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Forum Discussion
Orbi RBS 20 satellite slow wifi
I have a mesh wifi with CBR40 modem/router and 2 RBS20 satellite. I have a 400mbps cable connection. The modem/router (CBR40) is able to transmit a strong signal with 350-400+ mbps receiving at or nea...
The CBR40 and RBS20 products feature a dedicated 5G WiFi channel for "backhaul" between router and satellite. This number is the theoretical maximum data rate that a 5G WiFi 2x2 MIMO system can achieve (two antennas). In actual installations, WiFi strength is affected dramatically by:
- Distance - how far is the satellite from the router?
- Building materials - how many walls/floors are between the router and satellite and how are they constructed?
For example, my RBR50-RBS50 product supports a theoretical backhaul rate of 1,733Mbps. (because this model has 4x4MIMO - four antennas - for the backhaul link). They are about 25 ft. apart. Yet I have observed an actual data rate between router and satellite of 780Mbps (less than half). There is enough wood in the walls, floor, and floor joists to reduce the WiFi connection that much. How did I measure this? At one time, Netgear supported a Telnet interface on the router and there is a command to display the satellite information.
(Because I am a Nerd...) I ordered 50ft. and 100ft. Ethernet cables from Amazon. (less than $20US each). This allows me to connect something directly to the router Ethernet port from anywhere in the house. (I do this only when everyone else is away. They make snide comments when the cable is running down the stairs and across several rooms.)
If you have access to a long enough Ethernet cable, you could (temporarily) connect the satellite directly to one of the router LAN ports. In a few minutes, the backhaul connection will change from WiFi to 'wired'. Observe the speed when wired. I would dearly love to wire my satellites directly to the router, but installing Ethernet cables in this old house is simply not practical.
- Agreed, if I had a long enough Ethernet cable, it would solve the problem but its not possible without looking absolutely atrocious. The reason why I bring this up is because just few months ago it was working fine and the satellites were beaming close to full speed. I just ran a speed test recently and saw the drop in speed on the satellite connected devices only. I have read in other forums that factory reset doesnt solve the issue either.
Yes, that's why using a cable temporarily was suggested as a method of determining that "nothing is wrong" with the satellite. If the satellite is wired to the router and performance is still below expectations, that is a whole different issue.
One of the first questions asked is, "What changed?" (Another tedious story....) My alarm system base unit is located upstairs at one end of the house. (could not find a suitable location downstairs, so "why not?") I started noticing that every time I armed the system, it would claim that one of my gate sensors was off-line. WTF?? Been working for over a year. Changed the sensor battery. Still off-line. Finally... realized that I had moved the base unit a couple of feet when doing something. Moved the base unit back to the original location. Gate sensor has remained on-line ever since!
Could anything have changed about the location or orientation of the router and satellite? Some object placed next to one of them?
- So this problem is seen on both of my RBS20 satellites, none of them have been moved nor has my router CBR40 been moved. The satellite works well when connected via ethernet to the router. Im thinking it could be related to a back haul issue but hard to tell.