[SOLVED] Netgear Orbi RBR50 - Addon Recommendation + Slow on Plex

[JoeFig44]

I've been running an Orbi RBR50 router and one RBS50 satellite (the one that came with the router originally).

Overall I have few complaints on it's performance except for one:
I have my LG CX OLED TV connected via ethernet to the Orbi satellite, which of course is receiving it's signal via the wireless mesh from the router which is just two rooms away so not far.
I can stream HDR Netflix/Amazon/Youtube with no pauses and at full resolution, but somehow when I go to play back an mkv file via Plex (that I have locally stored on my NAS) it just chugs and pauses every time, even if I drop the resolution really low (like 720p/3mbps).

Since I was going to buy a 2nd satellite so that my kids rooms can get a better signal, I was wondering if I should just trash this entire Orbi mesh system for a higher performance one or if it's best if I just buy the appropriate 2nd satellite?

And if it's recommended to just get a 2nd satellite, which model # is best?

Edit: Should I just pick up an RBK853 on sale right now and likely get an improvement in what I'm seeing as the only issue?

 

[dwd999]

I've been running an Orbi RBR50 router and (I believe) one RBS50 satellite (the one that came with the router originally).

Overall I have few complaints on it's performance except for one:
I have my LG CX OLED TV connected via ethernet to the Orbi satellite, which of course is receiving it's signal via the wireless mesh from the router which is just two rooms away so not far.
I can stream HDR Netflix/Amazon/Youtube with not pauses and at full resolution, but somehow when I go to play back an mkv file via Plex (that I have locally stored on my NAS) it just chugs and pauses every time, even if I drop the resolution really low (like 720p/3mbps).

Since I was going to buy a 2nd satellite so that my kids rooms can get a better signal, I was wondering if I should just trash this entire Orbi mesh system for a higher performance one or if it's best if I just buy the appropriate 2nd satellite?

And if it's recommended to just get a 2nd satellite, which model # is best?

Well, the first question would be where is the Plex server and how is it connected to your system? Is it connected to the Orbi router by ethernet; is the NAS? Does the Plex server run fine at full resolution on your other TVs and devices? If it were me ideally it would have the cable modem, Orbi router, and Plex server and NAS underneath the main TV; is that how yours it set up? Does that mean your LG TV is not in the main room or that the orbi router is not in the main room? And why do you think your kids rooms need a better signal? How far are they from the orbi router and what are their bandwidth requirements?

 

[vov4ik_il]

when I go to play back an mkv file via Plex (that I have locally stored on my NAS)

IS the plex server running on the NAS? If so, NAS is not a very fast video transcoder... It does not matter what resolution you would set, it still has to process the entire thing. I would say - the router is not your bottleneck. Otherwise, WiFi w/o OFDMA (prior to 6) lacks simultaneous radio transmission to multiple destinations (one to many in a single frame) which adds up to usual network jitter. Increasing data buffer on the player would probably solve it...
If possible, turn transcoding to off and try using raw data (4k or whatever your matroska files are) and if it works better (given you have enough radio BW) leave it be like that.

 

[JoeFig44]

Well, the first question would be where is the Plex server and how is it connected to your system? Is it connected to the Orbi router by ethernet; is the NAS? Does the Plex server run fine at full resolution on your other TVs and devices? If it were me ideally it would have the cable modem, Orbi router, and Plex server and NAS underneath the main TV; is that how yours it set up? Does that mean your LG TV is not in the main room or that the orbi router is not in the main room? And why do you think your kids rooms need a better signal? How far are they from the orbi router and what are their bandwidth requirements?

Plex server is running on my Synology NAS connected via ethernet to the router.

Plex server runs fine at full resolution on my other TVs that are connected via ethernet. On wireless devices Plex it plays smooth too but it is likely downgrading the resolution on the fly.
On my problematic LG, it's stuttering even if I lower the resolution manually to 720p levels.

I can't have all devices at the LG tv due to where the tv is located (center of room in a builtin book case away from the internet sources from outside.

Kids get stuttering/stopping on any streamed content in their area which is why I think they need a better signal. They stream video quite a bit.

Orbi router to satellite is probably 20' A-B line; satellite to kids rooms is probably 35-40' but also goes through the kitchen wall which has stone backsplash, etc.

 

[JoeFig44]

IS the plex server running on the NAS? If so, NAS is not a very fast video transcoder... It does not matter what resolution you would set, it still has to process the entire thing. I would say - the router is not your bottleneck. Otherwise, WiFi w/o OFDMA (prior to 6) lacks simultaneous radio transmission to multiple destinations (one to many in a single frame) which adds up to usual network jitter. Increasing data buffer on the player would probably solve it...
If possible, turn transcoding to off and try using raw data (4k or whatever your matroska files are) and if it works better (given you have enough radio BW) leave it be like that.

Yes, it's running on the NAS. The thing about transcoding is the NAS is doing the same transcoding to my other TV which is connected (Nvidia Shield) via ethernet to the NAS and on the same files that the LG stutters on it never stutters on the Shield.

Thanks for the tip on the data buffer - I'll see if my LG's Plex app allows for that.
However, in Plex - to use the raw data, isn't that just done by selecting "original file" in the video output of the Plex app on the LG? If so, that usually is the one that stutters the most and from where I need to lower to 1080p or 720p to get it to stutter less often.

 

[dwd999]

I've been running an Orbi RBR50 router and one RBS50 satellite (the one that came with the router originally).

Overall I have few complaints on it's performance except for one:
I have my LG CX OLED TV connected via ethernet to the Orbi satellite, which of course is receiving it's signal via the wireless mesh from the router which is just two rooms away so not far.
I can stream HDR Netflix/Amazon/Youtube with no pauses and at full resolution, but somehow when I go to play back an mkv file via Plex (that I have locally stored on my NAS) it just chugs and pauses every time, even if I drop the resolution really low (like 720p/3mbps).

Since I was going to buy a 2nd satellite so that my kids rooms can get a better signal, I was wondering if I should just trash this entire Orbi mesh system for a higher performance one or if it's best if I just buy the appropriate 2nd satellite?

And if it's recommended to just get a 2nd satellite, which model # is best?

Edit: Should I just pick up an RBK853 on sale right now and likely get an improvement in what I'm seeing as the only issue?

It sounds like if you just bought a 2nd satellite for your kids it wouldn't solve your main problem. So if you're OK with the cost the RBK853 with 2 satellites would probably give you the better service since it has more antennas and higher data rates.

 

[gggplaya]

Mesh systems have bandwidth limitations which is why I don't like them. If you have TV outlets in other rooms, I would consider using MOCA as a wired backhaul to solve the bandwidth issues.

You can also set your plex client device to stream 8mbps locally, but your NAS would need to have a processor with a passmark score of 2000 or more per stream to properly transcode it. If the processor isn't powerful enough, it will pause and chug. If your NAS has an intel processor, you can use hardware transcoding, but you need PLEX PASS to enable hardware transcode. However, hardware transcoding uses macroblocking, so things may look more pixelated at the same bitrate during fast scenes.