Orbi satellite dropping connection

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).

Can try the configuration I used on my friends system:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-firmware-update-v2-1-4-16-availability/m-p/1592753/highlight/true#M34020

If you feel your not getting anywhere, I recommend contact NG support or taking the system back to place of purchase...

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nxh786 wrote:

Sick and tired of this mess!!! I've so many Netgear products but this is a huge mistakmistake.  I've tried changing all sorts of settings but no improvements. I'm supposedly on the latest firmware .

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What FW is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?
How are the satellites connected to the router? wireless or wired?

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).

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skandocious wrote:

This thread is massive and I'm having trouble navigating it. Did we get any resolution to this? I'm finding that *several times per day* one or more of my satellites will completely stop routing to the internet. They still broadcast wifi and route traffic internal to the house (ie, I can VPN to my iMac from across the house) but they can't route out. What is the deal here? This product so great except for this issue, but this is a deal-breaker.

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I had the same problem you did.  My satellites would stop routing out but internal network worked great.  After struggling for a month my solution was to replace the Orbi system.  If this is a known problem that they are working to address, Netgear hasn't communicated anything to those people that have been struggling.  If it is not too late to return your products, pick a different wifi system before its too late.  It was too late for me.

The fact that you have found it tells me you are having the same problem that many others including myself have reported

It remains unresolved - for some people the system appears to work (My personal view is this is not really true they just don't have a network or use their network in such a way to notice the recurrent connection drops). 

You could listen to the advice and try and work with Netgear support but you will burn huge amounts of time and likely never get it resolved.

My strongest advice to you return the equipment now - immediately before your return period runs out and you are stuck with a useless paperweight. I have already had to buy a replacement system that works. I purchased Ubiquiti and can recommend them for their support and the technology (but the learning curve is steep unless you opt for the AmliFi system)

Here's my update-- I've been living on Ubiquiti Amplifi HD for about a week now and I've noticed a few things:

- Amplifi setup and management feels much more refined. Despite being app-only (no real web UI), everything is extremely fast and easy to navigate. And there are some nice power-user options like disable DNS cache so that the router propagates my Pi-Hole DNS server IP down to the clients rather than forcing them to use the router as DNS server.
- Amplifi is certainly slower, without a doubt. Innevitably I think this just boils down to the lack of a dedicated backhaul radio. If I sit next the main router with my phone I can saturate my 150mbps ISP connection, but on a satellite I'm usually around half of that even when standing next to the satellite.
- Band steering seems perhaps a bit better on Orbi, or this could be a range/antenna issue. I sometimes find my phones on 2.4Ghz when the satellites are in the same room. Toggling wifi off/on in my phone or unplugging/replugging the satellite generally fixes this scenario.

- Roaming between nodes could be better-- I sometimes find that I'm getting slow speeds because I'm still connected to the node in the room where I came from 5-10 minutes ago.

So here's my overall assessment... 

- Orbi is better from a wireless perspective (speed, range, steering/roaming)

- Amplifi is better from a management/configuration perspective

- Amplifi is more stable/reliable (no full internet outages, as we're discussing here in this thread)

The last one is still the dealbreaker for me-- I'd rather have slow networking than no networking... Has Netgear even acknowledged this issue yet? Is there a fix coming? If this can be fixed I think I would revert back.

Update: I've started an RMA on the Amplifi (the speed without a dedicated backhaul is just unimpressive, and I was continually finding it making some strange decisions regard band steering).

I also found out I get a signifiance discount on Linksys Velop through my employer so I picked up a 3-node set for testing (Orbi is still in returnable window for several more works). Been on Velop since yesterday evening and it seems fairly reliable and mostly splits the difference between Orbi and Amplifi when it comes to speed (can consistenly get at least 80-100 Mbps throughout the house). I definitely feel that their management is better than Netgear (cmon Netgear, your web UI is HORRIBLE).

