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Forum Discussion
davidhard
Mar 14, 2020Aspirant
Orbi (model# RBR50) keeps dropping connection during Zoom calls
Hi, We have two people in our household who work from home from time to time and need to make Zoom calls from time to time. We have now been required by our jobs to work from home for the indefinite future (due to COVID19) so the frequency of Zoom calls has increased immensly. Normally, we don't have any connectivity issues. But recently we set up an Orbi Mesh router and now we're noticing that our internet will stop working from time to time. It seems to happen when we are both on Zoom calls. But that could be that it's most noticable then because the Zoom call will freeze and we have to scramble to reconnect to the internet on our laptops to get back on the call. It's entirely possible that the internet is cutting out at other times too. But It's really only when we use Zoom that we notice it. It's becoming a problem because Zoom is required for our jobs, and we need to have a reliable connection in order to make Zoom work without dropping the call.
We also use an Apple TV to stream TV shows to our TV. it has a hard wire connection to the base station, and I do notice that a "Loss of internet connection" message will pop up on the screen, and the quality of the stream will degrade a lot, or stall for a minute or two before going back to normal. So this makes me think the Orbi is stalling out pretty frequently.
Again, I do suspect that this is an issue with the Orbi because it was only after we set up the Orbi that these problems started happening. Our network was pretty stable before. We just had some dead spots in the house, which is why we wanted to set up a mesh network. I did try power cycling everything. But the issue keeps happening.
Some more details,
We both use iphones, so besides the two Windows laptops (one Surfacebook and one HP laptop) and the apple TV, the iPhones are the only other two devices using the network. The Apple TV is the only hardwired device, and everything else is over the air.
Comcast Xfinity is our ISP
We use a Arris Surfboard SB6183 for our cable modem
and the Orbi we have is model RBR50
Firmware version V2.5.1.8
We are in a 700 square foot 1 bedroom apartment.
The base Station is in our living room, where the apple TV is. The satellite is in the bedroom (about 15-17 feet away from the base station) with a closet between the two units.
I did read that having the base station and the satellite too close together can cause some confilicts. So I will move the satellite to the farthest corner of the bedroom which will make it closer to 30 feet away from the base. But I would love it if anyone can let me know if there is anything else I can try to make the network more stable.
Thanks in advance.
David
20 Replies
- Retired_Member
Did you do a searfch on Firmware version V2.5.1.8?
If you did you will note that there are issues with it.
Your best bet is to roll your FW back to the last stable version if possible.
- FURRYe38Guru - Experienced User
"The satellite is in the bedroom (about 15-17 feet away from the base station) with a closet between the two units." 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).v2.5.1.8 is stable. Above suggestions working:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Throttling-Devices-RBK53/m-p/1858561/highlight/true#M81925
davidhard wrote:Hi, We have two people in our household who work from home from time to time and need to make Zoom calls from time to time. We have now been required by our jobs to work from home for the indefinite future (due to COVID19) so the frequency of Zoom calls has increased immensly. Normally, we don't have any connectivity issues. But recently we set up an Orbi Mesh router and now we're noticing that our internet will stop working from time to time. It seems to happen when we are both on Zoom calls. But that could be that it's most noticable then because the Zoom call will freeze and we have to scramble to reconnect to the internet on our laptops to get back on the call. It's entirely possible that the internet is cutting out at other times too. But It's really only when we use Zoom that we notice it. It's becoming a problem because Zoom is required for our jobs, and we need to have a reliable connection in order to make Zoom work without dropping the call.
We also use an Apple TV to stream TV shows to our TV. it has a hard wire connection to the base station, and I do notice that a "Loss of internet connection" message will pop up on the screen, and the quality of the stream will degrade a lot, or stall for a minute or two before going back to normal. So this makes me think the Orbi is stalling out pretty frequently.
Again, I do suspect that this is an issue with the Orbi because it was only after we set up the Orbi that these problems started happening. Our network was pretty stable before. We just had some dead spots in the house, which is why we wanted to set up a mesh network. I did try power cycling everything. But the issue keeps happening.
