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Forum Discussion
My Orbi router's wifi is slower than my satellite
Hi, I have a somewhat strange situation. I recently upgraded my internet plan with Xfinity from 200 Mbps up to 400 Mbps and I began to notice a problem. I routinely get wired speeds of 475 Mbps (yes ...
It is really gratifying to get higher speed than the plan. The post did not mention that the same device is being used to perform the speed test on each unit. It is, correct?
Are any "high usage" devices connected to the router while the test is being performed? In contrast to the ethernet connection, which is full duplex allowing data to flow in both directions simultaneously, WiFi is inherently "one device talks at a time and the others wait their turn."
I wish there was a tool that could measure how much total bandwidth is being used on a particular WiFi channel.
Thanks for the quick reply. Yes the same devices are being used for the tests, mainly my iPhone 11 and a laptop and both with similar results.
You bring up a good point about connected devices. My router definitely has more devices connected, probably less than 10. These include smart light switches, doorbell, phones, tablets and laptops. But I would not consider any of them to be high bandwidth especially during the time I am doing the test. Plus the satellites probably have around the same number of connections.
You bring up a good point about connected devices. My router definitely has more devices connected, probably less than 10. These include smart light switches, doorbell, phones, tablets and laptops. But I would not consider any of them to be high bandwidth especially during the time I am doing the test. Plus the satellites probably have around the same number of connections.
The "50" series Orbi's use separate radios, antennas, and 5G channels for the "backhaul" connection between satellites and router.
So, that rules out WiFi backhaul having anything to do with this phenomenon.
The user facing radios are all on the same channel, and thus can interfere with each other.
What about a goofy experiment: power off both satellites and see what the WiFi performance is near the router.
- Thanks, I actually have tried that already. No change. I’m thinking of reverting to an older firmware to see if it’s related somehow.
I know you have verified which Orbi the test machine was actually connected to for each experiment. There are definite issues with certain devices "sticking" to the first Orbi they find (to the consternation of the owner). Devices like smartphone and laptops usually have network software that constantly scans for a "better connection". I have no idea what the difference is between "regular" and "fast" roaming. The Attached Devices display does not update quickly enough to indicate the instant that a device switches. My tests put fast roaming at under two minutes, but that's not very precise.