NETGEAR Introduces Orbi Wi-Fi Mesh system

[thiggins]

and here is the point the orbi is not a mesh system , its not indicated in the advertising as mesh and its technically not a mesh system

it is advertised as a whole home wifi solution , its designed for those that dont have ethernet installed

Like it or not, I think all consumer multi-AP systems will be referred to as "mesh" for marketing purposes.
Wi-Fi marketers rarely let technical accuracy stand in the way of product promotion.

 

[pete y testing]

but thats the thing , netgear in its product promotion havnt said a word about mesh at all , seems you and other blog / new sites have added that to thetitle and thus implying its mesh when it isnt promoted that way at all , its important to differentiate and call each for what it is to avoid further confusion

pete

 

[TheLostSwede]

Well, in your case, any system "mesh", extender or WDS won't work, right?

By using 4x4, they should get some additional link gain that other 2x2 systems won't have. I would think 2.4 GHz is too crowded to get a decent link. 1024 QAM can't even hit full link rate in the same room. With any distance between AP and STA, they will need to fall back to lower MCS rates. 1000 Mbps also requires 40 MHz in 2.4 GHz, which is a non-starter.

2.4GHz sort of works, not great, but I do at least get a signal, 5GHz doesn't go through the floors/ceilings at all.

Fair enough about the limitations on 2.4GHz though.

 

[pete y testing]

2.4GHz sort of works, not great, but I do at least get a signal, 5GHz doesn't go through the floors/ceilings at all.

nor will they is the floor is metal and as tim suggests nothing would ether , be it the latest 5300 class or anything else , the issue is your environment and building construction materials activly restrict the propagation of wifi

if you can run ethernet between floors or use powerline adapters maybe look at MoCA adapters as wifi is never going to be great between floors in your home

 

[TheLostSwede]

nor will they is the floor is metal and as tim suggests nothing would ether , be it the latest 5300 class or anything else , the issue is your environment and building construction materials activly restrict the propagation of wifi

if you can run ethernet between floors or use powerline adapters maybe look at MoCA adapters as wifi is never going to be great between floors in your home

Yeah, got Ethernet from first to second floor, but not up to the third, as the previous owner of the house kind of messed up the wiring and I have no idea where the cable ducts are going, as I've tried to figure it out and nothing comes out where I expect it to...

As for what this does, I've been able to do this with two Almond+'s for a couple of years now (ex employee of the company), but the software team keeps messing up the "range extender" part of the firmware and then it takes a few releases before it works properly again. As both are made by the same company, there are no issues with using the same SSID on both devices.

 

[thiggins]

but thats the thing , netgear in its product promotion havnt said a word about mesh at all

Good catch. You're right, there is no mention of "mesh" on the product page.
But here is the first sentence of the press release:

"SAN JOSE, Calif. — August 22, 2016 — NETGEAR®, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR), the leading provider of home networking that powers today’s smart home, is delivering a whole new way to experience WiFi with the Tri-band mesh network of the Orbi™ WiFi System, the easiest way to enjoy high-speed WiFi throughout your entire home, including the patio, by the pool, up in the attic and even down in the basement."

Then further down in the release:
Technical Features of the Orbi WiFi System:
• Orbi WiFi router and satellite form a Tri-band WiFi mesh for high-speed whole-home WiFi coverage

Product briefing also referred to Orbi as "high performance mesh WiFi".

So, no, we didn't make it up.

 

[Senna1]

In any case, if one must have wireless backhaul, isn't a dedicated radio link far superior than the Eero/Luma/Amplifi strategy of wireless repeating with some level of proprietary band/radio management?

 

[thiggins]

In any case, if one must have wireless backhaul, isn't a dedicated radio link far superior than the Eero/Luma/Amplifi strategy of wireless repeating with some level of proprietary band/radio management?

Yes

 

[bobsilver]

if you define what mesh means its actually not the case for the netgear and im puzzled why the word mesh was used

the term mesh means they communicate with each other as well as other nodes , where as i believe the sat's will only connect back to the main router via the back haul and not the other sats

I discussed this with the product manager. What he told me is this. At release it will operate in a star topology. All hubs connecting back to the router. A later firmware update will enable "mesh like" capabilities where the hubs will talk to the hub or router with the best signal strength and performance.

Bob Silver
Netgear Networking Advisor

 

[Darcy]

thiggins, any idea when you will be testing the Orbi?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[thiggins]

thiggins, any idea when you will be testing the Orbi?

Not until after it ships. NETGEAR offered a pre-production sample, but I declined.

 

[Mokers]

Glad to see there is lots of innovation (or at least options) in this space.

 

[pete y testing]

What he told me is this. At release it will operate in a star topology. All hubs connecting back to the router. A later firmware update will enable "mesh like" capabilities where the hubs will talk to the hub or router with the best signal strength and performance.

then it would have made more sense to wait for that fw before mentioning mesh in the product just incase like others testing shows mesh not feasible , this would stop ppl complaining they where sold something that doesnt work as advertised

 

[kvic]

At release it will operate in a star topology. All hubs connecting back to the router. A later firmware update will enable "mesh like" capabilities where the hubs will talk to the hub or router with the best signal strength and performance.

Star topology is obvious. The approach of Netgear and the likes is playing safe. If vendors want to, they can enhance firmware to make existing WiFi routers working like Orbi. Any two routers with 2+ radios instantly become an Orbi. But we know that's not how economy works. "Mesh like" part is unlikely to appear on the firmware. I read Netgear still hasn't got IPv6 properly supported. So maybe until Mesh WiFi starts selling like hot cakes.

Good to see vendors are moving away from spider like designs. It seems Apple got it right many years ago. Btw Airport products haven't been updated for a long while. Lack of move from Apple seems to tell having WiFi mesh system working great is damn hard or they simply don't see such a need for home.

 

[whsbuss]

Did anyone see their video? Man that unit is Huge

 

[thiggins]

Did anyone see their video? Man that unit is Huge

6.67"x 2.36" x 8.89" is bigger than eero and Luma for sure. But huge? Not compared to the eight antenna beasties...

 

[pete y testing]

Did anyone see their video? Man that unit is Huge

it is big but doesnt take up a big foot print because it stands upright , some say it looks like one of those air defuses that spray perfume or deodoriser lol

in reality its pretty pleasing to the eye as it doesnt look like a router and can sit happily in any lounge area

 

[RogerSC]

Following this one...since my house is big enough for multiple AP's. A big honking router (R7000 or R7800 does cover my house completely, but coverage gets a little lax in the living room, the furthest room from the big honker.

I also like Netgear hardware, try to pick out what makes the most sense for me...this could be one. Particularly like the idea of integrated, dedicated wireless backhaul, sounds perfect for my use case.

 

[whsbuss]

Following this one...since my house is big enough for multiple AP's. A big honking router (R7000 or R7800 does cover my house completely, but coverage gets a little lax in the living room, the furthest room from the big honker.

I also like Netgear hardware, try to pick out what makes the most sense for me...this could be one. Particularly like the idea of integrated, dedicated wireless backhaul, sounds perfect for my use case.

I'm on the other side of the like-Netgear stuff. My last one (R6300) never worked quite right from day one. I agree with the topology model of dedicated backhaul bandwidth. I'm waiting for the AmpliFi HD to be released. And yes I know AmpliFi doesn't dedicate a radio for that.

 

[thiggins]

And yes I know AmpliFi doesn't dedicate a radio for that.

They also don't support multi-hops. Each "mesh" point connects back only to the router.