Netgear Orbi or FiOS Network Extender

[MDTerp429]

I have dead zones with the Quantum Gateway. It's worse with this gateway than the one provided by Comcast, to the point areas of my home are unusable. I've been in the market to fix this but it was tolerable on Comcast, intolerable now with FiOS. I'm considering the Netgear Orbi. Should I do the Orbi mesh router or the FiOS network extender? I'm looking for the best combination of latency and speed. I don't care about the fastest speed if the latency is higher.

I stream content using AppleTV/Chromecast/Firestick and otherwise just have laptops, PCs, and mobile devices accessing the internet for content consumption. We don't do any online gaming. I have FiOS gigabet ethernet and my speeds are roughly 900/900 Mbit to the house. In good areas of my house with the Quantum gateway, I'm seeing 80/80 Mbps but I have parts of my home where the 2.4 GHz is too slow to be useable and the 5GHz can't be seen so I've got to do something.

[Edg1]

It really depends on your situation. FiOS extenders need wiring to connect to them were Orbi does not and you can use Orbi with any service. 

[MDTerp429]

I have coax outlets on every level of my home, just no ethernet. The range extenders use the coax, right? I guess I'm just trying to figure out/understand if going wired over the coax is inferior to mesh or if the mesh will just be much better to make it worth the difference in price.

[Edg1]

They do use coax but I’ve seen posters on here say the wifi is just ok on them. Verizon also sells Orbi now. I think Orbi has better WiFi plus if you need to add one you can at a later time plus if you ever use another provider you be able to re use you Orbi. 

[Capricorn1 · Accepted solution]

Since you have coax throughout the house both the network extender or the Netgear Orbi should work. I will throw out there that there are other mesh network vendors out there as well and here is a comparison from PC Magazine and this guy. I would probably go with the mesh network. I believe the Verizon network extender either by using the coax or wireless connection, just picks up and rebroadcasts any wireless signals it receives - essentially putting additional traffic on the wireless network. As I understand it, mesh networks hand off the connection to wireless devices to whichever node has the best signal and can seamlessly switch nodes as the device moves about (e.g., laptops and cell phones). 

If you go the Orbi (or another mesh network) route, I would shut off the wireless in the G1100 Quantum router and put the Orbi in AP mode. I'm sure the other mesh vendors have similar ways to do that. (Download their user manuals and look for bridge mode and access point mode.)

Also, with either the extender or the mesh network, you (probably) also just put a wired Ethernet port in the room where the base/node is. I have Rokus hardwired by Ethernet, but I'm not sure if your streaming devices have Ethernet. If they do, you could use that, shut off the wireless on those devices and let the mesh network (or coax network on the extender) do the wireless part. That gets some competing wireless devices off the wireless network.

[MDTerp429]

Very helpful, thank you both for the input! I will check out the alternative mesh solutions. If I do a bonded 2.0 MoCA adapter and 2 extenders, this will be about the same price as some of the alternate mesh solutions. I'm not really worried about the cost driving the decision, though. I'm more looking for what is going to give me the best overall performance.

I was looking at buying the Orbi from Verizon but now I'm a little nervous as it says the updates come from Verizon and it's not compatible with non-Verizon satellites. Thoughts or experience?

[Edg1]

I would get it from Netgear. If Verizon has their software on it. It sounds like they have their own software on there. 

The bonded 2.0 adapter is really only beneficial is you have 2. One on each end to get gig speed. 

[MDTerp429]

---

@Edg1 wrote:

I would get it from Netgear. If Verizon has their software on it. It sounds like they have their own software on there. 

The bonded 2.0 adapter is really only beneficial is you have 2. One on each end to get gig speed. 

---

Thanks, I think I am going to just get it from Netgear. I don’t trust Verizon running my updates.

I was considering the bonded adapter on the Verizon router end and a network extender on the other end. I believe this would give me a wired connection up to 700 Mbps at the extender along with the wireless. I still may do this to be honest. I’m jonesing for a reasonably fast wired connection to my NAS. 

