I installed an ORBI RBR50 router with two satellites connected with wired backhaul this week. Updated the firmware on the router and both satellites. Since changing over to the ORBI, my wireless connection to my Win10 Acer laptop drops routinely (up to 5 times an hour). Sometimes it will go hours between drops. The observables after the drop include: My laptop sees no available WiFi networks. In normal usage, I see ~7 networks. Running ipconfig after a network drop shows that the media state is “media disconnected” I must reboot or run the Windows network diagnostics tool to recover. I then see the networks again. Running the network diagnostics tool reports it “reset the adapter”. There are no events found in event viewer showing up at the time of each drop. My wired devices have had no drops. My IOS devices have had no drops. One other older windows 10 laptop has had the same drop behavior and also requires a wifi adapter reset to recover. My laptop (Acer Spin 13) is about 8 months old and has never dropped from a WiFi network like this. Clearly the problem is caused by the interaction of the laptop and my new Orbit access point or router. I would love to keep the Orbi network since its coverage and speed is great, but it will be going back to Costco soon if I cannot resolve this problem. Any help would be appreciated. I have attached the network diagnostics report courtesy of Microsoft.

When the laptop is connected to Orbi, can you please check in the web GUI if it’s connected on the 2.4 GHz ir the 5 GHz? Also monitor if it will be hopping and changing between the two bands. Also see if you see events relatability to the laptop’s IP address in the Logs >> ADVANCED >> Administration >> Logs). Also please reserve an IP address in Orbi for the laptop’s MAC address. (under >> ADVANCED >> Settings >> LAN).

My last post. This problem was never resolved. I did the firmware update as suggested and then did the MTU and channel change again with no luck. Netgear recommended I return the Orbi, which I will be doing shortly. Now a word about Netgear support. No rancor here, just facts. I submitted an email trouble ticket four days ago. I got back an email within hours requesting additional detail. It was a template for this category of problem. I had already provided almost everything asked for, so it was easy to cut and paste it back in and did so quickly. I waited a day and no response, so I pinged them by posting a request for status against the trouble ticket. No response. Waited another day, and did this again and no response. So after four days I started a chat session and referred to the email trouble ticket. I got routed to the concerns desk. From there I got routed to an expert. I don’t know if she read the email TT or not, because she made no mention of it. What she did do was walk me through basically all of the steps I had gotten from the community post about this problem. So I repeated them. Problem still exists. Her recommendation at that point was to return the Orbi. My takeaways: Netgear support has minimal technical depth. They should have a process for escalating problems that are beyond the first line of support. Don’t bother with submitting an email trouble ticket. I am not going to bash the Orbi product, because I do believe it functioned well on all of my devices except for the two Windows 10 laptops that were having problems.. I really wanted to make it work, but the Netgear support staff just was not capable.

What wired devices do you have connected to Orbi's LAN ports? Please test to disconnect all wired devices, restart Orbi and see if things will be different without any wired devices, just to see if there is a "bad" device..

I will give this a shot, though doubt this will have an impact. Did not have any problems with my previous routers. I have wired connections to a PS4, Win10 pc, iMac, printer, and two Rokus.

Oh, I forgot to add, Thanks for your input!

Orbi continually causes Win 10 PC WiFi media disconnect

15 Replies

ekhalil
Master
Dec 14, 2018
What wired devices do you have connected to Orbi's LAN ports?

Please test to disconnect all wired devices, restart Orbi and see if things will be different without any wired devices, just to see if there is a "bad" device..
- Severt
  Tutor
  Dec 15, 2018
  I will give this a shot, though doubt this will have an impact. Did not have any problems with my previous routers. I have wired connections to a PS4, Win10 pc, iMac, printer, and two Rokus.
  - Severt
    Tutor
    Dec 15, 2018
    Oh, I forgot to add, Thanks for your input!
FURRYe38
Guru
Dec 15, 2018
If you updated to recent FW v.210, try enabling Daisy Chain. Some have mentioned that this seems to be working in reverse order, enabling means disabled actually. DS is not needed for wired back haul...

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.

