just trying to resolve wifi speeds...

Not looking forward to going back to 3.2.16.x since I prefer to run the latest firmware...

 

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Your WIFI speeds probably have nothing to do with the ORBI product. Not sure how you ae testing the speeds. But if you want to see how the mesh system is doing, use the speed test built into the app and/or GUI. 

You could run a WIFI analyzer to see if your 2.4GHZ channel is congested. I find auto to be troublesome. 

Here is my results, using the least congested channel for 2.4 and 5 GHZ (channel 1 for 2.4) (channel 48 for 5).

Lastest test result (8:25 Apr 16, 2021)
DOWNLOAD 748.58Mbps 
UPLOAD 52.93Mbps

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Mstrbig wrote:

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njweb wrote:

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am now just trying to resolve wifi speeds...

Not looking forward to going back to 3.2.16.x since I prefer to run the latest firmware...

 

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Your WIFI speeds probably have nothing to do with the ORBI product. Not sure how you ae testing the speeds. But if you want to see how the mesh system is doing, use the speed test built into the app and/or GUI. 

You could run a WIFI analyzer to see if your 2.4GHZ channel is congested. I find auto to be troublesome. 

Here is my results, using the least congested channel for 2.4 and 5 GHZ (channel 1 for 2.4) (channel 48 for 5).

Lastest test result (8:25 Apr 16, 2021)
DOWNLOAD 748.58Mbps 
UPLOAD 52.93Mbps

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Thanks for your feedback!

Which wifi client device / wifi adapter are you using tro get the above results? Is it AX (Wifi 6) or AC?

Right now, based on my testing and associated observations, it seems the Orbi has challenges maintaining consistent wireless speeds with non-AX clients; i.e. with AC clients. However, if it turns out to be something else, I will be happy to share it.

To answer your questions and share some additional details:

• I am testing with speedtest.net
• All my tests were run while connected to the 5 GHz band (more specifically - using the above 802.11ac devices). I am using the default 5 GHz channel - 48.
• Glad you mentioned the built in app. I ran it yesterday, but I assume it is just reporting wired speeds (cable mode to RBR)?

Wifi Analyzer shows signal strength as a whopping -21 dBm...

Its recommendation is Channel 48, which is what I am using (as noted above).

It also indicates '100% improved"; not sure exactly what that is referring to...