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Forum Discussion
Orbi satellite dropping connection
Right to the point: my Orbi system has 2 satellites and 1 main tower. The internet drops/slows down (to the point where internet browsing is not possible) 2-3 times per day randomly without warning o...
Thanks. Found it. The satellite somehow auto connected even though I said skip. Distance is only 20ft as crow flies just down an open stairwell. Did I mention it all worked fine since feb. well....it is using daisy, and...so far it has worked the rest of the day. I won’t hold my breath ....will update tomorrow if still going without drops...I made no other mods to setting aforementioned. Appreciate the replies. Will let ya know.
Can you move the satellite farther out? 20 feet is a bit too close. The router can cover around 30feet depending upon building materials. Mines at 40 feet as crow flies, two walls and a roof in between mine. LOL.
Mcguyvr wrote:
Thanks. Found it. The satellite somehow auto connected even though I said skip. Distance is only 20ft as crow flies just down an open stairwell. Did I mention it all worked fine since feb. well....it is using daisy, and...so far it has worked the rest of the day. I won’t hold my breath ....will update tomorrow if still going without drops...I made no other mods to setting aforementioned. Appreciate the replies. Will let ya know.
- Well did it again. No mi-mumu, no beamforming...just surfing for 20mins YouTube on the iMac and wham...crawl to 0.03-.10 mbps. When I reboot the pc, it reconnects again for the short while. Then the satellite appears to drop again. I’ll try with beamforming on and mimu on. But I think there’s some hardware issues with the satellite.
Also pleast try testing with the satellite turned off and your PC connected to the router. Let us know if you see same problem or not. if not, I recommend that yout get in contact with NG support and ask for an RMA.
Mcguyvr wrote:
Well did it again. No mi-mumu, no beamforming...just surfing for 20mins YouTube on the iMac and wham...crawl to 0.03-.10 mbps. When I reboot the pc, it reconnects again for the short while. Then the satellite appears to drop again. I’ll try with beamforming on and mimu on. But I think there’s some hardware issues with the satellite.I gave up as well. After reinstalling, resetting, downgrading, upgrading etc. for too many times, I bought a google wifi and - since then on google wifi - everything is running very well. No more disconnects, no more lost satellites, no more wondering if it's my ISP. It has been the Orbi system malfunctioning in unpredictable ways all along. An extremely disappointing Netgear experience overall and I will not buy from this company again.
I have been seeing a couple droped connections. what I have found is my SBR30 sattlite keeps changing 192.168.0 instaed of the base 192.168.1. The dropped device is 192.168.0
If I go to an area where the 192.168.1 base is and turn my wifi back on it picks up the correct IP and woks fine. I have use fixed IP and this helps but not the solution. Does anyone have any ideas why I'm seeing this behavior?
Thanks
What firmware version is loaded on the Orbi router and satellite?
What is the Mfr and model# of the IP modem the Orbi is connected too?
Do a factory reset on the satellite and re-add it to the router.
What is the distance between the satellite and Orbi router? 30 feet is a good starting point.
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).Any other wifi nieghbors near by?
Besure your satellite is connecting to the Orbi routers wifi.
Is the Orbi router using 192.186.1.1 or .0.1 for it's host address?
I’m sure your suggestions may help some. But, it does beg the question why should any Orbi user have to go through this sort of process? Most users are probably not that computer savvy let alone wireless router experts. Netgear needs to once and for all write firmware that works and works consistently. A $400+ system should work out of the box.
I agree, the systems should work. However we are here in the forum to help figure out what isn't working and try some suggestions to help get users systems going and working better. Until NG figures all of this out, all we can do is to help. We try to be as detailed for those users who are not adept in working with there gear.
Tbsteph wrote:
I’m sure your suggestions may help some. But, it does beg the question why should any Orbi user have to go through this sort of process? Most users are probably not that computer savvy let alone wireless router experts. Netgear needs to once and for all write firmware that works and works consistently. A $400+ system should work out of the box.
