I have an Orbi RBR50 and RBS50 connected via wireless backhaul. They have been working perfectly for a year. For the past two weeks, the router has been dropping the Internet connection regularly, showing up as having no IP address. Both Orbis have the 2.1.4.16 firmware. I suspect that this firmware caused the problem. I don't know when it downloaded and installed automatically, but this problem came out of the blue after a year of operation. Support had me do a factory reset of the satellite and router and the connection worked for a few days, but now it is back to dropping every hour or so. The cable modem is functioning fine. When I connect a laptop directly to the cable modem, it picks up and IP address and is on the Internet fine. I tried downgrading to an older firmware version but get an error that the firmware file is not valid. I've tried downgrading both the satellite and the router. Any advice?

I've posted something similar here before but here goes nothing: there's an issue documented in this post: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/What-you-can-expect-with-your-Orbi-system/m-p/1503034#M23257 that many people have experienced with no concrete solution. good luck - so far the only solution seems to be putting a smart outlet / timer on your satellite(s) to reboot them once every 24 hours (I'm not joking) or rolling back the firmware (but I still see people saying they experience the same issues on the older firmware) see this guy: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-satellite-dropping-connection/m-p/1512445#M24230 I really don't understand the people here that think repeating the same things blindly (have you tried disabling beam forwarding? mimo? how far is the distance between your sattelites? have you tried a factory reset? have you tried spinning in a circle 4 times while holding the orbi above your head and dancing with it? have you tried to balance the satellites on your hands and sing kumbaya while entering your wifi password?) and talk down on the users that experience real issues (especially this furry guy) It's like they have a notepad with things ready to copy/paste blindly to anyone experiencing issues here. I'm not sure if these are bots created by netgear or if these are actual people with too much time on their hands trying to get noticed by netgear to get hired as a customer support employee (it seems like when you call them, this is how they picked their support employees anyways) Again, I appreciate people that are trying to help the community but it really rubs me the wrong way when this is most definitely an issue with the Orbi under certain network conditions and people continuously blame the user setting it up - especially after I've spent several weeks pulling my hair out debugging this issue with no solution (except rebooting satellites multiple times a day) until I replaced the Orbi system completely.

Sorry to sound like a jerk, but this guy’s the worst. Every post in every thread is the same copy and paste **bleep** that no one wants to hear. We have real issues with this router and no one provides any real solutions. Instead, they copy and paste like adding insult to injury. I could copy and paste all day, but how does that help anyone? The Orbi is a seriously flawed system. So many of us are suffering with it while we depend on it for work, school, etc. Do what others did, including myself. Return it if you can and get a more reliable system. It’s truly not worth the headache.

Current Orbi software seems to have issues with some wired devices. If you have any mesh speakers (e.g. Sonos) wired to Orbi, please test to disconnect them and see if you will see improvements. Wired Sonos seem -in certain configurations- to cause IP loops over time which will degrade the system's performance and will consequently cause many different "strange" issues. I had too frequent issues like internet disconnects, wifi drops, backhaul issues,.... that were all solved when I just disconnected my wired speakers and connected them wirelessly instead.

I'm happy for you. I solved the problem by switching to Eero,

Reading these messages continues to make me feel better about switching to Eero. My new network is fast and stable. I can do all management from my phone, not a subset. Phone support is awesome. It doesn't have all the features of my old firewall, but the Orbi didn't either. Cheers!

Orbi RBR50 Dropping Internet Connection Regularly

180 Replies

rolf_berg
Guide
May 09, 2019
I have the RBK/RBS solution (router with three satellites) and just want to say that its performance is horrible. Continuous disconections, at least once per day, that forces me to reboot the system. Very often all my wifi-components only connects with the router itself (what is then the reason for the satellites?). Shame on you Netgear.....
- FURRYe38
  Guru - Experienced User
  May 09, 2019
  What Firmware is currently loaded?
  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.
  
  Placement of the RBR and RBS's are key to good operation.
  
  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(MIMO may or maynot be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
  
  Try disabling the following and see:
  Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).
  
  rolf_berg wrote:
  
  I have the RBK/RBS solution (router with three satellites) and just want to say that its performance is horrible. Continuous disconections, at least once per day, that forces me to reboot the system. Very often all my wifi-components only connects with the router itself (what is then the reason for the satellites?). Shame on you Netgear.....
- SW_
  Prodigy
  May 09, 2019
  rolf_berg wrote:
  
  I have the RBK/RBS solution (router with three satellites) and just want to say that its performance is horrible. Continuous disconections, at least once per day, that forces me to reboot the system. Very often all my wifi-components only connects with the router itself (what is then the reason for the satellites?). Shame on you Netgear.....
  
  An often reboot implies there's a conflict with the configuration between the Satellites and main Orbi Router. If clients are connecting Orbi instead of Satellites, the Satellites configs might be out of sync with the Orbi. If you haven't already done this, please give this a shot. Otherwise, please ignore.
  
  Enable telnet on all the Satellites
  
  Force each Satellite to resync its config with main Orbi router. Refer to this link on how to refresh Satellites configs.
  
  Verify that backhaul signal (RSSI) between Orbi/Satellite is within dBm range
  
  Please head over here for telnet related info and other interesting things that can be done with Orbi telnet terminal.
  - FURRYe38
    Guru - Experienced User
    May 09, 2019
    SW_ Hopefully he might respond and give feed back to you. :smileytongue:
Harryp123
Aspirant
May 31, 2019
After going through all the steps provided here and upgrading to latest firmware and factory resets, it workes for few days and back to step 1.

During this week, it dropped connection bunch of times, I got frustrated and ready to throw this in trash. What a piece of crap for over $300.
- FURRYe38
  Guru - Experienced User
  May 31, 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.
  
  is the drop in internet on both wired and wireless devices?
  Is the top LED ring on the RBR showing any indication of Magenta when this happens?
  Harryp123 wrote:
  After going through all the steps provided here and upgrading to latest firmware and factory resets, it workes for few days and back to step 1.
  
  During this week, it dropped connection bunch of times, I got frustrated and ready to throw this in trash. What a piece of crap for over $300.
  - Harryp123
    Aspirant
    May 31, 2019
    What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too? I have Verizon FIOS and its Verizon's modem.
    Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode? Router
    What is the size of your home? Sq Ft? 3000
    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. Around 30 feet
    
    is the drop in internet on both wired and wireless devices? I think its dropping only Wifi as I don't see my Ooma phone goes to red
    Is the top LED ring on the RBR showing any indication of Magenta when this happens? No colors
TonyMcB
Aspirant
Aug 21, 2019
Disable ethernet adapter in the network adapter properties and that should stop your wifi from dropping out. I know it sounds like something that you shouldn't do, but that is the only fix for this issue I have found.
- ekhalil
  Master
  Aug 22, 2019
  TonyMcB wrote:
  Disable ethernet adapter in the network adapter properties and that should stop your wifi from dropping out. I know it sounds like something that you shouldn't do, but that is the only fix for this issue I have found.
  TonyMcB , which ethernet adapter do you mean please?
  - TonyMcB
    Aspirant
    Aug 25, 2019
    Sorry for the delayed response. I started having the same issue with it again the very next day and I wanted to have a fix before I responded. If you go into the router from a web browser (app wont work for this) than advanced setup, and select wifi settings and at the bottom make sure "Enable Implicit BEAMFORMING - Boosts WiFi speed, reliability, & range for all mobile devices" is unchecked. As soon as I did that everything connects and does not drop out anymore. Hopefully it helps you as it completely has fixed my connection issues.

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Orbi RBR50 Dropping Internet Connection Regularly