Orbi RBK50 ethernet backhaul ?

[brjoon1021]

Hi,
*I am fairly much a newbie so sorry if these are dumb questions*

I am awaiting my Orbi RBK50. I talked to their customer support who verified that firmware now supports ethernet backhaul.

Is that advantageous for the Orbi seeing as it has a dedicated wireless backhaul channel? Do you gain that dedicated channel for wifi attached devices if it is no longer being used to communicate between the pods ?

I have a netgear nighthawk router AC 1750 Model R6700 which is being replaced by the Orbi. Can it be used in any meaningful way with the Orbi ? I hate to just craigslist it as it has been a good router and is not old, nor cheap.

Thanks

 

[thiggins]

As you note, the original RBK50 Orbi has a 4x4 5 GHz radio dedicated to backhaul and dual-band 2x2 client-facing radios. By using Ethernet backhaul, you are basically paying a good chunk of the cost of the product for something you are not using.

Even if you rationalize using the RBK50 with Ethernet by saying you now have two radios to service 5 GHz devices, those two radios are still co-located in the same AP, limiting their usefulness only if you have a LOT of dual-band devices.

You can continue to use your current router by putting Orbi in bridge mode. This bypasses its router and makes it act as an AP system.

 

[bobsilver]

The ethernet backhaul firmware should be released in the next week or so with a firmware of 2.1 as told to me by Netgear's product manager the other day. So I doubt that the shipping unit will have it but again should only be a week or so before being released.

Bob Silver
Netgear Product Advisor

 

[chamberc]

I would check in on community.netgear.com before buying the Orbi. I had mine since March 2017 and was a complete disaster for all but 3 of those months.

 

[brjoon1021]

I have heard of issues with the unit.
I hope it works for me.

 

[Fyodor]

If you have Ethernet to your second location and you're happy with your router, why not just spend 70 bucks on a good wireless access point?

 

[brjoon1021]

I really don't know anything about this stuff nor have the time to research it but I will look into what you suggested. I think I just got caught up in the very positive reviews at this site and others for the orbi and bought one because Amazon had a low price... and I pulled the trigger

 

[Hitch08]

I bought the Orbi RBK53 from Costco. I have a Verizon router that has poor wireless abilities. I was using an Apple router with it, but the Apple can't run a guest wifi when in AP mode. Coverage throughout the house was spotty - especially in the basement.

Very happy with the Orbi. The Apple has been retired and the Verizon's wireless is now turned off. I have the Orbi "router" on the main floor, one satellite on the second floor and the other in the basement. For some reason, I had to do the manual firmware update as the Router/Satellites were not seeing the new firmware that was available. Other than that, no complaints - to the extent that is one. Very good coverage throughout the house.

 

[speedlever]

I also bought the RBK53 Orbi system from Costco several weeks ago and set it up a little over a week ago (replacing an rt-AC56U router and an rt-n66u running as an AP).

I already had an Ethernet cable in place for the AP, but felt the middle of the house was underserved by WiFi since the router and AP were at opposite ends of the house. So I ran a cat 6 cable to the center of the house where we already had a 4K tv and I wanted to hardwire it anyway. So putting another satellite in the center was a no brainer.

I elected to use wired backhaul because, #1, I had the cabling in place on the first floor; and 2) previous experience with 5 GHz in my 2 story 2400 sq ft conventional house told me the 5 GHz signal dropped rapidly as I moved away from the router.

My Orbi came with 1.12.0.18 but I could not manually upgrade to 2.1.1.16. By chance, I let it upgrade online to 2.0.0.74, and then I was able to manually update to 2.1.1.16.

I’ve not had any spurious reboots or interruption of service that I know of. The system was up for over 7 days when I manually rebooted it yesterday.

In spite of all the reports of issues, the only nit I have to pick is that system reports incorrect stats as regards connected devices (for instance showing my iPad or my android phone connection as being wired). Otherwise the Orbi has been rock solid for me since I installed it 9 days ago.

And my WiFi coverage and throughput has been excellent with my Gb up/down internet service (I have fiber to the house). I suppose I could unplug the satellites and test the wireless backhaul, but I haven’t got around to that yet.

If the Orbi system were to become unreliable for some reason, I’m not sure what I’d replace it with. Hope I don’t come to that point with it, but I am keeping a close eye on it and bought from Costco so I could return without hassle if need be.

 

[thiggins]

Glad Orbi worked out for you speedlever. But realize you paid a lot for 4 stream 5 GHz backhaul radios you're not using?

