Orib Satellite Drops Connection

Wow! Lots of questions.

I haven't done a full reboot. I assumed that updating the firmware would cause this to happen. I've just done a Reboot (from the Administration -> Router Status page?).

I guess the distance is about 20 feet and it would be passing through the floor and at least two walls. The materials are so thick that my modem (Virgin Media Superhub 2) - which is currently wired to the Orbi router - could not connect wirelessly with my Xbox - currently wired to the Orbi Satellite - by itself. Previously I was using a homeplug to make the connection.

Unfortunately I cannot move them any further apart and I can't just use the router because I have devices connected to the satellite in a remote location away from the modem.

The router is connected to the modem upstairs.

The satellite is downstairs has my QNAP and Xbox connected to it via a Netgear GS105 5-port Gigabit Ethernet switch.

[edit]

I'm not sure about the square footage. I'm not aware of this being done in England. But as a guess I'd say that it's about 1000 square feet on each floor?

[/edit]

Thanks for taking the time to help. Much appreciated. I'm sorry, but I'm fairly clueless on a number of the things you mentioned.

Yes, I've disabled the ISP router's wifi. But I don't know what bridging mode is and I couldn't find any settings in the ISP router that mentioned it. I can turn it from router mode to modem mode and it has some warning: "When in Modem Mode, only one Ethernet port will be active on your Super Hub, so when using your own router make sure it's connected to the active port as shown in the image to the left. Alternatively, connect a computer or games console directly to this port. When you are in Modem Mode, to access the Main Menu type 192.168.100.1 into your internet browser." Not sure what any of that means?

I found a tab for DMZ in the ISP router, but don't quite know what you mean. There is a checkbox to enable demilitarized zone and a box below that has 192.168.0.{box to enter number, currently has zero in it}. I know the ISP router is on 192.168.0.1 and at the moment it seems Orbi is on .22.

Also I found the page in Orbi that has the power settings, but there are a bunch of other settings that I may or may not have already changed. I've attached a screen shot of the current settings.

I wish I was more useful, but this is all new to me.

[edit]As you recommended I've changed the power settings to 75% for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz.[/edit]

I've reserved .22 for the Orbi router. When I set the DMZ I can only set one IP address and the hover link says, "Enter the last field of your host's IP address. For example, if the host's address is 192.168.0.154, enter 154." I have other devices that are using greater than .22, will this be a problem? I have no idea what I've just done by adjusting that setting. Also, does it matter if the IP address for the satellite is not reserved? Currently that is on .24.

I have the Orbi in AP mode. The satellite isn't wired into the ISP router because the router is upstairs in the office and the satellite is downstairs in the living room. I assume it's acting as the remote access point for the devices that are connected to it downstairs. My ISP router shows the IP addresses of everything on the network. I assume that is because it's giving out the IP addresses?

Thanks for all the replies.

Okay, I've removed the DMZ. What I'll do now is wait to see if what you've suggested helps and report back. Unfortunately during the week I'm not around much, so I can't say for sure if the problem has gone away. I'll have a much better idea after the weekend.

So in summary, I've:

- done a full re-boot since updating the firmware when setting up the units.

- reserved the IP address for the Obri router

- reduced the power output on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz to 75%

I'm assuming for my purposes it is better to have the Orbi in AP mode?

Okay, one month later...

Working with support has not been an easy feat. After several days of making changes, monitoring the device status, and calling back if there was a problem - there was - I make a lot of return calls. The same problem persisted.

After eight phone calls and nearly four hours on the phone making more and more changes, eventually they agreed to replace the router. I suggested that we have no way of knowing which is the faulty unit so just send two new units: router and satellite. Apparently they don't work that way. However, their system was down and they couldn't arrange an RMA. They'd call back later that day. They didn't. I called back the next day (Saturday). They couldn't do anything on Saturday, but they'd call me. They didn't. I called back on Monday. System still down, but they'd call back. One week later, no return call. I called again the following Monday and managed to get it arranged this time. However, can you believe I had to pay £20 for this privilege? There was a "free" option, but this meant paying yourself to return the unit, waiting for it to arrive back, then they would check it and send a replacement. You had full responsibility for packaging it and getting it back to them safely, covering all costs yourself. The paying option meant that they would send a replacement to your first, you then put your broken device in the packaging they used, use the pre-paid return label, and take it to a post office. It's a no brainer, but personally I think this is unreasonable when they've sold me a broken unit in the first place.

You can guess what happened next... no difference. So back to support and arranged for a replacement satellite. The email telephone chat receipt was a bit cheeky because it said, "Customer refused to diagnose." Really? Once again I had to pay £20 to replace their broken unit.

I've had the new satallite for just over one week now and so far no problems. I really hope this is the end of it and it was down to that faulty unit. It's a really great system, which has been let down by poor quality control, terrible customer care - don't get me wrong, the people I spoke to were really great - it's the system that's in place. After I've paid £300 for their top of the range product it should work out of the box. If it doesn't, then I'd expect maybe one or two attempts at doing fixes, but after that doesn't work they should be apologising for wasting my time and immediately, free of charge, sending replacements for both units with no obligation to return the original.

If anyone else has similar problems, then I'd recommend giving support a couple of goes, but after that refuse point blank to waste any more of your time and demand a replacement unit. Sadly it's going to cost you.

I'd like to thank you, FURRYe38, for your help. When I first spoke with support I told them that I'd had some great help from a member of the community and we'd spent nearly one month trying things.