NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
RBE970 Satellite Connections
Why does a WiFi device 10 feet away from the satellite end up connected to the Router RBE971 which is a 100 feet away? I've also seen where devices close to the satellite initially connect to the sat...
When a mesh system boots up, such as after a power outage, the router is the first device to begin broadcasting WiFi. While many WiFi devices scan constantly to seek a better connection, there are some devices where the WiFi software connects to the first signal that it recognizes and quit looking. What happens if this device is powered off and back on again?
I have had for years the same question because I've seen this same 'odd' outcome in both the newer Orbi WiFi 7 (Orbi 971) and the older Nighthawk (R9000) systems. Why does a device connect to the router when the satellite is CONSIDERABLY closer? As mentioned by CrimpOn, I can force the device to attach to the Satellite by manipulation of the power-on sequences resulting in the common sense attachment of the device to the nearby satellite but the next day, the device in question has decided to change and attach to the Router which is considerably further away (3 feet distance to the satellite versus 100 feet distance to the router). I can guess that possibly the attachment to the distant router is still a viable signal and thus going thru the satellite is not necessary but it violates my understanding of mother nature that for over the same exact path, the WiFi signal distance is inversely proportional to performance, i.e., speed. Over the years I have also come to the conclusion that the Attached Device display is not to be trusted being that most likely within a mesh network device attachments are very dynamic. And for the 'experts' who will want to question my conclusion regarding signal strength versus distance for all the WiFi frequencies which I know to very complicated especially in terms of short versus long distances, I've tried placing the device in question at various distances (far field/near field) from the satellite (or extension as the Nighthawk system called them) and still see the same outcome - the device will attach to the further away router than the closer satellite/extension (specifically separation test case distances of 3/100 and 35/65 where obviously the 35/65 case can not be considered the same path). Experimentally I've seen where the slightest difference in the physical signal path can result in significant differences in signal strength at the router. When you can do signal path tracing and see exactly how obstructions impact the WiFi signals, it all begins to make sense - it is just not intuitively obvious. The primary lesson you learn is that the WiFi environment is extremely messy and secondly, without computers, WiFi would never exist.
