possible regression in 5GHz channel allocation with SXR30 / SXS30 Firmware Version 4.3.4.200
After applying the recent 4.3.4.200 firmware to my Orbi devices - I'm experiencing reduced Wi-Fi stability. The main symptoms are that mobile devices will disconnect for a minute or more as they move around my home.
I have Orbi SXR30 + 2 x SXS30 in Access Point mode connected via Ethernet to Netgear GS110EMX switch which in turn connects to a pfSense router. Prior to the latest SXR30 firmware, this has been a very stable network.
On further investigation, it appears that the Orbi SXR30 is now using a different 5GHz Wi-Fi channel (in this case channel 108) than the satellites (currently using channel 157). To check the channels I used the SXR30 web console (listed under Wireless) and then connected to each satellite. I also used a macOS Wi-Fi scan utility to confirm the channel allocation. For reference my SXR30 Wi-Fi country is set to Australia - so channel 157 would be expected. The macOS scan utility confirms that the country code is correct for all SXR/SXS devices.
The strange part of this is that where I live is a relatively low density residential area and channels 149-161 are not heavily used by my neighbours - so no reason for Orbi not to use the default channel 157.
In terms of Orbi Pro specific Wi-Fi features I have Fast Roaming disabled (have tried with it enabled), and MU-MIMO enabled.
I have attempted to resolve this with a full factory reset of both SXR30 as well as SXS30 devices - rebuilding the config from scratch. However the aberrant 5GHz channel behaviour remains.
Is anyone else seeing this? Or is this expected new behaviour? It's a little bit concerning that Netgear have introduced this regression in a post EOL firmware update.
Re: possible regression in 5GHz channel allocation with SXR30 / SXS30 Firmware Version 4.3.4.200
Thankyou for the suggestion and apologies for the delay in this reply. However testing earlier firmware versions will take some time.
In the meantime (after about a week) the two Orbi Pro SXS30 satellites have decided to switch the 5GHz channel to channel 108 - which is the same channel that the SXR30 is using. No significant changes in the Wi-Fi environment in and around my home. The good news is that the WI-Fi now seems to be stable.
Meanwhile I've been frequently checking the Netgear GS110EMX switch ports for CRC errors, as well as running ping tests to the satellites - with no unexpected results (was particularly looking for step change in ping times which might indicate that a satellite had switched from wired to wireless backhaul).
It's currently a mystery. Prior to downgrading firmware I might do another reset and wireshark the active Wi-Fi channels to check for any other inconsistencies.
In the meantime (after about a week) the two Orbi Pro SXS30 satellites have decided to switch the 5GHz channel to channel 108 - which is the same channel that the SXR30 is using.
This is (in my opinion) intentional, and as per the design of the Orbi Pro SXR30 and SXS30 systems (or more all SXx50 or SXx80) where there is no dedicated radio for a dedicated wireless backhaul. I doubt these systems allow using individual channels for each router and the satellites even in the special use case of an all wired backhaul. If the wireless backhaul breaks or is fully lost, these systems will automagically fall back to the wireless backhaul establishing a wireless Mesh.
For usage where dedicated channel planning is needed or desired, head to the Netgear Wireless Access points like the WAC5xx, WAX6xx, or WBE7xx - and stay far away from these consumer-style Mesh systems.
