I am looking to move from a router/extender to a mesh system. I was looking at the Nighthawk MK83 mesh system and the Orbi RBK653 and RBK853. The MK83 and 653 appear to be comparable with the 853 higher end. I have an approximately 4000sqft house all on 1 level. The bedrooms are basically in the corners with the common living areas in the middle. The interior walls have inslulation. So everything is pretty spread out and the insulation I believe interfers with the signal to some degree. I have about 75 devices currently connected according to my Nighthawk app. I have several TV's with Roku's/Firesticks, several plugs, switches, cameras and other smart home devices. Laptops, tablets, and phones. My thought was to have an ethernet backhaul between the router and satellites and have the spread out to cover the house pretty evenly. So my questions are 1) is the 853 worth slightly over twice the price of the other 2 systems? 2) What would be the deciding factor between the other 2 systems, I don't see a huge difference between the 2 systems? Would I be able to add an additional satellite to any of the systems later if I decided it was necessary. I do own an EX8000 mesh router currently would it work with either system?
If you're using a wired backhaul (not wireless backhaul), I'd skip the triband systems and go with a dual band. For the tribands, the 3rd band is exclusive to the wireless backhaul and if you're using a wired backhaul, its a bit pointless. I've got a SXK30 that is more stable and the same speed as my RBS750 system. And its half the price.
So just to confirm, you're planning on the wired backhaul? If it is correct, I'd look at the SXK30 system or the MK63 system.
I like the SXK because its business class. It tends to have a few more configuration options as well as tends to be more stable as there's more testing on the business class side.
Thank you for your reply. My initial thought is to use a wired backhaul because it seems to me it would provide faster and more stable wireless connections everywhere as opposed to using a wireless backhaul. I am open to either but wired just seemed to be a better option. So you would not have any concerns with the lower speeds 1.8Gb vs 3 vs 6 with the number of devices, etc. on the network. I know that 75 isn't that large a number but since the documentation on most of these mentions 30 or 40 or 50 devices I wasn't sure what effect it would have to be a maybe twice the number they state. I am trying to get a stable and fast connection everywhere in the house which I have never had with the router/extenders that I have used over the years. I am chalking it up to the size of the house being as spread out as it is, the number of devices, and the insulation on the interior walls interfering with the signal as well.
Those throughput numbers are marketing hype, created by adding together the maximum theoretical speeds of each radio, along with a footnot in tiny type that says, "you will NOT get this. EVER."
Insulation in interior walls is mostly for sound and 99% air. Should not present much additional obstacle to WiFi signals. Exterior insulation typically has foil vapor barrier, which will interfere with WiFi signals.
If you look at the actual specs, it isn't until you get to the 8 or 9 series that the fronthaul is more than the 1800mbps.
spec wise:
SXK30: 1200mbps-5ghz and the 2.4ghz is 600mbps.
The RBK750 series front haul is: 1200mbps 5ghz and 600mbps 2.4ghz. Its backhaul is the 2400mbps. The backhaul is the dedicated wireless connection between the router/satellites.
So if you're wanting faster fronthaul, you'd need to go to the 8 series (RBK850) or the 9 series with the 6E connection
But you're getting pretty expensive when you jump up to those series.
Thank you. Marketing hype is what i suspected. I just wanted to make sure I was being realistic and not trying to overload the system with too many devices. I don't want to get horribly expensive but I don't want to overload a smaller sytem either.
Thank you very much for your help. I think I will probably go with the SXK30. If the number of devices won't cause me an issue. It looks like a good system and with your real world recommendation of stability, I think that is probably the best choice.
Several years ago, someone with the original Orbi (2016 model) reported having about 125 devices on his network. People routinely report 60-70 devices. All of those Internet of Things (IoT) devices consume almost no WiFi bandwidth. For many of us, the internet connection is much less capable than the internal pathways. (Now that gigabit internet speeds are becomming more common, that balance may change.)
Thank you CrimpOn. Yes my Internet is only 400Mbps so as you said it is less capable. I know I am overthinking this but I was hoping to avoid making a mistake. You all have been very helpful.
