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Forum Discussion
Does Orbi Use HT160 Larger Channel Widths?
What exactly are the capabilities of the Orbi system? I find their specs vague and misleading, but maybe that’s just me. For example, I have Spectrum Gig service, 940Mbps wired, and I am barely gettin...
Spike13 wrote:
Thanks for the detailed response. I’m getting 940Mbps wired from the Spectrum modem. I’m testing with nothing else connected or taking up bandwidth. I reliably had a link speed WiFi connection between my laptop (Intel 9260ac WiFi card) and the Spectrum WiFi router of 867Mbps, with actual speed tests in the 650Mbps range. I purchased the Orbi to do better and it’s doing less, link speed connections are sub 750Mbps and actual speed tests are sub 500Mbps.
Most of your suggestions do not relate to the link speed connection between the laptop and the Orbi router. If the Wifi capabilities of the Orbi will only allow a max WiFi link speed connection of 867Mbps, the rest of the equation is moot. To do better than 867Mbps the Orbi has to be able to use the higher 5Ghz channel widths, of 80+80 or 160Mhz. I see no ability in the router settings to do this, at least not manually. Currently, it’s not doing this automatically either based on the sub 750Mbps link speed connection between the laptop and the Orbi router, sitting 8 feet away.
Unless the Orbi can be configured to give higher linkspeed connections by using the higher 5Ghz channel widths, the rest doesn’t matter.
Has anyone achieved higher than 867 Mbps link speed connections between their wireless devices and the Orbi router?
Of course nobody has achieved greater link speeds than 867. Orbi is a 2x2 device with a maximum link speed of 867 Mbps. The most throughput I've seen with Orbi is about 630, under perfect conditions.
Your statement that you need 160 Mhz channel width for link rates higher than 867 is incorrect. What is needed is a 3x3 or higher radio. Very few APs, and even fewer client devices, support 160 MHz channel width at this point.
Orbi is designed to cover a large area with good speeds, not to provide maximum speed for a single client. It does a good job at what it's designed for. If you think you need 160 Mhz channel width, you need to buy something else.
My understanding is that a 2x2 device like the Orbi can theoretically achieve Gigabit speeds over WiFi if it can handle HT160. This would seem to be confirmed by the table posted above. The other option as you mention is a 3x3 device over 80Mhz, which of course the Orbi is not.
None of the specs I’ve seen for the Orbi say much of anything about channel widths, so I had hoped using a 160Mhz channel width was possible. Unfortunately, it seems like that’s not the case, so for any others out there keep in mind the Orbi can only achieve a maximum theoretical link rate of 867Mhz so if your paying a premium for Gig service like I am this may not be the device for you.
Thanks to all for the feedback, very helpful.
None of the specs I’ve seen for the Orbi say much of anything about channel widths, so I had hoped using a 160Mhz channel width was possible. Unfortunately, it seems like that’s not the case, so for any others out there keep in mind the Orbi can only achieve a maximum theoretical link rate of 867Mhz so if your paying a premium for Gig service like I am this may not be the device for you.
Thanks to all for the feedback, very helpful.
- And one more lesson learned...Spectrum’s RAC2V1 WiFi routers actually consistently give higher link rates than the Orbi router (867Mhz compared to ~667Mhz, at least when connecting with an Intel 9260 WiFi card), so if you’re looking for speed enhancements over what the stock spectrum equipment gives you the Orbi is not the answer, but it will provide the convenience of one network over a large area.
Spike13 wrote:
............ so if your paying a premium for Gig service like I am this may not be the device for you.
.....Why do you need 1 Gbps for one user? which app/service needs this much of bandwidth for one user? The Gig service that you are paying for is meant to give good throughput for a number of users at the same time.
- Fair question. There’s a few reasons. I use a Synology NAS and all my file transfers are currently being done over WiFi for convenience. I also use cloud backup from this NAS so the more bandwidth I have the better. Doing this was 15Mbos ATT DSL was excruciating. And finally, I’m an old tweaker who used to build my own computers and I got hooked on overclockkng for a while, so yes I pointlessly try to get the most out of my machines even if it doesn’t always result in real world gains. I’m an old auto mechanic with an engineering background so I do the same with my truck as well (lifted, performance air intake, custom tune, etc.).
But occasionally I have a rare moment of pragmatism and to cap this thread off...I decided to keep the Orbi. Pretty funny I guess, but I really can’t convince myself that there’s a better more stable platform out there at the moment.
The R7900 didn’t play nice with the Spectrum modern, and that would have left me with multiple extenders across the house. So the Orbi is here to stay for me.
I think Netgear could do a better job of explaining the capabilities of the Orbi to the layman, but at the end of the day, it works, it seems stable, I have a large house and after quite a bit of experimentation I seem to have good WiFi coverage everywhere with the one router and two satellites (just keep pressing synch, don’t give up the first time you get the dreaded magenta color indicating no connection if your cell shows a strong connection to the router in that area), and speeds are very good.
Hopefully Netgear will continue to enhance the Orbi with firmware updates, my only complaint at the moment seems to be my link speed is pretty variable. Even when I’m 10 feet away fro the router and not moving, it jumps from ~500Mbps to 750Mbps.
I learned a bit and I think this will be a good overall solution for me. Thanks to all for the feedback.
