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Forum Discussion
Solved
Google products will not connect to Orbi Satellites
Hi all. New to this community. Having a serious issue with my Orbi RBK40 system. Google devices will not connect to the Orbi Satellites. They connect instantly to the router but when I move it...
The mystery has been solved in case anyone has this same issue. Turns out it was my Roku TVs that were causing the problem. Each of these Google devices happened to be in a room with a Roku TV. These Roku TVs have a setting called "Device Options" which has to be turned off. If this option is on, the TV acts like its own AP and interferes with your wifi signal. This is a known issue. If you google "Roku wifi interference," you will find postings about this.
I turned off this setting on my Roku TVs and these Google hubs and Chromebooks have been happily connected since. Fingers crossed that they will stay this way.
These devices that lose connection when moved away from the router (and reasonably close to a satellite?)..... Yes, about 6 feet from the satellite with line of sight. Router is on another floor. Even when the device (Nest Hub or Chromebook) are an inch or 2 away, no wifi.
They are powered off and back on again, correct? Yes, countless times. Have done factory resets on all the Nest Hubs multiple times. Still nothing. But if I put it near the router, instant connection works perfectly.
With the Chromebooks, what happens when they are close to a satellite, use the control panel to "forget" the Orbi WiFi, then search for a WiFi signal and connect to it? Even when next to the satellite, it seems to connect but only for a second, then it is gone. Yes, forgot and then reconnect. Still doesn't work.
One more weird thing I've noticed. On the Attached Devices screen under the Connected Orbi column, all devices that work fine show what specific Orbi they are connected to (like Orbi Satellite-1 or Orbi Router) along with their MAC address. The devices that have problems always show a generic "Orbi Satellite" with no MAC address. Maybe that's a clue?
The mystery has been solved in case anyone has this same issue. Turns out it was my Roku TVs that were causing the problem. Each of these Google devices happened to be in a room with a Roku TV. These Roku TVs have a setting called "Device Options" which has to be turned off. If this option is on, the TV acts like its own AP and interferes with your wifi signal. This is a known issue. If you google "Roku wifi interference," you will find postings about this.
I turned off this setting on my Roku TVs and these Google hubs and Chromebooks have been happily connected since. Fingers crossed that they will stay this way.