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KenLoc's avatar
KenLoc
Aspirant
Oct 30, 2019

Expanding ORBI RBR50 system

I have a system comprised of an RBR50 router and an RBS50 satellite.  To expand my coverage I bought an RBW20 to plug into a wall socket.  I wanted to extend the system in a straight line ie from RBR50 to RBS50 to RBW20.  However, the RBW20 has weakly connected to the router rather than the other RBS50 satellite.  

 

Is there a way to reconfigure the system so the RBW20 connects to the RBS50?  This should provide a much stronger signal to the RBW20. 

11 Replies

  • plemans's avatar
    plemans
    Guru - Experienced User

    How far apart are they? They need a minimum of 30 ft between then to function appropriately. 

    Also is daisy chain mode enabled in your settings? This needs to be enabled for them to function as you desire. 

    What firmware is each device on?

    • KenLoc's avatar
      KenLoc
      Aspirant

      Thanks for your help.  The RBS50 is about 40 ft from the RBR50.  This setup has always worked fine.  The new RBW30 is about 50 ft from the RBS50 and about 80ft from the RBR50 (hence the weak connection (in different rooms).  The RBR50 firmware is v2.5.0.38.  The RBS50 is the same.  The RBW30 is V2.3.5.6.

       

      The RBS is connecting to the RBR at 5Ghz and the RBW is connecting to the RBR at 2.4Ghz.

       

      I am using the Orbi app (latest version) on an iPhone 7 but cannot find anywhere in settings that allows me to enable daisy chain mode.  Can you point me to the correct place to do this?

      • plemans's avatar
        plemans
        Guru - Experienced User

        here's what it means.

        https://kb.netgear.com/000048458/What-is-daisy-chain-and-how-does-it-work-with-my-Orbi-WiFi-System

        Page 58 of the manual has the walk through but its in this location:  ADVANCED > Advanced Setup > Wireless Settings

         

        one thing to check is if there's anything in between the satellites. Brick, concrete, adobe, foil lined insulation, and hvac all block signals. If its falling back to the 2.4ghz signal something might be blocking signals. if you're house is a standard wood/sheetrock house, try moving the satellite a little as maybe hvac within the walls is blocking. 

    • michaelkenward's avatar
      michaelkenward
      Guru - Experienced User

      plemans wrote:

      How far apart are they? They need a minimum of 30 ft between then to function appropriately. 


      I know that there is an old KnowledgeBase article that says this, but does anyone have any decent evidence to support this strange idea?

       

      It is not my experience.

      • plemans's avatar
        plemans
        Guru - Experienced User

        michaelkenward wrote:

        plemans wrote:

        How far apart are they? They need a minimum of 30 ft between then to function appropriately. 


        I know that there is an old KnowledgeBase article that says this, but does anyone have any decent evidence to support this strange idea?

         

        It is not my experience.


        michaelkenward 

        I've had a couple people on here report good results with seperating out the distance. I also had better results (on older firmware) when I seperated them out in my house. My house isn't huge (3200sq ft) and I was running 3x satellites. Seperation helped with stability a lot. Again, this was multiple generations of firmware ago so who knows if it was firmware optimizations that helped it or the moving the router/satellites around.