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Forum Discussion
Devices not connecting to Orbi RBK13 Satellite
Hi, I recently purchased a NETGEAR Orbi Whole Home Mesh WiFi System (RBK13) 1 Router & 2 Satellites. Installed the Orbi app and followed all the steps for setup of this new system. I put one of s...
Hi,
I have the firmware V2.7.3.22. I have xFinity as my internet service provider and I am using the NETGEAR C6900-100NAR Nighthawk Dual Band AC1900 Cable Modem Router.
The size of the home is 2500 sft, upper floor 1250 sft and the finished basement is of 1000 sft. So the setup i had was the Orbi router placed next to the Modem-Router, One of the satellite in the basement bedroom and the other satelllite placed in between the basement bedroom satellite and the Orbi router.
Thanks,
Baba
BabaOrbi wrote:
Hi,
I have the firmware V2.7.3.22. I have xFinity as my internet service provider and I am using the NETGEAR C6900-100NAR Nighthawk Dual Band AC1900 Cable Modem Router. Is the modem in router or modem only mode? Modem only mode is recommended.
The size of the home is 2500 sft, upper floor 1250 sft and the finished basement is of 1000 sft. So the setup i had was the Orbi router placed next to the Modem-Router, One of the satellite in the basement bedroom and the other satelllite placed in between the basement bedroom satellite and the Orbi router. What is the distance between the router and 📡 satellite(s)? is the modem and RBR in the basement or on the main level?
I saw the Netgear community and they do not recoommend to put the Router-Modem in modem only mode.
The distance between the router and satellites in not long, because I was testing to if distance was the issue by placing all the satellites with in a 20 feet distance from the router. And the Orbi router and my cable router-modem are on the first floor sitting side by side to each other.
BabaOrbi wrote:
I saw the Netgear community and they do not recoommend to put the Router-Modem in modem only mode.
Where did you see this in the Netgear Community about not putting the modem into modem only mode? The modem should be put in modem mode if your using the MR has a host router.
The distance between the router and satellites in not long, because I was testing to if distance was the issue by placing all the satellites with in a 20 feet distance from the router. And the Orbi router and my cable router-modem are on the first floor sitting side by side to each other. 20 feet is too close between the RBR and RBS. 30 feet or more is recommended in between RBR and RBS📡 to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. Be sure that the MR is at least 3 feet away from the modem. 6 feet is preferred.
BabaOrbi wrote:
I saw the Netgear community and they do not recommend to put the Router-Modem in modem only mode.
There may be some confusion on this topic.
Netgear's installation instructions for the RBK12-13-14 product are silent on this topic.
https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RBK13/RBK13_QSG_EN.pdf
Netgear's User Manual for the product is also silent on this topic. (See page 11):
https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RBK12/RBK12_13_14_UM_EN.pdf
The community consists of a bunch of individuals who participate in discussions about Netgear products. Each individual may have an opinion about lots of topics, and the individuals do not always agree.
My opinion is that:
- Thousands of customers connect their new WiFi system to the ISP modem/router and it "just works".
- Many of them do no configuration at all. They use the WiFi SSID and password on the product label. (When I scan the WiFi systems in my neighborhood, there are a LOT of them named things like ATTxxxxx, Spectrum_Setupxxxxx, TP-Linkxxxxx, NETGEARxxx.)
- There are specific applications which do not function when a 'router' is connected to another 'router'. Internet search for "Double NAT" will provide numerous examples. Netgear has a KnowledgeBase (KB) article about Double-NAT:
https://kb.netgear.com/30186/What-is-Double-NAT - The applications that most often encounter problems with a Double NAT are
Some (but not all) Internet Games
Forwarding ports so that home resources can be reached from the internet
Creating a VPN so that the local LAN can be reached from the internet
(I happen to think that Netgear's article is not clearly written. Obviously, there is no problem connecting to sebsites that use SSL. If there were, then 99% of today's web sites would fail. And VPN refers to using VPN to get into the local network from the internet, not using VPN to connect to places on the internet.) - In those specific cases, something must be done about the Double NAT. Netgear has a KB article about that:
https://kb.netgear.com/30187/My-NETGEAR-or-Orbi-router-is-connected-to-an-ISP-gateway-or-another-router-and-it-s-causing-double-NAT-problems-How-do-I-fix-them - A third method (that Netgear does not mention in that article) is to put the Orbi router in the "DMZ" of the ISP router.
So, my opinion is "If there's a problem, fix it. If it ain't broke....."
Thank you guys.
So I did the below exercise.
1) Of the two satellites i placed one of them in the basement bedroom
2) Took off the satellite that was placed in between my main floor and the basement(stair way)
3) After reaching the basement bedroom, i switched On and Off the Orbi wifi network and Cellular data for few minutes.
4) Placed my mobile device very close to the satellite and reconnected to my Orbi Wifi network. Refreshed the Network Map in the Orbi app and now I see that the satellites shows me my mobile device in the connected list.
5) Another exercise was to go back and forth from my main level to basement level and check if the device is getting connected to the satellite, though the Network map does not refresh the list automagically, we need to refresh it show the device list.
Another question is after i setup my Orbi Wifi, I am able to still connect to my old wifi network. Do I need to do something about it?
