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Forum Discussion

Hamstar's avatar
Hamstar
Guide
Sep 17, 2018
Solved

Nest camera drops still frequent on Orbi RB50 firmware v2.1.4.16

I have had my Orbi system for about 3 months, purchased from Costco in June. 1 day after installing the system, firmware was upgraded to v2.1.4.16.  I have google fiber 1000 and enjoy the speed. Me o...
Troubleshooting
  • jrw00711's avatar
    jrw00711
    May 24, 2019

    My Nest was frequently going offline. I changed my settings on my Orbi to match Kickworms settings and I have not had a drop in over a week. Seems resolved now. Here are the settings from Kickworms post:

    • 20/40 MHz Coexistence is enabled (2.4GHz)
    • WMM is enabled (both 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
    • CTS/RTS Threshold is 2347 (both 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
    • Preamble Mode is Automatic (both 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
    • Transmit Power is 100% (both 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
    • Daisy-Chain Topology is DISABLED
    • Beamforming is enabled
    • MU-MIMO is enabled
    • Fast Roaming is DISABLED
    • 2.4GHz channel is set to Auto
    • 5GHz channel is set to 48
    • Security Option is set to only WPA2-PSK
kickworm's avatar
kickworm
Guide
Sep 26, 2018

Hi Hamstar. I have the Orbi system (RBK50) along with a couple of Nest Cam Outdoor cameras (the previous version, not the new IQ version). I purchased the Orbi because of the cameras. My initial set up was wireless router at the back of the house and cameras at the front and performance was poor. I now have the Orbi router at the back of the house and satellite in the front room. I find that when doing a reboot of the Orbi system the cameras will connect to the router first because it is the first to come up. Sometimes if I wait a day or two, the cameras will automatically switch over to the satellite. Being the impatient person that I am, I now make it a habit of power-cycling the cameras after the Orbi system is fully up and running so that they connect to the satellite right away.

 

I wish I could get gigabit, but alas I am stuck with a 5-6ish Mbps upload speed. I have both my Nest Cam Outdoor cameras set to high quality and I find the performance to be pretty good. Since you have three cameras, I would maybe try lowering the video quality to see if that makes a difference. By the way, do you have the IQ version? If so, I believe I read somewhere that they support MIMO technology so I would keep that enabled on your Orbi system. Also, in your environment, are you getting a lot of motion on your cameras (e.g. you have a camera monitoring your driveway, but the street in front of your house is very busy with traffic and pedestrians)? According to Nest, the cameras use more bandwidth the more motion there is in the scene. If possible, maybe you can adjust the position of your camera to not include those busy areas.

 

On a side note, I have a wireless printer that is in the same room as the Orbi router (about 3 feet away). Most of the times I find it connected to the satellite in the front room (about 40 feet away). Maybe it's too close to the router? Who knows. I wonder if it would make a difference in your situation if you switched to using only one satellite on the second floor of your house. Could be worth a shot.

 

I hope some of that helps. To be honest, if I were to do this all over again, I would stick with my original router (Nighthawk AC3200) and pick up one of those EX8000 extenders instead of going with the Orbi. Way cheaper and at least the Nighthawk had a working QoS page.

 

Good luck!

  • Hamstar's avatar
    Hamstar
    Guide
    Sep 27, 2018

    Hi kickworm,

     

    Thank you for sharing your experience with your nestcams! I read up on the nest IQ outdoor camera, but didn't see anything about MU MIMO. My cameras are just the Nest Outdoor (not the IQ series).  Interestingly I did turn off MU MIMO like FURRYe38 suggested and the drops almost went away except for 1 this morning.  Fortunately it came back only w/i 2 min and connected to the satellit and not the router.

     

    Like you, I'm not patient and power cycle the cameras after the ORBI system restarts. 

     

    Also, I did spend time talking with Nest tech support.  The wanted me to shut off the same things FURRYe38 suggested - which I told them were already off. They gave me a case # and are "investigating the issue".  I guess more to come later.

     

    Thanks again for your post! 

    • kickworm's avatar
      kickworm
      Guide
      Sep 27, 2018

      You're welcome. Sounds like we have the same set up except that you have one more Nest Camera and one more Orbi satellite than I do (plus an uber internet connection). Here are my wireless settings, if you're curious:

      • 20/40 MHz Coexistence is enabled (2.4GHz)
      • WMM is enabled (both 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
      • CTS/RTS Threshold is 2347 (both 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
      • Preamble Mode is Automatic (both 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
      • Transmit Power is 100% (both 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
      • Daisy-Chain Topology is DISABLED
      • Beamforming is enabled
      • MU-MIMO is enabled
      • Fast Roaming is DISABLED
      • 2.4GHz channel is set to Auto
      • 5GHz channel is set to 48
      • Security Option is set to only WPA2-PSK

      I also have UPnP enabled under Advanced Setup and I'm on the 2.1.4.16 firmware. I know our environments are different, but maybe something in my setup will help you. My Orbi and Nest Cams have been up and running since December with no issues. Have you tried looking at the logs on the Orbi when one of your cameras goes offline?