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Forum Discussion
Crazy_Canuck
Oct 21, 2024Aspirant
After Power Cycling RBR / RBS 850 - Cannot Connect To Main Wifi - Only To Guest Wifi
Hello - I have a very frustrating issue where, after rebooting / power cycling my RBR850 and my RBS850s, nothing can connect to the main Wi-Fi - only to the guest Wi-Fi. I have looked all over the web and while I see a lot of people complaining of this issue and requesting solutions - I have not found any solutions to these questions or on any website including netgear.com
- I am at the latest F/W version on the router and satellites - v7.2.6.31
- I have approximately 70 - 80 devices connected at any one time (when the main Wi-Fi is working).
- My house is 3 levels (top floor, main floor, basement) and around 2,800 square feet (and yes, I realize a router and 4 satellites is overkill, but my wife and I work from home, and we need to ensure we have coverage)
- I have never had to move my satellites (and would prefer not to every time I have to reboot the router)
- When working properly - the backhaul status is good on 3 of the 4 satellites and one is poor - but everything is connecting and working properly on all the satellites.
- I do not have a hardwired / ethernet connection for the backhaul between the satellites and the router (mainly because I don't have either the access or ability to drill holes in walls and floors to run the cable)
- I am seeing a blue light on all the satellites; on occasion I do get a magenta light, and I simply reboot that satellite, and it comes back with a blue light.
- I have installed UPSs on all the satellites - attempting to avoid having power outages power-cycling the satellites and making me do this whole procedure again (and again, and again, ...)
- At this point - all my devices (cameras, security, ... etc) that have a hardcoded main network are down and unable to connect and I have changed all the other devices to the guest Wi-Fi so we can at least connect and do work.
The issue is really hit and miss as sometimes everything works great and the main Wi-Fi works, and all my devices connect automatically.
But more often than not - the connections cannot be made.
I have tried:
- Unplugging power for modems and Orbi devices.
- Power cycling the modem (Hitron CODA56 Multi-Gigabit DOCSIS 3.1 Modem using Xfinity) waiting 1 minute, waiting 2 minutes, waiting 5 minutes.
- When the modem is up (after each attempt at the different times) - I plug in the router waiting 1 minute, waiting 2 minutes, waiting 5 minutes.
- Then I go to each of the satellites, powering one at a time waiting 1 minute, waiting 2 minutes, waiting 5 minutes.
- I have done factory resets on all the devices and performed the same steps above.\
Recently I waited five minutes between power up and everything worked great, and I thought I finally figured out the secret - but this was short lived victory as the next time I recycled I ran into the same old issue again.
Due to this issue - I am considering a new mesh network as I need to have this working for my wife and I during the week.
Has anyone found the 'golden' solution? Is there a setting or settings I can try on the wi-fi configuration? I am open to trying anything. Please help - this is driving me nuts.
10 Replies
Been some posters posting about issues with v.31 FW. Can really commend v.31. v.21 is most stable and works best.
Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update?
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.
https://kb.netgear.com/31029/Where-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite 🛰- Crazy_CanuckAspirant
Thanks for the response - I am going to downstage to .21 and see if that resolves the issue. For the other questions - around 2,800 sqft, all satellites are around 30ft and yes I have did a factory reset last weekend.
After you get the system downgraded, might try turning OFF one RBS temporarily and observe.