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Introducing the Orbi 970 Series Mesh System with WiFi 7(BE) technology. For more information visit the NETGEAR Press Room.

Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
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Re: Alternative to Orbi

Superpop
Star

Alternative to Orbi

Getting frustrated with the constant drops on my IOS devices, wondering if it is time to take the Orbi back to Costco and get something else.  I have a 4000SF house, wood construction and Ethernet drops in every room connected to a gig switch in my data closet.  Wanted Orbi to saturate my house with Wifi but the natives are getting restless with all the drops.  What would another good router/AP solution be if such a thing exists that would give me comperable wireless speeds with a mesh concept with no drops?

 

Want to like and keep the Orbi but at some point I need to not have drops in my Wifi, particularly since we all use WIFI for calling on our phones.  

Message 1 of 26
tucsontico
Virtuoso

Re: Alternative to Orbi

What version of firmware is installed on your ORBI router and satellites? I'm running V1.4.0.34 and have a 3000sf house with concrete block construction and an Apple OS/iOS environment (3 wired &10 wireless devices) and have not had drop out issues you're seeing.

Message 2 of 26
Superpop
Star

Re: Alternative to Orbi

Latest FW. 

Message 3 of 26
loomis1975
Luminary

Re: Alternative to Orbi

Linksys Velop is a new mesh product to try. I have had it and Orbi setup at different times and places. I do not have ethernet runs at any places. Don't take my word for it, but I think some of the mesh networks, maybe even the Velop will use Ethernet for the backhaul, but I would research it carefully. 2 Velop nodes would cover your house if you could put them in the center of each half, otherwise you might want to get three. With all your Ethernet wiring, have you considered getting commercial style APs that will do seamless roaming? A mesh or Star setup like the Orbi might not really be necessary with your wired Ethernet network.
Message 4 of 26
tucsontico
Virtuoso

Re: Alternative to Orbi

I agree with the previous post. WIth Ethernet drops all around your house, you will get the best WiFi performance with an AP setup.

Message 5 of 26
st_shaw
Master

Re: Alternative to Orbi

With wired connections, wired access points would be the better choice.

 

I have an Orbi at one location where I cannot easily run wires.  At my other location, where I can run wires and have walls that block RF, I use access points.

 

You can probably cover your entire 4000 SF house with two or three APs, and the cost would be similar.  I haven't tried roaming from one AP to another on a WiFi call yet though.

Message 6 of 26
Superpop
Star

Re: Alternative to Orbi

So what does everyone recommend for a rock solid router and AP set-up, I liked the idea of a mesh wireless network for wifi calling.  

Message 7 of 26
st_shaw
Master

Re: Alternative to Orbi

I just bought a couple Ubiquiti APs--one AP-AC-PRO and one AP-AC-LR.  I'm using with an eisting FiOS router.  Online reviews are good.  So far so good, but they've only been running about a week. I get full FiOS speed throughout the house (75M/75M).  I have may close neighbors at that site, and can see their WiFi routers, so I'm not sure Orbi would be kind to my neighbors there.

Message 8 of 26
Silver0066
Apprentice

Re: Alternative to Orbi

Don't get the Linksys Velop.  It has only an Android app for setup, no web interface.  The app is buggy and incomplete.  The Velop is branded Linksys, but it is a Belkin product.  The customer support sucks.....(48 hour wait time for call back) and there is no User Manual.  I don't trust Belkin.  They are very similar to the old Radio Shack products.

 

The specs make it sound good, but you can't network to your wired computers with this junk.

Message 9 of 26
michael814
Star

Re: Alternative to Orbi

Just a clarification about the Velop... wireless devices can indeed communicate just fine with computers/printers on the wired network.  But yes, it sucks that there's no web GUI, and hopefully they'll add some of the inexplicably missing features (coders probably just ran out of time before release... similar to how Orbi was missing guest network at first).

 

And in response to loomis1975, it can do ethernet backhaul.

Message 10 of 26
Silver0066
Apprentice

Re: Alternative to Orbi

Your clarification is wrong.  I have just gotten off the phone with Velop customer support.  The Velop will not communicate with Wired computers on my network through File Explorer/Network.  They show up, but you can't access the shares.  Customer support could not figure it out.  Yes, it does ethernet backhaul like the Orbi, but the router is very buggy, so the back haul is useless.

