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Forum Discussion
RBR50 / RBS50 intermittent routing problem
I've had my Orbi setup for about 10 months and, with exception of it being a nightmare to setup (it doesn't play well with Sonos), it's worked fairly reliably. Over the first 8-9 months It needed a reboot or two and I can forgive that as, although frustrating, it's no different to most other consumer grade products.
However, over the last month I've started noticing that my Orbi Router stops routing traffic to one of my Orbi Satellites correctly despite the admin UI showing the satellite is connected with a good reception.
My setup - I have my RBR50 wired to a Virgin Media Superhub and two RBS50s (I'll call them RBS50A and RBS50B) scattered around the same floor in an almost triangle layout where each side of the triangle is aprox 10m but with walls intersecting. I'm using wireless backhaul and the status on both satellites is always listed as 5g type with a 'good' status. I have DHCP and DNS setup on a server that's connected by ethernet to RBS50A and DHCP setup on the RBR50 that only has a 2 IP address scope with each of those IPs reserved for the two RBS50s. I have the same reservations setup on my server so regardless of which DHCP service responds to the request for an address first, the RBS50s will always have the same IP address and there will never be an IP conflict. I have daisy chaining topology disabled.
Problem - on an increasingly frequent basis over the last month the RBR50 and RBS50B stop routing traffic that is destined for any devices attached to RBS50A and thus DHCP for my client devices that connect to either RBR50 or RBS50B stops working as does DNS. Strangely, any devices connected to RBS50A continue to work as normal and still have a WAN connection that goes out via RBR50 whether they connect by wireless or with ethernet. Also if a WiFi device connects to RBS50A first then moves around the house and jumps it's connection to RBR50 or RBS50B it also continues to work. Rebooting RBS50A appears to resolve the problem temporarily but this is starting to be necessary almost every other day which is beginning to make me think there's something wrong with either the router or satellite.
Before I 1) reset the Orbi config to factory defaults and configure it again just to ensure there isn't any config corruption 2) return it as faulty under warranty, has anyone come across anything similar before and have any known solutions or troubleshooting tips?
11 Replies
What Firmware version is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?Your ISP Modem already has a built in router and wifi. This would be a double NAT (two router) condition which isn't recommended. https://kb.netgear.com/30186/What-is-Double-NAT
https://kb.netgear.com/30187/How-to-fix-issues-with-Double-NAT
Couple of options,
1. Configure the modem for transparent bridge or modem only mode. Then use the Orbi router in router mode. You'll need to contact the ISP for help and information in regards to the modem being bridged correctly.
2. If you can't bridge the modem, disable ALL wifi radios on the modem, configure the modems DMZ/ExposedHost or IP Pass-Through for the IP address the Orbi router gets from the modem. Then you can use the Orbi router in Router mode.
3. Or disable all wifi radios on the modem and connect the Orbi router to the modem, configure AP mode on the Orbi router. https://kb.netgear.com/31218/How-do-I-configure-my-Orbi-router-to-act-as-an-access-point and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7LOcJ8GdDo&app=desktopIs the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode?
What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet or more is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.
https://kb.netgear.com/31029/Where-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?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).One User Experience/Configuration:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Most-Stable-Orbi-Configuration/m-p/1941087/highlight/true#M97026I haven't.
Router Firmware Version is V2.7.2.104 and no updates are offered.
As per my original post - I'm using a Virgin Media Superhub.
I am not double-natting my config. The Superhub is in Modem Mode and Orbi is in Router Mode.
My home is no more than mid-sized, two story. As per my original post - the satellites are approx 10m apart.
There's about 5 other WiFi networks in the area but all very low strength. Given that the WiFi backhaul is meant to run on a different frequency space to client WiFi, it always shows as a '5g, good' connection and the RBS50A never has any bother routing to RBR50 or RBS50B, it's only RBR50 and RBS50B that struggle to go in the other direction on occasions, this doesn't seem relevant.
I refused to sign up to Armor and Circle so both are disabled.
Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming and IPv6 are all already disabled.
I'll try turning 20hz mode off but, again, I don't see this as being a signal error as my client devices can always reach the Router or Satellite they are connected to and get out to the WAN. This is only an issue with routing to devices connected to one particular satellite when another device has connected to a different satellite or router in the same mesh.
mpsamuels wrote:I have DHCP and DNS setup on a server that's connected by ethernet to RBS50A and DHCP setup on the RBR50 that only has a 2 IP address scope with each of those IPs reserved for the two RBS50s. I have the same reservations setup on my server so regardless of which DHCP service responds to the request for an address first, the RBS50s will always have the same IP address and there will never be an IP conflict. I have daisy chaining topology disabled.
This is certainly a creative configuration. Connecting this DHCP/DNS server to a satellite rather than the router is a bit unusual. It would be helpful to understand more about the problem, such as any connection with power outages or device restarts. Can it be replicated consistently?
DHCP requests are broadcast packets, so I would not describe this as "routing traffic that is destined for..." Broadcast packets are supposed to go everywhere.
Netgear's implementation of DHCP does not match my own personal expectations. It appears, for example, that a request for DHCP renewal does not incorporate the MAC reserbation table. So, when a device says, "I want to renew 192.168.1.25, the Orbi does an ARP to verify that no one is also using that IP and says, "sure. go for it." Not bothering to check the reservation table and say, "no bad boy. You are supposed to be on 192.168.1.99" I have no clue what a DHCP server does when it gets a request and has no IP's left in the pool. The Wikipedia article on DHCP does not mention this special case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol#Discovery
There's no correlation with power outages and I've no way to replicate the problem at the moment, it seems to happen at random.
It may be a 'creative' solution to attach the server to a satelite rather than the router but given the location of the server and the fixed placement of my WAN modem by my ISP I have no choice. This config has worked almost flawlessly for 9 months and continues to work 90% of the time even now. I see no reason why it shouldn't work either.
I'm aware of how DHCP is meant to work, maybe I should be more specific and clarify that:
1) In the cases a client doesn't get a DHCP address while connected to RBR50, if I give it a static address in the OS and try to ping the IP of either RBS50A, the server or any other device connected to RBS50A I receive no reply. If I ping RBS50B or any WAN IP address I receive responses as expected, hence this is only an issue routing traffic to RBS50A. An initial DHCP request may be a broadcast packet in itself but the complete handshake and allocation of an address does involve the use of routing protocols.
2) Sometimes the problem occures when my client device already has an IP address leased and I experience problems as I have lost connectivity to my DNS server i.e as above while connected to RBR50 and I try to ping the IP of either RBS50A or the server I receive no reply. If I ping RBS50B or any WAN IP address I receive responses as expected
That DHCP implementation does seem a little odd but as I'm not seeing any evidence of IP address conflicts I don't see that as being the cause of the problem.
What happens when RBS50A and RBS50B are switched?
(does the problem go with the satellite?)
Is it always the same device or does this happen randomly to many devices?
