Orbi 3D radiation pattern

[jwkilgore]

I have an Orbi RBR40 with two RBS20 satellites (just like an RBS40, but only 2 RJ45 ports) in what is effectively a 3-story house. We're currently renovating and I'm taking the opportunity to rearrange the Orbi devices for better coverage and run Cat6 cables for backhaul. I'll eventually upgrade the old RBR40 to a newer system, but for now it's what I have. 

The main floor (router) and basement (satellite) locations will be sitting somewhat low to the floor on furniture. But the only good location for the top floor (satellite) is either on the ceiling or high on a wall in an open area. 

My concern is if the Orbi antennas are designed to optimally radiate horizontally or upwards, then putting the satellite above everything and everybody could seriously degrade the signal.

1. Is the concern valid, or can it radiate efficiently downwards as well?
2. If the concern is valid, does anyone know of any upside-down wall- or ceiling-mount brackets for an Orbi RBS20? Basic drywall over wood studs. I found the Netgear-brand wall mount and it shows screws into the base of the satellite, but there are no screw holes in the base of the RBS20. Another option would be to secure the RBS20 with epoxy to a regular wall-mount bracket turned down, but that would be my last resort. 

[CrimpOn]

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@jwkilgore wrote:

My concern is if the Orbi antennas are designed to optimally radiate horizontally or upwards, then putting the satellite above everything and everybody could seriously degrade the signal.

1. Is the concern valid, or can it radiate efficiently downwards as well?

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People have been mounting Orbi units "on the wall" for years.  Before Netgear released their own wall mount, there were several companies selling wall mounts on Amazon.  The FCC filings for Orbi units show typical dipole antennas mounted vertically, which create a typical "donut" shape radiation pattern. https://fccid.io/PY317300393/Internal-Photos/Internal-photos-3562497 

Not a thing to stress over.

[jwkilgore]

I understand typical "on the wall" mount locations for mainly horizontal applications, or even slightly down. 

For more detail, the ground floor RBR40 will be in the south-east corner of the house and the top floor RBS20 will be on the north end. I'm not overly concerned with access speeds on the top floor. But the top floor AP will be the closest one to things on the north end of of the ground floor, which will be straight below it.

Currently the AP's aren't spaced very efficiently in an effort to get good wireless backhaul links, and therefore a few areas have spotty coverage. Everything about the new arrangement with wired backhaul will be much better, except potentially the AP that's so far above its coverage area. A basic ceiling mount AP would be perfect there, but for right now I have an RBS20 and have to make it work. 

All that said... looking at the pictures at the link you posted, specifically the shape of the antennas, I agree the radiation pattern will be almost entirely horizontal as you said. Above or below will be equally not as good, so flipping it upside down wouldn't accomplish anything. The new arrangement should be better than the current arrangement no matter what. Thank you for the information.