I seemed to have corrected most of my issues by moving my 2nd satellite further away from the base and allowing it to daisy chain through the 1st satellite. I haven't seen any drops in the past few days. My original issue might have been due to the second satellite sometimes connecting directly to the base and sometimes daisy chaining; seems like the connection would drop when switching back and forth.
30 feet in between router and satellite(s) and in between each satellite is a good starting point.
sanforce wrote:
I seemed to have corrected most of my issues by moving my 2nd satellite further away from the base and allowing it to daisy chain through the 1st satellite. I haven't seen any drops in the past few days. My original issue might have been due to the second satellite sometimes connecting directly to the base and sometimes daisy chaining; seems like the connection would drop when switching back and forth.
All of these steps are irrelevant in my experience - I have back channel connected devices and they still disconnect and the whole system goes down
Yo may have other problems. Maybe your system needs to be replaced. I would contact NG support and ask for an RMA.
Others are not having wired back haul issues.
nvt wrote:
All of these steps are irrelevant in my experience - I have back channel connected devices and they still disconnect and the whole system goes down
- The thing is for all of you to know is that you can mess around with satellite distances, settings and firmware updates, but there’s a fundamental problem with the hardware and there’s not much you can do about it. I have found that it’s just about manageable and so you have this dilemma where 95% of the time you have ultra fast wifi everywhere and then suddenly on an important business con call it falls off. the good news is that’s happening less often with every firmware upgrade so the message is if it’s bearable then maybe hang on
- yep, it should work out of the box and the reason why this is so frustrating is that for most users 90% of the time it works amazing ...until it drops a con call with your boss and then you look like an idiot. my guess is that because the reconnection is so fast (less than 30 secs) most orbi owners are facing this problem but don’t realize it’s happening. it would be only if you are in a live con call or gaming where you would notice and most users will just be household surfing so may not see the drops.
- So...after moving the satellite 30-40ft and hardwiring the iMac off the satellite it’s better for that client...but...still getting drops...but not noticing as many but also haven’t been online as much the past week. The factory reset after the firmware May be better but still not perfect...agree with the last few comments. Is there a max number of clients that you all have found where drops start to be induced? The app reports I usually have 14-15 clients, including now 4 wired. While these are not on all at once usually, they still appear to register in the App (4 kindles, 2 ipads, whole home DVR, 2 apple TVs 1 wired, 2-3 iphones, iMac wired, Xbox, RINg doorbell, 1 wires smart TV, and 2 more smart TVs that don’t appear to register but I never really use those connected directly without going through satellite provider. 50mbps direct line of sight WiFi provider dish is only <400ft away no obstructions.
I have this same situation but my config is a little different and that makes the error state even weirder.
I have 3 RBK53 devices. My cable modem connects to the router and satellite 1 is in my office and it has a wired connection to my main workstation. If I download things over bit torrent without greatly restricting bandwidth or I download something over Steam my internet connection will die off. But my network goes into a weird state...
Nothing on my computer and anything in my office using wireless can access the internet. But I can still connect to my router at 192.168.1.1 from my computer that is wired into the satellite, so the orbi wireless backchanel is still working. The router still has access to the internet. It says the internet connection is good and both satellites and all devices are listed as attached devices. It can download firmware to the router but not the satellites and anything connected to the router's wireless is still online. My other satellite is also knocked offline at the same time and into the weird unroutable state at the same time.
It is like something on the router decided that the satellite is using too much internet and decides to block the satellites from the internet. But all internal network requests are still fine. I can still stream video from a computer on satellite 1 to a TV on satellite 2 but anything not connected to the router does not have internet access. If I cycle the power on the satellite internet will come back on both satellites. If I leave it in the errored state it will eventually come back maybe 1 hour.
I have tried all the workarounds in this thread. If I throttle my downloads to under 3 MB/s it heppens less often but it still means I can't utilize the bandwidth I'm paying for and this expensive high end system is garbage. Firmware better fix this quickly.
