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Re: RBK20 - Slower satellite speed (small living space)

mkstewartesq
Aspirant

RBK20 - Slower satellite speed (small living space)

Let me start by saying I live in a fairly small space - about 1200 sq. feet, all on one level.  I have the router set up in the living room and the satellite in a back room - but there is a hallway running straight form one room to the oher and the router and satellite are almost exactly in line of sight of each other.  (I can stand at the door of the back room and see the light on the router. If I moved the router in the back room to the left about five feet, they two devices would literally be in a direct line of sight with each other, no obstructions.  Distance about 30 feet.

 

Connecting to the router, all of my devices hit about 350Mbps.  However, if a device connects to the satellite (still a 5Ghz connection), the speed drops to around 200Mbps.  While 200Mbps is nothing to sneeze at, I just upgraded my internet speed to enjoy the faster speeds in the backroom where my home officeis located - but Orbi always wants to push that computer to the satellite.

 

(Edit to clarify situation:  if I turn off the satellite, my computer in the backroom connects with the router in the living room (30 feet away) and gets 350Mbps.  With the satellite on (computer still in the same location, satellite is about 3 feet away) computer connects to the satellite and max speed is about 200Mbps.   

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks, 
Mike

Message 1 of 7
mkstewartesq
Aspirant

Re: RBK20 - Slower satellite speed (small living space)

Sorry - typo in title - model is the RBK12 .

Message 2 of 7
Mstrbig
Master

Re: RBK20 - Slower satellite speed (small living space)


@mkstewartesq wrote:

Sorry - typo in title - model is the RBK12 .


The RBK12 covers up to 3000 Sq Ft. You have 1200 Sq Ft. Your router may be adequately covering your area. You could try experimenting by moving the satellite to different locations further and closer away.

Check these setting:

Disable Daisy Chain Topology

Enable MU-MIMO

Enable Implicit Beam-forming

Disable Fast Roaming

Enable UPnP

Enable WMM (WiFi Multimedia)

Disable Enable 20/40Mhz Coexistence

 

Message 3 of 7
mkstewartesq
Aspirant

Re: RBK20 - Slower satellite speed (small living space)


@Mstrbig wrote:

@mkstewartesq wrote:

Sorry - typo in title - model is the RBK12 .


The RBK12 covers up to 3000 Sq Ft. You have 1200 Sq Ft. Your router may be adequately covering your area. You could try experimenting by moving the satellite to different locations further and closer away.

Check these setting:

Disable Daisy Chain Topology

Enable MU-MIMO

Enable Implicit Beam-forming

Disable Fast Roaming

Enable UPnP

Enable WMM (WiFi Multimedia)

Disable Enable 20/40Mhz Coexistence

 


Thank you for all of the suggestions.  I changed all of those settings, but no improvement to the satellite.  After the reboot, my computer connected to the router and pulled 350Mbps - however, once it eventually shifted to the satellite, speeds dropped back to 215 Mbps.

 

Mike

Message 4 of 7
Mstrbig
Master

Re: RBK20 - Slower satellite speed (small living space)


@mkstewartesq wrote:


Thank you for all of the suggestions.  I changed all of those settings, but no improvement to the satellite.  After the reboot, my computer connected to the router and pulled 350Mbps - however, once it eventually shifted to the satellite, speeds dropped back to 215 Mbps.

 

Mike


Your system is a dual-band system, so the backhaul band uses one of the bands, it’s usually the 5GHz band. So that band is also serving clients at the same time. Therefore, you should expect signal loss on the satellites. This will happen when one of the bands has to do send and receive simultaneously .

 

I took an RBK13 system and setup 1 router and 1 satellite about 40 feet apart. The building Square footage coverage was about 1400 Sq Ft. I ran a speed test 2 times for each test.

Results were the router speed test averaged 325Mbps in close proximity and 203Mbps around 30 feet from the router. The Orbi satellite speed test averaged 196Mbps in close proximity and 139Mbps around 30 feet.

 

These results tell me your system is performing well, and you probably won't get much more out of it. If you are getting wide coverage speed of 350Mbps off the one router, I would disconnect the satellite, or move it to an area where you have weak WIFI.


Message 5 of 7
mkstewartesq
Aspirant

Re: RBK20 - Slower satellite speed (small living space)


@Mstrbig wrote:

@mkstewartesq wrote:


Thank you for all of the suggestions.  I changed all of those settings, but no improvement to the satellite.  After the reboot, my computer connected to the router and pulled 350Mbps - however, once it eventually shifted to the satellite, speeds dropped back to 215 Mbps.

 

Mike


Your system is a dual-band system, so the backhaul band uses one of the bands, it’s usually the 5GHz band. So that band is also serving clients at the same time. Therefore, you should expect signal loss on the satellites. This will happen when one of the bands has to do send and receive simultaneously .

 

I took an RBK13 system and setup 1 router and 1 satellite about 40 feet apart. The building Square footage coverage was about 1400 Sq Ft. I ran a speed test 2 times for each test.

Results were the router speed test averaged 325Mbps in close proximity and 203Mbps around 30 feet from the router. The Orbi satellite speed test averaged 196Mbps in close proximity and 139Mbps around 30 feet.

 

These results tell me your system is performing well, and you probably won't get much more out of it. If you are getting wide coverage speed of 350Mbps off the one router, I would disconnect the satellite, or move it to an area where you have weak WIFI.



@Mstrbig - first of all, thank you for going through the effort of replicating my set-up to test.

I may just disconnect the satellite (the router covers my whole place with no decrease in speed anywhere), though it seems to defeat the purpose of hhaving this system.  Perhaps this is partly my own fault in misundestanding the technology - I thought that the point of a mesh system such as this was to have roughly the same speeds throughout the house, whether near the router or near a satellite.

 

However - one more query if I may:  would a tri-band system avoid the issue you noted above of the backhaul connection doing double duty of serving clients?  I believe I am still in my return window on this unit and have plans to move to a larger space within the year  - so, while this unity may work for my current space, I'd consider switching up to a tri-band system (even if it is more than I need right now) if it would ensure more consistent speeds in the larger home I plan to purchase later this year.

 

Thank you again, 

Mike

 

 

Message 6 of 7
Mstrbig
Master

Re: RBK20 - Slower satellite speed (small living space)


@mkstewartesq wrote:

However - one more query if I may:  would a tri-band system avoid the issue you noted above of the backhaul connection doing double duty of serving clients?  I believe I am still in my return window on this unit and have plans to move to a larger space within the year  - so, while this unity may work for my current space, I'd consider switching up to a tri-band system (even if it is more than I need right now) if it would ensure more consistent speeds in the larger home I plan to purchase later this year.

 

Thank you again, 

Mike

 

 


Yes a Tri-Band should avoid above mentioned issues. 

An RBR20 router and RBS20 Satellite is a nice affordable system. And for larger Sq. Ft. an RBK50, RBK50V or RBK53 system are very powerful and give great coverage.

However right now being as you are 1200 sq ft, and your Orbi router is covering it sufficiently, an RBK20 or RBK50 system may be overkill as you may experience problems if the satellite is too close to the router. But for now you could just use the router and shelf the satellite(s), until the move.

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