Orbi AX6000|RBK853 & AX4200|RBK753 Compatibility

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ChopRum wrote:

Hi all,

 

Trying to help my parents upgrade their routers/Internet and I'm trying to future-proof it as much as possible. I'm thinking of getting them the RBK753|Orbi AX4200 Tri-band Mesh WiFi 6 System (RBR750 and 2 RBS750). This has a 1Gbps NAT port, which is all they should really need since they subscribe to Gigabit Internet (let me know if that is an incorrect assumption). My first two questions relate to what they could do if they upgrade the ISP to Internet speeds >1Gbps. I'm guessing they would need to upgrade to the RBK853|Orbi AX6000 Tri-band Mesh WiFi 6 System (RBR850 and 2 RBS850) since it provides a faster NAT port (2.5Gbps). Again, let me know if any of the above are incorrect assumptions. Assuming I'm on the right track above, I'm left with the questions below:

 

1. Can the RBS750 be a satellite off of the RBR850? Yes.
2. If yes, would the RBR750 also be able to act as a satellite off of the RBR850 even though it has the hardware of a router? No. RBRs only support router or AP mode.
3. Out of curiosity, would a RBR750 be able to act as a satellite off of another RBR750? Asking another way, if they somehow get a hold of 2 Orbi routers of the same model/generation, can one of those routers be used as a satellite in that network? No.  RBRs only support router or AP mode.

In addition to the above, I'm trying to decide what the real benefit is to getting the RBK853|AX6000 over the RBK752|AX4200. I feel like the RBK753|Orbi AX4200 is sufficient in most Home/SOHO use-cases/workflows assuming they pay for 1000Mbps internet, especially since the RBK853 and RBK753 leverage the same exact dedicated band for backhaul (Radio 3: IEEE® 802.11a/n/ac/ax 5GHz—1024-QAM @ 2400Mbps) and the RBK753's second 5GHz band (not backhaul) still runs @ 1200Mbps speed on RBK753, which is greater than the 1000Mbps they pay for. The only use case I can really think of where there is a benefit in having the 5GHz bands that are faster than the ISP speed they pay for is if you are interacting heavily with a NAS or some other sort of local (within network) data transfer between Router/Satellite.

 

Assuming they pay for 1Gbps/1000Mbps, the only use cases that would justify getting a RBK853|AX6000 over the RBK752|AX4200 are:

 

• If they interact with a NAS heavily and regularly via WiFi. If they were hard-wired (even at a satellite) the NAS interaction would be about the same between the RBK853|AX6000 and RBK752|AX4200.
• If they want to future-proof themselves for if/when they upgrade their ISP to >1000Mbps

 

4. Are the 2 points above valid/accurate? Yes. 

5. Are there any other reasons/use-cases/workflows that would justify getting the RBK853|AX6000 over the RBK752|AX4200 if they only pay for 1000Mbps from their ISP? No. 

 

Review the spec sheets between the 7 and 8 series Orbis to see the differences. Mostly it's wifi connection rates.

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