This may not a FW issue. Would need more information and troubleshooting details first.
What FW is currently loaded? If most current, has a full reset or erase been performed on the router and satellite(s) then set up from scratch?
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).
zekaonar wrote:
I have this same situation but my config is a little different and that makes the error state even weirder.
I have 3 RBK53 devices. My cable modem connects to the router and satellite 1 is in my office and it has a wired connection to my main workstation. If I download things over bit torrent without greatly restricting bandwidth or I download something over Steam my internet connection will die off. But my network goes into a weird state...
Nothing on my computer and anything in my office using wireless can access the internet. But I can still connect to my router at 192.168.1.1 from my computer that is wired into the satellite, so the orbi wireless backchanel is still working. The router still has access to the internet. It says the internet connection is good and both satellites and all devices are listed as attached devices. It can download firmware to the router but not the satellites and anything connected to the router's wireless is still online. My other satellite is also knocked offline at the same time and into the weird unroutable state at the same time.
It is like something on the router decided that the satellite is using too much internet and decides to block the satellites from the internet. But all internal network requests are still fine. I can still stream video from a computer on satellite 1 to a TV on satellite 2 but anything not connected to the router does not have internet access. If I cycle the power on the satellite internet will come back on both satellites. If I leave it in the errored state it will eventually come back maybe 1 hour.
I have tried all the workarounds in this thread. If I throttle my downloads to under 3 MB/s it heppens less often but it still means I can't utilize the bandwidth I'm paying for and this expensive high end system is garbage. Firmware better fix this quickly.
Howdy,
I have the Orbi Pro but have been experiencing the satellite dropping connectivity several times a day for weeks. I had tried many of the suggestions but nothing seemed to help. So today I added a DHCP reservation for the satellite IP/MAC and have not had a single issue since. Yes it is early days but given I was having several drop outs every hour perhaps it has worked.
Cheers
Rennce
SRS60 with 1 Satellite
Firnware: V2.1.4.16
I would post about this here in the Pro forum:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-Pro-WiFi-for-Small-Business/bd-p/en-business-orbi-pro
Rennce wrote:
Howdy,
I have the Orbi Pro but have been experiencing the satellite dropping connectivity several times a day for weeks. I had tried many of the suggestions but nothing seemed to help. So today I added a DHCP reservation for the satellite IP/MAC and have not had a single issue since. Yes it is early days but given I was having several drop outs every hour perhaps it has worked.
Cheers
Rennce
SRS60 with 1 Satellite
Firnware: V2.1.4.16
I'll save you the trouble - this device does not work. It appears to work for some people but there is a cadre of people including myself that the unit reboots, resets and disconnects no matter what you do.