Message 11 of 26
michael814
Star

Re: Alternative to Orbi

Ah, my apologies... sounds like a Windows-specific issue (my household is mostly Mac).  Hopefully they'll get that fixed soon, and also address the missing router features.... I know a lot of people are buying these, with it never occurring to them that this $500 system would be missing features that are expected to be included with pretty much any router, and are shocked at the omissions.  I personally initially crossed the Velop off my list when I came across some early reviews that indicated there was no AP-only mode, no IP range, and no DHCP reservation ability.  But I later learned that it does indeed do IP reservation, and with that ability I was able to shoehorn it into working with my setup.  But that shoudn't be the case, as a premium router like this (or, heck, pretty much ANY router these days!) should be configurable and flexible enough to accommodate non-standard environments.

Message 12 of 26
djc6
Luminary

Re: Alternative to Orbi


@Superpop wrote:

Want to like and keep the Orbi but at some point I need to not have drops in my Wifi, particularly since we all use WIFI for calling on our phones.  


Do you have either of these settings enabled:

 

Enable Implicit BEAMFORMING - Boosts WiFi speed, reliability, & range for all mobile devices

Enable MU-MIMO

 

In the Orbi Advanced -> Wireless settings?  The default for these settings is OFF and they are known to cause problems.    I've got three units covering about 3500 sqft and the performance is stellar and no drops - but I am using all of the default settings. 

Message 13 of 26
st_shaw
Master

Re: Alternative to Orbi

@djc6 said, "The default for these settings is OFF and they are known to cause problems."

 

These settings were ON by default in my Orbi.  I still have them ON and I'm covering 3,000 SF, three levels, and a decent radius outside with no issues. 

Message 14 of 26
Rustproofcorn
Luminary

Re: Alternative to Orbi

I'm gonna give djc6 a kudo for his default settings remark. I been sayinf and thinking the same thing. Til netgear fixes enjoy awesome wireless without mimo. The implicit beamforming isn't needed anyhow unless U have a specific device that works only with that specific beamforming. Most n devices work better and more stable with explicit anyhow. I almost took djc6's kudo away for his name tho. Was hard to remember.
Message 15 of 26
Superpop
Star

Re: Alternative to Orbi

OK, so I am going to run with Beamforming and MIMO turned off for a few days and see if that settles things down.  

Message 16 of 26
Yld2rob
Luminary

Re: Alternative to Orbi

I have tried everything as well. Going back to Costco today.

Message 17 of 26
tucsontico
Virtuoso

Re: Alternative to Orbi

 


@Superpop wrote:

OK, so I am going to run with Beamforming and MIMO turned off for a few days and see if that settles things down.  


Any luck with beamforming and MIMO turned off?


I discovered that I left the 2.4gHz channel selection set in "auto". By locking it to channel 6, I've gotten much better stability on my 2.4 gHz devices. I will do a more indepth signal analysis to see if channel 1 or 11 will be better. However, my nearest neighbor with potential interference is several hundred feet away. BTW, my 5 gHz band has been locked in channel 48 with good stability and range since installing the ORBI 10 days ago.

Message 18 of 26
whsbuss-1
Apprentice

Re: Alternative to Orbi


@st_shaw wrote:

I just bought a couple Ubiquiti APs--one AP-AC-PRO and one AP-AC-LR.  I'm using with an eisting FiOS router.  Online reviews are good.  So far so good, but they've only been running about a week. I get full FiOS speed throughout the house (75M/75M).  I have may close neighbors at that site, and can see their WiFi routers, so I'm not sure Orbi would be kind to my neighbors there.


I had those too and they are great with ethernet drops for APs. But I can't get cables to my remote locations in the house. So when I used they wirelessly connected to main, I got tons of buffering on AppleTV and drops. Orbi has (almost) been trouble free.

Message 19 of 26
st_shaw
Master

Re: Alternative to Orbi


@whsbuss-1 wrote:


I had those too and they are great with ethernet drops for APs. But I can't get cables to my remote locations in the house. So when I used they wirelessly connected to main, I got tons of buffering on AppleTV and drops. Orbi has (almost) been trouble free.


 

I use the APs at a location where I can run wires.  At another site where I cannot, I use the Orbi.  The Orbi is working well.  The only potential issue I am seeing with Orbi is high variability and latency when pinging between wireless clients.  I'm not sure what's going on there yet.

