I am going to have two gig service lines into my house - can I set up two different orbi's with it?

[traviesomarco]

I am going to have a gig fiber service from ATT installing next week, right now I have gig service from comcast. I have two because distance learning with the kids and working from home has double my use.

So, one can I install two Orbis systems in the same house, two routers (with two different services), and 4 satellites (2 for each router?) all service a 1500 sq home. As I said, it is just about increasing speed for all those zoom meetings and streaming services, as well as total internet capacity.

Pros?

Cons? 

Would you choose a different mesh system?

Any help would be appreciated. 

[FURRYe38 · Accepted solution]

Ok sounds good. Well one idea would be to use 1 Orbi system as the main wifi system for the home. Then for your 2nd line, I would use a single wifi router, nothing big, maybe a NG R series router and turn down the power output of the radios on this wifi router, use far appart channels on 2.4 and 5Ghz from the Orbis channels, Then use this one and other ISP line for your work needs only. No family members allowed online. 

Ya, if ATT offers unlimted bandwidth, I would migrate to that maybe at somepoint. However if work is paying for this, then why not. 

[FURRYe38]

Cons:

Too much wifi signals for such a small home sq ft. Too much wifi noise will cause problems. You only need one and or that size of home, you only need just a wifi router, maybe 1 RBS. Orbi systems are quite powerful and have really good range. I have had one RBR and one RBS in a 5000 sq ft home basement and 2nd level and have stellar coverage on a 1Gb line. Have two people working from home on VPNs and two gamers. One system would be enough. 

You might wanna try a Orbi AX system....

[traviesomarco]

My problem isn't the coverage, it is the amount of data my family is using (we use about 2tb on comcast making my bills close to 200.00. But if I get two different services each with 1tb of data cap (att fiber and xfinity) I can save about 60.00 (70.00 each a month) I am trying to find a way to have two orbi's coexist without causing major issues... 

I was hoping having two orbi's on different 2.4 and 5 ghz channels would suffice? I am thinking with no overlap in the frequencies it shoud work?

Thanks for your thoughts, I am trying to figure this out as I still need over 2 tb of data...

[FURRYe38]

Since you seem to be having data plan problems rather than wifi, have you talked to someone at your ISP to see if there is a unlimited plan availalbe? Or even check in to a business plan instead of a home plan. 

Seems like the ISP should be able to work with you based on your usages need to find something that you can use 1 line and provide unlimted usages. This would be probably better cost effective rather then having to buy two router systems and modems. 

Please talk to someone in billing at your ISP and explain the situation and see if they can accomodate you. 

[traviesomarco]

Yes, unfortunately, Xfinity in my area has a 1.2 tb data cap and then 10.00 per every 50GB of data, needless to say, we reach this every month. I do lots of remote imaging and software installations for my work so unfortunately just me alone can go thru 1TB of data in a month... the kids and wife take the rest

If ATT fiber is truly unlimited as they say, I might just end the Xfinity plan and switch over. I am testing the fiber for a couple of months to see if truly unlimited first.

I think I might try the two systems and will report if doable (with different pairs of frequencies for the two bands) .... wish me luck! 

BTW, my work is paying for the second connection and second set of wifi equipment... I just need to make sure it will work...

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

Since you seem to be having data plan problems rather than wifi, have you talked to someone at your ISP to see if there is a unlimited plan availalbe? Or even check in to a business plan instead of a home plan. 

Seems like the ISP should be able to work with you based on your usages need to find something that you can use 1 line and provide unlimted usages. This would be probably better cost effective rather then having to buy two router systems and modems. 

Please talk to someone in billing at your ISP and explain the situation and see if they can accomodate you. 

---

[FURRYe38 · Accepted solution]

Ok sounds good. Well one idea would be to use 1 Orbi system as the main wifi system for the home. Then for your 2nd line, I would use a single wifi router, nothing big, maybe a NG R series router and turn down the power output of the radios on this wifi router, use far appart channels on 2.4 and 5Ghz from the Orbis channels, Then use this one and other ISP line for your work needs only. No family members allowed online. 

Ya, if ATT offers unlimted bandwidth, I would migrate to that maybe at somepoint. However if work is paying for this, then why not. 

[CrimpOn]

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@traviesomarco wrote:

I am going to have a gig fiber service from ATT installing next week, right now I have gig service from comcast. I have two because distance learning with the kids and working from home has double my use.

So, one can I install two Orbis systems in the same house, two routers (with two different services), and 4 satellites (2 for each router?) all service a 1500 sq home. As I said, it is just about increasing speed for all those zoom meetings and streaming services, as well as total internet capacity.

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I agree with @FURRYe38 that running two WiFi networks in a 1,500 sq. ft. house is not optimal.  With a gig service, I doubt that 'speed' is the issue; it's the data cap.

There have been several posts on the forum describing routers that connect to two ISP's and pool them into one data stream for the Orbi system.  (I believe Ubiquiti Edgerouter was mentioned.)  The main issue I see is how to allocate bandwidth between devices.  Maybe the Edgerouter has a traffic management system that would shut off one ISP when it reaches a threshold.(?)

How about this for a solution: (a) verify whether AT&T has a data cap, and (b) if it has no cap, then physically switch the Orbi over to AT&T and "see how it goes".  You should know within a few days whether the AT&T fiber will support the total need. If it does have a cap, you could switch manually about half way through the month. (yuck)

[traviesomarco]

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@CrimpOn wrote:

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@traviesomarco wrote:

I am going to have a gig fiber service from ATT installing next week, right now I have gig service from comcast. I have two because distance learning with the kids and working from home has double my use.

