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me2yougametruck's avatar
Jul 12, 2018

Orbi RBR50 dropping internet connection constantly

Hello, 

On July 4th I purchased my Orbi router on a recommendation from a friend.  I previously tried a Linksys AC1900 and it consistently dropped my internet connection (Charter Spectrum). I took it back and got same router and ended with same result so switched to the Orbi.  Figuring with the price tag of $323 this shouldn't have any problems.  However, I am still having the exact same issue.  I've reset my router once already and am currently using FW V2.1.4.16.    I want to clarify I am not losing the wireless network.  My wirelss signal is still there but i am specfically losing the internet service.  Regardless if i'm wired or wireless. All items lose connection: iMac, pc laptop, phones, TVS, roku, printer. 

I've called Charter and they confirm that there is no known outages in my area, everything is showing to be working properly on the modem.  As well when I view the modem in the  midst of a droppage the modem shows the internet is being received.  The router light is flashing though.  Also, I did try running an ethernet cable directly into my iMac for 2 hours and no internet issues.  

Last call i made to Netgear the CSR had me change the channel to 48 on the 5 ghz and i think 11 on 2.4 ghz.  We also changed the MTU to 1412.  This seemed to help before i reset the router but I was still having loss of connections.  So after a few hours of phone calls and researching on here what not i'm coming to the community to see if anyone might have some ideas.  

It seems based on reading the community this issue has been pretty prevalant but was supposed to be resolved in an update a few months ago.  I'm very confused, frustrated and at my wits end.  I really do not want to have this issue with a $330 router, let alone a $130 i tried originally.  

TIA for any help.  

42 Replies

  • Following....RBR50 with the same issues.  Current firmware V.2.1.4.16 and have reset multiple times.  Internet drops for 5-10 minutes several times per day.  Just found an old solution saying check the time under Advanced/Security/Schedule.  Let you know if that fixes the issue.

    • Yes i did see that same post and i changed it to match my local time.  Since that time I did have the internet crash once and since talked with my ISP.  They are sending a tech out to make sure the modem and lines are working properly.  Once that is fixed or confirmed ok i'll update here again.   My connection does seem to be a bit more stable so far ( i think/hope) regardless of the modem. 

      • JoCT's avatar
        JoCT
        Tutor

        Any update here?  Bought a system with two satellites from Costco a couple of weeks ago and have been having frequent drops just as described here daily.   Logs are sort of useless as all I can see is the reinitialization of firmware and then all the DHCP as it reconnects all devices. It seems as if the router actually winds up rebooting although I  haven’t confirmed that. 

    • JoCT's avatar
      JoCT
      Tutor
      I made all the suggested changes a couple of hours ago and noticed that it has gone down 10 minutes before the hour each of the last two hours. First loses Internet, then eventually the router seems to reboot because we also lose the Wi-Fi signal. This is super frustrating. I may try and exchange but I’m not optimistic that this is a hardware problem.

      I really like the idea of this tri-band mesh system. Maybe I’ll try Velop.
      • JoCT's avatar
        JoCT
        Tutor

        JoCT wrote:
        I made all the suggested changes a couple of hours ago and noticed that it has gone down 10 minutes before the hour each of the last two hours. First loses Internet, then eventually the router seems to reboot because we also lose the Wi-Fi signal. This is super frustrating. I may try and exchange but I’m not optimistic that this is a hardware problem.

        I really like the idea of this tri-band mesh system. Maybe I’ll try Velop.

        Here is my good news follow-up from earlier. I returned the kit to Costco and bought another one. Same kit. The only thing I did differently in setup was to place the satellites in their ultimate locations rather than set them up in closer proximity for convenience during setup. I don't think this should make any difference. Anyway, its been over a week and perfectly stable. This is the same AC3000 Costco kit with one RBR50 and two RBS50 devices included (good price by the way). As far as settings, I only changed admin password, name and password of main network and added a guest network. Everything else is at it was out of the box. Happy camper.

  • I’m having the exact same issue. Everything was working fine until I updated firmware to .16. Now the internet drops every 30 min. The WiFi connection stays on and the modem shows no changes during the outage.
    • FURRYe38's avatar
      FURRYe38
      Guru - Experienced User

      What FW is currently loaded?
      What is the Mfr and model# of the IP modem the Orbi is connected too?

      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.