Message 20 of 26
whsbuss-1
Apprentice

Re: Alternative to Orbi


@st_shaw wrote:

@whsbuss-1 wrote:


I had those too and they are great with ethernet drops for APs. But I can't get cables to my remote locations in the house. So when I used they wirelessly connected to main, I got tons of buffering on AppleTV and drops. Orbi has (almost) been trouble free.


 

I use the APs at a location where I can run wires.  At another site where I cannot, I use the Orbi.  The Orbi is working well.  The only potential issue I am seeing with Orbi is high variability and latency when pinging between wireless clients.  I'm not sure what's going on there yet.


Maybe you can expand on this. I have had a few instances where connectivity is lost between the Orbi router (in AP mode) and the FiOS router. When this happens I quickly do a ping of the static IP of the Orbi router and that's just fine. However pinging the IP of the FiOS router gateway fails completely.... then it comes back.

 

What's strange is with my old Asus 68U I never saw that. But I did have a netgear R6300 (v1) which I did see the same issue. So please share what you are seeing.

Message 21 of 26
st_shaw
Master

Re: Alternative to Orbi

@whsbuss-1 wrote:
@st_shaw wrote:

Maybe you can expand on this. I have had a few instances where connectivity is lost between the Orbi router (in AP mode) and the FiOS router. When this happens I quickly do a ping of the static IP of the Orbi router and that's just fine. However pinging the IP of the FiOS router gateway fails completely.... then it comes back.

 

What's strange is with my old Asus 68U I never saw that. But I did have a netgear R6300 (v1) which I did see the same issue. So please share what you are seeing.

 

I have my Orbi in Access Point (AP) mode with the Orbi "router" Internet port hardwired to one of the LAN ports on my main router.  I assigned a static IP to Orbi in the Internet setup page before switching to AP mode.

 

I was seeing large variability in ping latency for wireless devices connected to the satellite, with ping times of 150ms to 200 ms. Right now, it appears that latency was caused by one Apple MacBookPro I was using in the testing.

 

Your issue sounds strange.  If your Orbi router is hardwired to the FiOS router, and you can ping the Orbi router, then you should be able to ping the FiOS router.  Could be an intermittent cable issue or something.

Message 22 of 26
Yld2rob
Luminary

Re: Alternative to Orbi

I went back to Costco and exchanged the orbi..  i just installed it.  We shall see what happens.  The Orbi router is connected directly to the Fios connection.. I am not using a FIOS router.

Message 23 of 26
whsbuss-1
Apprentice

Re: Alternative to Orbi


@st_shaw wrote:
@whsbuss-1 wrote:
@st_shaw wrote:

Maybe you can expand on this. I have had a few instances where connectivity is lost between the Orbi router (in AP mode) and the FiOS router. When this happens I quickly do a ping of the static IP of the Orbi router and that's just fine. However pinging the IP of the FiOS router gateway fails completely.... then it comes back.

 

What's strange is with my old Asus 68U I never saw that. But I did have a netgear R6300 (v1) which I did see the same issue. So please share what you are seeing.

 

I have my Orbi in Access Point (AP) mode with the Orbi "router" Internet port hardwired to one of the LAN ports on my main router.  I assigned a static IP to Orbi in the Internet setup page before switching to AP mode.

 

I was seeing large variability in ping latency for wireless devices connected to the satellite, with ping times of 150ms to 200 ms. Right now, it appears that latency was caused by one Apple MacBookPro I was using in the testing.

 

Your issue sounds strange.  If your Orbi router is hardwired to the FiOS router, and you can ping the Orbi router, then you should be able to ping the FiOS router.  Could be an intermittent cable issue or something.


Thanks for the reply.... I did change out the ethernet cable between the Orbi and LAN switch. So far its been holding. I am impressed with the Orbi just wish netgear had a better UI and some features (like VLAN for guest network in AP mode). FiOS requires me to keep their router for TV services.

Message 24 of 26
st_shaw
Master

Re: Alternative to Orbi

Hopefully it was a cable issue then.  Last week, I had a Cisco switch with a port that suddenly droped from 1000M to 100M.  I swapped it out.  Good luck!

 

The FiOS router has VLAN capability buried in the menus, but I haven't tried to do anything with it. I have mine in bridged mode currently, with a third-party router.  I cancelled my FiOS TV and went with a TiVO OTA instead.

Message 25 of 26
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