I am in the US, and have the new Orbi 970 system. Using Orbi web interface, firmware V9.10.0.2_1.1.5, does anyone know how to "turn on" wifi 6e and/or wifi 7 on the mesh system? When I go into the wireless settings, it only lists options of 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. then in the Advanced/ Wireless Settings tab it references "Advanced Wireless Settings (2.4GHz b/g/n/ax)" and "Advanced Wireless Settings (5GHz 802.11 a/n/ac/ax/be)" . I understand that it's a spectrum and the standard uses multiple bands and frequencies; however am I the only that would have expected to see a reference to 6Ghz ax/be somewhere? It would be nice to "know" that the frequency band was open if you wanted to use it specifically. All thoughts welcome, just trying to understand and open the discussion. THX #Orbi970

TwoSwords wrote: Yes, you are correct here and that right there is the problem. How can the Orbi 960 give you more control over you're 6Ghz channels and wireless network than the newer 970. The options and control you get in the 970 is far less than you get in the 960. Pretty crazy when one costs $1,500 (US) and the other $2,300 (US) but, then again this could be something with Wi-Fi 7 maybe? I'm not sure. You have to remember that this is a new product and new technology (actually still evolving technology). My guess is that they are still tweaking and working on some things that require some settings to be hardcoded and not user definable/selectable. I am hoping at some point in time those options will show up. Looking in the User Manual, it says you should be able to select the channels for the 6GHz, so either it was intended to be that way and just not ready or they just reused existing manual. One of the big problems with tech - and especially new tech - is that sometimes marketing drives release date and not necessarily product readiness.

Pointers about the product? If you are talking about setup then yes, I have the Obri 960 3 mesh system. 1 Router and 2 Satellites, 4,200 sq foot house and from my experience this has given me the best performance so far. 1. Disabling 20/40 MHz Coexistence provides far better performance with it off. Orbilogin.com -> sign in via admin ->ADVANCED tab -> Advanced section -> Wireless Settings -> under "Region Selection" -> Region: Advanced Wireless Setting (2.4 GHz b/g/n/ax) -> uncheck Enable 20/40 MHz Coexistence 2. Finding out the best MTU for your system and changing that setting.Open Command Prompt as an admin. Open Start menu -> type CMD -> right click on Command prompt and select run as administrator.In the command prompt type ping google.com -f -l 1500 (1500 is just to start)If you get a message saying packet needs to be fragmented but DF set. 1, 2, 3, or even 4 times. Ping statistics for IP address (example Ping statistics for 175.335.80.91)Packets: sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% Loss) <- Here is where you can have different results 1 received and 3 loss. Basically, you're looking for 0% loss. Anything other than 0% loss means MTU is too high.After you see 1500 is too high you will follow the same command ping google.com -f -l 1500 but, this time you will change 1500 to 1492 and run the command (hit Enter). You will continue lowering by 10 each time after, so you next ping would be ping google.com -f -l 1482 and so on.Now in this example let's say I try ping google.com -f -l 1472 (again you might have a larger or small number here) and this is the message you get:Pinging google.com [175.335.80.91] with 1350 bytes of dataReply from 175.335.80.91: bytes=68 (sent 1350) time=7ms TTL=116Reply from 175.335.80.91: bytes=68 (sent 1350) time=9ms TTL=116Reply from 175.335.80.91: bytes=68 (sent 1350) time=9ms TTL=116Reply from 175.335.80.91: bytes=68 (sent 1350) time=10ms TTL=116Ping statistics for 175.335.80.91:Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss), <- This is the results you want.Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:Minimum = 7ms, Maximum = 10ms, Average = 8msThis means I got the right MTU.In the Orbi router I will now set my MTU to 1472:Orbilogin.com -> sign in via admin ->ADVANCED tab -> Setup Section -> Click on WAN Setup -> MTU Size -> add the 1472 here in the box and select Save. 3. Changing the Preamble Mode to Short Preamble helped with overlapping the wireless signals and helped with an my no internet issue. So, one of the problems I would have while being on the Wi-Fi, is just randomly losing internet. I would still be connected to the Wi-Fi but, none of the apps would load or sync. So, I updated the Preamble Mode and this helped. Orbilogin.com -> sign in via admin ->ADVANCED tab -> Advanced section -> Wireless Settings -> under "Region Selection" -> Region: Advanced Wireless Setting (2.4 GHz b/g/n/ax) -> Preamble Mode -> Automatic -> Short Preamble -> Region: Advanced Wireless Setting (5 GHz 802.11a/n/ac/ax/be) -> Preamble Mode -> Automatic -> Short Preamble.

