Wireless Speed

[Knorske]

Will an Orbi provide me "faster" Wi-Fi if I use it to replace my WNR3500?  If so, which Orbi do I need?  Thank you.

[ekhalil]

The WNR3500 is a 2.4GHz router, so deifinately you will get huge improvement with Orbi when it comes to throughput. 

Orbi will help you to get good coverage in your house to get good speed everywhere. The speed you get depends on many factors.

Orbi operates one fronthaul (client) network on the 2.4GHz band (with a 2x2 radio—two spatial streams up and two spatial streams down—offering speeds up to 400Mbps), one other fronthaul (client) network on the 5GHz band (with a 2x2 radio offering maximum speed of 866Mbps), and a second backhaul 5GHz network with a 4x4 radio offering maximum speed of 1733Mbps.

The maximum bandwidth of the used 5GHz channels in Orbi is 80 MHz.

Please see the table below. The -theoritically- possible fronthaul wireless speeds in Orbi are those that are in the red square (maximum of 2 spatial streams with maximum of 80 MHz bandwidth). The MCS value that your connection will get depens on how close or far you are from the router/satellite, the radio conditions among other things.