NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Orbi Mesh System RB20- Device connecting
I have an Orbi Mesh system with the router in a main room in the house, one satellite two rooms over, and one satellite upstairs directly above the room my router is in. I have noticed that some de...
dannyro19 wrote:
Doesn't it make sense to connect to the closest thing? Ive noticed this with other devices as well and dont understand why.
Is there a way to manually move the device's connection to the closest satellite or router? Should I do this? Or do I just ignore this and leave it be. If I'm playing games or streaming I'd like the fastest connection possible.
This is a frequent question on the forum. Prompted by this post, I looked at my Attached Devices and found that two Wyze cameras were connected to a satellite on the opposite side of the house when there is an Orbi Voice satellite only about 10 feet away. Went into the Wyze app and told the two cameras to restart.
At first, nothing seemed to happen. Attached Devices continued to report the cameras connected to the satellite across the house. After about 10 minutes, however, Attached Devices now says both cameras are connected to the Orbi Voice that is close to them.
One explanation for this strange situation is that WiFi software in devices varies in capability. Devices that are intended to be mobile (such as phones, tablets, laptops) typically have WiFi software that constantly scans for a better connection, and when one appears, they switch access points. (There is even the 802.11r standard called Fast Roaming for how to do this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11r-2008 ) Devices that are not intended to be mobile, such as most Internet of Things (IoT) devices, may select the first WiFi access point they find and stick with it.
So, my recommendation is (a) restart the device, and (b) wait at least 15 minutes before trusting that Attached Devices is reporting the actual connection.