Hey, I have had the RBK50 around a year now and it has been amazing since day one. However in the last week or so the Wifi has been terrible. Its been slow, patchy and all round frustrating. I have the RBK50 package (router + satellite) and have since (2 months ago) bought an additional satellite to increase the coverage to an outbuilding. I haven't had any issues since adding the additional satellite. Today I did a complete factory reset on the router + 2 satellites and changed the channels of both 2.4 and 5 Ghz networks but nothing has changed in terms of performance. I have used an ethernet port today whilst working and everything was fine so this is strictly a wifi issue. All 3 are on the latest firmware version of V2.5.0.38. Has anyone experienced anything similar recently or can advise on how I can go about resolving this issue as it feels like we are back on a bog standard wifi router again. Thanks

What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many? Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or maynot be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless SettingsTry disabling the following and see:Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s). Are the RBS Daisy Chained or in a STAR formation out from the RBR?

The distance is about 8 - 10 meters to both satellites from the main router. There are a few other neighbours, about 10 other networks can be seen from my laptop. The setup is more of a star formation. Main router is upstairs one side of the hour, satellite one is downstairs otherside of the house and satellite two is downstairs in outbuilding which is opposite side to satellite one. I have updated the settings - I could only see the option to disable "Enable 20/40 MHz Coexistence" rather than to set it to 40 MHz only? The issue even persists when a device is directly next to a satellite. I have a satellite next to a Sky Q box and the downloading of a show is very very slow. Will see what performance is like, thanks for the tips.

Make sure Daisy Chain is disabled then and see. Just remove the check mark from the 20/40Mhz box and this enables 40Mhz only. Does this Sky Q box have it's own wifi? This a streaming device or a ISP modem?

Made sure daisy chain is off. Basically I have Sky Q with Sky Fibre Broadband. I turned off Wifi from the Sky router and connected the Orbi router directly to the Sky router. Then Orbi provides all Wifi in the house. When running setup wizard Orbi said to use Router mode rather than AP mode which I have left alone.

Yes! Up until recently, my mesh network had worked flawlessly for about a year. Now the WiFi signal repeatedly drops or fails to connect, even though I haven't changed anything with my setup.

Netgear Orbi RBK50 with 2 Satellites - Patchy / Slow Wifi performance

27 Replies

FURRYe38
Guru - Experienced User
Oct 30, 2019
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router

Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or maynot be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
Try disabling the following and see:
Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).

Are the RBS Daisy Chained or in a STAR formation out from the RBR?
- Devil000
  Aspirant
  Oct 30, 2019
  The distance is about 8 - 10 meters to both satellites from the main router.
  
  There are a few other neighbours, about 10 other networks can be seen from my laptop.
  
  The setup is more of a star formation. Main router is upstairs one side of the hour, satellite one is downstairs otherside of the house and satellite two is downstairs in outbuilding which is opposite side to satellite one.
  
  I have updated the settings - I could only see the option to disable "Enable 20/40 MHz Coexistence" rather than to set it to 40 MHz only?
  
  The issue even persists when a device is directly next to a satellite. I have a satellite next to a Sky Q box and the downloading of a show is very very slow.
  
  Will see what performance is like, thanks for the tips.
  - FURRYe38
    Guru - Experienced User
    Oct 30, 2019
    Make sure Daisy Chain is disabled then and see.
    
    Just remove the check mark from the 20/40Mhz box and this enables 40Mhz only.
    
    Does this Sky Q box have it's own wifi? This a streaming device or a ISP modem?
Surg
Aspirant
Oct 30, 2019
Yes! Up until recently, my mesh network had worked flawlessly for about a year. Now the WiFi signal repeatedly drops or fails to connect, even though I haven't changed anything with my setup.
Retired_Member
Nov 04, 2019
Devil000 wrote:
Hey,

I have had the RBK50 around a year now and it has been amazing since day one. However in the last week or so the Wifi has been terrible. Its been slow, patchy and all round frustrating.

I have the RBK50 package (router + satellite) and have since (2 months ago) bought an additional satellite to increase the coverage to an outbuilding. I haven't had any issues since adding the additional satellite.

...and here's you rproblem,......V2.5.0.38.

Today I did a complete factory reset on the router + 2 satellites and changed the channels of both 2.4 and 5 Ghz networks but nothing has changed in terms of performance. I have used an ethernet port today whilst working and everything was fine so this is strictly a wifi issue.

All 3 are on the latest firmware version of V2.5.0.38.

Has anyone experienced anything similar recently or can advise on how I can go about resolving this issue as it feels like we are back on a bog standard wifi router again.

Thanks
- Devil000
  Aspirant
  Nov 04, 2019
  I can roll back, anyone no which version is good in terms of stability?
  
  Thanks
Devil000
Aspirant
Nov 05, 2019
Not convinced this is going to change anything but I have now setup the DMZ.
If this doesn't work, can anyone recommend a stable firmware version I should try?
Thanks
- crankycder
  Tutor
  Feb 10, 2020
  I've got an RBK50 setup as well - ran completely fine from April 2017 until the last week at which point wifi just started to misbehave horribly.
  
  It seems worse on the 2.4Ghz bands - phones can't seem to connect reliably orat any sustained speed to wifi. The 5Ghz band is also unstable.
  
  I loaded the latest firmware last week tottry to see if this resolved issues, but rolled back and did a full factory reset. No love.
  
  I'm running an EdgerouterLite 3 firewall so the orbi is just running in AP mode. Connectivity to the public internet looks fine by ethernet, it just looks like wifi is toast.
  
  I'm going to try swapping out the Orbi with a newer smaller RBK20 set today. I'm pretty sure at this point something just fried the wifi circuits.
  - FURRYe38
    Guru - Experienced User
    Feb 10, 2020
    What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
    What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router
    
    What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
    Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
    
    Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or maynot be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
    Try disabling the following and see:
    Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).
    https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Throttling-Devices-RBK53/m-p/1858561/highlight/true#M81925
    
    crankycder wrote:
    I've got an RBK50 setup as well - ran completely fine from April 2017 until the last week at which point wifi just started to misbehave horribly.
    
    It seems worse on the 2.4Ghz bands - phones can't seem to connect reliably orat any sustained speed to wifi. The 5Ghz band is also unstable.
    
    I loaded the latest firmware last week tottry to see if this resolved issues, but rolled back and did a full factory reset. No love.
    
    I'm running an EdgerouterLite 3 firewall so the orbi is just running in AP mode. Connectivity to the public internet looks fine by ethernet, it just looks like wifi is toast.
    
    I'm going to try swapping out the Orbi with a newer smaller RBK20 set today. I'm pretty sure at this point something just fried the wifi circuits.
- FURRYe38
  Guru - Experienced User
  Feb 10, 2020
  Any progress on this?
  Devil000 wrote:
  Not convinced this is going to change anything but I have now setup the DMZ.
  If this doesn't work, can anyone recommend a stable firmware version I should try?
  Thanks

Forum Discussion

Netgear Orbi RBK50 with 2 Satellites - Patchy / Slow Wifi performance