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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 ...
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?"
Got it, thanks. Is the attached what you asked for?
So select the Cable Connection tab then select on the tile, it should give you a long row and columns list of information that you can copy and paste here in the forums.
Waugust wrote:
Got it, thanks. Is the attached what you asked for?
Just wanted to update and thank you for your help. I see your name mentioned throughout the forum and can't imagine how you find time to do all you do.
I decided to do a factory settings reset. I thought some of the problem may have to do with previous settings from where we lived before now mixed with our new location. Resetting the modem was no problem but things didn't go well with the router and satellites. The latter wouldn't sync or hold connection with the router.
I worked on it from 8:30 this morning until finally deciding to call Netgear support just before noon. First call lasted about an hour before losing connection. Second call, with a much less helpful agent, about another 40 minutes before that call dropped. Third attempt connected me to an excellent agent. After checking potential problems, one satellite was synced and working as it should, the other not. He had me move that one next to the router, do a factory reset, which made the connection. He then had me move it about halfway to where I wanted it to see if the connection would hold. It did, I moved it to the final place and all is well so far.đ€ It is now just after 3 PM.
Thanks again for all your time and help, I learned a lot from you and appreciate your patience.