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Devices not switching between Orbi Router and Satellite
I got the Orbi system when it first came out and it has worked perfectly and I was amazed how my devices switched from router to satellite (and back) as I walked aroung the house. Yesterday, the sys...
You probably need only the router plus one satellite to cover your home. You said it works from across the street, so that should indicate you have more than enough (probably too much) coverage.
if your devices get the throughput they need, then there is no problem. However, you should probably turn your radio power down, especially on 2.4G. This will help devices switch to the strongest satellite. It will also be considerate of your neighbors, who will see your Orbi as interference.
With that many Orbis, you could also consider turning off 2.4G, assuming all your devices are 5G capable.
I am also seeing the same problem, and reboots and resets don't help.
My understanding from the technical description of the product is that a moving device would automatically change its connection from router to satellite and vice versa, based on best connection. While testing this feature I've noticed that the only way I could get the connections to switch is by manually disconnecting and reconnecting my mobile devices as I move them about the house. I've tested this a large number of times with several devices. When I disconnect and reconnect I cleanly get a connection to the closer of the router or the satellite. If I do not disconnect I remain attached to the same station even if I am now in a better range for the other. This seems to defy the purpose of the Orbi system. Is there a router configuration I should turn on to enable automatic transfer between router and satellite?
[I've noticed with the latest firmware (1.4) the default listing of attached devices does not distinguish between router and satellite anymore. However if you manually go to the router page: http://www.orbilogin.com/DEV_show_device.htm you get to see the which device is connected to router and which device is connected to the satellite. That is how I am determining which station I am connected to.]
Note that Orbi (and _most_ other mesh routers, Ubiquiti Unifi being a notable exception) support steering but not true seamless roaming. If your client device isn't willing to take a hint on when it should switch connection points, nothing is going to force it to.
Rodney
Thanks Rodney, that explains it.
Otherwise the system is working for me but the shortage of ethernet ports (which I was aware of) and the complication we are discussing are somewhat painful to deal with. I've tried a number of mobile devices from ultrabooks, tablets, smartphones, etc. but none were truly seamless with Orbi. On the plus side the firmware stability has definitely improved.
rhester72 wrote:Note that Orbi (and _most_ other mesh routers, Ubiquiti Unifi being a notable exception) support steering but not true seamless roaming. If your client device isn't willing to take a hint on when it should switch connection points, nothing is going to force it to.
Rodney
I disagree with that assumption. UniFi provides a min-RSSI setting for each node. That would force a client below that setting (higher -dBM) to be disconnected from that node.
whsbuss-1 wrote:
rhester72 wrote:Note that Orbi (and _most_ other mesh routers, Ubiquiti Unifi being a notable exception) support steering but not true seamless roaming. If your client device isn't willing to take a hint on when it should switch connection points, nothing is going to force it to.
Rodney
I disagree with that assumption. UniFi provides a min-RSSI setting for each node. That would force a client below that setting (higher -dBM) to be disconnected from that node.
Perhaps I worded it poorly...we're saying the same thing (though UniFi is considerably more complicated than that, that's one piece of it).
Rodney