You can see another unhappy "customer"
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-is-a-Complete-Netgear-Failure/m-p/1495506
The most troubling aspect of this in my case is that this is not WiFi but Wired as well as WiFi. I have hard wired Cat5 throughout the house and I have watched the system die on the wired connection bringing my whole house network to a standstill. In one case unresolved for 3 days. A replacement unit worked for the first few hours and then same problems recurred
Tech support is nothing of the sort for these "Business" class devices and support
I have the logs to prove the disconnects that occur with depressing frequency but unpredictably. Here's the most recent set of logs for my Synology *wired* device and the sequence of connects and disconnects
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been lost since 2018-08-19 12:00:25 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been resumed since 2018-08-19 13:53:32 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been lost since 2018-08-19 14:13:05 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been resumed since 2018-08-19 16:43:20 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been lost since 2018-08-19 16:43:20 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been resumed since 2018-08-19 22:05:55 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been lost since 2018-08-19 22:17:26 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been resumed since 2018-08-20 00:36:24 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been lost since 2018-08-20 00:36:24 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been resumed since 2018-08-20 01:17:48 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been lost since 2018-08-20 01:57:06 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been resumed since 2018-08-20 04:57:23 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been lost since 2018-08-20 04:57:23 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been resumed since 2018-08-20 08:30:20 -04:00
As for the support line that I personally have spent over 3 1/2 hours sometimes being bounced from dept to dept but mostly on hold listening to irritating hold music. Ultimately I am promised a call back (within 60 secs of a disconnect) - never happened
Or from Orbi Business Level 2 Support within 10-15 minutes - 5 hours later still waiting
Each time you call you must go through regular support as they refuse to provide you with an access number to call the support line direct
Lucky for the folks who's devices are working but mine is definitely not and I have been troubleshooting since I bought it end of Jun 2018
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).Ethernet Backhaul: https://kb.netgear.com/000051205/What-is-Ethernet-backhaul-and-how-do-I-set-it-up-on-my-Orbi-WiFi-System
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/OrbiOS-2-1-4-10-kills-Internet-access-if-you-use-Ethernet-back/m-p/1603922/highlight/true#M35521
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-firmware-update-v2-1-4-16-availability/m-p/1592753/highlight/true#M34020
Another initial setup process: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Backhaul-breaks-the-whole-network/m-p/1615770/highlight/true#M38393Working after resets:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-MR-2-1-Update-3-23-18/m-p/1548414/highlight/true#M27868
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/speed-slows-down-Orbi/m-p/1551822/highlight/true#M28289
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Is-2-1-3-4-in-auto-update/m-p/1553979/highlight/true#M28616
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-Satellite-RBS50-Not-Connecting-via-Ethernet/m-p/1556692/highlight/false#M28949
nvt wrote:
I'll save you the trouble - this device does not work. It appears to work for some people but there is a cadre of people including myself that the unit reboots, resets and disconnects no matter what you do.
You can see another unhappy "customer"
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-is-a-Complete-Netgear-Failure/m-p/1495506
The most troubling aspect of this in my case is that this is not WiFi but Wired as well as WiFi. I have hard wired Cat5 throughout the house and I have watched the system die on the wired connection bringing my whole house network to a standstill. In one case unresolved for 3 days. A replacement unit worked for the first few hours and then same problems recurred
Tech support is nothing of the sort for these "Business" class devices and support
I have the logs to prove the disconnects that occur with depressing frequency but unpredictably. Here's the most recent set of logs for my Synology *wired* device and the sequence of connects and disconnects
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been lost since 2018-08-19 12:00:25 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been resumed since 2018-08-19 13:53:32 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been lost since 2018-08-19 14:13:05 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been resumed since 2018-08-19 16:43:20 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been lost since 2018-08-19 16:43:20 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been resumed since 2018-08-19 22:05:55 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been lost since 2018-08-19 22:17:26 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been resumed since 2018-08-20 00:36:24 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been lost since 2018-08-20 00:36:24 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been resumed since 2018-08-20 01:17:48 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been lost since 2018-08-20 01:57:06 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been resumed since 2018-08-20 04:57:23 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been lost since 2018-08-20 04:57:23 -04:00
Connection to <NAS-EXTERNAL-ID> has been resumed since 2018-08-20 08:30:20 -04:00
As for the support line that I personally have spent over 3 1/2 hours sometimes being bounced from dept to dept but mostly on hold listening to irritating hold music. Ultimately I am promised a call back (within 60 secs of a disconnect) - never happened
Or from Orbi Business Level 2 Support within 10-15 minutes - 5 hours later still waiting
Each time you call you must go through regular support as they refuse to provide you with an access number to call the support line direct
Lucky for the folks who's devices are working but mine is definitely not and I have been troubleshooting since I bought it end of Jun 2018
- yep, it doesn’t work properly and you can mess about with firmware, factory resets, relocation etc as much as you like but there is a fundamental hardware issue with Orbi that doubtless Netgear are trying hard to bury. My guess is that most Orbi owners are affected by the signal drops but because it reconnects in 30 secs or so it’s only people on conference calls all day or multi hour live streaming who would notice. I get about 4 or 5 drops a day but know now to do a manual reconnect in the network settings a second after it drops and i find it reconnects almost instantaneously. When it’s working it’s great but clearly they rushed it to market without proper testing because there is a fundamental issue with it. To all the people who send long technical responses about how this could be fixed with endless messing around with daisy, mu mu, location and firmware advice they are missing the point. The whole attraction and sales pitch of Orbi is that it works out of the box, it’s sold as a household consumer product that doesn’t require networking expertise. That’s why ultimately it’s a failure.