You’re not the only one to noticed. I was in the options and didn’t see anything on 6ghz as well. So I went online to search info on this. I’m upgrading from an Orbi 960 to the 970. The 960 had the option to turn on or off the 6ghz network. So I’m thinking this is a 970 bug or we both got defective devices.

So I have a laptop that supports the 6ghz bands and noticed the Orbi web interface is saying that it’s connected to the 6ghz band.

Yeah it's an odd situation where, I think if the world was simple and people looked at things logically it would be an easy fix. Netgear came back and said, "the 6hrz band is on by default" and I came back to them again and was like, while that is "probably true" (as I don't have any gear that has 6e + to test); I was like this is a pretty high tech piece of kit, with a hefty price tag, and therefore attracts a particular type of consumer, who will likely want to visually know that these advanced features are on and working. I mean this seems pretty straight forward, and yet I feel like Netgear, is basically like, why do you care, don't you trust us? Which I find equal parts hilarious and frustrating LOL. Anyway I'm glad to hear that I am not the only that noticed and I will come back if I make any forward progress with our friends here at Netgear, for the sake of the greater community and my peace of mind.

Orbi 970 - Wireless 6e, 7 menu question

17 Replies

FURRYe38
Guru
Sep 28, 2023
No Orbi systems supports disabling of any of the wifi radios. There designed ON 24/7.
- ChiWified
  Guide
  Sep 28, 2023
  I can appreciate that, but I still think that it's odd that is does say the word 6GHz anywhere in the menu period. While listing 2.4 GHZ and 5Ghz multiple times, why wouldn't they list 6GHz even just to say that its on?
  
  I actually just got off the phone with Netgear and shared with them a screenshot and they agree that isn't right and will talk to a "sr tech" and get back to me, and when (if) they do I'll circle back to this to help the community.
  - FURRYe38
    Guru
    Sep 28, 2023
    So no 6Ghz channel selections seen under the Basic tab/Wireless menu?
- TwoSwords
  Guide
  Oct 01, 2023
  Actually the Orbi 960 has the 6ghz band disabled by default. You need to access the web admin to turn on the 6ghz. I had to do that for mine.
  - schumaku
    Guru
    Oct 01, 2023
    TwoSwords wrote:
    Actually the Orbi 960 has the 6ghz band disabled by default. You need to access the web admin to turn on the 6ghz. I had to do that for mine.
    
    Can you give a pointer for the interested readers please?
TwoSwords
Guide
Oct 01, 2023
So I have a laptop that supports the 6ghz bands and noticed the Orbi web interface is saying that it’s connected to the 6ghz band.
- ChiWified
  Guide
  Oct 01, 2023
  Yeah it's an odd situation where, I think if the world was simple and people looked at things logically it would be an easy fix. Netgear came back and said, "the 6hrz band is on by default" and I came back to them again and was like, while that is "probably true" (as I don't have any gear that has 6e + to test); I was like this is a pretty high tech piece of kit, with a hefty price tag, and therefore attracts a particular type of consumer, who will likely want to visually know that these advanced features are on and working. I mean this seems pretty straight forward, and yet I feel like Netgear, is basically like, why do you care, don't you trust us? Which I find equal parts hilarious and frustrating LOL. Anyway I'm glad to hear that I am not the only that noticed and I will come back if I make any forward progress with our friends here at Netgear, for the sake of the greater community and my peace of mind.
  - TwoSwords
    Guide
    Oct 02, 2023
    Re: Orbi 970 - Wireless 6e, 7 menu question
    Yeah it's an odd situation where, I think if the world was simple and people looked at things logically it would be an easy fix. Netgear came back and said, "the 6hrz band is on by default" and I came back to them again and was like, while that is "probably true" (as I don't have any gear that has 6e + to test); I was like this is a pretty high tech piece of kit, with a hefty price tag, and therefore attracts a particular type of consumer, who will likely want to visually know that these advanced features are on and working. I mean this seems pretty straight forward, and yet I feel like Netgear, is basically like, why do you care, don't you trust us? Which I find equal parts hilarious and frustrating LOL. Anyway I'm glad to hear that I am not the only that noticed and I will come back if I make any forward progress with our friends here at Netgear, for the sake of the greater community and my peace of mind.
    
    100% Weird especially after moving from the Orbi 960. I had far more control on the 6ghz channel and options then I'm having on this 970. I will say this though, my wireless backhaul is by far better with the 970 then it was with the 960. I have my desktop wired to my Satellite which is connected via wireless (I am using wireless backhaul only) and during my 960 speed tests I would get 500 Mbps down and up with the 970 I'm getting 920 Mbps down and up (my desktop network card is 1Gbps max. My Service provider gives me 5Gbps.

Forum Discussion

Orbi 970 - Wireless 6e, 7 menu question