Radiation pattern for orbi RBR50 & RBS50

[frankhfrom0Z]

Have just purchased the Orbi for Wifi coverage in a large house. Works so much better than any other system (and beleive me I have tried many!)

I am wondering if any one can supply a map of the wifi radiation pattern of the two units as I had to do a fair amount of placement experimentation to get good results. The different colored lights are only a very rough indication.

I had one problem area where I was receiving less than optimal reception in the same room as the router and I found that turning  the router unit just a few degree made all the difference.

A map representation of the pattern would be a great assist.

[peteytesting · Accepted solution]

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@frankhfrom0Z wrote:

Have just purchased the Orbi for Wifi coverage in a large house. Works so much better than any other system (and beleive me I have tried many!)

I am wondering if any one can supply a map of the wifi radiation pattern of the two units as I had to do a fair amount of placement experimentation to get good results. The different colored lights are only a very rough indication.

I had one problem area where I was receiving less than optimal reception in the same room as the router and I found that turning  the router unit just a few degree made all the difference.

A map representation of the pattern would be a great assist.

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there is no one size fits all and if you have done the time to work out the best position thats fine 

use something like a site survey with inssider to map your house and work out whats happening 

[peteytesting · Accepted solution]

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@frankhfrom0Z wrote:

Have just purchased the Orbi for Wifi coverage in a large house. Works so much better than any other system (and beleive me I have tried many!)

I am wondering if any one can supply a map of the wifi radiation pattern of the two units as I had to do a fair amount of placement experimentation to get good results. The different colored lights are only a very rough indication.

I had one problem area where I was receiving less than optimal reception in the same room as the router and I found that turning  the router unit just a few degree made all the difference.

A map representation of the pattern would be a great assist.

---

there is no one size fits all and if you have done the time to work out the best position thats fine 

use something like a site survey with inssider to map your house and work out whats happening 

[frankhfrom0Z]

If I understand what you seem to be saying in your reply, that unlike conventional older wifi routers that (I think) have a fixed antenna radiation pattern (radiating from the front or the back of the devise) the orbi system is different?

I stumbled upon the solution you suggested already and used a site survey app to do the final placement and got excellent results.

I'm really not a tech person, just thought that with more info I could do more tweeking.

In fact the entire house and close outdoor areas show green (excellent) on the site survey. The whole property is about an acre and I have yellow (good) signels over the the rest of the property.

There are a couple of spots where reception is poor, but they are not in areas of any consequence. They result, I suspect, from interference from wiring or pipes bringing in services from the street.

Thanks for your help.

[st_shaw]

Orbi uses beamforming. Beamforming will change the radiation pattern dynamically based on which client it is communicating with. So, the data you seek is more complicated and will also vary based on channel and band.  Still, I agree it would be useful to have more details for those that could understand them. 

[frankhfrom0Z]

st-shaw

Thanks for the further info. Every little bit helps to understand how it all works.

[peteytesting]

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@st_shaw wrote:

Orbi uses beamforming. Beamforming will change the radiation pattern dynamically based on which client it is communicating with. So, the data you seek is more complicated and will also vary based on channel and band.  Still, I agree it would be useful to have more details for those that could understand them. 

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however beamforming for the backhaul wont change as the units are static , once placed the connection between router and sat is a fixed value , for the clients yes i agree beamforming make the basic radiation pattern a more complex issue 

[frankhfrom0Z]

Again thanks for the further info it all helps.

Just for the sake of clarity, I need to correct some info I gave in a previous email.

The size of our property is about 1/2 acre or 4000 sq feet. Don't want to mislead... The general coverage pattern as I have I set up would also include providing good, but not excellent, coverage to our neighbour's house without further adjustment, so the effective use range is slightly better than the 4000 sq feet advertised. As the saying goes "your mileage may vary".

On a previous property where I had to install an outdoor antenna to minimally service two separate buildings, the Orbi would have provided excellent coverage for both. 

The Orbi purformance is quite literally streets ahead of anything else I have tried.

I should also say that this is with mu mimo and beam forming enabled. (They are disabled by default.) There should be something in the "Getting Started" documentation that flags these features and how to implement. Without those features enabled the Orbi is only as good as my previous gear.

[cue003]

^ Frank, what devices are you running? I am guessing not anything Apple since there aren't any apple devices that I am aware of that has mu mimo.

Thanks

[cue003]

Forgot to also ask.. isn't beamforming only for AC clients? So N clients wouldn't get any benefit... is that correct?

[frankhfrom0Z]

Again, not a techie.

All our gear is Apple.

So, from what you are saying no benefit from mu mimo.

Have no idea myself, only spotted a mention somewhere during installation that if mu mimo and beam forming were enabled it could improve performance for gear that could use that technology.

When I did comparison mappping tests the resulting improvement was obvious.

[frankhfrom0Z]

Sorry - your question is above my pay grade -- don't know.

If I knew how to upload the coverage maps I have, it might help.