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Forum Discussion
870 a step backward from 850
I just "upgraded" from a 2 satellite 850 system to 1 satellite 870 system.
I moved from a house to a condo with smaller square footage and did not need the coverage area.
The new system will not support in the same locations the router and 1 satellite. I have to use a hardwire link.
The speeds are almost exactly the same even if I use a wifi 7 dongle in the computer (ASUS BE92).
The units are larger. The biggest improvement is putting the sticker with the default SSID and password on the front of the unit rather than the base.
I see none of the benefits except for the ability to select 5ghz channels to move away from neighbors.
Unless you need the wifi 7, it is not worth the money, as the 850 2 satellite system is about 40% of the 870 system.
Really a disappointment.
3 Replies
rschein wrote:
The speeds are almost exactly the same even if I use a wifi 7 dongle in the computer (ASUS BE92).
It would be helpful to know:
- The speed provided by the ISP, as measured by the Orbi router.
- The speed measured by the computer when connected directly to the 870 router with Ethernet.
WiFi7 is an interesting topic. I find the technical documentation on the Asus BE92 USB WiFi adapter a bit confusing:
https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/adapters/all-series/usb-be92-nano/techspec/
- They claim enormous WiFi speeds (up to 2,882 megabits per second), yet
- The computer interface is USB 2.0, which has a maximum link speed of 480 megabits per second
https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00024571 - A bit of a puzzle why Asus did not include a USB 3.0 interface in the product. (cost?)
I go both ways.
Not an improvement: Because most devices, the router isn't the bottleneck. Its the device. And some of the early release wifi 7 devices, don't even support the full 320hz wide channels to reach improved speeds. It also isn't going to cover much more area because broadcast power didn't increase (set by the fcc). So most users if they're on a reasonably high end system (like your 850 series), they won't see much/any improvement.
Improvement: Wifi 7 has significant improvements in concurrent usage. Meaning if you have a lot of devices, it'll work better. Its also supposed to have roaming improvements that users might see. There's other benefits but those are what I'd consider the key ones.
A lot comes down to your expectations. If you're already on a pretty high end system, you probably won't see much benefit other than 6ghz. If you're still in your return window, you could return it.
Ya, you won't see anything faster as your USB adapter is limited by its USB 2.0 support:
https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/adapters/all-series/usb-be92-nano/techspec/
You need a adapter that supports USB3.0 to take advantage of what Wifi6/6E or 7 offer.
Not a good comparison or result for what your using. My 870 out performs my 850 series though the 850 series is solid for his features. All my BE adapters are USB 3.0 or PCIe supporting.
rschein wrote:
I just "upgraded" from a 2 satellite 850 system to 1 satellite 870 system.
I moved from a house to a condo with smaller square footage and did not need the coverage area.
The new system will not support in the same locations the router and 1 satellite. I have to use a hardwire link.
The speeds are almost exactly the same even if I use a wifi 7 dongle in the computer (ASUS BE92).
The units are larger. The biggest improvement is putting the sticker with the default SSID and password on the front of the unit rather than the base.
I see none of the benefits except for the ability to select 5ghz channels to move away from neighbors.
Unless you need the wifi 7, it is not worth the money, as the 850 2 satellite system is about 40% of the 870 system.
Really a disappointment.
