NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
RBK53s Router drops modem connection
After 6 mo,the RBR50 router (part of the RBK53s package) has suddenly started dropping its connection several times a day. I either have to push its Sync button or when that doesn't work, power cycle...
Thank you for your comments. I thought the sync button's behavior odd, as well; though it only works sometimes. I hadn't changed any of its configuration in several weeks. Suddenly, a couple of weeks ago, it started dropping. When I go to it, the ring light is either off or pulsing white. If pulsing, then usually it will reconnect by itself after a 2-3 minutes. If off, I try holding the sync button for a few seconds to see whether the pulsing starts (an indication that it will reconnect). Often, nothing happens, so I have to power-cycle the router. After turning the power back on and waiting a few seconds, the white ring light will blink for several seconds before it changes to its pulsing. The pulsing, I take as a sign that a reconnection is in progress—which it does.
Once, I approached to find the ring light blinking rather than pulsing—i had to power-cycle it.
I tried looking at the logs, but no obvious errors were showing (I'll have to look again, more closely)
Through the Netgear support pages, I could not contact them. I also tried selecting the link to replace it and I was directed to an invalid page.
Try some of the suggestions as well.
wrleeii wrote:Thank you for your comments. I thought the sync button's behavior odd, as well; though it only works sometimes. I hadn't changed any of its configuration in several weeks. Suddenly, a couple of weeks ago, it started dropping. When I go to it, the ring light is either off or pulsing white. If pulsing, then usually it will reconnect by itself after a 2-3 minutes. If off, I try holding the sync button for a few seconds to see whether the pulsing starts (an indication that it will reconnect). Often, nothing happens, so I have to power-cycle the router. After turning the power back on and waiting a few seconds, the white ring light will blink for several seconds before it changes to its pulsing. The pulsing, I take as a sign that a reconnection is in progress—which it does.
Once, I approached to find the ring light blinking rather than pulsing—i had to power-cycle it.
I tried looking at the logs, but no obvious errors were showing (I'll have to look again, more closely)
Through the Netgear support pages, I could not contact them. I also tried selecting the link to replace it and I was directed to an invalid page.
Yeah, I didn't respond to you yet because I needed see what the result of your suggestions were. In answer to some of your questions:
- When I check for the latest firmware, it says that there is no newer version (than my 2.3.5.30).
- the router is acting as a router (not an AP) to a Cistco/LinkSys DPC3008-CC cable "modem"; but I haven ot needed to restart it which I infer to mean that the router is the problem. Also, the that the wifi itself drops would imply the router.
- MIMO, Beamformng, and WMM are all active.
- 2.4MHz channel was set to auto, operating on channel 9. 5MHz was on channel 48.
- I have a 2100 sq ft space with the first satelite about 15' away and the second satelite about 30' away from that one. I have seen cases where the router is directly connected to the second satelite.
- I have 4 or 5 wifi neighbors detectable from some places in the house (though probably not where the router is).
I tried disabling the Armor and Circle svcs and rebooting, last night since adding those were my most recent changes. I'll see whether that stabilizes anything when I get home tonight. The rest are whatever the factory defaults were. Performing a new factory reset would seem to defeat the purpose of having non-factory settings—I need to know that it will operate the way it was advertised and with settings that I need.
wrleeii wrote:Yeah, I didn't respond to you yet because I needed see what the result of your suggestions were. In answer to some of your questions:
- When I check for the latest firmware, it says that there is no newer version (than my 2.3.5.30). There is newer FW available for manual download, v2.5.1.8. Something to try if your problems can't seem to be resolved by current suggestions.
- the router is acting as a router (not an AP) to a Cistco/LinkSys DPC3008-CC cable "modem"; but I haven ot needed to restart it which I infer to mean that the router is the problem. Also, the that the wifi itself drops would imply the router. A power cycle of the ISP modem would be a good thing to try anyways.
- MIMO, Beamformng, and WMM are all active.
- 2.4MHz channel was set to auto, operating on channel 9. 5MHz was on channel 48. Please use channels 1, 6 or 11. Channel 9 is a sub channel used by the system.
- I have a 2100 sq ft space with the first satelite about 15' away and the second satelite about 30' away from that one. I have seen cases where the router is directly connected to the second satelite. 15' is too close. ALL RBS need to be 30 feet or more away from the RBR.
- I have 4 or 5 wifi neighbors detectable from some places in the house (though probably not where the router is).
I tried disabling the Armor and Circle svcs and rebooting, last night since adding those were my most recent changes. I'll see whether that stabilizes anything when I get home tonight. The rest are whatever the factory defaults were. Performing a new factory reset would seem to defeat the purpose of having non-factory settings—I need to know that it will operate the way it was advertised and with settings that I need. Sometimes a reset maybe needed to clear our any mis-configurations or the system working in a bad state. Use this as a last resort or after loading FW. Factory resets are a valid troubleshooting step.
I got notifications that the network has dropped (and restarted) during the day today, so it looks like disabling Circle and Armor didn't help.
Since it was working for several months, just fine, why do you think the issues you listed could suddenly start affecting the system so severely?