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Forum Discussion
Orbi Speed Issue wired and wireless
I have used a Netgear nighthawk for the past couple of years and was pleased. We started to have some issues with the old router so I thought I would upgrade to the newer Orbi system about 3 weeks ago.
Presently, I have two ISPs providing service. I have Comcast, but had issues with the Orbi that I couldn't get fixed. I thought it was Comcast. So I had Metronet installed. I am having the same issue with Metronet. I spent a good deal of time troubleshooting service adn am convinced that it is not the ISP.
My desktop is hardwired to the Orbi router. I have the satelitte on another floor in the house. Sometimes the performance is fantastic. However, it seems to cycle all over the place. The Metronet we have is gigabit service. When it is working well, I can get speeds of about 940 down and roughly 250 up through the wired connection. However, it will also cycle through times where nothing will load, pages will time out and throughput stops. Other times it hjust simply slows down to a crawl, but is still useable.
The wireless is pretty much the same except the download speed seems to max at about 400 or so, still plenty fast. But it will also stop and hang and become unuseable and other times will run speed tests at around 1 down, but still crawl along.
When the wired performance bombs, so does the wireless.
Removing the Orbi from the equation completely and using a different router or no router and hardwiring to my desktop resolves the issue completely.
I would like to use the Orbi because it does give good signal strentgh. But the performance is not reliable enough as I work from home.
I checked for a firmware update, we are running the most current as of last night. I have an email in to technical support but have not hear back from them.
Any suggestions?
11 Replies
I have a very similar problem. Normally I get very close to my 300 mbps download speed even with my old D-link router but I installed an Orbi yesterday and my hardwired download speed is now between 1 and 10 mbps. The speed test inside the router is reading almost 300 mbps so the problem is definitely between the router and the computer. Do the Orbis have bad Ethernet LAN ports?
Randsee, I don't know how to tell if the LAN ports are bad, but this is certainly a high maintenance router... at least it has been to this point.
Some times my wired connection is excellent, others it is slow and sometimes it is non functional. I have even tried buying new cables, that has not helped either.
After trying the solutions suggested, things seemed better last night, but this morning it is slowing down again. Speeds haven't stopped, but it is dragging then cycling back to being fine. Seems more like a firmware issue than hardware, but I'm not an expert. I still have not heard back from customer support, maybe later today??
I'm getting ready to box this unit back up and try something else. I have had several routers over the years. None has been as unreliable as the Orbi.
After a firmware update, if you're hving issues, one of the hints mentioned previously on this forum was to do an NVRAM reset and after that do a factory default reset. When those two are complete, reconfigure your ORBI as you want but do it manually. DO NOT USE any saved configuation files to reconfigure your ORBI.
Additionally, after the reset/reconfigure DO NOT USE the built-in Speedtest on the QOS setup page. Apparently, that test mode is causing some users to have slow-downs and other anomolies. Having said all that, I'm not a WiFi expert by any stretch of the imagination. I'm merely trying to help out with some potential fixes. Overall, I've been pleased with the performance of the ORBI system in my environment. There are still issues in my system too but nowhere near as many as other folks continue to report. One final note, I am running the previous firmware version 2.0.0.74. Good luck!
Tucsontico. Many thanks am trying this out and hoping for the best. I am getting kind of frustrated as I have owned several routers and have never had one that was this much of a hassle. My last Netgear router was great, there was an occassional need to reboot that one, but nothing like my Orbi.
I had this issue too - switching the Orbi system to AP and using a cheap router seemed to do the trick.
Josh, thanks that is something I have not tried yet, but have what I need to do so today. How long has your system been up an running with this set up?
One of the more disappointing issues for me, is that Netgear has still never responded to my inquiry for support. Of course, if I can fix it this easily, then I don't need them.
I appreciate the suggestion. This will likely be my last attempt with Orbi.
This seemed like a fix, then it went it down hill a little bit ago. Frustrating as the potential is definitley there with the system
