ORBI RK23 - Connect devices to Satellite

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DennisN wrote:

What I do not understand is why the doorbells do not connect to the Satellites as they are practically next to the doorbells.

Could you help me fix this problem? Is it, for example, possible to assign a doorbell to a specific satellite or is that all automated? If the latter is the case, why does it not switch?

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This is a frequent question, and users have implored Netgear to provide this capability for years.  Orbi provides no method to dictate which Orbi unit a device will choose.

There is a theory that what happens is that this is related to electrical power.  When power is applied to the Orbi, it takes about three minutes for it to become active and the doorbell (which is already "awake and looking") sees the Orbi router WiFi before the Orbi satellites have sync'd to the router and become active. By the time satellites begin broadcasting the SSID, the doorbell has already connected and quit looking for WiFi.  (One huge difference between devices is how often they look for a stronger WiFi signal.  Phones, tablets,, and laptops seem to be constantly looking for a stronger signal.  Things that "do not move" tend to 'stick' to the the access point they find first.

There is an opposite theory that powering off the Orbi router does not disable the satellites.  So if the doorbell and satellites are powered up before the router, then the doorbell would choose the satellite before it ever sees the router.  If doorbells had an on/off switch, this would be fun to test. But, the only way to power off a wired doorbell is to cut power to the house.  (Battery doorbells could have the batteries removed.)

The only solution I am aware of is to pick up an inexpensive WiFi extender and create a new WiFi SSID specifically for the doorbell.

I fear this is not what you are hoping for.

Sorry.