So, one can I install two Orbis systems in the same house, two routers (with two different services), and 4 satellites (2 for each router?) all service a 1500 sq home. As I said, it is just about increasing speed for all those zoom meetings and streaming services, as well as total internet capacity.

---

I agree with @FURRYe38 that running two WiFi networks in a 1,500 sq. ft. house is not optimal.  With a gig service, I doubt that 'speed' is the issue; it's the data cap.

There have been several posts on the forum describing routers that connect to two ISP's and pool them into one data stream for the Orbi system.  (I believe Ubiquiti Edgerouter was mentioned.)  The main issue I see is how to allocate bandwidth between devices.  Maybe the Edgerouter has a traffic management system that would shut off one ISP when it reaches a threshold.(?)

How about this for a solution: (a) verify whether AT&T has a data cap, and (b) if it has no cap, then physically switch the Orbi over to AT&T and "see how it goes".  You should know within a few days whether the AT&T fiber will support the total need. If it does have a cap, you could switch manually about half way through the month. (yuck)

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@CrimpOn wrote:

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@traviesomarco wrote:

I am going to have a gig fiber service from ATT installing next week, right now I have gig service from comcast. I have two because distance learning with the kids and working from home has double my use.

So, one can I install two Orbis systems in the same house, two routers (with two different services), and 4 satellites (2 for each router?) all service a 1500 sq home. As I said, it is just about increasing speed for all those zoom meetings and streaming services, as well as total internet capacity.

---

I agree with @FURRYe38 that running two WiFi networks in a 1,500 sq. ft. house is not optimal.  With a gig service, I doubt that 'speed' is the issue; it's the data cap.

There have been several posts on the forum describing routers that connect to two ISP's and pool them into one data stream for the Orbi system.  (I believe Ubiquiti Edgerouter was mentioned.)  The main issue I see is how to allocate bandwidth between devices.  Maybe the Edgerouter has a traffic management system that would shut off one ISP when it reaches a threshold.(?)

How about this for a solution: (a) verify whether AT&T has a data cap, and (b) if it has no cap, then physically switch the Orbi over to AT&T and "see how it goes".  You should know within a few days whether the AT&T fiber will support the total need. If it does have a cap, you could switch manually about half way through the month. (yuck)

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I think you are both correct. I will try the segmentation first and then the switch if it doesn't make a difference or it is messing with having two wifis close to each other. BTW, I am intrigued by the Edgerouter! 

I will have to look into this! Thanks, everyone for the advice! 

[FURRYe38]

Edge router is nice. Kinda complex though. 

Good Luck. 

[CrimpOn]

Thinking about the "math".  Please bear with me.

First, I have no doubt that serious (work/homeschool) use can consume more than 1TB/month.  This is "Issue #1". (The elephant in the room)

My question is, "how likely is it that the 1Gbit service is a serious limitation?"

(Bits and Bytes are a problem here, since 1 byte typically consumes 10 "bits"  The link is rated in bits, and the cap is in bytes.)

Let's assume that the account is exceeding 1TByte/month by triple, i.e. 3TBytes/month.  That would amount to (3TB/30= 100GBytes/day.  There are about 28,800 seconds in an 8 hour day. So, 100GB/28,800 seconds = 3.5Mbytes/second, which translates to 35Mbits/sec.)

I am easily confused, but it seems to me that a gigabit ISP link is easily capable of delivering 35Mbits/sec. If the day is longer than 8 hours, then usage is even lower.

In the original description of the situation, I did not see "performance" being a major issue.  Usage (i.e. $$$cost) is the issue.

My conclusion is that one gigabit ISP link is adequate as long as the cost can be controlled.

[traviesomarco]

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@CrimpOn wrote:

Thinking about the "math".  Please bear with me.

First, I have no doubt that serious (work/homeschool) use can consume more than 1TB/month.  This is "Issue #1". (The elephant in the room)

My question is, "how likely is it that the 1Gbit service is a serious limitation?"

(Bits and Bytes are a problem here, since 1 byte typically consumes 10 "bits"  The link is rated in bits, and the cap is in bytes.)

Let's assume that the account is exceeding 1TByte/month by triple, i.e. 3TBytes/month.  That would amount to (3TB/30= 100GBytes/day.  There are about 28,800 seconds in an 8 hour day. So, 100GB/28,800 seconds = 3.5Mbytes/second, which translates to 35Mbits/sec.)

I am easily confused, but it seems to me that a gigabit ISP link is easily capable of delivering 35Mbits/sec. If the day is longer than 8 hours, then usage is even lower.

In the original description of the situation, I did not see "performance" being a major issue.  Usage (i.e. $$$cost) is the issue.

My conclusion is that one gigabit ISP link is adequate as long as the cost can be controlled.

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Not worried about cost. Work will pay for the second gig connection. 🙂 I easily go through 2tb of data on my existing 1 gig connection, my bills clearly tell me so! 🙂 just trying to figure out to provide wifi on both gig lines in the same house without major disruption.... and have a few ides from all of you, thanks!

[krlesch]

To the OP - not sure if this applies in your area, but Xfinity offers an unlimited plan for an extra $30/month:

https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/exp-unlimited-limit

If your work would pay for that, then I would think that you would be golden.

[FURRYe38]

Awesome info, thanks for letting us know. I figured XF had a plan. 

[traviesomarco]

Thank you! I could not find this before, I will look into this instead of having the second line (I am sure my boss will like this plan better!