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5 year old Orbi RBR 50 with two RBS 50 satellites
I have a (approximately) 5 year old Orbi RBR 50 with two RBS 50 satellites in a 5,100 sq ft house with 1gb Cox and a one year old Netgear CM1200 modem. Whenever Cox works on their internet I need to power cycle everything, sometimes more than once, to get my home network back up. No exceptions. We were on vacation this past week and when I tried to check security cameras, I saw my home network was down. Don't know if Cox had anything to do with it. It stayed that way until I got home yesterday, but this time a simple power cycle did not fix things. Shortly after getting everything up, it would go down again. Checking online, I saw there was a firmware update, which I now have done (V2.7.4.24). After doing that and turning on the main TV, Apple TV was no longer connected. I tried to reconnect but got an unending spinning update indication. Looking elsewhere I saw the satellites were down too. Time for another power cycle.
Everything is running now, a half hour later, but I have my doubts. Is there a lifecycle to Orbi mesh routers and satellites, and if so, is 4 or 5 years about it? I should add, my system spent it's first 3 years in a house at the beach with a lot of sand dust and salt in the air. I'm considering the AXE11000 system hoping for 1) more stable performance, and 2) better coverage. Will I get that and if so, will the new system only last 4 or 5 years? I can live with that if that's normal performance for mesh systems but do not want to go through the trouble and expense only to find the same instability.
Waugust wrote:
So it sounds like the issue is whether or not Cox has updated their cable to the modem, not the cable I used to connect the modem to the router, correct?Not necessarily a Cox issue. When people report WiFi systems not behaving as expected, we often ask questions that are similar to doctors collecting a medical history. The initial post contained a number of questions:
- "Is there a lifecycle to Orbi mesh routers and satellites, and if so, is 4 or 5 years about it?"
No. Electronics will continue to function indefinitely. My RBR50 Orbi is now approaching 6 years old and still going strong.
What happens is that new features often appear that are not compatible with the radio chips in the older WiFi systems.
WiFi6 (and now WiFi6E) use different encoding than the older WiFi5 that our Orbi chips use. I own zero devices that feature WiFi6 or 6E, so buying a WiFi system that supports those new standards would be of no benefit to me. - I'm considering the AXE11000 system hoping for....
That latest, and most expensive Orbi system definitely offers more capability and range if you have devices that can take advantage of it.
And, that newest system appears to be undergoing "growing pains" if posts on the forum are any indication.
My take, "out of the frying pan into the fire."
What this sounds like to me is that the firmware update may not have been entirely successful and the most common advice is to do a factory reset on the system and configure it again using exactly the same WiFi credentials (SSID and password) so that all devices will connect to it.
There have been a number of intermittent issues caused by faulty ISP cable wiring.
If the system becomes stable and works for days at a time, I see no reason for change.
- "Is there a lifecycle to Orbi mesh routers and satellites, and if so, is 4 or 5 years about it?"
13 Replies
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?
Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update?
What is the distance between the router and 📡 satellite(s)? 30 feet or more is recommended in between RBR and RBS📡 to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.
https://kb.netgear.com/31029/Where-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite 📡What channels are you using? Auto? Try Auto and 48 on 5Ghz. Or try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?Try disabling the following and see:
Armor, Circle, Traffic Meter.One User Experience/Configuration:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Most-Stable-Orbi-Configuration/m-p/1941087/highlight/true#M97026For any RBKE960 series information and support, please visit this forum:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-WiFi-6-AX-and-WiFi-6E-AXE/bd-p/en-home-orbi-ax
There is no mfg name on the modem, only Netgear Nighthawk CM 1200. Not a Cox (internet provider) modem, purchased at Best Buy approximately a year ago.
No factory reset since updating the FW. Things have been working since my original post and I'd rather not do that unless the connectivity problem persists.
The modem is in the southeast corner of the 5,100 sq ft house, second floor, one of the satellites in the northeast corner, first floor, the second in the west side of the house, first floor, each well over 30 feet from the modem.
According to the Orbi app, channel 48 is used, 1 and 48 recommended.
I have neighbors all no doubt having wifi but their houses are not as close as has been true in previous neighborhoods with no network stability problems.
DK where to find Circle and Traffic Meter, Armor not used.
I no sooner finished my response and lost connectivity in my home office located outside the main house where I am typing this, possibly the furthest point from the modem, but less than 30 feet from one of the satellites located within the main house. When I walked in the house standing by the satellite, my phone regained connection. The computer in the outside office did not; I had to restart the computer, which now shows 5 bars on the connectivity "fan".
Are 5-year old Orbi product likely to have network stability problems, particularly mine which spent 2 to 3 years very near the ocean with sand dust/salt air? We've since moved inland and have much clearer air.
Time for a replacement or first do a reset? If the latter, do I reset everything (modem, router, both satellites)? What will that do to all the devices currently connected when I bring the network back up?
