The Orbi Home Wi-Fi challenge - so far is not going to win for me ....

[audiostreamer]

I bought the Orbi RBK20's based on the Orbi Home Wi-Fi challenge - so I had nothing to lose if things did not work out.

My main gripe is not being able to split the wireless streams into 2x SSIDs for 2.4GHz and 5GHz channels.

I have very specific needs where I stream audio in high-res and would prefer that my audio device runs on a 5GHz channel.

I use an Auralic Mini streamer (audiophile version of a Sonos if that makes sense) - and I cannot turn off 2.4GHz from the Auralic so instead need to only supply a 5GHz SSID so that the Auralic has no option.

I have the Orbi router upstairs and the Orbi satellite downstairs in the same room as the Auralic - despite the far closer physical proximity of the satellite to the Auralic- the Orbi 'mesh' decides that the best option is for the Auralic to connect via 2.4GHz to the Orbi router directly? At least most of the time is does - sometimes (but rarely) the Auralic will connect to the Satellite with 5GHz.

The whole reason why I wanted the Orbi satellite with its closer proximity to the Auralic was to ensure a healthy 5GHz connection to the Auralic - which is not happening reliably - and I cannot control this.

Perhaps the Orbi Mesh intelligence has decided that for lower latency because it is avoding the Satellite hop - it would connect directly with the Orbi Router! Well if that's the case - I would probably be better off just buying a high quality and more configurable router from NetGear or Asus seeing as the preferred connection is upstairs anyway!

I don't want to have to hack my way unofficially into enabling 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSID channels - I think this is something that should be configurable - perhaps by advanced options - from the Orbi app itself.

If there is no resolution - I think I will return the RBK20's - because perhaps in my more specific more challenging situation - the Orbi's are not for me so I may aswell just reduce the appliance count and by a better single router instead.

Would everyone agree?

[tucsontico]

An easy method to force your Auralic on the 5 gHz band is to turn down the 2.4 gHz transmit power on the ORBI. Go to the web based GUI, select the "Advanced" tab, then "Advanced Setup">Wireless Settings". You'll see a drop down menu for transmit power.

I suggest lowering the 2.4 gHz transmit power to 25%. Reboot the ORBI; allow the ORBI to "settle" for 15-20 minutes after the reboot. Reboot your Auralic and then check the "Attached Devices" page on the ORBI to see if the Auralic has transferred to the 5 gHz band. If it has, try increasing the ORBI transmit power to allow your other 2.4 gHz devicesa  chance to "see" the WiFi signal again.

Good luck!

[audiostreamer]

Interesting thanks - I haven't touched the web gui yet - pity you don't have that advanced option in the app.

I just assumed that the Orbi preferred using the Router over the Satellite to minimise hops - but your dedicated backhaul connection should not add any real latency - unless it does?

[CrimpOn]

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@audiostreamer wrote:

I have the Orbi router upstairs and the Orbi satellite downstairs in the same room as the Auralic - despite the far closer physical proximity of the satellite to the Auralic- the Orbi 'mesh' decides that the best option is for the Auralic to connect via 2.4GHz to the Orbi router directly? At least most of the time is does - sometimes (but rarely) the Auralic will connect to the Satellite with 5GHz.

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If the product that Google showed me is correct, the Auralic has an ethernet jack.  Is it too inconvenient to connect the Auralic to the Orbi with an ethernet cable?

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@audiostreamer wrote:

I don't want to have to hack my way unofficially into enabling 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSID channels - I think this is something that should be configurable - perhaps by advanced options - from the Orbi app itself.

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This definitely cannot be done without using telnet to hack the Orbi parameters.  If this is a "deal breaker", then you need a different product.

I am a bit puzzled that 2.4G WiFi does not provide enough bandwidth for audiophile quality sound.  What data rate does the Orbi app show the Auralic connected at?  If it can stream YouTube, I don't see why it can't stream music.

Anyway, with the stated requirements, the Orbi appears to be the wrong product.

[audiostreamer]

It's easy to get puzzled over this - I do too.

The Auralic does have an Ethernet port so I could use that option instead, you are right - it would effectivley give the Auralic a better antenna to work with as a bonus (and any other device that sits on the Hi-Fi rack requiring an Internet connection too - i.e. my Marantz NA7004 and many other streamers I am messing about with).

Anyway let me explain the Auralic and how it works ....

... the sensitive area with the Auralic Mini is the Apple Control app (called Lightning DS) when sending commands to the Mini such as, changing the volume control (sliding the volume up and down on the app) - changing from Internet Radio to Tidal etc - those sort of software controls / instructions. Why sensitive - because those controls required UDP packets which are not checked over IP when delivered. If UDP packets get dropped then the software control loses touch.

When the music actually streams it uses TCP packets - TCP packets get buffered and checked for delivery over IP, so are far more reliable (streaming music does not drop).

In my experience a good 5GHz wireless signal ensures better control of the Auralic Mini.

[CrimpOn]

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@audiostreamer wrote:

It's easy to get puzzled over this - I do too.

The Auralic does have an Ethernet port so I could use that option instead, you are right - it would effectivley give the Auralic a better antenna to work with as a bonus (and any other device that sits on the Hi-Fi rack requiring an Internet connection too - i.e. my Marantz NA7004 and many other streamers I am messing about with).

.....

those controls required UDP packets which are not checked over IP when delivered. If UDP packets get dropped then the software control loses touch.

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Ethernet sounds like a "win-win" to me, even better than 5G WiFi on the Auralic side. The control app can connect to the Orbi and from there it will be 5G backhaul and ethernet.

However, sometimes it is better to stop "beating a dead horse" and get on with life.  Wish I could recommend a different product, but I only know the Nighthawk R7000, which was replaced by the Orbi because it didn't cover the house well enough, and the Orbi.

Good Luck!

[audiostreamer]

OK after much 'beating the dead horse' I've made a final decision - and I think it's a good one....

Primarily I'm going to simply keep one single high performance router to serve the whole house - and it does this very well in my tests without the need to introduce a Mesh.

The whole configuration is thus:

The ISP router will do all the 2.4G leg work - while the spanking new Asus RT-AC86U will just serve 5G (this means disabling 5G on the ISP router and disabling 2.4G on the Asus router).

The TT ISP router is very good (for an ISP router) so it's happy to do far reaching 2.4 networks.

But the Asus is better - that's doing the 5G donkey work. Oh the Asus is configured as an AP (Access Point) not a router - the ISP router is staying as the router for now, but of course that could change.

More interesting still - is that Asus, with its later firmware and existing newer supported routers - have their own Mesh system called AiMesh. In my case the Asus RT-AC86U is good enough for the whole house, but I could (if I wanted to) add another Asus RT-AC86U (or similar supported) router downstairs to make an AiMesh. The Asus AiMesh also connects via a dedicated backhaul like Orbi does - so well done AiMesh. But of course I get the advantage of all the features Asus give you on this router as a bonus (the Orbi was too dumbed down for me).