A few questions from someone new WIFI

[Mikener]

First I'd like to apologize for being so lame about these questions. My family has me very stressed out about keeping the WIFI up and running and I really don't have a handle on WIFI.

1. I am under the impression that the Orbi can connect at either 2.4 ghz or 5.0 ghz. My old router had me create an SSID name and then select which speed (2.4 or 5.0) to use with the SSID. I am reading the setup instructions, but I don't see how to select the connection speed. Where do I select which speed that I want to connect to or does the Orbi decide each time someone connects which speed to use?
   
2. My home is 3 floors. When my ISP set everything us they put the modem and router in the basement. Moving the equipment to the first floor is an expense and a headache that I don't want to deal with for reasons too complicated to get into. On the top floor the connection speed is pretty decent on my devices, but for some reason it's terrible for my wife and daughter. I suspect it's because my devices are newer. With that in mind, am I better of with an extender like the new Nighthawk X4S Tri-Band or replacing my existing router with the Orbi system?
3. When I work in my basement I have my laptop hardwired from the existing router to my laptop. I saw a video on YouTube that said you cannot hardwire the connection from the Orbi router to my laptop. Is that true?
4. The video that I mentioned suggested that it's simplier for someone like me to use the app instead of the web interface to perform the setup. Is that true?

Thank you in advance and I apologize for such a long post.

[CrimpOn]

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@Mikener wrote:

First I'd like to apologize for being so lame about these questions. My family has me very stressed out about keeping the WIFI up and running and I really don't have a handle on WIFI.

1. I am under the impression that the Orbi can connect at either 2.4 ghz or 5.0 ghz. My old router had me create an SSID name and then select which speed (2.4 or 5.0) to use with the SSID. I am reading the setup instructions, but I don't see how to select the connection speed. Where do I select which speed that I want to connect to or does the Orbi decide each time someone connects which speed to use?
   Yes, the Orbi and each device conduct a dialog about which WiFi features they each support and then the device chooses how to connect.
   
2. My home is 3 floors. When my ISP set everything us they put the modem and router in the basement. Moving the equipment to the first floor is an expense and a headache that I don't want to deal with for reasons too complicated to get into. On the top floor the connection speed is pretty decent on my devices, but for some reason it's terrible for my wife and daughter. I suspect it's because my devices are newer. With that in mind, am I better of with an extender like the new Nighthawk X4S Tri-Band or replacing my existing router with the Orbi system?
   An extender is likely less costly than an Orbi package (router + satellites).
   
3. When I work in my basement I have my laptop hardwired from the existing router to my laptop. I saw a video on YouTube that said you cannot hardwire the connection from the Orbi router to my laptop. Is that true?
   Any device with ethernet can be connected directly to an Orbi router that has an ethernet jack available.  I have two computers and a switch connected to my RBR50, and there are 7 devices connected to the switch.
   
4. The video that I mentioned suggested that it's simplier for someone like me to use the app instead of the web interface to perform the setup. Is that true? "Simple" is in the eye of the beholder.  Personally, I abhor the "app".  You have a laptop with ethernet.  I would use that for setup.
   

Thank you in advance and I apologize for such a long post.

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[Mikener]

First, thank you for such a fast response. I am a little unclear about a few things. 

When you say each device conducts a dialogue about the features they support, I assume, but want to be sure that this dialogue is done behind the scene and not a bunch of questions that I need to respond to. When I see the word dialogue I immediately think of a dialogue box that I need to respond to. Am I correct that in this case this is done in the background without user interaction? I suspect this is a dumb question, but my family is really stressing me out about this.

While expense is one concern, I am looking for the option that's the easiest to setup, the easiest to maintain and the most reliable. Plus my wife already ordered the Orbi for Father's Day. With all that in mind, excluding the expense, would the Orbi be a better choice than the extender?

Thanks again and sorry to bother you.

[CrimpOn]

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@Mikener wrote:

When you say each device conducts a dialogue about the features they support, I assume, but want to be sure that this dialogue is done behind the scene and not a bunch of questions that I need to respond to.This is exactly correct.  There are WiFi standard protocols that WiFi access points and customer devices use to communicate what their capabilities are.  Ironically, this is one of the "bones of contention" in regard to the Orbi product because some users want to be able to force devices to communicate a certain way and the Orbi makes that very difficult.

While expense is one concern, I am looking for the option that's the easiest to setup, the easiest to maintain and the most reliable. Plus my wife already ordered the Orbi for Father's Day. With all that in mind, excluding the expense, would the Orbi be a better choice than the extender? I find the Orbi really easy to set up.  Every time I replace my WiFi system with a new one, I give the new system exactly the same WiFi name (SSID) and password as the old one.  Every device "simply connects" as if nothing has changed.  In terms of reliability, the situation is puzzling.  My Orbi has been installed since Dec 2016 and has given me absolutely no trouble.  This use forum is full of posts about "network dropping", can't do this or can't do that.  Being an "old punched card sort of guy", I am not a big fan of the Orbi "app" for setup.  Obviously a lot of people seem to do just fine with it.

Thanks again and sorry to bother you.If it is coming from Amazon, you have 30 days to decide whether you like it or not. Keep the packaging intact.  If you hate the Orbi, just plug in the old WiFi router and all your devices will "simply connect" to it.

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[Mikener]

Thanks for getting back to me and sorry that I took so long to get back to you. It's been hectic around here.

I really appreciate the help. I am happy to know that I don't need to deal with the connection speed of 2.4 or 5.0. As far as the Orbi .vs. extender question, while I would like to save the money by purchasing the extender, since the Orbi is easy to install and my wife already ordered it, along with I've heard how reliable it is from a friend in Florida, i guess I'll go with the Orbi instead of the extender.

Thanks again.