Severt wrote:

I installed an ORBI RBR50 router with two satellites connected with wired backhaul this week. Updated the firmware on the router and both satellites. Since changing over to the ORBI, my wireless connection to my Win10 Acer laptop drops routinely (up to 5 times an hour). Sometimes it will go hours between drops. The observables after the drop include:

My laptop sees no available WiFi networks. In normal usage, I see ~7 networks.

Running ipconfig after a network drop shows that the media state is “media disconnected”

I must reboot or run the Windows network diagnostics tool to recover. I then see the networks again. Running the network diagnostics tool reports it “reset the adapter”.

There are no events found in event viewer showing up at the time of each drop.

My wired devices have had no drops.

My IOS devices have had no drops.

One other older windows 10 laptop has had the same drop behavior and also requires a wifi adapter reset to recover.

My laptop (Acer Spin 13) is about 8 months old and has never dropped from a WiFi network like this. Clearly the problem is caused by the interaction of the laptop and my new Orbit access point or router.

I would love to keep the Orbi network since its coverage and speed is great, but it will be going back to Costco soon if I cannot resolve this problem. Any help would be appreciated.

I have attached the network diagnostics report courtesy of Microsoft.
- Severt
  Tutor
  Dec 15, 2018
  I have tried the three suggestions received one at a time. (removing all wired connections to see if there is a bad actor on my wired network, Changing the Daisy Chain setting, and selecting specific wireless channels instead of auto). In each case, the drops persisted.
  
  Next step is to contact Netgear support and see if they have any insight.
  - ekhalil
    Master
    Dec 15, 2018
    When the laptop is connected to Orbi, can you please check in the web GUI if it’s connected on the 2.4 GHz ir the 5 GHz? Also monitor if it will be hopping and changing between the two bands. Also see if you see events relatability to the laptop’s IP address in the Logs >> ADVANCED >> Administration >> Logs).
    Also please reserve an IP address in Orbi for the laptop’s MAC address. (under >> ADVANCED >> Settings >> LAN).
misterTTT
Aspirant
Apr 20, 2019
Hello,

I am experiencing the same issues with a new Microsoft Surface 2 laptop (Marvell AVASTAR Wireless-AC Network Controller) with latest drivers with RBR40 Orbi router (Latest: Router Firmware Version V2.3.1.48) and RBW30 satellite (latest).

The laptop and router are placed in the living room, the satellite in the hallway. Even though there is a kitchen and walls in between living room and hallway, I see that the laptop sometimes connects to the satellite and loses connection a few minutes afterwards. When it is connected to the router, it also switches between 2.4 and 5 Ghz band.

It looks like moving closer to the router or satellite would lower the effect of the issue.

Fast roaming is deactivated.

A thing I found strange was that the laptop was not recognized as a Windows PC, device model shows "---" and device type first showed "Network device".

Does anybody have an idea?

Kind regards,

T
- misterTTT
  Aspirant
  Apr 21, 2019
  Edit: the correct name of the laptop is Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 (Marvell AVASTAR Wireless-AC Network Controller)
- FURRYe38
  Guru
  Apr 22, 2019
  What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?
  Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode?
  
  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 them to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.
  
  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?
  What WPA security modes are you using?
  
  Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
  
  Try disabling the following and see:
  Daisy Chain, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).
  
  Ensure the drivers for your wireless AC adapter are up to date as well...
  
  misterTTT wrote:
  
  Hello,
  
  I am experiencing the same issues with a new Microsoft Surface 2 laptop (Marvell AVASTAR Wireless-AC Network Controller) with latest drivers with RBR40 Orbi router (Latest: Router Firmware Version V2.3.1.48) and RBW30 satellite (latest).
  
  The laptop and router are placed in the living room, the satellite in the hallway. Even though there is a kitchen and walls in between living room and hallway, I see that the laptop sometimes connects to the satellite and loses connection a few minutes afterwards. When it is connected to the router, it also switches between 2.4 and 5 Ghz band.
  
  It looks like moving closer to the router or satellite would lower the effect of the issue.
  
  Fast roaming is deactivated.
  
  A thing I found strange was that the laptop was not recognized as a Windows PC, device model shows "---" and device type first showed "Network device".
  
  Does anybody have an idea?
  
  Kind regards,
  
  T

Forum Discussion

Orbi continually causes Win 10 PC WiFi media disconnect