RBK50 with WiFi 6(802.11AX) Clients

[GMoGoody8]

I’m trying to determine if it’s the Orbi or IPhone 12s.

I just recently purchased an IPhone 12 and 12 pro. When I sit in the same spot an Ookla Speedtest run serially is showing drastically slower speeds with the IPhone 12s. This is my first WiFi 6 client. Other users have you noticed slower speeds with WiFi 6 devices?

IPhone X: 420-510 Mbps, Link rate 766 Mbps

IPhone 12 Pro: 220-300 Mbps, Link rate 780 Mbps

[GMoGoody8 · Accepted solution]

So I tested again this morning with same server. Looks like there was a settling in period of about 48 hours. Speeds on the 12s are now inline with the older devices.

I did notice the connected client list on the Orbi had multiple entries for the 12s and even our Apple watches . I’m wondering with the new MAC randomization if during setup IOS may have been confusing Orbi with all the reboots and reconnects needed when installing the IOS backup during setup.

[GMoGoody8]

PS advanced wireless settings.

[CrimpOn]

Of course you realize that this Orbi has no WiFi6 radio and thus is connecting to the iPhone 12 as a WiFi5ac device.

Would be annoying if Apple somehow reduced the WiFi5 performance when they introduced WiFi6 capability.

Speedtest is pretty sesitive to the server it attaches to and network congestion.

It might be worth a few minutes to repeat the experiment and log more results.

[GMoGoody8]

I was only looking for parity and know the RBK50 is AC only. It really surprised me. I basically had both phones on my lap. Same server selected in OOKLA App. Ran 10 times alternating between iPhone X and IPhone 12.

12 was consistently in the ranges of 220-300 Mbps where the X was 420-510 Mbps with a lower link rate from Orbi app. Both phones on IOS 14.1.

I posted here to see if other Orbi users have attached WiFi 6 clients and if so what speeds they may be seeing. Trying to see if it’s Apple or potentially Orbi.

[CrimpOn]

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@GMoGoody8 wrote:
I posted here to see if other Orbi users have attached WiFi 6 clients and if so what speeds they may be seeing. Trying to see if it’s Apple or potentially Orbi.

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Thanks for the explanation.  Sounds like Apple's "got some splainin to do."

[GMoGoody8 · Accepted solution]

So I tested again this morning with same server. Looks like there was a settling in period of about 48 hours. Speeds on the 12s are now inline with the older devices.

I did notice the connected client list on the Orbi had multiple entries for the 12s and even our Apple watches . I’m wondering with the new MAC randomization if during setup IOS may have been confusing Orbi with all the reboots and reconnects needed when installing the IOS backup during setup.