Secondly if you are using ethernet backhaul. They should open up the dedicated band for the backhaul for devices to connect 😛
If the the new Orbi will use a dedicated 4x4 802.11ax backhaul (as mentioned in the article) then Orbi might release the upper 5 GHz band channels to be used for the fronthaul (clients), but the upper chennels are mostly DFS channels so you will still not be able to select those channels manually but will be left for the router to switch to those channels if no radar signals are detected and then switch back to the lower channels when radar signals are there.
Is it a waste of money buying this unit when NETGEAR plans on releasing a Wi-Fi 6 version of Orbi this summer. Yes I know a lot of devices are Wi-Fi 6 compatible but I want to know will I benefit more from OFDMA in these units.
Currently there but only a few that are WiFi 6 compatible I think. Samsung being the first with support. Not many others. I heard Apples iphone 10x is going to support it.
So given how WiFi 6 is supposed to work in theory...shouldn’t the AX version of the Orbi to be released later this year support more satellites than the AC version?
They do intend to release later this year - but what do you mean about supporting more satellites? The AC version can already handle quite a few depending on topology. The AX version will allow more streams (by AX nature) but I'm not clear how you relate that to satellite count?
From what I understand the AC version handles up to 3 or 4 satellites. If Wifi6 is more efficient etc wouldn’t the AX version be able to support even more satellites without eating up a lot of bandwidth? I am looking at running 7 satellites (for the backhaul wired connection) and 1 main unit.
"It works" vs "It's supported" are two different things though.
Regarding AX, if you are going to wire the 7 you want, then it being AX is irrelevant. AX only would apply to the wireless backhaul, if at all. There is a dedicated radio/channel set aside for the wireless backhaul and I think that is what you are asking about in regards to bandwidth? Wired backhaul bandwith would be 1Gbps LAN, provided your cabling and any switches you have support that, and would not use any AX functionality.
Overall, there are several other considerations - processing, memory, the ability of the UI to support/show each of them, etc. The hardware listed here is likely to be better on AX version, but not because of the AX radios - only because, well, it's newer and it's been some time since the AC version was released. With 8 Orbi's running - I'm not sure how many clients you intend to support - but that may be an issue for you too. Either that or you have a very large compound, and just want super great coverage 😉 (I understand if so!)
They have said they will release this stuff this year, so for now you likely need to just stay tuned. I'm sure more details will surface soon.
Might be stating the obvious here but assume I would be an idiot to purcahse the currently available ORBI? Wifi 6 is worth holding out for right? Esp with the arrival of 5G...
Up to you if your want to be an early adoptor. WIFI 6 will depend on client side HW support. Only a few devices like Samsung phones are supportive of AX. 5G is a cell phone service connection, not wifi or wifi 6. As time goes on, more devices will be forthcoming that support AX. When that happens, only the Mfrs know. If you want to try AX, give NGs RAX routers a review as they are currently out on the market to see if AX is something to look more into.
I am currently upgrading my home network and want to future proof it as much as possible. So although I wont initally be able to connect many devices via Wifi 6 - I assume it will be backward compatible with older devices so probably worth holding out for.
I imagine that in the next few years 5G will take off and replace alot of the fibre connections (at least the ones over copper). So I want to make sure my internal wifi network can handle the data transmission rates we will get with 5G. Have that all established and working (even if my devices cannot make use of it). So that when 5G is available I can simply plug in a 5G modem without needing to upgrade my internal network to cope with the added speeds 5G will give.
So given the above - I reckon I should hold out for ORBI Wifi 6....thanks for your help.
Here is a portion of what I found from tech radar regarding WiFi 6 and routers curt on the market before WiFi 6 is finalized....”According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, the non-profit overseer of the Wi-Fi world, Wi-Fi 6 will be out ‘later in 2019’. By all accounts, that will most likely be towards the very end of the year (assuming no serious slippage is encountered). A certification programme was announced back in January to ensure that Wi-Fi 6 labelled devices meet the relevant specified standards, and this scheme is expected to start very soon, in the third quarter of 2019.
At this point, you might be thinking "wait a minute: aren’t there already Wi-Fi 6 routers out there (albeit most of them are still labelled 802.11ax)?"
And you’d be right – there are indeed, but with caveats. Some routers that support Wi-Fi 6 that are already on shelves include the Netgear Nighthawk AX8 and AX4, TP-Link’s Archer AX6000, and the Asus RT-AX88U (indeed Asus even has a Wi-Fi 6-toting mesh router offering which is imminent).
However, remember that these early devices are based on the draft standard of Wi-Fi 6, which isn’t yet finalized (and won’t be till later in the year). So bear in mind that these routers may miss out on some features that fully certified Wi-Fi 6 devices are required to carry, depending on whether the spec that manufacturers must adhere to is changed much between now and the official launch of the new standard.
From what we’ve heard, any potential differences will be minor. Still, we won’t know specifics until the Wi-Fi 6 is officially launched.
Furthermore, even if you do own a router that supports (draft) Wi-Fi 6, you’ll also need Wi-Fi 6 compatible client devices on the other end of the connection to benefit from the new Wi-Fi standard. Early adopting pieces of hardware are even thinner on the ground, at least at the moment, one example being Samsung’s Galaxy S10 smartphone.” Hope this helps.
But might as well have the tech in place - even if you arent using it. So that when wifi-6 becomes the norm you have it all there waiting to go I guess?
From what I read wifi-6 is going to be massive in turns of throughput?
Throughput will benefit from WIFI 6 but that was not the true goal for it from what I have read. It is supposed to create a more stable WiFi connection in areas where WiFi channels are very congested. So faster throughput appears to be a byproduct of WIFI 6 but not it’s true intent.
