NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
RBR50 out of nowhere is losing connectivity 5-7 random times a day
So, I am relatively technical and out of nowhere by Orbi Mesh has lost its mind.
Spent two weeks with Spectrum to make sure everything is perfect between the Node and my House and then with Spectrum Maintenance to make sure the Node and Upstream is fine.
I share a node with my neighbor, and he has had zero issues....so it appears to be my Orbi out of the blue.
No new devices added or removed and no changes.
What firmware is loaded on the RBR and RBS?
Firmware is V2.7.5.6
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?
Brand New Spectrum Charter Modem - Model ET2251 / DOCSIS 3.1 eMTA
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 wired or wirelessly connected.
Nothing changed of course, but 3,000. Each Orbit is on its own floor, 2nd, Main, Basement and for 4 years has worked flawlessly and yes more than 30 ft apart of course.
Does this happen with the RBS turned OFF?
Mmmm...I have not been able to try that as my wife works on the Main Floor and her only access is Wireless and she can't get a single from the RBR from my second floor office....but on the weekend I can try this if nothing else.
Does this happen with both wireless and wired devices?
Yes - my work laptop is hard wired to RBR
What channel configurations are currently set on the router? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.
Nothing changed....but 2.4Ghz is Auto and 5GHz is 48 - how is is possible that Auto for years worked on 2.4 and now this is my issue...can adjust I guess, but a bit lost on this one.
Be sure to disable any MAC Address randomizers on phones and pads while at home:
NETGEAR Mobile Applications and Android/Apple/Windows Devices FAQ | NETGEAR Communities
None enabled
Try disabling the following and see:
Armor, Smart Parental Controls or Circle, IPv6, Traffic Meter.
All Disabled
Any advice or help is appreciated.
46 Replies
From what I see from the specs, the laptop doesn't have a ethernet port unless you have a USB to ethernet port adapter connected.
Make sure the laptops wifi is disabled on the laptop.
Check the wifi adapters MAC addresss on this laptop as well to compare.
yes I was using the Ethernet from a Microsoft "dock", but honestly that Ethernet stopped working about a year ago and I still have not figured out why. so all I have is WIFI.
i can disconnect wifi on this laptop, and get my son's and then clear logs And see if that stops...would that help ?
Ran ipconfig / all and no mac address matches.
Would be quick check to make sure.
You may need to physcially go and take a look at ALL devices and there MAC addresses and see if something appears.
Be sure to check for any devices that maybe ON or seemingly connected by may not be and may keep trying to connect with a wrong PW.
Check to see if that MAC address appears in the Access Control list and select it to block only this one device and see what happens.
I am at a loss...within 5 seconds of refreshing logs on a backup laptop, same issue.
[WLAN access rejected: incorrect security] from MAC address 0c:23:69:8f:0a:7c, Tuesday, December 02, 2025 14:39:11
[Log Cleared] Tuesday, December 02, 2025 14:39:06that mac address does not exist in access control on the ORBI
how can a device magically find the new ssid - could this be coming from Orbit itself ?
could it be something from Spectrum - somehow their Modem...even though that seems impossible ?
And this is with original SSID name or new SSID name? If using original SSID, may want to give a new SSID name a try.
RBS is OFF?
May need to visiualy inspect all of your devices. ISP modem is ethernet and not wireless.
Give a factory reset a try as well.
New SSID Name
RBS is off
Yes, ISP is Ethernet, so I did not think it was possible
Factory reset has me puzzled a bit, do I need a Ethernet connected laptop for that, as I do not have on at the moment. Thought I read that, but re-reading again.
Can I export by settings and then re-import them, or are the settings compromised and I should start from scratch ?
Would be recommended to use ethernet PC for Factory reset however you can set up the system if you connect to the RBRs default SSID name and PW with wifi PC and after it's connected navigate to 192.168.1.1 to begin the setup routine: https://kb.netgear.com/22697/How-do-I-install-my-NETGEAR-router-using-the-router-web-interface
Recommend following this to FR the system. I'd bring the RBS online as well so it gets reset and setup again, after it's connected and setup, you can turn it off while troubleshooting:
Orbi Systems Manual Factory Reset Process | NETGEAR Communities
I personally would save off a back up config. FR and setup from scratch and check and test first before loading the saved config from file.
I recommend finding a USB to ethernet adapter to keep on hand at a later time.
Any nieghbors near by your home?
Ok, so I did find an OLD LAPTOP that is connected via Ethernet, WHEW !
so I follow this since I have a working ethernet
"Recommend following this to FR the system. I'd bring the RBS online as well so it gets reset and setup again, after it's connected and setup, you can turn it off while troubleshooting:
Orbi Systems Manual Factory Reset Process | NETGEAR Communities"
Then DO NOT LOAD my old configuration - but is there a guide on the optimal setup...I worked for a few years early on and its been PERFECT up until now.
STUFF LIKE. Backhaul Topology- Enable Daisy Chain
Basically all the advanced setup stuff....or should I take screenshots of all and recreate by hand ?
But if there is a new guide that is better, I am open to that.
Sorry so many questions...but both my wife and I had to take the day off as we both work from home and with no internet, brutal (we live in country, so cell hotpot is only 2g :-( )
I'd still use the custom DNS. Keep IPv6 disabled.
Review this post from a while back that one user thought was a good stable configuration:
Can take screens shots for referrence or historical reference.
Hoping you can find where that MAC address maybe coming from.
I might factory reset the ISP modem as well and let it get connected, then trigger the reset on the RBR.
Ok so update
Plan is to Factory Reset, but in the meantime I add a new SSID that was still getting that strange WLAN access rejected from a PHANTOM MAC Address
My DSN change to CloudFlare however did not stick....
So I finally fixed that and now I no longer get the WLAN MAC issues, but I see this issue, which I cant figure out yet
[admin login] from source 192.168.1.2, Tuesday, December 02, 2025 17:07:45
[admin login failure] from source 192.168.1.2, Tuesday, December 02, 2025 15:56:54
[admin login] from source 192.168.1.2, Tuesday, December 02, 2025 15:55:21
[admin login failure] from source 192.168.1.2, Tuesday, December 02, 2025 15:48:32
[admin login] from source 192.168.1.2, Tuesday, December 02, 2025 15:48:02
[admin login failure] from source 192.168.1.2, Tuesday, December 02, 2025 15:34:01
[Log Cleared] Tuesday, December 02, 2025 15:33:16HOWEVER, since I finally made sure the DSN change stuck...I have been up for 2 hours.
Next move is to revert to original SSID and then Factory reset after I get my family settled.
WHEW, what a Journey
Ok so forgot I had an IIS server going at one point for a project - so I know that admin login from the log on 192.168.1.2 - like it when things made sense.
I shut down the IIS server just to be clean....
Sounds like your making progress. Keep us posted.