[Edg1]

The reason you will need 2 FNAs is the MOCA ports on Router and FNE are 2.0

So you need router>fna>fna>fne. To get the bonder 2.0 one FNA connects to router and the other will be in the other room before the FNE. otherwise the FNE will only get around 400 mbps.

[MDTerp429]

---

@Edg1 wrote:

The reason you will need 2 FNAs is the MOCA ports on Router and FNE are 2.0

So you need router>fna>fna>fne. To get the bonder 2.0 one FNA connects to router and the other will be in the other room before the FNE. otherwise the FNE will only get around 400 mbps.

---

Are you sure? I thought the network extender is bonded 2.0? It says it is on the features page under the LAN but then in other places it just says 2.0.

https://www.verizon.com/home/accessories/fios-network-extender/

[MDTerp429]

So I have done a combination of things to approach this problem based on everyone's feedback. I haven't picked up the network extender just yet, as I've just been playing around with the wired connection. I picked up the Actiontech Moca adapter ECB6200. The Motorola one was not stocked at my local Best Buy and the 2-pack actiontech was actually on sale for the same price as 2 of the Motorola version.

Here's my setup in my basement:
ONT --> Fios quantum gateway (WAN)
FQG (LAN1) --> ECB6200 (ethernet)
ECB6200 (Coax in) --> Wall outlet (coax)

On the main level in the family room:
Wall outlet (coax) --> splitter --> VMS1100
Wall outlet (coax) --> splitter --> ECB6200 (coax in)

I currently am not sending the ECB6200 STB/TV coax to any devices.

I'm seeing 2 "problems" and I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or if this is expected behavior.
1. When I use the "STB/TV out" coax port on the ECB6200 in the family room to feed the VMS1100, the STB is no longer on the network so the On Demand goes away. The other 2 STBs on the second level still show as "active" and on the network of the FQG (didn't check if their on demand still works but based on them being "active" I presume it will). Why does this happen? Is the network connection not present on the "STB/TV out" port of the ECB6200? That doesn't make sense to me. That's why I currently have the splitter at this point--it's the only way to keep the VMS1100 online.

2. When I do speed tests at the ethernet port on the main level at the ethernet port on the ECB6200, I get around 350/370 Mbps. I don't see any difference when I disconnect the ECB6200 in the basement at the FQG, so I think I'm not enjoying the benefit of the bonded 2.0 that the adapter is supposed to provide. What have I hooked up incorrectly? Are the 2 other STBs on the network limiting me to Moca 2.0?

Edited to add: speeds at the FQG wired are 900/900 Mbps.

[Edg1]

---

@MDTerp429 wrote:

1. When I use the "STB/TV out" coax port on the ECB6200 in the family room to feed the VMS1100, the STB is no longer on the network so the On Demand goes away. The other 2 STBs on the second level still show as "active" and on the network of the FQG (didn't check if their on demand still works but based on them being "active" I presume it will). Why does this happen? Is the network connection not present on the "STB/TV out" port of the ECB6200? That doesn't make sense to me. That's why I currently have the splitter at this point--it's the only way to keep the VMS1100 online.

2. When I do speed tests at the ethernet port on the main level at the ethernet port on the ECB6200, I get around 350/370 Mbps. I don't see any difference when I disconnect the ECB6200 in the basement at the FQG, so I think I'm not enjoying the benefit of the bonded 2.0 that the adapter is supposed to provide. What have I hooked up incorrectly? Are the 2 other STBs on the network limiting me to Moca 2.0?

Edited to add: speeds at the FQG wired are 900/900 Mbps.

---

Yes that is weird that on demand goes away when connected to STB/TV OUT. The ones that Verizon offers just have the one coax port so if it doesn’t work that way just keep the splitter in place. That’s the way you would have to do it if you purchased the Verizon ones anyway.

Now as far as the 2.0 limiting the bonded 2.0 that might be the reason. The FQG, VMS, and IP clients are all 2.0. One way to test it take both ECB6200s down to the FQG. Wire lan port to first ECB like you have already done. Take a piece of coax from 1st ECB to 2nd ECB. Then ethernet from 2nd ECB to computer and see if you are getting 900 mbps.