NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
busjen
May 16, 2021Aspirant
RTS/CTS
I have orbi ax6000 and why is the CTS / RTS value 64 as standard on Orbi ax, when it says on several websites that the value should be 2347 on routers, is there any reason why it is 64?
- May 16, 2021
The 2347 just has been a standard for a while. NG seems to take a different approch for Orbi AX. Seems to work for some, others not so much. Users can change the value to suite there needs. You don't have to leave it at 64.
Timothy88
Jul 19, 2022Luminary
Doesn't setting it to 2347 effectively disable it?
CrimpOn
Jul 19, 2022Guru - Experienced User
Timothy88 wrote:
Doesn't setting it to 2347 effectively disable it?
This article agrees that a value of 2347 efffectively disables RTS/CTS on the Access Point. (More about that later below.)
https://www.wi-fiplanet.com/improving-wlan-performance-with-rts-cts/
Analysis of my network traffic tends to support that conclusion. I just now captured some traffic on my network, which includes a lot of FTP from security cameras with a packet length of 1514. Here's the Wireshark statistics view of that data sample:
In this sample, there were less than 1% packets over 2347. I'll need to take more samples to see if this one is representative.
The discussions I have seen regarding RTS/CTS seem to focus on how WiFi devices coordinate with one WiFi access point. My Orbi system actually has four access points (one router plus three satellites) They are all on the same channels. How does RTS/CTS work with multiple access points?
That article (above) makes the point that setting RTS/CTS on the access point is largely irrelevant compared to setting it on user devices. My Windows laptop, for example, has a setting called "Mixed Mode Protection" with two options:
- RTS/CTS Enabled (default setting), and
- CTS-to-Self
I did not find anything about what the RTS/CTS threshold value is on the WiFi adapter. My other WiFi devices do not provide information about the technical features of the WiFi adapter.
Looking at the Beacon frames transmitted by Orbi access points, I find no indication of an RTS/CTS value.
Looks like this topic will require further analysis. For example:
- Does my Windows laptop continue to use RTS/CTS even when the Orbi value is set to 2347?
- When the Orbi value is set to something lower than 2347, do packets under that cutoff not generate RTS, but packets over that value do?