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Forum Discussion
Does the Orbi have ethernet backhaul?
We need to buy a mesh system NOW. I like that the Orbi gets the highest marks for performance on many review sites, but if it doesn't support ethernet backhaul, then this is a deal breaker. No, ...
AP steering shouldn't be affected; the Orbi should still be able to steer clients among its own satellites. A client will have to initiate its own switch to the non-Orbi APs. Sure, client-initiated roaming isn't great since most clients are sticky, but roaming between two BSSIDs in the same ESSID is better than roaming between two ESSIDs. At the very least, a client won't have to renew its DHCP when staying within the ESSID.
I tried changing the SSIDs to all be the same. It kinda sorta worked for awhile and then stopped. I think the problem is that there is still some signal leakage into the detached buildings. Not enough to use, be enough to keep the client stuck to it.
Thanks for the idea though. it was worth a try.
- You might want to run a Wi-Fi scanning app and measure the signal strength of the Orbi while standing in the detached building. This will tell you the amount of the leakage.
If you toggle Wi-Fi off and on while in the detached building, the device should reconnect to the nearest AP. Yes, it mostly defeats the purpose but it's still one less SSID to maintain. Plus, you are probably manually switching, anyway, so you are not any worse off. - Have you tried using the same SSID but having them on different channels? Haven’t noticed any issue.