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Forum Discussion
Orbi - why can't we change channels on satellites?
Wireless design best practice when installing multiple access points in an area is to have non-overlapping channels. So if you have 3 APs (RBR50, 2-RBS50) in an area, for 2.4 GHz, one AP would be cha...
For small environments, Orbi systems may not be needed. The routers alone can handle up to 30 feet distances. Also depending upon building materials.
astrojohn wrote:
My ancient EX6200 had Fastlane technology which worked EXTREMELY well, when it worked...I had assumed the same kind of technlolgy was involved in the Orbi design and I suppose it almost is with the backhaul channel but I have exactly the same issue as the others re: channel assignments. Makes no sense in a relatively small environment to have overlapping signals for no obvious reason. If I had known this I would have stayed with my Asus RT-N66U which was almost adequate for my purposes.
If users are wanting to change the overlap, then user have the option of changing the power levels on the router from 100% down to lower levels to help with over all foot print coverage if needed. For small homes or environments, a single router should be all thats needed.
Small is relative. My two-storey condo is 2400 sq ft but the problem is extremely strong neighboring WiFi signals that are just across the common wall and/or next block and overpower my own router 30 feet or so away (through walls, etc, of course). My neighbors are completely ignorant of modern technolgy and when the local Uverse or Spectrum guys come in, they set everything up at 100% full power. Nothing I can do about that other than channel hop, which I do regularly, however I notice the Orbi does seem to auto-choose the same channel I had been manually selecting with my RT-N66U. If I reduce MY power levels, and my neighbors don't since they haven't a clue, I'm right back where I started from. My originally concern was Orbi router and its own satellites interfering with each other and independent channels would mitigate that.
Thus reducing the power levels on your main router will help in this regard. Espeically with wifi congested areas and nieghbors that or oblivious to what there doing with there routers. Why there is this 20/40Mhz coexistence on most routers. Some Mfrs choose to allow 40Mhz only, this will cause problems with neighbors as well.
I found that reducing power levels on the router helps...Not much you can do with a ton of neighbors blasting wifi all over the place.10 year old research on the superior performance of multi-channel mesh networks over single channel:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/mesh-wcnc2007.pdf
I saw another thread re: reducing power - I'll have to try that and see what happens.
My Internet speeds are severly limited by Uvers and the VRAD being a mile from my house but I have noticed uploads from my PC in the garage directly below the main router vary all over the place - good days, 20MBps+ to bad days 3MBps...Also seems to depend on the precise location of my garage PC (I use it for my astrophotography data collection) so I suspect multi-path issues as well. But a portable disk drive is always a viable alternative...
Let us know what you find out.
astrojohn wrote:
I saw another thread re: reducing power - I'll have to try that and see what happens.
My Internet speeds are severly limited by Uvers and the VRAD being a mile from my house but I have noticed uploads from my PC in the garage directly below the main router vary all over the place - good days, 20MBps+ to bad days 3MBps...Also seems to depend on the precise location of my garage PC (I use it for my astrophotography data collection) so I suspect multi-path issues as well. But a portable disk drive is always a viable alternative...
Throughput is more a function of signal-to-noise ratio. Your signal from the AP should be 20db above any other AP on the same or adjacent channel. Where is there a power setting on the Orbi?
@astrojohn wrote:
I saw another thread re: reducing power - I'll have to try that and see what happens.
My Internet speeds are severly limited by Uvers and the VRAD being a mile from my house but I have noticed uploads from my PC in the garage directly below the main router vary all over the place - good days, 20MBps+ to bad days 3MBps...Also seems to depend on the precise location of my garage PC (I use it for my astrophotography data collection) so I suspect multi-path issues as well. But a portable disk drive is always a viable alternative...
20 dBm!! I WISH! My neighbors WiFi is stronger than my own in some areas of the house, that's why I wanted to try the Orbi. My Asus router worked pretty well but I had to be especially watchful of channel congestion and change the Asus channels as needed - often.
I did reduce the Orbi power to 75% to see what happens. I did notice the backhaul seems to be unaffected but maybe a 25% reduction wasn't enough to see.
BTW, the power level is in the advanced area.
Let us know how it goes...
astrojohn wrote:
20 dBm!! I WISH! My neighbors WiFi is stronger than my own in some areas of the house, that's why I wanted to try the Orbi. My Asus router worked pretty well but I had to be especially watchful of channel congestion and change the Asus channels as needed - often.
I did reduce the Orbi power to 75% to see what happens. I did notice the backhaul seems to be unaffected but maybe a 25% reduction wasn't enough to see.
BTW, the power level is in the advanced area.
Stated where? Where does their installation guide say Orbi satellites should be a minimum of 30 feet from the router and each other to prevent co-channel interference? The problem is the backhaul (on 5GHz) is more sensitive to distance than 2.4 GHz. If you get the router and satellite too far away for a good signal, overall performance is affected. The Orbi could achieve even higher performance if they allowed the channels to be changed on the satellites.
Case850 wrote:
Netgear's stated target market for the Orbi is for the "Networking Novice to quickly establish a home Wi-Fi network".
If you understand that, then you should understand why Netgear don't provide many of the configuration options offered in more commercial products.
Having said that, their ability to deliver a simple, basic working product seems to be falling short.
> Netgear's stated target market for the Orbi is for the "Networking Novice to quickly establish a home Wi-Fi network".
This doesn't mean the whole mesh has to use same channel, does it?
It also doesn't mean the product can't offer "expert features".