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Forum Discussion
Awful Daisy Chain Configuration
I have the RBK763 kit, with the router on my main floor, satellite #1 on 2nd floor, and satellite #2 on the 3rd floor. I want this to daisy chain from router -> satelite #1 -> satelite #2. We use...
What FW is loaded on the system?
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 🛰
Also try turning down the power output of the RBRs wifi radios from 100% to 50% and see if this changes anything. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
Yes Daisy Chain is all automatic. Sequence would be to power OFF both RBS. Power ON the closer RBS to the RBR, then after that RBS is fully sync'd, power on the farther RBS. Should connect to the closer RBS. Try changing the power settings though...
Thanks for the reply.
FW: V7.2.6.31_5.0.24
Sq ft: ~1800 sqft over 3 floors. It's a townhouse with a lot of Wifi from neighbors.
It's about 30ft between them, and the house is regular drywall. Typical US construction from ~30 years ago.
I read that the transmit settings does not impact the backhaul. There are a few threads that have people proving this... did something change?
techman7 wrote:
I read that the transmit settings does not impact the backhaul. There are a few threads that have people proving this... did something change?
This has been my experience using a WiFi Heat Map app. (They are a hoot, and free for Android tablets.)
Changing Transmit Power from 100% to 25% did not change the 5G backhaul signal level.
You might experiment with moving the satellites around a bit. Sometimes even changing from one side of a room to another can make a difference.
How the Orbi system decides where each satellite connects, and at which frequency must be considered some sort of Trade Secret by Netgear. I have never found any documentation about the process.
The only way to guarantee how a satellite connects is to use an Ethernet cable. In a 3-floor building that is 30 years old, this could be impractical to implement.
In what part of the world is this system located? Like all mesh WiFi systems, Orbi adheres strictly to the regulations regarding weather and military radar. I could be that the 5G backhaul signal is impacted by radar and changes to 2.4G.
Most Orbi system User Manuals have a Technical Information section at the end detailing which WiFi frequencies are used for the user facing and backhaul connections. It is somewhat of a puzzle that the 760 product does not have this information. The earlier 750 product, for example, states:
One might think that changing the backhaul connection would be recorded in the optional Debug Log. (A feature that can be enabled on the "debug" web page (http://orbilogin.net/debug.htm ). Alas, I also have never found any documentation explaining how to use the debug information. Two of the files are obvious (wan.pcap and lan.pcap) The rest????
For that size of home, you only need the RBR and just one RBS.
Too Much Wifi: https://youtu.be/UR0viMLISz4
This would be one reason why the remote RBS is not maintaining daisy chain connection and connecting back to the RBR.
Either turn OFF one RBS or turn down the power settings on the RBR to 25%
Also please re-confirm your Orbi model ###. That FW version is not valid nor supported on the 760 series Orbi systems.
techman7 wrote:
Thanks for the reply.
FW: V7.2.6.31_5.0.24
Sq ft: ~1800 sqft over 3 floors. It's a townhouse with a lot of Wifi from neighbors.
Checked debug page to get this model "RBRE960" - which I thought is the same? Also, shows the FW 7.2.6.31_5.0.24
I've tried to only use 1 router + 1 satelite because I agree that on paper it should be enough but because of the vertical (3 floors) + near neighbors, I am never able to get just two to work on any part of the house. My 3rd floor satellite is directly above the first floor satelite and gets a poor backhaul.
As someone else confirmed, transmit power doesn't impact backhaul...
techman7 wrote:
Sq ft: ~1800 sqft over 3 floors. It's a townhouse with a lot of Wifi from neighbors.
It's about 30ft between them, and the house is regular drywall. Typical US construction from ~30 years ago.
It would be useful to know about the floors. Typical residential construction for stand-alone houses 30-40 years ago was two inch wooden subfloor covered by wood flooring. If this town house block was built with concrete floors, that could seriously impact WiFi signals between floors.
And, yes, any time Orbi firmware is changed (up or down) the satellites need to be changed first. I have no idea what idiot designed the router-satellite communication, but experience has shown that whenever they are on different firmware, they no longer communicate. So...
- If the satellites are upgraded (or downgraded), the router immediately cannot communicate with them.
- Changing the router to the same version restores communication.
If the router is changed first (either up or down), then it immediately cannot communicate with the satellites and thus cannot change them.
