Backhaul status indicates poor

[PSIU]

i have just bought a Orbi RBR50 with one satellite. I found strange that even though the top satellite LED ring indicating steady blue for 90-180 seconds, the backhaul status still indicating poor. Is it someting wrong? Both router and satellite firmware version is 2.5.1.8. Anyone getting the same?

[ekhalil]

How far is the satellite from the router? Do you have many obstacles in between?

If the wireless connection is bad then you should try to get the units close if possible.

[PSIU]

my router is located on the first floor and the satellite is located on the second floor, almost right above the router. would it lose so much signal if only one floor up? I can see the satellite is connected to the router using 5G, is it possible to connect it using 2.4G instead? would connecting to 2.4G make is a better connection?

[ekhalil]

It depends on the building material in the house.

If the 2.4 GHz band is better the satellite will automatically select it, you don't need to do anything.

Eventhough the link is shown as poor, do you have any degradation in the performance of the devices connected to the satellite? If not I don't think you need to worry about that. It can get better with the the time, the satellite will always try to negotiate a better backhaul channel with the router to connect to.

Please follow the following steps to check what signal strength the satellite sees:

1. From browser go to the router's debug page (http://192.168.1.1/debug.htm). Use your router's IP address or http://orbilogin.com/debug.htm
2. Enter admin as user name and your router’s management password
3. Tick "Enable Telnet" option
4. Use Telnet to connect to your Router telnet 192.168.1.1 and enter admin and the same password as above
5. Enter the following command:
   • satelliteinfo wifi       (or satelliteinfo -d wifi)

[PSIU]

When i telnet in to the device and got the following figures.

{
"mac address" : "38:94:ED:0F:C2:92",
"hop" : "1",
"bridge mac" : "38:94:ED:0F:C2:92",
"backhaul conntype" : "5GHz",
"backhaul rssi" : "-75",
"backhaul macaddress" : "3E:94:ED:0F:C2:95",
"backhaul phytxrate" : "585",
"backhaul phyrxrate" : "585",
"backhaul parentmac" : "38:94:ED:0F:B5:9A"
}
I'm currently using a 100M line and when I am connecting through the satellite using my PC or Mac, I am getting a speed results around 65Mbps to 91Mbps randomly when I do my speedtest with Ookla. I am also got a few disconnections between my iPhone and my iPad and my satellite. I have restarted both my devices and see if it will still get disconnect again. Oh forgot to mention, in between first and second floor is concrete, i guess that will absorb quite a bit of the signal and make the backhaul signal to become poor? Thanks so much for helping me. 

[ekhalil]

Yes, -75 dB is quite low and that’s why the link status is considered poor. You need to get the units closer or add a unit in between if you want to improve the status.
The maximum throughput you will be able to get is 2 x 585 = 1170 Mbps out of max 1734 Mbps if you had a perfect link which is not bad at all.
On the other hand, getting between 65-91 Mbps on a wireless device connected to the satellite is very good and I don’t think you need to worry about the link status unless you keep getting disconnections or service interruptions on devices connected to satellite.

[PSIU]

After restarting my iPhone and iPad, no auto disconnection yet these few hours. I have loaded an app all OkaSpeed Test on my iPhone to test the wifi signal. On both router and satellite, I am only getting a signal between -62db to -68 when I am just next to them. could it be something wrong on my setup?

[ekhalil]

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@PSIU wrote:

.......... I am only getting a signal between -62db to -68 when I am just next to them. could it be something wrong on my setup?

---

Although that as low as -67db is ok, but I think this is low if you're standing just next to the node.

The following is general wifi level limits:

Signal Strength	Result		Required for
-30 dBm	Amazing	Max achievable signal strength. The client can only be a few feet from the AP to achieve this. Not typical or desirable in the real world.	N/A
-67 dBm	Very Good	Minimum signal strength for applications that require very reliable, timely delivery of data packets.	VoIP/VoWiFi, streaming video
-70 dBm	Okay	Minimum signal strength for reliable packet delivery.	Email, web
-80 dBm	Not Good	Minimum signal strength for basic connectivity. Packet delivery may be unreliable.	N/A
-90 dBm	Unusable	Approaching or drowning in the noise floor. Any functionality is highly unlikely.	N/A

Do you have other neighbouring networks operating on the same channels that you're using? Can you please try changing to another channel and see if the levels that you see will change.

Please note that the fronthaul and backhaul links are operating on different channels. You can only manually change the fronthaul channels but not the backhaul.

[FURRYe38]

30 feet is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router

[PSIU]

Yes, i found it a bit odd too since i'm standing just next to the satellite or the router. I then change to use "netspot" on my mac to check the wifi signal again and interestingly that when I'm about 2.5m away from the satellite, my signal is around -37dBm for 2.4G and -45dBm for 5G which according to your table, this is consider to be quite good. Not sure why i tried on 2 different iPhones and both getting the same bad results around -63dBm and my iPhone is on 5GHz. i checked the channels from my Mac on both bands and only detected 1 other device is using the same channel as me which is "1". And for 5G channel, i'm the only one using channel 48. 

[PSIU]

Oh forgot to mention one more thing, i noticed the channels using on the router is the same as the one on the satellite, i assume they are meant to be like that and it won't cause any performance issue?

[PSIU]

Thanks for the info. i now changed to use cable instead of wireless between my router and satellite and now backhaul is "good". i just found it odd that even though the light on the satellite is blue which means the connection is good but the backhaul indicating "poor" instead. But that's alright, since i have a LAN port pretty close to my satellite, i will just use LAN cable instead. Thank you.

[ekhalil]

---

@PSIU wrote:

..........., i noticed the channels using on the router is the same as the one on the satellite, i assume they are meant to be like that and it won't cause any performance issue?

---

Yes, this is the way mesh networks work, all AP's are using the same fronthaul channels.

[taylord01]

Hi there.

Just found this thread which would be useful for me, as current Backhaul status of Orbi RBR50 Satellite is 'poor'.  

Just tried the TELNET command on my Macbook, but "-bash: telnet: command not found" message.

Any other way to check the actual backhaul value of the satellite?

Many thanks