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I'm new to RBE970/971 but old to all this netz stuff
I'm new to RBE970/971 but old to all this netz stuff. I have router, with 6 sats. Home is massive with cabling ranging from CAT5e from 20 years ago to recently pulled CAT7. All installed "a la Carrie...
Wow you have a lot going on BedfordHome I could only say, to the extent you still have outstanding problems, that if it was me I would go after one issue at a time.
I can tell you I have had two 970 satellites hardwired through an unmanaged switch with the 970 series for 10 months with none of the problems you are seeing. I also see surprisingly strong signal strength and speeds from devices. My cable is all Cat6 so not as good as your satellite wiring as well. My house was built in 1862 (redone in 2011), so it has lots of concrete between the basement and three floors above it. Not ideal but wifi signals are strong everywhere.
I spent a lot of time seeking out optimal satellite placement based on being wired and not having too much overlap on signals from Orbis because they have such strong signal. In the old days with different Orbis you could reduce power to say 50%, and that solved a lot of problems - because most overpopulate or incorrectly place their satellites.
You probably know too, that satellite placement logically is DIFFERENT based on whether the satellite will be hard wired or wireless (short answer - hard wired satellites are put in an area with poor/no signal, wireless satellites need to be placed at the edge of a good signal area). You need an app to walk around and check dBm from all Orbis in a given pace - guaranteed, similar signal strength from multiple Orbis will be trouble - how could it not be?
There are some connection drop off issues with late model (WiFi 6E and 7) devices, but it's a lot better with 9.13.1.2 - still not fixed, but improved. I am seeing a drop-off about once every 4-5 days, and I am testing a lot.
Thanks... you had me chuckling as I imagine our having very similar experiences! Interestingly, Amazon had a 'deal' on the Orbi 97X's and limited you from buying more than one 2-RBS pack in a single purchase. So, when I first received the 3-pack and one 2-pack, I set up the RBR and 4 RBS's. Very stable results for the first 3 days. All wired client devices were correctly seen by the Orbi app. It was when I added the 5th RBS that all hell broke loose. Things that were stable before, were no longer stable. reboots, loss of RBS connectivity (per the web and app pages) were declared. From a basic network capability however, these 'not connected per the UI satellites were in fact on the wired network. I could ping them. Moreover, I took my 200 ft CAT6A extension cable roll and attached one of the RBS to it. I then ensured my iPhone was connected to 'that' RBS and ran near gigabit WiFi over the so-called "not connected" satellite (again according to the router, the Orbi app and web page).
My focus was solely seeking stability in the Orbi RBS/RBR wired network without regard and consideration of any client device attachment or other wireless matters. When NG support told me that 9.13..;. would not help stability and that I should reduce to four satellites, I realized I was in serious trouble.
Your point of balancing distance when using wireless backhaul is similar to what I've seen and done; it's actually the reason I do not mess around with wireless backhaul as a general practice. N.B. I do use MOCA 2.1 adapters in installs where it is impossible to run new Cat 6 or better cable. Though I've not tested it at this speed, they're said to support 2.5 gbps. My test gear allows me to test & validate/qualify up to 1 gbps.
I use an app written for windows platforms to assess the wireless neighborhood. Company is called Metageek that make a USB dongle and software called Channelizer. re: metageek.com With this product you can find identify the types of sources occupying 2.4, 5 and 6 ghz spectrum. It data logs the RF energy so you can go back and analyze what is going on. With a directional antenna, you can actually 'hunt down' the sources that may be interfering with you. They provide characteristic profile RF energy curves that help you determine whether the sources are Bluetooth, zigbee, zwave, nanny cam, pro-security cam, or other devices. My approach anecdotally speaking is to get a satellite to within 25 feet of the client's most frequented locations. I've found that the wireless throughput seriously drops off when distances go over 25 feet (some studies show that WiFi throughput seriously drops off at that distance); that's without any walls in the path. I end up adjusting transmit power get optimize performance and minimize interference; with all satellites using wired backhaul, the problem reduces to only being a client device problem and not a satellite to router wireless problem.
Wow, 1862 construction! I'm sure you've had your WiFi challenges with the different materials used in your home over the century. Impressive.
Were the drop off issues meaning a drop-off in throughput as WiFi distances increase or the client device randomly disconnects from the Wi-Fi. If it's the later, I was wondering whether you suspect MLO operation? My past experiences with 'bonding' or 'stripping' methods over parallel paths have been very erratic. It would be interesting to know if turning off MLO (or any other 'smart connect' function would improve the drop-off situation. For decades we've had separate SSID's for each band (2.4, 5) can device drop-outs hadn't occurred. it wasn't until some bonding technique to leverage 2.4 & 5Ghz and now 2.4, 5 and 6ghz did device drop offs started happening for me. Two other related questions are (1) whether the drop offs are occurring based on 'age' of device (meaning older verses newer devices), and (2) whether the drop offs are due by some 'power saving' mode in the device.
Be well.. thanks for your interesting dialog...m
“Were the drop off issues meaning a drop-off in throughput as WiFi distances increase or the client device randomly disconnects from the Wi-Fi.‘
The devices disconnect from Wi-Fi in a sense, and use cellular. Any tests on the device show it is on cellular, yet in settings it shows it’s still connected to Wi-Fi. Very strange. And yes, in my opinion this is definitely related to the newer technology 6E and 7 Wi-Fi devices. iPhones and iPads have a setting to turn off 6E and 7, and when I would do that, I would never have a disconnect. The problem is, those devices have a nasty habit of randomly turning it back on again. So it’s not a terribly reliable solution. If I could turn it off permanently on the device, I would, because in my house Wi-Fi 5 speeds are plenty fast enough.