NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
Sync between RBR20 and satelites fail
I have one RBR20 and three RBS20 setup in a beautiful mesh. We had a power outage a week ago, and since it has been a bit buggy. Then the next firmware v2.3.1.48 came today. It updated automatically on one of the rbs20 and the rbr20.
After a while I finally found out how to force the update on all rbs20.
After that all satelites loose sync with the rbr20. Mesh goes down. Are offline anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes, goes up about 2 minutes and falls out again.
I then forced firmware rbr20 V2.3.1.44 and RBS20 V2.3.1.44 back to all satelites and the router, because that was at least stable before. But no luck. Network goes up, runs a few minutes, then all satelites turns amber simultaneously, and network fails. I am still wifi connected to the router on pc/phone but internet is down. Checked the internet service, and there have been no issues with the internetconnnection to the modem. (Altibox Norway- bridged mode).
So, how do I get the mesh back to running steady? I am so close to kicking the orbi system out of the house. Anyone got any idea on this?
After a while I finally found out how to force the update on all rbs20.
After that all satelites loose sync with the rbr20. Mesh goes down. Are offline anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes, goes up about 2 minutes and falls out again.
I then forced firmware rbr20 V2.3.1.44 and RBS20 V2.3.1.44 back to all satelites and the router, because that was at least stable before. But no luck. Network goes up, runs a few minutes, then all satelites turns amber simultaneously, and network fails. I am still wifi connected to the router on pc/phone but internet is down. Checked the internet service, and there have been no issues with the internetconnnection to the modem. (Altibox Norway- bridged mode).
So, how do I get the mesh back to running steady? I am so close to kicking the orbi system out of the house. Anyone got any idea on this?
8 Replies
sooo. I finnaly removed ONE satelite. I'm now down to 1*RBR20 and 2*RBS20.
The app would not for it's bare life connect to anything but ONE satelite. I tried powering down so only one at the time was online. The app found them as long as they were the only satlite with power. But never together.
So i took down one satlite, and used desktop on the PC to connect and set up the satelites. Suddenly it works fine. But NOT with the third satelite connected. Also, doesn't seem to matter what satelite i take down. It's fine with two, not with three.... Weird stuff.
I also rolled back to RBR/RBS v2.3.1.44 on all units. Everything went bananas after that upgrade...
rbr20 and rbs I'm having the same issue - everything was working well and had a power outage - now the satalittes are sporadically connected (even with a wired connection) and the haiku lights and fans wont connect except for a few.
I would factory reset both RBR and RBS and set up from scratch.
Connect 1 satellite first via wireless, then once you get the BLUE led on top of the satellite, do a IP address reservation for the satellite ON the Orbi router. Save and apply. So same for 2nd Satellite
What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
What WPA security modes are you using?Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
- I tried to do the factory reset, syncing one by one. Sometimes it finds one satelite, mostly not.
My house is about 2000 square feet (200 m²) over two floors, half the house is from 1890, the other half from 1970'ies. The old walls in the old part of the house kills all wifi signals, nothing comes through. But the orbi satellite positioning at the door leading in to the old part fixed that.
Distance between router and satelites... one is set in free line of sight, about 30 feet. Second is through two walls, about 35 feet, third is in second floor, through two walls and the ceiling, about 40-50 feet from the router. They are set up in a star, all satelites speaks to the router (no daisychain).
There are tons of neighbours with wifi. I used a wifi scanner to find the least noisy channel, and that's 11. Only one other network on that one, and its weak. Channel 1 has 8 networks, channel 6 about 10. Channel 9 is totally free, but seems to be a lot of issues there. No other networks reach us on the 5g channels.
I tried all of the securities, but normally used wpa2.
Have not tried the last three things u mentioned, cuz I have no idea what they do.
I did, however, try to set up only the router. No meshnetwok at all. Even then the wifi drops in and out, and the router flashes in amber. So even when there is no satelites connected or powered up, and the router is not told to locate them, it doesn't work.
I tried the setup with v48 and rolled back to v44. With and without factory reset. Doesn't make any difference.
I take any tips I can get, but I'm on the tipping point of the scale.... store is close by...Beamforming and WMM should be enabled. Beamforming and MIMO isn't by default. You can use MIMO or not, depends if you have MIMO supporing devices.
YOu might try enabing daisy chain to see if maybe this might help. Having older home and paint that may have lead content may also be a problem. So Daisy Chain might help with satellites connecting to another, however would need to be more in a linear placement with the satellites.
I just loaded v48 on my system. Not issues thus far. Getting to spec speeds on wired and wireless. However I don't have but 1 satellite so DS is disabled. Beamforming and MIMO are enabled. 40 feet inbetween the one satellite and base router.
I did a manual FW load with the files and then used the UI to do the factory reset and then setup from scratch.
So, after bugging the guys in the RBR50 thread, i was solwly piecing together the solution for the RBR20’ies.
I will here make a mix of our combined suggestions, in the order it took place, to fix it.
