Orbi AC3000 vs 2nd gen Xfinity pods

[fleurjr]

Hey all,

I have been reading the forum for a bit trying to find my answer but I thought I would just pose it directly. I had previously been running and Netgear CM 1000 (bought 7/2019) and Orbi AC 3000 (RBK50 with satellite) for the last year and a half. Lately we have been having connectivity issues with devices. Thinking it was maybe the modem I decided to start renting a gateway from comcast (I usually hate the idea of doing this) and troubleshoot the problem. The initial problem fixed with good stable internet. The only problem was slow speeds moving away from the gateway. I was not surprised by this since my gateway is in the basement and there are two floors above this. I assumed that I would need to get the 2nd gen pods to extend my signal. Prior to the getting them though I decided to set my gateway to bridge mode and hook up my Orbi once again to see if that would be enough. Firmware is up to date on both Router and satellite. At first speeds were not acceptable. I pay for 800 down. I get 900+ off the gateway but 100 down off wifi. I removed the ethernet backhaul that I had between the orbi router and satellite and this seem to help. Ranges between 250-550 down now. I ended up purchasing the 2nd gen pods anyway but I have not installed them. I know that top speeds off an orbi and/or pods is about 500 down but I had hoped that paying for 800 down that I would hit 500 the majority of the time anywhere in the house with orbi mesh. Is this just too unrealistic?  If any of you were paying for 800 down with a XB7 set to bridge run through the orbi described would you be happy with this performance.  From what I can tell the 2nd gen pods are a very similar set up as Orbi (dedicated 5 backhaul, top speed of 500 down, etc).  Would switching to the pods be a lateral move?  I have about two weeks to return the pods to get a refund.  I don't mind the purchase but I would rather save the $200 for an upgrade in tech like wifi 6 or something.  My neighbor has xb7 as well and two pods and says that her wifi speeds are 500 down the majority of the time.  Not sure if the Orbi and XB7 were not playing nice with each other.  Thoughts?  I can provide further details if needed.  Thanks in adv.

[FURRYe38]

What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too? 

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet or more is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.

Where in the home is the RBR located? In the basement as well? If so, basements are not good locations for the wifi router. 

How are you testing speeds? Wired or wireless? Wireless caps out at around 400-500Mpbs depending on device hardware support. Wire ethernet cable you should see 800Mpbs. Orbi 50 series supports near 900mpbs or just a bit over. 

[CrimpOn]

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@fleurjr wrote:

 I removed the ethernet backhaul that I had between the orbi router and satellite and this seem to help.

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This is not logical. For the Orbi "50" product, ethernet backhaul will always outperform WiFi backhaul.  There was something wrong with the ethernet installation, either the cable or wall jacks.

There is no point in renting a gateway only to put it into bridge mode.  Either go "all in" with their product or reinstall your modem and try to find a solution to the original problems.

[fleurjr]

What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?  I am not in front of my device so I can give this right now but I will. 

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft? Listed sq ft is about 3148 but that normally does not include an unfinished basement so I would say 4000 sq ft

What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet or more is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. The router is next to the gateway in the basement and the satelite is two floor directly up.  Might be less than 30feet but through two floors.  I would have to measure to know exactly.  Set up gives me a blue light so I didn't think much more than that

Where in the home is the RBR located? In the basement as well? Basemen.  If so, basements are not good locations for the wifi router. I completely agree about basements.  I have looked into other arragments.  The ethernet hub is located in the basement and my wife's office is two floors up (same room as satelite).  I have tried to run my wife's computer off wifi but her VPN seems to interfiere with our Philips HUE and doorbell camera.  To fix this I ran a cat 5 from the router in the basement to the office and I directly connect to the computer.  Once I did this no other issues with VPN.  Now that I have a XB7 I suppose I could run the cat 5 from the office directly to the xfinity gateway/XB7 ethernet port.  Then i could put the router in another room and move the satelite accordingly.  

How are you testing speeds? Wired or wireless? I have used the orbi speed test which I understands is testing the speed from the gateway to the router (900+ down).  I use a speedtest app on my iphone 12 mini to test diffrent rooms in the house (250-550 down)  Obviously I would not expect 900 on a speedtest app since that is more of a wired speed.  Xfinity pods and Orbi I understand is more capped around 500

Wireless caps out at around 400-500Mpbs depending on device hardware support. So would you say wireless tests between 250-550 is a reasonable expectation?  Maybe my expectations of 400-500 down everytime anywhere in the house is unreasonable.  Just thought wired of 900+ with an Orbi Mesh would get 500 everytime wirelessly Wire ethernet cable you should see 800Mpbs. I believe I do.  Orbi 50 series supports near 900mpbs or just a bit over.  Tested while wired into the Orbi, correct?  

[fleurjr]

3148sq ft is listed but that doesn't include the basement which is where the gateway and router are right now.  maybe 4000sq ft

[fleurjr]

@CrimpOn 

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@CrimpOn wrote:

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@fleurjr wrote:

 I removed the ethernet backhaul that I had between the orbi router and satellite and this seem to help.

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This is not logical. For the Orbi "50" product, ethernet backhaul will always outperform WiFi backhaul.  There was something wrong with the ethernet installation, either the cable or wall jacks.  That's what I thought and why I first wanted to do the ethernet back haul.  Also since xfinity 2nd gen pods do not support ethernet backhaul I wanted to retry the Orbi first.  All week I was get 90-100 down.  Once I disconnected the ethernet backhaul and allowed it to reconnect via wireless backhaul speed improved.  The ethernet seems OK by my crude view.  After removing the ethernet backhaul and allowing the router and satelite to connect/sync wireless I used that same ethernet jack and directly connected to the computer in the room and it had no problems connecting.  For full disclosure I was not using an ethernet backhaul on the Orbi up until this week.  Before the new gateway I had the Orbi in another room away from this jack.  I have not tested the speeds of this computer directly while connected to the ethernet port but it has been working well this way for a couple of years before getting the new gateway.  I supoose it could be working for general computer use but maybe if I test the computer speeds I may find that that the jack is bad

There is no point in renting a gateway only to put it into bridge mode.  Either go "all in" with their product or reinstall your modem and try to find a solution to the original problems.  Can't argue with this logic.  I never thought about working on the original modem before.  Once it started giving me problems (just like previous older modems) I just figured it was dying.  I have had similar problems years past where I would have to unplug it frequently to get my devices to get connected.  In the end the router became outdated and once getting a new one all the problems resolved.  This time however I was frustrated by how quickly the same problems started.  Purchased 7/2019 (netgear CM1000).  I did not like the idea of getting a new one again.  At somepoint it may make sense to rent the gateway rather than replace every couple of years.  I had hoped to get 3-4 years of use.  If I had I would have just bought a modem myself and not involved Xfinity.  With the new gateway all my devices stay connected.  Only expected speed is an issue 

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[fleurjr]

Thoughts?