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).Not everyone is having problems with there Orbi systems...
Quickscan wrote:
yep, it doesn’t work properly and you can mess about with firmware, factory resets, relocation etc as much as you like but there is a fundamental hardware issue with Orbi that doubtless Netgear are trying hard to bury. My guess is that most Orbi owners are affected by the signal drops but because it reconnects in 30 secs or so it’s only people on conference calls all day or multi hour live streaming who would notice. I get about 4 or 5 drops a day but know now to do a manual reconnect in the network settings a second after it drops and i find it reconnects almost instantaneously. When it’s working it’s great but clearly they rushed it to market without proper testing because there is a fundamental issue with it. To all the people who send long technical responses about how this could be fixed with endless messing around with daisy, mu mu, location and firmware advice they are missing the point. The whole attraction and sales pitch of Orbi is that it works out of the box, it’s sold as a household consumer product that doesn’t require networking expertise. That’s why ultimately it’s a failure.Not sure who you are directing your questions to but as I have stated above - the WiFi distance and channels etc are irrelevant to this problem in my case
Both satellite systems are connected via Cat 5 wired connections
The Satellite dropping connectison applies to @*wired* as well as wireless connections
I agree - for many they may not even be aware of since they are not using network connections that demand a persistent connection. It is far more apparent to me since I am on a wired connection most of the time and I see it drop and disconnect not just the network but my access to my NAS devices and network file storage which I use extensively
I don't doubt that for some it is working but I have clear evidence of this repeated problem that takes down my whole network
What I want is to return the device for a full refund and be done with Orbi. Leave those that have it working and wish them good luck but allow those that it is not working to get their money back and move to something that works for them
>>>What FW is currently loaded?
The latest per Netgear on all 3 devices - main router and satellites (both connected via backhaul on Cat5):
2.1.4.16
>>>What is the Mfr and model# of the IP modem the Orbi is connected too?Direct to FIOS ONT that works flawlessly
>>>What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
~3,000- 3,500
But again - this is not about WiFi this disconnect and failure occurs on *wired* connections. THe log from the Synology device disconnect is a wired connection
>>>>What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them, to begin with depending upon building materials.Both satellite devices are connected via backhaul. Base router in the basement, second device ground floor and second satellite first floor
>>>What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Auto - but I'd settle for a wired connection that was stable
>>>Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
2 low signal and they have been there for several years with prior wifi systems and have never caused any problems. But as above I'd settle to solve the wired disconnects and then worry about WiFi probelms
>>>>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).I'd go through this if I had a stable wired connection but don't. Unless any of these settings affect the wired connections I'd like o get my wired connections stable and not constantly disconnecting, unless you are telling me that the Orbi Router is unstable for all connections if the WiFi is affected - which would imo be a terrible problem. I've lived with WiFi challenges for years as I am sure many other have and expect them and am lucky to have Cat5 installed to multiple locations to provide reliable service where required - especially connections that need a persistentersistant connection (CItrix fo example)
What am I missing - I've spent says with my network dead, unable to print (hard wired printers not WiFi), unable to access files, security cameras disconnected (hard wired), inaccessible files on NAS devices and connections to the internet that are so slow that any app requiring internet access eventually hangs and has to be manually quit. I've checked the direct ONT FIOS internet which has run consistently >100/100 but that fails to show up wired or wireless