Big THANX AND KUDOS to @FURRYe38 and @DorkiOrbiFW as they were very helpfull here. Meny of the setups comes from them, and a lot of this text. I have just edited this to a "guide", and freshened it up a little.
As i have three satlites and one router, this fix took about three hours all together from start until everything was ok.
Note – I chose to force all firmware back to the v44 file. You can find that here:
http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RBR20/RBR20-V2.3.1.44.zip
http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RBS20/RBS20-V2.3.1.44.zip
If you prefere the new v48, router will automatically help you get that, or you can download the files here:
http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RBR20/RBR20-V2.3.1.48.zip
http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RBS20/RBS20-V2.3.1.48.zip
**Note: Firmware do no longer auto-update since v44 cam along. Instead there is a diplaymessage telling you a new firmware are available, when you click that you are brought directly to the firmaware update section of the RBR. Update only takes place when you hit «Update Now» button, rendering update to be your choise, allthough runs automatic.**
So, my main issue was that the router and the satelites stopped communicating. They went in to a war, and looking on the LED-rings it was constant change of colors. Amber, magenta, blue and flashing white. WiFi kept dropping out, and things was a mess. So heres what must be done.
To start the process, you must factory reset everything. Find a sharp thin object to put in to the small hole next to the powerbuttun, hold it in for about 10 seconds until the little powerlight flashes. Turn off the satelite/router while holding it in. Turn It back on, still holding it in, and wait until it flashes again.
Now turn it off. Repeat this process until all your units are factory-reset and turned off.
Now, work only on your ROUTER – the RBR20.
Turn it on. Follow instructions for first time setup. DO NOT connect any satelites. Once it is up and running, log in to your router via desktop, advanced settings, administer, firmware. (There you can push the update manually to your satelites as well. We'll get back to that.)
- Login into your Orbi router
- Navigate to the “Advanced” tab
- Go to “Advanced Settings”
- Go to Wireless Settings; under the “Backhaul Topology “ section of those settings, hit the “Generate” button. Sometimes the Orbi satellites will forget the backhaul password if the router (or vice versa) is off for a long period of time. This can also happen during a power blackout, as it did for me.
If your router is at v48, and some of your satelites are v44, now is the time to roll back the router to v44. It is possible, if the satellites were behind on FW, then his maybe the reason they were not conneting. RBS have to be updated first before the RBR and be on the same version of FW or RBS can be on a more current version, while the RBR can be on a older version of FW. RBS can't be behind in FW versions from the RBR.
The page will be under Advanced tab using the management console via web under Administration --> Firmware Update
When you have the correct FW on the RBR I would disable Diasy chain on the RBR. You do that under Advanced tab using the management console via web under Advanced Setup --> Wirless settings. Changing this option causes your RBR to reboot. Wait paitonally.
Return to same settingspage, then on the bottom of the wirless settings, enable BEAMFORMING and enable MU-MIMO.
Now you are ready to go for the RBS…
I set it up so i had all RBS infront of me during this progress.
So after getting the RBR «updated» to v44, Turn on ONE of the RBS.
In the GUI rom your computer, clik under Basic, Add Orbi Satelite. Follow instructions.
When you see the top led pulsating WHITE on the RBS, Press the sync button on the RBS, while in the same room as the RBR.
Give up to 5 minutes and you should see the top led on the RBS turn BLUE...
Typically, it flashes white, then turns magenta, I then hit sync (again) if "setup failed" message appears, and try again. With or without factory reset. Suddenly i turns blue, stays for a little while, turns back to magenta, stays like that for a few minutes, before turning blue again.
Wait until Solid Blue turns off, and the RBS goes dark.
When you get a RBS connected fully, do a address reservation for it on the RBR under Advanced tab à Setup à LAN Setup, save and apply.
You shoud now check the FW of this RBS.
The page will be under Advanced tab using the management console via web under Administration --> Firmware Update
Roll it out to the FW you want in the end result, either v44 or v48. Once updated to selected FW (wait for it to reboot and sync completely), turn the RBS off and repeat the process with your next RBS.
When you have repeated this with ALL your RBS, you can turn all the RBS on.
The system should come back for you. I would try one satellite at a time (alllthough i turned all one at the same time).
Do this untill each one is re-sync'd. Once there all done, you are set.
This is where you update with your prefered SSID and password under Basic tab --> wireless. It could also be usefull to use a WIFI scanner tool to check interference on the different channels in your neighbourhood, and select a free channel. These settings will cause your system to reboot, and you have to wait pationally again.
Finnaly, turn them off again and then go and place them in there remote locations, and turn them on yet again.
Note: during the process when trying to connect a RBS, it "connected" but in status it said "config sys", ring turns magenta. This means it talks with the RBR, and are not fully set up. Just wait and observe. Typically, it flashes white, then turns magenta, I then hit sync (again) after "setup failed" message appears, and try again. With or without factory reset. Suddenly i turns blue, stays for a little while, turns back to magenta, stays like that for a few minutes, before turning blue again.
This is the complete process for rebulding the ORBI mesh when things got jammed up on the RBR20 system.
