NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
RBR50 satellites (RBS50) drop WiFi connections frequently, randomly
I have an Orbi RBR50 and two RBS50 satellites, and I cannot seem to get reliable connections (with a phone or laptop) when close to either satellite. The Orbi devices are a couple of years old, c...
Thanks for the suggestion.
I manually upgraded the firmware to V2.6.1.40, from the link that you provided, upgrading the satellites first and then the router, and rebooting the satellites. I then discovered that there is a V2.7.1.60 (for US only), so I downloaded and installed that version (satellites first and then the router). After that, the web interface for the router informed me that there was a later version and offered to upgrade the devices. I found that version (V2.7.2.102) on the Netgear site, downloaded the two packages, and upgraded the satellites and the router. After that, I decided to generate a new backhaul password, and then remove, reset, and re-sync each satellite. (The downstairs satellite failed the re-sync a couple of times until I moved it somewhat closer.) With each of these versions, the satellites were still disconnecting at times.
After the upgrade to V2.7.2.102 and the re-sync of both satellites, I then tried changing the power setting for both frequencies to 100%, then to 25%, and then back to the 50% that I've had it set to for a while. I also tried changing the 2.4GHz channel from "Auto" to 6. And I also changed both satellites to a fixed IP address (reserved address in the advanced LAN setup). None of this has seemed to help. If I have the web UI for the router open, refreshing the "attached devices" page shows the "backhaul status" for the satellites varying among "Good", "Config Sync", and "Disconnected".
Sounds as if you've tried all the usual troubleshooting steps. Is there a reason you have both frequencies set to 50% power? Normally, that is only done on one (usually 2.4 Ghz) to force dual freq devices to stay on one freq. Here's a few other steps to try:
1) Try keeping 2.4 Ghz at 50% power and setting 5 Ghz to 100%. Let that configuration settle at least overnight.
2) If step 1 doesn't give you a stable system, try turning off the guest network. Again allow that to settle for several hours.
3) What type of phones/laptops do you have? If Apple, what OS? Recent iOS updates have added a "private mode" that sends out random MAC addresses to prevent bad actors easy access to your devices. This mode should be turned off in most secure (home) environments.
4) Finally, try a factory reset of the satellites and router and do a system reconfiguration from scratch. This is the "nuclear option" but it does seem to solve the most difficult issues. DO NOT reconfigure from a backup config file! One of the reasons the factory reset usually works is it clears out "cruft" from the ORBI's memory. Using a backup config file can reintroduce corrupt files back into a clean system.
BTW, did you tell your phones to forget the network and reinitialize them? How about power cycling your modem after the firmware updates? Good Luck!