Big Problems with Orbi "handoff" from router to Satellite while walking through house
I just bought the Orbi and I am experiencing problems when going from the room where the main Orbi router is, to the room where the Satellite is if I dont turn/toggle off/on the Wifi to "reconnect" to the Satellite unit.
Obviously it is supposed to work seamlessly, but if I dont connect directly to the Satellite unit, I experience VERY slow speeds, probably because my phone/tablet/laptop, etc is trying to "hold" the signal from the router and doesnt handoff to the Satellite unit.
I am also getting extremely inconsistent speeds from the Satellite unit....at times I will get 50-75 mps, and at other times, 3-4mps.
Anyone else having these issues? I am on the latest firmware, etc.
Thanks!
Model: Orbi High-Performance AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi System (RBK50)
Re: Big Problems with Orbi "handoff" from router to Satellite while walking through house
There is no 'seamless handoff' with any consumer wifi, regardless of marketing hype. In fact, true seamless handoff requires implementation of two protocols that are so new that there's only one chipset in the world that currently supports them (and it isn't in the Orbi).
It's handled a bit more elequently by Ubiquiti Unifi, because it uses a dedicated (and separate) management controller that constantly monitors all clients and forces handoff basically by kicking them off the network and allowing them to reconnect.
Client handoff with current implementations require intelligence on the part of the client to understand there's a stronger signal that is part of its approved BSSID list. Some clients/phones handle this better than others. If yours isn't one of them, unfortunately, there isn't much you can do about it besides toying with the transmit power on the Orbi to see if you can "widen the gap" enough for the device to see an -obvious- variance in signal strength and bounce its own connection accordingly. (Lots of people think more power is better. When it comes to wireless, particularly when roaming, that is most definitely not the case. Someone recently posted a link here to a brilliant arstechnica article that goes into considerable depth on the subject and the reasoning behind it.)
Re: Big Problems with Orbi "handoff" from router to Satellite while walking through house
Thanks Rodney......great explanation
So you would suggest that I place the Satellite as far away as possible from the router (while still allowing for a good connection between the two units)?
There is no 'seamless handoff' with any consumer wifi, regardless of marketing hype. In fact, true seamless handoff requires implementation of two protocols that are so new that there's only one chipset in the world that currently supports them (and it isn't in the Orbi).
What protocols are you referring to? I'm guessing 802.11r/k/v. And which chipset?
It's handled a bit more elequently by Ubiquiti Unifi, because it uses a dedicated (and separate) management controller that constantly monitors all clients and forces handoff basically by kicking them off the network and allowing them to reconnect.
I wouldn't consider being kicked off elegant.
Client handoff with current implementations require intelligence on the part of the client to understand there's a stronger signal that is part of its approved BSSID list. Some clients/phones handle this better than others.
If yours isn't one of them, unfortunately, there isn't much you can do about it besides toying with the transmit power on the Orbi to see if you can "widen the gap" enough for the device to see an -obvious- variance in signal strength and bounce its own connection accordingly.
It can still be a challenge to widen the gap enough. iOS won't begin the roaming search until the RSSI drops to -70 dBm and it won't switch unless it finds a signal that is stronger by 8 or 12 dB, depending on whether the device is active or inactive (source). Some vendors, like Ubiquiti and Asus, have a setting that will kick a device if the RSSI drops below a threshold. Netgear could consider adding this to Orbi. Or they could implement 802.11r/k/v.
(Lots of people think more power is better. When it comes to wireless, particularly when roaming, that is most definitely not the case. Someone recently posted a link here to a brilliant arstechnica article that goes into considerable depth on the subject and the reasoning behind it.)
Re: Big Problems with Orbi "handoff" from router to Satellite while walking through house
You know more about the Tech stuff more than me that's for sure. LOL I tell you what happened to me... Bought the orbi. Nothing but handoff problems. Then I bought the ampli and had the same problems. I saw that killabandit had bought the eero and said it worked good. I called support before I purchased the eero and asked them about handoff issues. Tech guy got all techie and rattled off some protocols etc. I then asked will we be ok? He said you will be fine. Bought it and installed it and no issues. Don't know why but it just plain works.
