Netgear Orbi AC3000 channel selection in Canada

[mariogaucher]

Hello Everyone!

I just installed an Orbi AC3000 router+satellite to replace my Asus AiMesh routers that were rebooting ramdomly.

So far, it works fine. Setup was fast and easy. 

One thing I've found is that the 5GHz band signal looks like to be lower than what I was getting with my Asus routers. 

So I went to see if I could change the channels or power. Power is not ajustable... and only available channels are 36, 40, 44 and 48. 

I'm in Canada... my region is set to Canada in my router (cannot change it to something else in the UI). According to our local regulations, more channels should be available... 149 to 165 are usable in Canada without any restriction (no DFC needed). 

So why I'm I limited to these 4 channels when the regulations says 149 to 165 are also available in Canada?

[schumaku]

No idea which channels (including DFS) should be available for the user-facing 5 GHz radios.

Please keep in mind that Orbi does reserve and use the high channels for its wireless backhaul - which does run on a dedicated radio on each Orbi router and Orbi satellite. 

[mariogaucher]

Thanks for your answer.
There’s no way to see which channels are used for the backhaul...
I guess it makes sense now.

[CrimpOn]

If telnet is enabled on the Orbi debug page (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/debug.htm) you can telnet to the router and enter:

wlanconfig ath2 list

It will show the backhaul channel, rate, and other things.

[mariogaucher]

Great thanks!

Using channel 157... and current rate is 975/975...
Not bad considering both devices are like 40-50 feet away from each other and two external wall between them (the satellite is installed in my neighbors’ house).

[FURRYe38]

Its not a regional thing, it's by design and what Orbi uses for it's wireless back haul between the RBR and RBS and is not user usable or configurable. 

So you only have the 4 lower channels to configure is all.