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Orbi RBK30 with NightHawk R8000

mavericg
Aspirant

Orbi RBK30 with NightHawk R8000

Hi. I just moved in recently to a 3-storey house and all this while I have a Netgear R8000 Nighthawk. i have around 200sqm of house and the Nighthawk can cover the entire house just that at the far end, the signal is weak. I got Ring Doorbells at the front and a Spotlight Cam at the back all relying to the R8000's 2.4 gHZ. 

 

I've been very curious in mesh wifi systems so i recently bought an RBK30 (Orbi + Satellite) to start with. 

 

I don't want to decommission the Nighthawk as it serves my Ring Network Devices on 2.4gHZ and my gaming needs so what I did in my setup is this: 

 

Fibre Optic Modem > Nighthawk with Wifi Radio still On for both 2.4 and 5g > Orbi RBK30 in AP mode connected to Nighthawk using the ethernet cable. Basically, I got 3 SSID, 1 for the 2.4ghz NH and 5ghz NH and the 3rd for the Orbi (working both on 2.4 &5ghz). 

 

I know for a fact that there are some recommendations here to turn-off the Wifi radio of the nighthawk series while the orbi is in AP mode but I didn't choose to go this path primarily because since the latest firmware of Orbi, my speeds wents down to 20mbs for both download and upload.... My nighthawk at 5G can still attain my max speed at 200/20 on wireless still but when it comes to Orbi, it just runs at 20mbs. 

 

 

By the way, Nighthawk and the Orbi are placed at the 2nd level of the house back end to provide coverage for the ground floor and 3rd floor while the Orbi Satellite is located at the front side of the house same level as the NH and Orbi Base Station. 

 

Given my setup, is there still a workaround to optimize my setup so that the Nighthawk and Orbi can co-exist together? 

 

As far as the Orbi speed is concerned, is there a solution I can explore to match the same speed I 'm getting in my NightHawk? i.e. downgrade firmware? 

 

Appreciate your pieces of advice. Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

 

Model: RBK30| Orbi AC2200 WiFi System
Message 1 of 4
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Orbi RBK30 with NightHawk R8000

If your keeping the NH router as your primary router, I would run the Orbi router in AP mode since you don't need two routers on the same line.

 

Ensure that for NH and Orbi, set the channels on 2.4Ghz for farthest channels away from each other, so NH set for channel 1 and the Orbi set for channel 11. Same with 5Ghz. Keep channels farthest away from each unit.

 

Orbi should see 200mb wireless speeds. You may want to disable the wireless on the NH router temporarily and test with just the Orbi alone.

 

Any other wifi neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Try disabling Daisy Chain, MIMO and Fast Roaming and test.

 

Message 2 of 4
mavericg
Aspirant

Re: Orbi RBK30 with NightHawk R8000

Thanks for the response.

I’ve tried the suggestions but didn’t work either. I got broadband speed of 200/20 (download/upload) and if I’m using the NH 5G I can easily get this speed but when I do the speed test for Orbi on AP and connected via Ethernet to NH, max is 20/20 only.

In terms of disabling Daisy, Mimo, do I disable this for both device because NH has mimo too and fast roam?

Thanks

Message 3 of 4
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Orbi RBK30 with NightHawk R8000

Yes.

I would turn OFF the NH router if you have it still enabled while you set up and test the Orbi system out.

 

Message 4 of 4
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