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Orbidude's avatar
May 31, 2024
Solved

Should I get the Orbi 970 series?

Hi, I currently have the Orbi 850 series (Router + 2 satellites). I live in a 3500 sq foot house). I keep the router upstairs and the 2 satellites are downstairs at opposite sides of the house.

 

I have about 35 devices connected without any issues. Would I benefit getting the Orbi 970 series? Should I wait for Wifi 8?

 

Thank you!

  • The existing Orbi 850 supports WiFi6 (not WiFi6E or WiFi7).  Of the 35 devices on the network, how many support 6E or 7? (my guess is "under 3, if any at all")  Existing devices which are  not capable of 6E or 7 will gain nothing from the 971 product.  If the actual load on the network is small, even more capable devices will not appear to be any faster.  (how fast can an HD video stream? If a web page loads in 2.3 seconds insteadof 2.6 seconds, will you notice?)

     

    WiFi8 is a total pipe dream at this point:

    https://www.everythingrf.com/community/what-is-wi-fi-8 

    After it comes out, it may take years before a significant number of actual devices become available which can take advantage of it.

     

     

13 Replies

  • The existing Orbi 850 supports WiFi6 (not WiFi6E or WiFi7).  Of the 35 devices on the network, how many support 6E or 7? (my guess is "under 3, if any at all")  Existing devices which are  not capable of 6E or 7 will gain nothing from the 971 product.  If the actual load on the network is small, even more capable devices will not appear to be any faster.  (how fast can an HD video stream? If a web page loads in 2.3 seconds insteadof 2.6 seconds, will you notice?)

     

    WiFi8 is a total pipe dream at this point:

    https://www.everythingrf.com/community/what-is-wi-fi-8 

    After it comes out, it may take years before a significant number of actual devices become available which can take advantage of it.

     

     

    • Orbidude's avatar
      Orbidude
      Guide

      Thank you CrimpOn. I guess I’ll stick with the current 850. đŸ˜Š

       

      By the way, how do I know if my devices support 6E or 7?

      • CrimpOn's avatar
        CrimpOn
        Guru

        Orbidude wrote:

        By the way, how do I know if my devices support 6E or 7?


        The easiest way is to look up the official specs on the web.  For example, on the Apple web site, the iPhone 13 has these specs:

        iPhone 14 shows this:

        iPhone 15 shows:

        Thus, there is no existing iPhone that supports WiFi6E or WiFi7.

         

        Samsung has some phones that do.