I intend to live on Velop for a week or two and see how it compares to Orbi. The one consistent finding I'm having is that Orbi really seems to blow the others away in terms of wireless performance, even the Velop which has dedicated backhaul radios. I haven't yet explored the option to use a separate AP + Orbi in bridge mode (I have a Netgear R7000 that I could use in this config). More updates to come...

Quite frankly I have no idea where or why the issue occurs - firmware, hardware who knows. The fact that this thread dates back that long tells you that it has not been resolved as there are still new people buying this device with the expectation of it working and finding it does not. It's disingenuous to suggest we have to prove ourselves to be believed. Why on earth would I make this up? What possible motivation do I have to make up this story and consume even more of my most valuable commodity - time?

What I do know is another Mesh network was stood up and worked flawlessly in 15 mins and did not fail for wired or wireless. Just offering examples of it working doesn't mean there are no problems. 

As I have repeatedly stated I am not even commenting on the Wireless network - this device failed for my wired network. 

I have tried to navigate the support and have a 33 page document capturing my interactions, and calls.

I had an RMA - returned the device and replaced it with a "new" one as provided (it did not appear new based on the packaging). It worked for <24 hours before the same problem recurred

I've spent *hours* on the phone attempting to talk to technical support including one call that started at 09:34 and I finally gave up having been on hold for 99% of the time at 13:10. I spoke to a total of 2 people on that call for a total of 3+3+1+1+2 = 10 mins out of a total call time of 3 hrs and 36 mins. This btw is only one of multiple calls many >1 hours long mostly of waiting on hold.

* I've interacted with the online support system updating my case and told I will be called back - when they do I'm not available.

* I provided access to my calendar to book a mutually convenient time - they said they were unable to access the URL.

* I offered a window of time to call me back but was told days later the individual was not working and had only just received the message and told, and I quote " My shift starts at 10:00 PM - 7:00 AM (Eastern Time) "

I appreciate the intention of some on this forum to help and troubleshoot and I have tried much of this but the problem remains and I would not wish this experience on anyone. It crushed my network and consumed huge amounts of my time all to no avail.

The same point remains - for anyone considering this device are you willing to entrust your network to a device which could fail and bring your network down, randomly, for unknown periods of time and with no known method to fix or resolve (short of rebooting every device every 24 hours - and even that's uncertain). I know I would not

Have you removed the one satellite from the base unit and then factory rest the satellite and re-added it? 

What FW is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router 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.

Swapped locations with a working satellite for placement? 

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bobermj wrote:

After more than a year of fabulous service, one of my satellites has dropped its connection and nothing I do seems to get it working again. I rebotted the entire system and still no luck, although the color rings display in the right order and for the right amount of time.

 

What shall I do next to bring it back to life?

 

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Baris wrote:

It's 2018, I buy the most expensive mesh equipment on the market (in Sweden) and I'm supposed to troubleshoot it every other day. I find it almost funny that netgear expects average end-users to be Mesh experts and help them perform System and performance testing, type of tests that are executed before releasing a product. One day, it's the satellite dropping, 2nd day internet drops from 500-600 mb to 50 mb and it goes like this in an end-less loop. I've filed a complaint so hopefully I will get to return this expensive piece of crap. Buy Google mesh and go down in speed but upgrade to a solution that actually delivers what it promises. 

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Thanks Baris

Capturing everything succinctly as to why this is *not* a solution but rather a test bed. Agree 100% and hope you get your money back as that’s not a certaintity 

What FW is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router 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?
What WPA security modes are you using?

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).

If you updated to recent FW v.210, try enabling Daisy Chain. Some have mentioned that this seems to be working in reverse order, enabling means disabled actually.

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RAJAC wrote:
My orbi satellites are loosing connection all the time they work next to each other but not solving the problem they were bought for
Please help me

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RAJAC wrote:
My orbi satellites are loosing connection all the time they work next to each other but not solving the problem they were bought for
Please help me

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RAJAC, I think it's better if you create a new discussion for your issue and provide enoigh information about your setup so you can get the needed attention.

Thank you,