Expand on RBK50 V1 or Move On?

[darkarn]

For some reason it appears that my RBK50 V1 has not enough coverage to cover my house, or rather, there is more mobile device usage than when I bought the RBK50 V1 at 4 years ago. To be exact, I can still get Wifi at most parts of my house (previous single router solutions can't due to concrete walls and two storey house) but it's just that there are more mobile devices being used around the house and my family requested that I look into getting better speeds around the entire house aside from just the main "computer room" where the RBR50 reside in.

Previously this is mitigated by having just one RBR50 at the top of my house while the RBS50 reside at the bottom of my house, connected by a set of powerline adapters. Alas, the adapters started to give issues since a week ago and broke down last night. Right now the RBS50 is only able to connect to the RBR50 via 2.4 GHz Wifi according to the WebGUI, thus not being at full speed

I am thinking of just buying another RBS50 or two to expand my coverage but I am wondering if I am better off starting over with a newer Orbi system (or move to another brand)

I am using the Orbi as an access point system while a pfSense machine does routing and firewall and a Cisco switch does the switching

So it's pfSense > Cisco > Orbi > (approximately 10 mobile devices and laptops) and pfSense > Cisco > (approximately 3 PCs)

Currently my family will not like to do Ethernet points owing to the current situation, thus powerline adapters are the only way to get Ethernet backhaul if need be.

There are currently no devices needing Wifi 6 yet but I can forsee some of us will be moving onto newer mobile devices that are Wifi 6 certified, approximately from Q4 2021 (assuming no supply chain issues), but even then this is at most one or two more devices. PCs/laptops are to remain on Gigabit Ethernet or wireless AC

I (or rather, my family) prefer to get this from the new/factory refurbished local market rather than 2nd hand market. Right now I see some refurb RBS20 on sale and new RBS50 being sold too. I saw some new Orbi systems too but these are at unusually high prices compared to when I bought my RBK50 (I got them at 2017 after reading reviews here)

What are my options?

 

[e38BimmerFN]

Well if the system had been working with the PLs and they failed, Orbi maybe still good and would need better PLs or ethernet connection method to keep the system working as before the PLs failed. Concrete will be problematic for ANY wifi MESH system. This will be the main issue. You might check into some more robust PLs to see if this would help continue with the current setup and HW.

 

[darkarn]

Well if the system had been working with the PLs and they failed, Orbi maybe still good and would need better PLs or ethernet connection method to keep the system working as before the PLs failed. Concrete will be problematic for ANY wifi MESH system. This will be the main issue. You might check into some more robust PLs to see if this would help continue with the current setup and HW.

So far the only PowerLine system I saw are from TP-Link, there's almost nothing else in Singapore's market I am afraid

I was actually thinking about simply doing away with PowerLine and rely on setting up the mesh Wifi system "correctly" since my understanding is that the PowerLine adapters are at best a stop gap solution

 

[Voxel]

So far the only PowerLine system I saw are from TP-Link, there's almost nothing else in Singapore's market I am afraid

There is good PowerLine system from Devolo, Magic 2

devolo-global

Official manufacturer website and online shop✓ Magic Powerline adapter✓ Smart Home✓ Wi-Fi booster✓ Up-to-date downloads✓ 3-year manufacturer's warranty✓

www.devolo.com

But unfortunately they are not compatible with older dLAN adapters and even more: if both systems are used in parallel you could get the speed degradation.

I am using two Devolo Magic 2. And I had to remove my older TP-Link dLAN. But anyway ORBI RBS provides higher speed vs PowerLine (wirelessly). My speed with Devolo is ~300Mbit/sec, ORBI: ~450-500Mbit/sec.

Voxel.

 

[darkarn]

There is good PowerLine system from Devolo, Magic 2

devolo-global

Official manufacturer website and online shop✓ Magic Powerline adapter✓ Smart Home✓ Wi-Fi booster✓ Up-to-date downloads✓ 3-year manufacturer's warranty✓

www.devolo.com

But unfortunately they are not compatible with older dLAN adapters and even more: if both systems are used in parallel you could get the speed degradation.

I am using two Devolo Magic 2. And I had to remove my older TP-Link dLAN. But anyway ORBI RBS provides higher speed vs PowerLine (wirelessly). My speed with Devolo is ~300Mbit/sec, ORBI: ~450-500Mbit/sec.

Voxel.

Thanks, since I cannot get the Devolo products from the local market in Singapore here and you mentioned that you still got better speeds with the Orbi despite it being wireless, it seems I should get at least another RBS50 before deciding if I really need powerline. I got a strange feeling that all I need is just one more satellite to work with

And yes, my family prefer that I get something from the shops here instead of importing stuff (and also they prefer I sort this out ASAP)

 

[e38BimmerFN]

So far the only PowerLine system I saw are from TP-Link, there's almost nothing else in Singapore's market I am afraid

I was actually thinking about simply doing away with PowerLine and rely on setting up the mesh Wifi system "correctly" since my understanding is that the PowerLine adapters are at best a stop gap solution

Is D-Link's DHP-P701AV available in Singapore?

​

 

[darkarn]

Is D-Link's DHP-P701AV available in Singapore?

​

Strange thing is, while D-Link's official Singapore website shows it, it is not available in any shops (online or not)

 

[e38BimmerFN]

Strange thing is, while D-Link's official Singapore website shows it, it is not available in any shops (online or not)

That’s a shame

 

[theoak]

95% of by devices are AC or N. I have a couple AX. As a result I don't see the need to get 1Gbps internet as my devices couldn't use it anyway and hence I am completely happy wtih my 300 Mbps / 30 Mbps internet with my Orbi RBR50.

Last year this time with lock downs, I did adventure in my crawl space and ran some CAT6 to connect my Orbi router and one of my Satellites. What else was I going to do while stuck at home That improved my coverage immensely. It was actually instrumental with my kids doing school from home for the year too.

Powerline devices are going to be MUCH cheaper than a satellite or whole new system. If you were happy with your powerline solution, I say get a powerline adapter kit from a local store with a good return policy. If it works, great! If not, return it and then explore new satellites or systems from there.

With a little luck my RBR50 based system will last a couple years. By that time my AX and hopefully 6E device count would have increased a bit and thus at that time making the switch to WiFi-6, or whatever is out then, will make it worth it as the bulk of my devices could actually use it.