What is the limiting factor for the number of connected devices?

Current firmware is V4.6.5.14_2.0.54

ISP modem/router/ONT is a Zyxel c3000z in bridge mode.

My house is about 2500 sq ft, but it's long and skinny with a giant brick fireplace/chimney structure in the middle that basically cuts the house in half.

The RBR is at one end of the house. One RBS is two rooms away, about 50 feet from the router, next to the brick wall.  The other RBS is another 30 feet beyond that, other side of the brick wall toward the other end of the house, and on a lower floor.

The far-end RBS sometimes tries to connect to the RBR, but has "Poor" backhaul status when it does, because it's too far away and through the thick brick wall. Fortunatelty, it usually finds its way back into a daisychain configuration, connecting via the middle RBS.

2.4GHz is set to channel 6, which I settled on after some exploring with a wifi scanner and trying a few different channels. It's probably no better than when it was set to "auto," but it's hard to tell. The devices that drop frequently are WiFi smart bulbs and a couple of plugs, all of which are 2.4Ghz only.

5GHz is currently set to channel 48, but again, no definite difference from "auto".

I also set the CTS/RTS threshold to 2307, per a recommendation I found elsewhere on this forum. But I doubt that actually has any impact.

I can typically see about 8 other SSIDs on my wifi scanner, but they are mostly -80 to -90 dBm, so a bit weak to be causing major interference, I think? Two 2.4GHz SSIDs are visible with around -70 dBm, but those are on different channels, and are the reason I settled on channel 6 for my 2.4GHz radios.  

CrimpOn - The 40 device limit is on the main netgear home page, in the brief description of each current Orbi system. It's also on the specific product page, in the main product summary text: https://www.netgear.com/home/wifi/mesh/rbk753/

With prior routers, I've always assumed the limit was available IP addresses on the subnet, like you said. But until a recent "smart home" buying spree, I'd never really had more than 30 or so devices regularly connected. So I figured maybe I missed something with regard to what WiFi can support, or what can reasonably be expected of residential routers with limited processors and memory.

Hi CrimpOn, (and FURRYe38 , plemans )

 

Could you please point me to the pre-release for the 750 series. 

 

Thanks in Advance,

Al

CrimpOn wrote:

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ChadHadsell wrote:

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I noticed that Netgear advertises the RBR750 as being able to handle around 40 devices.

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My question comes down to this: What exactly is the bottleneck that limits the RBR750 to around 40 connected device?

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Could you please post a link to this Netgear statement about "40 devices".  I could not find such a statement on the official Product Data Sheet.  What I did find is this statement:

My ancient RBR50 is putting along just fine with over 40 devices (most of them are idle or are IoT 'gizmos'). If my old router can support over 40, surely "4X" means "more than 50+".

Compare the processors:

RBR50 - Qualcom IPQ4019, 4 ARM Cortex A7, Clock Speed 171MH, 2 spatial streams

RBR750 - Qualcom IPQ8174, 4 ARM Cortex A53, Clock Speed: 1400MH

 

It will be nearly impossible to connect more than one Class C subnet (255.255.255.0) of devices, which  amounts to about 253, including the router, satellites, and user devices.  In practical terms, the "sky's the limit" on the 750 product line.  The WiFi radio spectrum will saturage before the router does.

 

However (BIG drum roll), there are serious issues with connectivity in both the 750 and 850  product lines.  New firmware was officially released for the 850 last week and (I believe) there is a "pre-release" version for the 750 that is going around for those brave souls who are desperate.

 

 

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