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Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
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Modern Household WiFi Problems

bgm6000
Aspirant

Modern Household WiFi Problems

Hi, 

I have been digging around trying to get advice on how to upgrade my home wifi for my device crazed family. (and house) I have been steadily upgrading ISP speeds and network gear for a long time and find myself at a fork in the equipment decision. (Wifi Router or Mesh) I have a fairly large multi story single family home with many, many streaming devices, some wireless, some wired. The number of wireless devics is now exceeding the wired and my current wifi router can not handle 3 iPads streaming Netflix plus the constant traffic from all the laptops, game systems, phones and other applicances on wireless. From the reviews and specs I can find, no one answers 'real life' problems on performance and best practices. They all seem to be optimized or following a common set of assumptions that I don't fit into.  [Like a squad of teens coming over to hang out and consequently crush my network] Assuming my ISP service is fast enough, is Nighthawk X10 (or other) better than Orbi? Can Orbi (or any consumer setup) handle 3 streaming Netflix devices and not QoS everything else down to what 'feels' like my first cable modem from 1997? Any help/advice is much appreciated.  

 

Cheers. 

Message 1 of 3
martinhj
Apprentice

Re: Modern Household WiFi Problems

I was in a very similar position to yourself having upgraded my wifi and other network devices over many years bit by bit and never found a decent wifi solution. Admittedly I had not been splashing tons of cash at wifi but then that was becasue I had never found it worth it. I ended up with various solutions of powerline ethernet devices and wifi APs with wifi extenders to cover my house (not massive but an old cottage with thick and strange walls and corners).

 

I have ben lucky enough to beta test devices for Netgear and nt all that long ago was testing a new wifi extender. It was doing this with my existing setup that made me realise how far this modern wifi has really come. So much so that the extender was showing the flaws in my (not so old) existing AP.

 

I had seen the Orbi but discounted it at the price....on the back of the above I actually went out and got the RBK50 which is overkill but I didnt see the point in getting the lesser models. I got a warehouse deal off amazon and bought it from them with the view that if it wasnt as good as I expected then I could send it back easily enough and get a refund. Wow - it never went back....I have moved stuff off powerline back onto wifi and having the gigabit switch in the satellite means I dont need the switch emblazoned with lights in my bedroom any more either. Its great and I would recommend it. And like me, if you get it from somewhere you can send it back then what have oyu to lose other than maybe a few quid in return costs perhaps.

 

I have 2 kids streaming Netflix on tablets and can have it on the TV sometimes at the same time...and a whole heap of other wifi devices (20-30 in total). And it workd great for me. And Amazon are now selling the orbi even cheaper than my (like new) warehouse deal! 😞

 

Message 2 of 3
bgm6000
Aspirant

Re: Modern Household WiFi Problems

Thanks for the reply. I decided to try the Orbi (RBR50) first due to the current sale and during the holiday's, Best Buy has an extended return period so I can test for almost two months! So far so good but I haven't organized a stress test yet with the kids. 😉 

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