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RBK50 is a downgrade from my Nighthawk R7000 for me
Firstly, I've glanced through some of the threads here and didn't find an exact match for my issue.
I am replacing my Nighthawk R7000 due to some deadspots around the 2-level house. My wifi doorbell has a weak signal, and so do the devices in my family room (Xbox, Shield TV, etc) I also have various Amazon Echos, wifi thermostats, wifi cameras, and a Google Home.
I followed the simple instructions to setup the new RBK50, and everything went well. It found a new firmware and installed it. But my signal to most of these devices is poor. The hard-wired connection is normal, but wifi signal is poor overall compared to my R7000.
My Google Home takes 30 seconds to respond compared to when it was connected to my old router's wifi. My Androud TV is buffering, and my Echo dots all say they either can't connect or very slow to respond (usually caused by a poor signal).
WIll I be spending hours or days troubleshooting this or should NEW users be doing somehting like a factory reset? This can't be normal, for such an expensive system. Any suggestions for a new user BEFORE I start digging in to the forums and pulling my hair out?
Re: RBK50 is a downgrade from my Nighthawk R7000 for me
Fixed!
As I suspected, there is no way this system should be slower than the R7000 - it was user error. I had an errant Wifi extended tucked away under the couch to keep it away from the kids. I had forgot about that. Once I unplugged it, then I didn't even need to reset the router or sattelite. It's all working well now. I tested in random places with a wifi analyzer, and the signal is strong everythere. It isn't as strong at my front doorbell, but only one way to find out. I'll switch wifi networks and test.
Now I can get rid of my extenders and powerline bits and pieces.
Re: RBK50 is a downgrade from my Nighthawk R7000 for me
Hi - In the limited testing I did yesterday, the signal was poor to the locations which the Netgear R7000 was reaching. Example is my Ring Doorbell - I got better signal with my R7000. Also, my master bedroom Echo dot, I constantly got 4 bars wifi, but with Orbi, I get anywhere from 2 to 3, and of course connection dropping.
I could not spend hours troubleshooting because I have to go on with my life, but will try again when the family is out of the house. We rely on wifi too much nowadays.
I'll take your advice and read through some of the threads, but this seems highly suspect to me. The Orbi 2 pack should offer much better signal than a single old R7000 router. I am dissapointed and frustrated that I have to possibly spend hours troubleshooting a brand new router.
Re: RBK50 is a downgrade from my Nighthawk R7000 for me
Yep you are doing something wrong. I have a 2 story house with a ton of WiFi IoTs attached (Nest Cams, Nest Thermos, Android TVs, ChromeCasts, Echo, Google Home, etc) all around the house. I recently added a 3rd Satellite so that my backyard had coverage. I get 200Mbps-300 Mbps throughout my house with zero dead spots. Even in my backyard, I will get 100Mbps easily no matter where I am standing. The only issue I have had is with the Implicit Beam Forming as I had to shut it off or I would get disconnects. I also had a Nighthawk prior to the Orbi and I had way too many dead spots using it. Positioning of the Orbi Satellite is key...
Re: RBK50 is a downgrade from my Nighthawk R7000 for me
Yep I figured I am doing something wrong. That's the only way to get these low speeds and disconnects. But, what am I doing wrong is the main question. I've followed the procedure according to the instructions, but only once. I will reset and start over again. Someone suggested to set up just the router first, then set up the satellite after everything is done. This is what I will try this afternoon. Yes I am also hoping for no dead spots. I will update the thread after trying it this afternoon.
Re: RBK50 is a downgrade from my Nighthawk R7000 for me
Fixed!
As I suspected, there is no way this system should be slower than the R7000 - it was user error. I had an errant Wifi extended tucked away under the couch to keep it away from the kids. I had forgot about that. Once I unplugged it, then I didn't even need to reset the router or sattelite. It's all working well now. I tested in random places with a wifi analyzer, and the signal is strong everythere. It isn't as strong at my front doorbell, but only one way to find out. I'll switch wifi networks and test.
Now I can get rid of my extenders and powerline bits and pieces.
