One of my friends lives in a small three-story Western-style house. The family had previously installed a 100-Mbps fiber connection for internet. Recently, several children at home started experiencing network issues, so they added another 100-Mbps fiber line. Let's first look at the problem with the kids. The friend has three sons: a 10-year-old who wants to stream movies online, a 12-year-old who plays games, and a 15-year-old who downloads things (I guess it’s something important). Originally, they used a router to allocate bandwidth among the three, but the 15-year-old felt that 100Mbps wasn't fast enough for his downloads. He refused to share the bandwidth with his younger brothers. When the younger siblings were downloading, the whole family experienced buffering during movie streaming or game disconnections. To solve this, the friend decided to pull an optical fiber dedicated to WiFi use, while the original broadband was reserved for the older son's downloads. The friend had some basic computer knowledge and bought a NETGEAR Orbi RBK50 to set up the network. However, he found that the coverage wasn’t sufficient for the entire house. He thought there might be an issue with the setup and asked me to help. I suggested using the RBK50, as it was recommended by a friend from Computer City. I reminded him that I often recommend NETGEAR Orbi products, and the RBK50 claims to cover up to 400 square meters. His house is less than 350 square meters, so it should work. But when I looked at the floor plan, I realized that the high-end model might not be the best fit for a three-story building.
The house has nearly 120 square meters on each floor, totaling under 350 square meters. However, the Orbi RBK50 package only includes two routers. The nominal coverage area usually refers to a single level. In multi-story buildings, the thickness of the floors and walls can significantly impact signal strength. The main router was placed in the living room on the first floor. When the second router was placed on the second floor, it covered the first and second floors well, but the third-floor bedroom only received weak signals. Another bedroom could access the 2.4GHz band, but the speed was slow. When the second router was placed on the third floor, the third floor had good coverage, but the second floor had poor signal strength. Even closing the bathroom doors would block the Wi-Fi signal entirely. If someone wanted to browse on their phone in the bathroom, they had to rely on 4G data, which was too slow. The core issue was that the RBK50 only came with two routers, which wasn’t enough for a three-story house.
After researching, I found that the Orbi RBK30 is a more cost-effective option. A combination of RBK50 and RBK30 could work, but the total cost was close to 4,000 yuan. Instead, replacing the RBK53 with RBK30 and adding an extension was more practical. The RBK30’s split-router uses a wall socket design, making it easy to install without needing a separate space. My friend returned the RBK53 and purchased the RBK30 kit along with an additional extension router.
The Orbi Mini RBK30 uses a Qualcomm chip, has a quad-core processor, 4GB flash, 512MB RAM, and four antennas. It supports tri-band Wi-Fi, with one 2.4GHz band (up to 400Mbps) and two 5GHz bands (each up to 866Mbps). One 5GHz band is dedicated for communication between the main and split routers. It also supports MU-MIMO Wave 2 technology. The RBK30 kit includes the main router, a split extension, power adapter, and cables. The split router can be plugged directly into a wall socket, making it easy to install.
Setting up the network is straightforward. Using the NETGEAR app, you can scan the QR code on the router and follow the steps to connect. After connecting the main router and the split extension, the app will guide you through the process. Once the network is stable, you can add a second extension. The app allows you to check the signal strength and adjust the position of the extensions if needed.
Overall, the Orbi RBK30 provides excellent coverage and seamless roaming. After switching from RBK50 to RBK30 and adding an extension, the friend achieved full coverage on the third floor. Moving between floors didn’t cause any network disruptions. Although the setup cost was higher, it was safer than using multiple independent routers for bridging. Previously, using two Asus AC86U routers caused frequent disconnections when switching between them. With Orbi, the experience was much smoother.
For advanced settings, you can change the channel to avoid interference from neighboring networks. You can also increase the transmit power in the router’s settings to extend the coverage. These features are available in the official firmware, making it easier to optimize your network. Choosing the right router depends on your specific needs and home layout. While high-end models offer great performance, they may not always be the best fit. It’s important to consider factors like coverage, ease of setup, and long-term reliability.
Portable Battery ,Portable Power Bank,Portable Battery Pack,Portable Power Pack
Zhejiang Casnovo Materials Co., Ltd. , https://www.casnovonewenergy.com