Some more details,
We both use iphones, so besides the two Windows laptops (one Surfacebook and one HP laptop) and the apple TV, the iPhones are the only other two devices using the network. The Apple TV is the only hardwired device, and everything else is over the air.
Comcast Xfinity is our ISPWe use a Arris Surfboard SB6183 for our cable modem
and the Orbi we have is model RBR50
Firmware version V2.5.1.8
We are in a 700 square foot 1 bedroom apartment.
The base Station is in our living room, where the apple TV is. The satellite is in the bedroom (about 15-17 feet away from the base station) with a closet between the two units.
I did read that having the base station and the satellite too close together can cause some confilicts. So I will move the satellite to the farthest corner of the bedroom which will make it closer to 30 feet away from the base. But I would love it if anyone can let me know if there is anything else I can try to make the network more stable.
Thanks in advance.
David
- Retired_Member
:smileysad:
- FURRYe38Guru - Experienced User
Any progress on this?
davidhard wrote:Hi, We have two people in our household who work from home from time to time and need to make Zoom calls from time to time. We have now been required by our jobs to work from home for the indefinite future (due to COVID19) so the frequency of Zoom calls has increased immensly. Normally, we don't have any connectivity issues. But recently we set up an Orbi Mesh router and now we're noticing that our internet will stop working from time to time. It seems to happen when we are both on Zoom calls. But that could be that it's most noticable then because the Zoom call will freeze and we have to scramble to reconnect to the internet on our laptops to get back on the call. It's entirely possible that the internet is cutting out at other times too. But It's really only when we use Zoom that we notice it. It's becoming a problem because Zoom is required for our jobs, and we need to have a reliable connection in order to make Zoom work without dropping the call.
We also use an Apple TV to stream TV shows to our TV. it has a hard wire connection to the base station, and I do notice that a "Loss of internet connection" message will pop up on the screen, and the quality of the stream will degrade a lot, or stall for a minute or two before going back to normal. So this makes me think the Orbi is stalling out pretty frequently.
Again, I do suspect that this is an issue with the Orbi because it was only after we set up the Orbi that these problems started happening. Our network was pretty stable before. We just had some dead spots in the house, which is why we wanted to set up a mesh network. I did try power cycling everything. But the issue keeps happening.
Some more details,
We both use iphones, so besides the two Windows laptops (one Surfacebook and one HP laptop) and the apple TV, the iPhones are the only other two devices using the network. The Apple TV is the only hardwired device, and everything else is over the air.
Comcast Xfinity is our ISPWe use a Arris Surfboard SB6183 for our cable modem
and the Orbi we have is model RBR50
Firmware version V2.5.1.8
We are in a 700 square foot 1 bedroom apartment.
The base Station is in our living room, where the apple TV is. The satellite is in the bedroom (about 15-17 feet away from the base station) with a closet between the two units.
I did read that having the base station and the satellite too close together can cause some confilicts. So I will move the satellite to the farthest corner of the bedroom which will make it closer to 30 feet away from the base. But I would love it if anyone can let me know if there is anything else I can try to make the network more stable.
Thanks in advance.
David
- DudeDadApprentice
The fact that your AppleTV is giving you connection messages and you are seeing a degraded signal suggest that either your RBR50 has an issue, your modem does, or it's an ISP issue. I have a new RBR 50 with 4 satellites. Streaming wirelessly is aournd 500Mbps, and no drops on our AppleTV at all. I have not tried Zoom yet, but will soon.
- FURRYe38Guru - Experienced User
Just curious, what FW version are you using?
DudeDad wrote:The fact that your AppleTV is giving you connection messages and you are seeing a degraded signal suggest that either your RBR50 has an issue, your modem does, or it's an ISP issue. I have a new RBR 50 with 4 satellites. Streaming wirelessly is aournd 500Mbps, and no drops on our AppleTV at all. I have not tried Zoom yet, but will soon.
- davidhardAspirant
Sorry. No. Still dropping connection. I don't know how to install an older firmware vesion as some have suggested.
I'm also not sure how to manually change the channel for the 2ghz signal.
I've been away for a few days so havent had much of a chance to tinker. will try this afternoon.