Orbi cross floor penetration

[3LevelTerrace]

Hi All,

I recently moved into a three level terrace apartment with a bedroom and study on the bottom floor, and the living room, dining room and kitchen (open plan) on the middle floor (see the rough floor plan attached). I currently have an ASUS DSL-AC68U wireless router set up in the study at the base of the stairs. In the living room at the top of the stairs the wifi connectivity is ok but signal strength fluctuates (not sure why) - it can go from four bars to two very suddenly. The wifi signal completely drops out by the time you get to the kitchen at the other end of that middle floor (which as you can see from the plan, is directly above the study, so clearly the router signal isn't penetrating through the floor).

My friend recommended getting an Orbi, however as there is no way to set up a satellite on the staircase (no power points), the first place the satellite could be set up is in the living room - i.e. the place where wifi signal strength currently fluctuates.  My question is, does the Orbi have better backhaul range/floor penetration than my current router such that connectivity between the two Orbi stations will be stronger and more reliable than the signal is now between the router and devices in these two spots?  I know Orbi supposed to work between floors, but so is our router, which clearly isn't happening in this house. Most Orbi range-related questions refer to adding satellites to increase range, as opposed to answering whether the units themselves having better backhaul range, so wondering whether anyone here can help?

Thanks!

Really, really rough floor plan

[ekhalil]

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@3LevelTerrace wrote:

............ In the living room at the top of the stairs the wifi connectivity is ok but signal strength fluctuates (not sure why) - it can go from four bars to two very suddenly. ........

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@3LevelTerrace wrote:

Hi All,

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. In the living room at the top of the stairs the wifi connectivity is ok but signal strength fluctuates (not sure why) - it can go from four bars to two very suddenly. ..........

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• It's very difficult to guess without a wifi scan. Please make a wifi radio scan in your place, specially around the place you plan to place the Orbi Router and Satellites.
• When you see the wifi signal fluctuating in the living room, do you know if the device is then connected to the 2.4 or 5 GHz bands in your current router? If it's connected to the 5 GHz then most pobably Orbi backhaul will work fine because of the following reasons:

1. Your current 5 GHz is likely using the low 5 GHz band which can be quite congested in most places. A wifi scan would confirm this. Orbi backhaul uses the high 5 GHz band which is less frquently used and will have lower interference and thus better reacheability.
2. The backhaul antennas in the Orbi 50 series (which is recommended in your case) are quite powerful and better than any other home-wifi router, so likely it will provide better backhaul coverage than what you currently experience.

[Mooose]

If running an Ethernet cable between them is an option you wouldn't have to worry about the backhaul signal quality.

[tucsontico]

You mention your new home is an apartment. One of the largest reasons for WiFi dropouts and sluggish performance is interference from other WiFi signals. I also recommend you do a WiFi scan (there are many smartphone apps available for this purpose) of your apartment. I also suggest you read this article regarding how WiFi handles interference: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/03/802-eleventy-what-a-deep-dive-into-why-wi-fi-...

As far as cross-floor penetration goes, the ideal situation is to have your router on the middle floor with the satellites on the 1st and 3rd floors (if 2 are necessary, as you never mention the size of your apartment). This will give you the fastest throughput and lowest latency with an ORBI. Of course, all of this is predicated on the type of construction in your building. ANY metal objects (rebar in concrete, metal mesh for stucco, kitchen applainces, etc.) will degrade any WiFi signals dramatically. It will take a bit of trial and error to find ideal locations for the router and satellites. A small change in distance between the router and satellite can have a BIG impact on signal strength so don't be afraid to move things just a few feet at a time. Good luck and keep us posted.

[FURRYe38]

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials.

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@3LevelTerrace wrote:

Hi All,

I recently moved into a three level terrace apartment with a bedroom and study on the bottom floor, and the living room, dining room and kitchen (open plan) on the middle floor (see the rough floor plan attached). I currently have an ASUS DSL-AC68U wireless router set up in the study at the base of the stairs. In the living room at the top of the stairs the wifi connectivity is ok but signal strength fluctuates (not sure why) - it can go from four bars to two very suddenly. The wifi signal completely drops out by the time you get to the kitchen at the other end of that middle floor (which as you can see from the plan, is directly above the study, so clearly the router signal isn't penetrating through the floor).

My friend recommended getting an Orbi, however as there is no way to set up a satellite on the staircase (no power points), the first place the satellite could be set up is in the living room - i.e. the place where wifi signal strength currently fluctuates.  My question is, does the Orbi have better backhaul range/floor penetration than my current router such that connectivity between the two Orbi stations will be stronger and more reliable than the signal is now between the router and devices in these two spots?  I know Orbi supposed to work between floors, but so is our router, which clearly isn't happening in this house. Most Orbi range-related questions refer to adding satellites to increase range, as opposed to answering whether the units themselves having better backhaul range, so wondering whether anyone here can help?

Thanks!

Really, really rough floor plan

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