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Forum Discussion
Brand new RBK753 losing connection
I just purchased the RBK 753 3 unit Orbi package from Costco and am having some connectivity issues with it so far. The issue that occurs most frequently is my Chromecast will lose connectivity. S...
CrimpOn It is indeed a lot for 1000 sqft. Problem is there are a ton of other networks around me. So I thought I might fare better with a mesh solution.
I had a single router before this. It's old and out of support now, but it was one of the first to support DFS. So I had some frequencies pretty much to myself at the time. I DFS is more common now so that's no longer the case. There are parts of the home where network performance isn't optimal.
Other devices have misbehaved too. Though the chromecast is the only one that is constantly disconnecting. Easier to reproduce and troubleshoot with. It was not disconnecting at all until I replaced my existing router with the Orbi.
It was suggested in another thread that I turn down the power on the router.
That seems to have stabilized the chromecast somewhat. Though now I'm seeing suboptimal coverage in a couple spots in the home with other devices. So seems like a tradeoff.
Maybe I need to try rearranging the satellites to position them further away and turn up the power again, or maybe I need a single router solution that is better at overpowering the competing networks.
Interesting that you should mention DFS. 5G WiFi seemed to have such promise, but there are only two frequency bands that are available with any sort of bandwidth (32-48 and 149-161) Those darn radar channels (DFS) consume 50-148. Orbi complies with DFS, but in much of the world simply sticks to 32-48 for user 5G and 149-161 for backhaul 5G. From what I understand, WiFi 6 adds new encoding strategies, but uses exactly the same frequencies as 5G. It is WiFi 6E that opens up a number of new 80 and 160MHz channels (in the US), but faces the reality that 6G radio suffer more attenuation than 5G.
Apartments are a horrible challenge, with every unit blasting both 2.4G and 5G WiFi at full power.
Thanks for the info!
I didn't realize Orbi may not be utilizing the DFS channels.
I also didn't realize that Wifi 6E was adding 6GHz spectrum as well. Now you've got me wondering if I should hold onto my own router until 6E is more affordable. Though I guess it wouldn't help immediately as I'm guessing none of my existing devices yet support it.
zielin wrote:I also didn't realize that Wifi 6E was adding 6GHz spectrum as well. Now you've got me wondering if I should hold onto my own router until 6E is more affordable. Though I guess it wouldn't help immediately as I'm guessing none of my existing devices yet support it.
I have zero WiFi6 and certainly zero WiFi 6E devices. I am hoping that the 6E capability will be used for communication between nodes, which will free up the 5G bandwidth for user devices. My Orbi is staying around for at least 2-3 more years.