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Orbi drops wifi for iPad Pro, iPhone 7 and Macbook Pro intermittently
Running 1.4.0.34 on both main Orbi and sattelite (main and sattelite are on different floors with wall between, perhaps 20-25 feet distance straight line). I generally have "5 bars" of Wifi on al...
Hello Everyone
We have release firmware version 1.12.0.18 this firmware has fixes for disconnects and many more I posted the release notes below.
https://kb.netgear.com/000044171/RBR50-Firmware-Version-1-12-0-18
If you are still having issues after updating your Orbi unit you may want to factory reset the Orbi and test again. If you are still having disconnect issues or other issues with this firmware please create a new thread or contact our support team.
http://www.netgear.com/support/contact.aspx
Thanks
DarrenM
Thanks for posting ikjadoon. I would not be surprised if this affects every single Orbi router. I feel like this has to be a hardware issue, it's been going on since the Orbi was released. I hope others continue to post their results so this terrible issue can gain more attention.
All Netgear engineers are trying to do with their firmware releases is force more devices to connect to the router instead of the satellite and cover up the problem. I have had a support ticket for months and they first made me return the satellite which made absolutely no sense like you said. Their support is outsourced and when the technician hears the word satellite and disconnection they just assume that is the problem and they don't fully understand the product. I received a RMA router replacement yesterday and it was brand new in box and had these backhaul drops instantly before I even connected it to my modem. If I were you I would definitely return it while you can. I bought mine from Best Buy in January so I am stuck at the mercy of Netgear. I'm trying to get a refund due to their warranty on this defective product they can't repair.
Another data point: we have a house full of Apple products and we're not having any problems. I found this forum not because I had a problem, but because I did a "vanilla" setup with all default settings and had a few questions about potential setting tweaks (like IPv6 settings). Now I am very curious about what is going on. At least one person has been helped by upgrading Mac OS X to latest version (some previous versions have not played well with many non-Apple routers). And a quick look at the Nest customer forums and other IoT device forums will show you that many people are having problems with those devices with a broad range of routers, and there are some recommended solutions posted on the Nest forums (I only know, because I look at the product community forums before I buy). But clearly there is much more going on.
First, a few quick facts: (1) Netgear did over $1.2B in revenue last year; (2) they have over 50% of the high-end consumer router market (no I don't have a precise definition for that, it is from an investor presentation); (3) some of us are not having any problems, and, in fact, have terrific performance from Orbi. I suspect most Orbi users are very happy, which is why they are sellng so well. Based on my limited experience over about 2 weeks, I think the rave reviews that got us to buy Orbi were basically legit. I saw a recent post on the forum that said there are over 700 posts about Orbi connection problems -- that is a very small drop in a very large bucket. Either there are hardware quality issues that have affected a small % of their routers, or there is something about the environment or router config that's not working for people who are having problems. Our experience may be more typical of the "no problem" customer in that while we have a lot of connected devices of various types, we don't have anything very complicated going on with wifi. The tricky devices are all connected to the router via Cat6 cable (via one of several switches on an ethernet backbone). We use wifi primarily for laptops, cell phones, and iPads, all of which have their current OS version. The Sonos units, Apple TV, AVR, Blu-ray player, etc, are all connected via Cat 6. And our wifi devices all have the latest version of the relevant OS (this makes a difference with many products). We have the Orbi connected directly to a current model (Arris SB 6190) cable modem via Cat 6 cable (not connected to another router / cable modem combo provided by the cable company). I suspect it is complexity in some environments that is causing the problems, and it may help some people to fall back to their previous router, review the settings, and figure out what is different. Having an Orbi router connected to another router provided by the cable co makes things more complicated.
For us, Orbi replaced an Apple Airport extreme router plus a 2nd AE router connected as an access point, via Cat 5 ethernet cable (in "roaming mode" as Apple recommends). This was a great product combo, but never provided solid wifi to a remote 2nd floor office. I was planning on trying another WAP on second floor, but decided to try Orbi to replace both AE units. Though the Orbi lacks the ethernet backhaul option we had with Apple AE (rumored firmware upgrade), we still get much better wifi coverage on the second floor. The Orbi has been as stable as the Apple units (very stable), with much better wifi performance in remote areas of our house (covering about 3,000 sf with near our 150mbps service level, and getting about half that in basement where we have no Orbi). Believe me, I'm not gloating, just pointing out that there may be something specific about your setup that is making things complicated, and I hope you can find it.