 

[speedlever]

Glad Orbi worked out for you speedlever. But realize you paid a lot for 4 stream 5 GHz backhaul radios you're not using?

Yeah Tim, I do. In retrospect, of course.

I’d been noodling the idea of upgrading my WiFi for a while and did some cursory research. Just enough to convince me that ‘mesh’ was magic but not enough to really make an informed purchase when I bought the RBK53 system on a whim.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, as the case may be), the Orbi has been rock solid for me in the brief time I’ve had it. But I find myself spending a lot of time here at snb just browsing with the idea of a backup plan in the event I get another wild hair and return the Orbi.

OTOH, I don’t wish to abuse the generous Costco return policy, so I’ll likely stick with Orbi unless it becomes unreliable. But I know now that for my purposes (and relatively modest needs), it doesn’t really represent value like I normally pursue.

I think the combo of positive reviews along with the Costco sale fueled the decision to buy before I was really prepared to buy. And yet, here I am at snb browsing possible replacement options, should it come to that.

 

[thiggins]

When you have Ethernet where you need it, AP performance becomes less critical.
Multi AP networks require some care in setup, which most consumers have neither the knowledge nor patience for.

That's where WiFi systems can be better than a DIY AP install, since they are designed to properly set themselves up with a good channel plan and may include roaming assistance and band-steering features.

But be aware the self-managing aspect of many of these systems is often oversold. They don't support Tx power adjustment and don't move channels very often (or quickly) in response to network performance. At some point they may. But, for now, they are still in a heavy learning mode.

 

[speedlever]

What I lack is wired access to the 2nd floor of my house. But I think I can use any system now that I have wired access to the middle of the house as well as each end of the first floor. So whether I choose to use a mesh system or go with a conventional router and APs in these locations, I expect excellent coverage from a WiFi perspective.

What I don’t know is how to evaluate the roaming capabilities of mobile clients in the various options. While I understand that is largely on the clients to determine themselves, it’s also my understanding that some network environments hand off the clients better than others. True?

 

[thiggins]

it’s also my understanding that some network environments hand off the clients better than others. True?

This thread explains three IEEE standards aimed at improving roaming. But their use depends on support in both the AP and client (STA).

In the end, the client is still in control and makes the decision when and where to roam. This is usually made on the basis of RSSI.

APs can influence roaming in three ways. First is by steering devices to a particular band. Second is by refusing to allow devices to associate at all. Third is by forcing devices to disconnect.

Each of these use different trigger criteria and methods. Some can be enabled/disabled or allow criteria to be adjusted (# of attempts, signal levels, band preference). Wi-Fi systems like Orbi, eero, etc. attempt to do this automatically. AP systems usually expose some controls that affect roaming behavior.

 

[speedlever]

That's a good read Tim. Thanks.

In my old Router/AP system, I did manual band steering by only having the 5 GHz clients automatically sign into the 5 GHz SSID. Otherwise, they'd grab the first signal encountered when we entered the house (meaning a 2.4 GHz signal) and then hang onto it for dear life since the 2.4 GHz band propogates so much better than 5 GHz. So I kept separate SSIDs for the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.

Haven't had to do that with Orbi yet. It seems to sort out the bands ok on its own.

 

[thiggins]

Well, that's good band steering seems to be working. Many/most of the Wi-Fi systems just steer dual-band STAs to 5. Good in many cases, but may not always be the best choice for marginal signal levels.

 

[speedlever]

Tim, I just experienced a significant glitch in my Orbi system. This may well be the straw that breaks the camel's back. While the Orbi router and satellites appear to be functioning normally, I cannot log into the web interface. I can get into the debug.htm page for the router and both satellites, but the web interface page won't let me log in.

Crazy since if I can log into the debug.htm page I should be able to get into the web GUI page. I'll piddle with it some today, but expect a new thread requesting suggestions to replace my Orbi very soon. Sigh.

 

[thiggins]

Clear your browser cache. Why wouldn't you try NETGEAR support or forums before tossing the product?

 

[speedlever]

Haven't tossed it yet. I've also already been to the NG community pages.

The Orbi system is now letting me log into the web interface. Go figure.

Also, I tried to get in via different browsers while it was preventing access this morning. With the same result... no access.

The new thread is a backstop in case I find I need to replace the Orbi system. I'd like to have a firm plan in mind, just in case.

 

[brjoon1021]

Been a heapin' bowl of butt for me since I installed it 3 days ago.