I have the Orbi RBR53, so that’s one Router RBR50 with 2 satelites. I do not get the necessary coverage with the existing setup. What compatible satelites could I add to my setup?
@Orbirbr53user wrote: I have the Orbi RBR53, so that’s one Router RBR50 with 2 satelites. I do not get the necessary coverage with the existing setup. What compatible satelites could I add to my setup?
I cannot easily find one on sale. The cheapest I could find it is £194 which I think is a very steap price to pay for a satelite. The whole system cost me £300 and even that I think is overpriced given that a router and 2 satelites cannot cover my regular 3-bed UK semi-detached house.
I cannot easily find one on sale. The cheapest I could find it is £194 which I think is a very steap price to pay for a satelite. The whole system cost me £300 and even that I think is overpriced given that a router and 2 satelites cannot cover my regular 3-bed UK semi-detached house.
I am based in the UK and live in a normal semi-detached 3-bed 1930s 2-storey house, around 140sq meters, all in. I do not think that I have an issue with the location of the satelites, one of them is in the middle of the hallway and yet my wifi calls drop when I am in one corner of the house and on the same floor. I have tried different Advanced settings such as Mimo, Beamforming, Fast Roaming, to no avail. If I move the satelite even closer to my study then I lose wifi reception when I go to the kitchen to make a tea while on a call. I have given up on making my setup any better, all I am trying to find out if I could use a different make/model of a wifi extender given that the recommended satelites are too expensive and difficult to find.
The whole point of a mesh system is that you are supposed to be able to add satelites to it on need basis. In fact, you need to ensure that you get the right size to start with. A lot of people in forums were recommending that I get just one satelite for the (small) size of my house but I thought lets play it safe and get 2. Not sufficient but that is not the point of my post.
Having RBS too close to the RBR causes too much wifi over lap and can cuase wifi problems. Farther distance is recommended.
First make sure the current system is working before adding another RBS. Adding another RBS may not work or cause more problems. Your current system should be well enough to cover our household.
What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz. Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or maynot be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
Try disabling the following and see: Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Set Short preamble instead of Long preamble modes. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)?
[Ari] The Router is in the lounge, in a corner of the ground floor, that's where the ISP cable comes into the modem and the router is connected to the modem
[Ari] Satelite #1 is on the same floor, in the study in another corner of the house, on the same (shorter) side, about 26 feet away, two solid walls in between, the doors are not inline between the Router and Satelite, connection to the router is still good
[Ari] Satelite #2 satelite is in another room on the 1st floor, in the middle of long side of the house, same side as the main router, connection to the router is Average. I guess in a straight line, it is around 25 feet from the router. The floor/ceiling between the two floors is a wooden platform, no solid concrete there.
[Ari] The main issue that has prompted me to look to buy another Satelite (#3) is not because of the connection between the Router and Satelites but because when I walk into the kitchen (on the ground floor but the opposite side of the house from both the Router and Satelite #1), the internet is very patchy and my iPhone often switches to Mobile Data. If I am on an IP call, the call fails or I lose a good portion of it until the iPhone reconnects to Mobile Data (and vice-versa).
What channels are you using? [Ari] 2.4 is on Auto and 5 is on 36
Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
[Ari] How do I know what the unused channels are?
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
[Ari] Two neighbours near by, on each side of the house, my house shares a wall with one of them, each neighbour with their own Wifi.
Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or maynot be needed) and WMM.
[Ari] Beamforming is enabled as is MIMO (3 of us all on iPhone X/XRs which are 2x2 MIMO capable) as well as 2017 iMac and 2019 Macbook Air.
[Ari] WMM is enabled on both 2.4 and 5Ghz.
Try disabling the following and see: Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only.
[Ari] Armor, Circle disabled from new.
[Ari] Daisy Chain: I find that the connection to Satelite #2 is better with this setting ON.
[Ari] Fast Roaming, IPv6 both OFF
[Ari] 20/40Mhz: I guess you mean the 20/40Mhz setting for 2.4Ghz and that I should untick that option. Else, I cannot see where I can set it to 40Mhz only
Set Short preamble instead of Long preamble modes. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).
[Ari] Changed Preamble Mode on both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz to Short from Automatic.
The Router rebooted itself automatically when I changed some of these settings. I can only assume that it also rebooted the Satelites as I have no way of knowing.
[Ari] After all of this, still no change. I walk into the kitchen (open wide doors 2x to lounge where the Router is and 1x door into the hallway connecting to Satelite #1) and still patchy network, that's around 30 feet from the Router with no walls in between and some 26 feet with a couple of walls in between from Satelite #1.
[Ari] I have also now placed Satelite #1 in the hallway, at the centre of the Ground floor. The Daisy Chain to Satelite #2 is Good (Router > Satelite #1 > Satelite #2). However, my IP calls in the study now fail again from time to time, even though Satelite #1 is about 15 feet from my iPhone in the study.
[Ari] But I need to have one of the Satelites in my study in order to connect it to my SAN drive.
[Ari] I think that is pretty poor for a mesh network of this class (and price range) in such settings.
Having the Satelite #1 in the hallway works well for the kitchen.
But leaves me without a good signal in the Study and with nothing to connect my SAN to.
With the Satelite #1 in the hallway, the Wifi signal in the study becomes very intermittent even though it is not that far. It is really strange to get such issues so close to the Satelite.
In terms of channels, apparently there is such tool for iOS but I figured out how to use my Mac's Wifi Diagnostic tool to find the best channels.
For 2.4Ghz, it says channel #1 is the best, fine I changed that on my Orbi.
But for 5Ghz, it says the best channel would be 161 but Orbi only allows 36, 40, 44 and 48.
