Orbi USB 2.0 port

[slygato]

The whole sales spew for Orbi is about throughput, throughput & even more throughput.  Then they put a single USB 2.0 port on the thing?  Here's some perspective:  http://bestwirelessroutersnow.com/why-get-a-wireless-router-with-usb-3-0/  I put in my pre-order for the Orbi on August 22nd but I'm thinking of backing out and waiting on USB 3.0 so that I can put a big honking media drive on it and get some decent throughput out of it.

[slygato · Accepted solution]

I hadn't considered that.  It crossed my mind that it would be cool if I could use one of the 1gb Ethernet ports for a storage connection, but I haven't spent any time at all looking into this (obviously.)  I'll look into what's available and put a temporary moratorium on my carping about the USB 2.0.  

My other concern was regarding the RF radiation from these puppies and from what I've been able to determine, these things will be putting out about 36dbm (about 1 1/2 Watts) and that a person five feet from the the unit will be irradiated with a -30dbm signal, which is 60dbm down. I'm not an engineer but -60dbm is a million times less (at least it is on the farm where I was raised.)  From the experts at Drudgereport.com and other authorities, 5Ghz is non-ionizing radiation which is far safer than ionizing radiation.  The point being, maybe I'll put aside my concerns about USB 2.0 and RF radiation and not cancel the order.  At least these are things to think about during the next two weeks.   

[mdgm-ntgr]

The key feature of Orbi is the whole home Wi-Fi and that's what our focus has been on.

USB3 is great, but working with a USB disk does use up resources that the router could use for something else.

If you want to use USB3 you could connect a Nighthawk via Ethernet to the Orbi router and connect the USB disk to that. One of the two routers should be in Access Point (AP) mode to avoid double NAT.

Or better yet you could connect a NAS such as our ReadyNAS via Ethernet. The NAS has a number of backup options and with multiple disk bays a redundant RAID level could be used to provide some protection against a disk failure.

[slygato · Accepted solution]

I hadn't considered that.  It crossed my mind that it would be cool if I could use one of the 1gb Ethernet ports for a storage connection, but I haven't spent any time at all looking into this (obviously.)  I'll look into what's available and put a temporary moratorium on my carping about the USB 2.0.  

My other concern was regarding the RF radiation from these puppies and from what I've been able to determine, these things will be putting out about 36dbm (about 1 1/2 Watts) and that a person five feet from the the unit will be irradiated with a -30dbm signal, which is 60dbm down. I'm not an engineer but -60dbm is a million times less (at least it is on the farm where I was raised.)  From the experts at Drudgereport.com and other authorities, 5Ghz is non-ionizing radiation which is far safer than ionizing radiation.  The point being, maybe I'll put aside my concerns about USB 2.0 and RF radiation and not cancel the order.  At least these are things to think about during the next two weeks.   

[Vinchenzo]

So you want me to buy a whole new router that has USB 3.0? That doesn't seem to be cost effective for the end user, does it? By the way, you did not mention what resources would be used up and why that is a negative impact on the Orbi. 

[slygato]

Valid points.  I have a R7000 Nighthawk and I believe it has a USB 3.0 connector but if there is a single Ethernet connection between the Nighthawk and the Orbi, I would probably do better with a NAS with an Ethernet connection.  How about a 10gb Ethernet port on the Orbi or a USB 3.1?  More is better.  I imagine these will be available at some point.

[mdgm-ntgr]

It may make sense if you already have the Nighthawk. Not as much sense if you don't as an option.

Most USB disks would probably have NTFS on it. Getting good performance with this filesystem tends to require a fair bit of resources.

With Orbi the focus has been on getting the whole home Wi-Fi done right and a core advanced feature set. We're looking into features to add, but the USB2 port sends a clear message that USB storage is not on this list.

[slygato]

I suppose I could hang a ReadyNAS 626x (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/netgear-sets-network-storage-performance-123100021.html) off one of the Orbi's 1gb Ethernet ports and stream my vast Bullwinkle collection simulatneously to every device in the house.  The ReadyNAS 626x has a 10gb port but the Orbi's total wireless throughput probably isn't anywhere near that, so what the hay, the 1gb port will be just fine.

[cosrocket1]

Bottom line, can the USB 2.0 port on the Orbi be used to connect an external hard drive? I have very basic network storage needs so it not being a USB 3.0 port would not be a deal breaker for me.. None of the other new mesh networks have USB ports which can be used for network storage AFAIK.

[mdgm-ntgr]

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@cosrocket1 wrote:

Bottom line, can the USB 2.0 port on the Orbi be used to connect an external hard drive?

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No

[loomis1975]

What is the functionality and purpose of the usb 2.0 ports on the router and the satellites?  If I cannot put a external storage device on it for backup, is it only for connecting printers?  Or what else?

[DarrenM]

Hello Loomis1975

The USB is there for future use.

DarrenM

[Studio421]

So far as I have experienced, the port does not work with my USB printer. Not sure what else I would use it for.

[peteytesting]

hi studio421

at this stage the usb port is totally disabled and does nothing

it is planned for use in future fw releases but at this stage is not functional for any device or application

pete