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Is it better to plug in the RBS50 extenders

apgomez3
Aspirant

Is it better to plug in the RBS50 extenders

I have the RBR50 with two RBS50 satellite extenders in my home. Right now I have the internet coming into the house to one LAN jack in the living room. This is where the RBK50 is. Then I have one RBS50 in the office and one in the family room. There are LAN jacks in each of these rooms but are not live. I have an option to make them live.

 

My question is... Is it better to plug in the RBS50 extenders to the LAN jacks in these rooms or leave them as is? What are the advantages or disadvantages?

Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 1 of 3
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Is it better to plug in the RBS50 extenders

Depending upon building materials. RBS work well if in a home with wood and dry wall. Concrete and metal building materials impact Orbi systems more. In some of these cases Wired backhaul would work best. 

 

Distance is important as well between RBR and RBS. 30 feet is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router

Wired has a pro of the RBS work as APs vs extenders. The wired connection would be there if something happens with the wifi signal. 

The speed is a bit slower on wired since the LAN ports only support 1000Mbs. The wireless backhaul supports 1733Mbps. 

 

https://kb.netgear.com/000051205/What-is-Ethernet-backhaul-and-how-do-I-set-it-up-on-my-Orbi-WiFi-Sy...

 

 

 

Message 2 of 3
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Is it better to plug in the RBS50 extenders

If "everything is working great", there is little to be gained by changing to wired connections.  For example, if the internet connection is running at 100mb, then having a backhaul many times that speed is already "overkill".

 

The benefits of separate wired connections to two satellites are pretty clear:

  • The satellites do not have to share the 5G backhaul frequency  That 1333mb backhaul represents the maximum possible data rate, which is seldom achieved in practice.  My Orbi reports 5G transmit rate of 780mg and receive rate of 975mb to my single satellite.  WiFi uses bandwidth maintaining the connections, what with the radios sending out "Beacon" packets several times each second.  Your two satellites are sharing whatever bandwidth is achieved on that single 5G channel.  So, if your satellites are both connected with ethernet, each will have a 1G connection rate rather than the two of them sharing whatever rate they are able to achieve.
  • Wiring satellites allows them to be placed farther apart.  As the distance between router and satellite increases, the maximum achievable data rate falls off.  The greatest possible backhaul rate is when they are very close together, but in that situation the two WiFi radios on the same channel create unacceptable interference.  As a general practice, "about 30 ft." is the distance where the backhaul rate is still "good enough" and the interference is "not too bad."

There certainly is no harm in experimenting.

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