In this backhaul issue, I think it's actually just two issues: hardware failures & FW w/ critical bugs. The former stems from my experience and the latter stems from Netgear's repeated efforts to get a usable firmware out to those affected; I think they can reproduce these issues in-house: how else would they be writing a firmware update? I appreciate their acknkowledgment of the problem and continued efforts, but at some point, a transaction is a transaction and WiFi is too integral for our work.
Hardware and FW bugs: neither of these are the concern of customers and no customer, to be blunt, should need to be doing beyond their due diligence in troubleshooting. But, I think most are because they have no other choice and as Retired_Member has noted, there is a definitive Netgear-based failure: the backhaul should work seamlessly and should never require any user intervention besides moving the Satellite closer. Yet the Netgear-to-Netgear connection dies every 15 to 30 seconds?
FWIW, our setup is far simpler than yours: one Arris SB6121 mode on IPv4 (Cat6 connection), one hardwired client (an Xbox One; also Cat6), ~10 personal WiFi devices (5 phones & 5 laptops), and a Roku 3 + TiVo Bolt. We have a mix of Android/iOS & Windows/MacOS, all fully updated. I'm not sure how much simpler a "no problem" customer needs to be for a $400 WiFi system. We have no Sonos, no Nest, no WiFi cameras, no interior brickwalls, the closest connection to our CO (fully rewired in March '17 for a bandwidth upgrade), one floor between the router and satellite, and yet we couldn't get it to work.To be quite clear, the entire Satellite's WiFi SSID disappeared: that cannot be related to the quantity or quality of clients. Right?
I returned the Orbi today. I'll be keeping my eyes out for the choruses of success after the FW drops (and otherwise full hardware replacements by Netgear on those still affected by this particular issue). I suspect there are a few who have quite complicated systems, but I encourage them to test their backhaul connection: that should not be affected by any customer devices. And I'll buy on Amazon, to increase my chances of avoiding a Best Buy return by another customer (ours looked new, but who knows what Best Buy does with bad returns?) and get a longer 30-day return period.
True; I saw these threads and made the same conclusion before purchase; this is a corner case that stems from old devices, too many non-compliant devices, and/or very complex multi-modem, multi-router setups (that would be common for those buying a $400 WiFi ystem). My recent testing shows this not to be the case unless BobertSaget and I are the only ones with this issue and backhaul problems. Maybe everyone else affected has excellent backhauls.
To test, it's simple enough with an Android device (unfortunately don't have an iPhone nearby to confirm):
1. Download WiFi Analyzer by farproc
2. Tap the 2.4G button to switch to 5G mode.
3. Here in the lowband channels, find the Orbi 5GHz and note the MAC address.
4. Then scroll to the right for the highband channels. Find the backhaul connection (~130 to 150 is the channel number, IIRC), that almost exactly matches the Orbi MAC address, give it an alias by tapping and holding (as it is unnamed), and then filter out all other 5GHz networks to make the backhaul easier to see (3-button menu).
5. Watch it for about 5 minutes (if you're having constant disconnections like me) or open it up when you lose connection on your devices.
Retired_Member
Right, OK, how is this a WiFi system if it just routes clients to the single working device inside the system? Have you been able to test that or is this a strategy acknolwedged by Netgear?
My technical representative seemed to be knowledgable about the 5GHz highband backhaul, but just stated they had no way to test it. That's answer enough for me, if my only issue is the backhaul.
No way: you've gotten both the router and satelite replaced by Netgear, yet you still have the issue? Man, I feel you. Is there some crazy 5GHz highband interference? Microwaves only affect 2.4GHz, our cordless phone system uses DECT 6.0, we're fairly isolated (3-4 feet and a table) away from power adapters, etc. Hmmm.
Wow! Check the community forums for whatever you decide to try next. I thought Google WiFi had a lot to like, of course, there are also some issues, which you will see on the forum.
Looks like the wifi analyzer software everyone is using runs on Windows and Android. We've drunk the cool-aid here, and computers are all macs, and the phones are all iphones. There are some tools for our world too, but I may not run out and buy one, since we are among the lucky ones who don't seem to have a problem, yet. I've noticed these things can change.