I'm a bit confused by an aspect of the new Orbi 6E routers. That is, if the 6GHz frequency has so much more throughput than the 5GHZ frequency (twice as much) and the second 5GHz band that is the one that is used for communication between mesh units, doesn't that mean that when connected to a satellite unit on the 6GHz band that effective throughput will be bottlenecked by the 5GHz inter-unit communication band since its throughput is one-half that of the 6GHz band?
Problem with the 6ghz spectrum is its much shorter range than 5ghz. (currently).
that's why they use the 5ghz as the backhaul because if though its "not as fast" thats only at pretty close ranges. At a distance, the 5ghz is currently faster/more stable.
So you'd want the backhaul using the best connection.
@plemans is correct. 6Ghz is even higher frequency and is more effected by building materials and such. The 6Ghz is front haul only on the 9 series Orbi. The wifi backhaul is still on 5Ghz at 2400Mpbs.
Also honesly, I've never been able to get a device to connect at 4800Mpbs. I really wish router mfrs would not market that speed. It take near perfect conditions at at close range and GOOD FW to be able to see 4800Mbps in a test environement. Out here in the field, I've only seen around 3200Mpbs to maybe 3800Mpbs between two devices at close range on 5Ghz. Same goes for 6Ghz. And for every day use, 4800Mbps will never been seen for the average user. 2400Mpbs seems to be the sweet spot speed for wireless backhaul.
So what is being said then is that a client device connected to an Orbi 6E satellite unit on 6GHz could only ever exceed 2400Mbps if that Orbi satellite unit was connected to the main Orbi unit via hardwire Ethernet backhaul. Of course I understand that two devices connected to each other on 6GHz via the same satellite unit could exceed 2400Mbps even if backhaul was on 5GHz and limited to 2400Mbps because backhaul wouldn't be involved in that circumstance. Am I understanding this correctly?
I take part of that back. Wired backhaul appears to be limited to 2500Mbps, so the whole theoretical 4800Mbps capability on 6GHz seems to be completely limited to communication between devices connected to the same mesh unit.
So I just contacted Netgear support to ask if the new Orbi 960 (6E - AXE11000) router would work with the RBS850 Satellites and was told that they are not compatible from a wireless backhaul perspective even though both are Wifi 6. So it would appear that we will be in the same situation when upgrading from the RBR50. Wireless backhaul will not be compatible but I was told you 'should be able to' wire the old satellites to the 960 6E router. Obviously the RBS850 will only give you the single SSID on the 2.4 and 5ghz bands where as the new 960 satellites (RBSE960) will allow 4 different SSIDs (Separate 2.4ghz, 5ghz, and 6ghz) plus the guest network option. I searched everywhere for this information and finally just called so I figured I would share what I learned. I was told the new 6E system was designed for much better coverage so I would probably only need 3 satellites where I have 5 today. Same $2100 investment again so I am going to wait until more 6E clients are available and NOT be an early adopter on this one.
I was told the new 6E system was designed for much better coverage so I would probably only need 3 satellites where I have 5 today. Same $2100 investment again so I am going to wait until more 6E clients are available and NOT be an early adopter on this one.
It would be best for you to wait it out and see what happens. Information out there may be inconsistent, especially if pre-release and from different people or sources.
NOTE: The 6 GHz band has a shorter range than the 5 GHz band. This means that a higher density of Orbi or mesh satellites are required for complete 6 GHz coverage.