      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 disabling the following and see:
      MIMO, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).
      Set up IP address reservations ON the router for the satellites. Wired or wireless connected.


      Rkgerding wrote:
      I’m having the exact same issue. Everything was working fine until I updated firmware to .16. Now the internet drops every 30 min. The WiFi connection stays on and the modem shows no changes during the outage.

       

      • Rkgerding's avatar
        Rkgerding
        Aspirant

        FW 2.1.4.16

        Netgear CM 700 modem

        3000 sf single story

        Distance is about 40' with good connection - Internet goes out on all devices connected to router and satellite

        On Channel 11

        In a rural area, so neighbor wifi is minimal

         

         

         

  • FURRYe38's avatar
    FURRYe38
    Guru - Experienced User

    The CM700 should be a good modem. ISP Check signal on the line? 

    Power OFF the ISP modem for 1 minute along with the router, then back on, then router lastly. 

     

  • FURRYe38's avatar
    FURRYe38
    Guru - Experienced User

    Try the modem in router mode as well...

     

    Also your modem is about 8 years old and also only supports 100Mb on the RJ45 ports. The Orbi is newer and supports 1000mb on both WAN and LAN ports. I presume your Linksys router was from same timeframe? If so, probably why it worked with this modem. 

    You might consider getting into a newer modem...

     

    Eladleb wrote:

    Thanks for the quick reply, the ISP modem is NETGEAR VVG2000 and yes, it is set to bridge mode, connected via cable to the Orbi router.

     

    Before the switch to Orbi a few days ago, I used a Linksys router (with the same modem) and it was working well (no disconnections). Hence my focus is on the the Orbi system as this was the only component I had changed.

     

    I’ll try to shut them both down to sync and keep my fingers crossed.


     

    • Eladleb's avatar
      Eladleb
      Aspirant

      My previous router was linksys EA7500, it was just 2 years old and it never disconnected from the modem. It's not a speed issue nor a signal issue. I'm always able to access the RBR50's settings page and hit the connect button, which keeps the connection live for a random period until it disconnects.

       

      There has to be something wrong with either the firmware or the hardware of the RBR50... I've also seen other people complain about it so it doesn't seem far fetched.

       

      My current plan is to use the EA7500 to access the internet and connect it to the RBR50 which will hopefully be able to maintain that connection but I'm very disappointed with having to deal with such a basic issue having bought an expensive system...

       

  • I have the same problem. I followed all advice in this forum, but none solved the issue. I am running the Orbi on firmware V2.2.1.210 in router mode, behind a UPC connect box in bridge mode. I have the internet drops in both, wired and WLAN connected devices. When I configure the chain in reverse order, the cable modem in router mode and the Orbi in AP mode, everything works fine, but unfortunately in AP mode I cannot use features auch as parental control or scheduled access, which for me are essential. I have tried all proposed remedies, MTU size, channel, etc. However the fact that I am experiencing these outages on my wired Apple TV with a static IP address is a clear indication that the flaw is not limited to WLAN. Help is highly appreciated. 

    • ekhalil's avatar
      ekhalil
      Master
      What wired devices do you have connected to Orbi? Do you have any wired mesh speakers (e.g. Sonos)?
      • Hditter's avatar
        Hditter
        Guide

        My wired devices are iMac, Apple TV, TV and a Linn Streamer. 

      • Hditter's avatar
        Hditter
        Guide

        Yes I found a solution! Since I changed my configuration as outlined in my previous post all is running stable, no more internet drops. The flaw was in the setup of the Orbi as router and the ISP modem in bridge mode, which according to best practice should be the proper set-up. In my case however, or I should better say in the case of UPC Unity Media being the ISP provider and the modem being a UPC connect box, the bridge mode does not really work as it should. Unitymedia switched some time ago to IPv6 and when set to bridge mode, it kind of tunnels IPv6 to IP4, which seems not work with the Orbi. The remedy was, to operate the UPC connect box in router mode, but to turn off Wirelss and DHCP and to set-up a DMZ. The Orbi still operates in router mode as does the Connect box. The Orbi is setup with a manually set IP address of the DMZ zone and the IP address of the UPC connect box as gateway. In this configuration, it works flawless since almost a week now. Problem solved! I should mention here, that for me it was important to keep the Orbi in router mode, as I need the features such as scheduled operation and parental control. If someone does not need these features, there is a simpler solution, such as to run Orbi in AP mode and to use the ISP modem in router mode.