Hello,I just purchased the RBR50 and RBS50. I have a modem that is in bridge mode and I have my Orbi router downstairs by my demarc and the satellite upstairs with an ethernet backhaul. Everything was working fine today and I was actually getting very good speeds throughout my home but all of a sudden tonight the thing fell apart. I am getting between 4-12Mbps when my ISP is 120. If I hard-wire in, I get 120 no problem.I have manually set 2.4 and 5.0 channels after scanning the neighborhood, and I only have MU-MIMO on for advanced settings as putting Implicit Beamforming on was causing me issues with speed. Router Firmware VersionV2.3.5.30 Please help!

Sounds good. I am not using Circle, but appreciate the feedback.I'll get back to the thread Monday with my findings and what worked for me.B

What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router 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 enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or maynot be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings Beamforming should not be inpacting speeds. Try disabling the following and see:Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Set Short preamble instead of Long preamble modes. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s). Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update? You may want to update FW as well:https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/RBR50-RBS50-Firmware-2-5-1-16-Update/m-p/1897955/highlight/true#M89460

Distance is set per the diagram and Netgear recommendation. Implicit beamforming when enabled messes up my network. The way I understand beamforming is that it focuses the wifi signal on one device in particular. so if you have multiple devices then it could cause a worse experience for them. I have Mu-Mimo and WMM enabled and 2.4/5.0 GHZ channels are set manually after neighborhood scans to find less busy channels.Pre-amble settings are set to Auto and it sounds like that's the best place to keep them and when I tried disabling 20/40 Mhz coexistence, I noticed very poor results. Finally, why would I update the firmware when the only fix in the release notes is in regards to the Attached Devices list?

What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? Being too close to each other will cause problems. Do you have MIMO supporting devices? If you don't MIMO can be disabled. Users have expressed having better experiences with v16. Thats up to you though. Just a suggestion. IF beamforming seems to work better for you disabled, then go with it.

The router is downstairs by my Demarc hardwired to my modem and the Satellite is upstairs about 40-50 feet away, but they are hardwired backhaul together.Ok, I'l try that out tonight. From what I understand, I download the firmware files, hardwire to the router and manual update the Satellite, and then reboot and the router should pop up? Right now when I go to manual update, I only see the Satellite.Thanks

Orbi Setup Issues | NETGEAR Communities

13 Replies

FURRYe38
Guru - Experienced User
May 08, 2020
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router

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 enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or maynot be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings Beamforming should not be inpacting speeds.

Try disabling the following and see:
Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Set Short preamble instead of Long preamble modes. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).

Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update?

You may want to update FW as well:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/RBR50-RBS50-Firmware-2-5-1-16-Update/m-p/1897955/highlight/true#M89460
- bpanagio
  Guide
  May 08, 2020
  Distance is set per the diagram and Netgear recommendation. Implicit beamforming when enabled messes up my network. The way I understand beamforming is that it focuses the wifi signal on one device in particular. so if you have multiple devices then it could cause a worse experience for them. I have Mu-Mimo and WMM enabled and 2.4/5.0 GHZ channels are set manually after neighborhood scans to find less busy channels.
  
  Pre-amble settings are set to Auto and it sounds like that's the best place to keep them and when I tried disabling 20/40 Mhz coexistence, I noticed very poor results.
  
  Finally, why would I update the firmware when the only fix in the release notes is in regards to the Attached Devices list?
  - FURRYe38
    Guru - Experienced User
    May 08, 2020
    What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? Being too close to each other will cause problems.
    Do you have MIMO supporting devices? If you don't MIMO can be disabled.
    
    Users have expressed having better experiences with v16. Thats up to you though. Just a suggestion.
    
    IF beamforming seems to work better for you disabled, then go with it.

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Orbi Setup Issues