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Forum Discussion
Brand new RBK753 losing connection
I just purchased the RBK 753 3 unit Orbi package from Costco and am having some connectivity issues with it so far.
The issue that occurs most frequently is my Chromecast will lose connectivity. Sometimes it will say connected with no internet. Other times it will disconnect from wifi altogether and I have to go choose the network to reconnect again. One of the satellite units is just a couple feet from the Chromecast.
The Orbi is installed in an apartment that is around 1000 square feet. The router unit is in the middle with one satellite on either side. There are tons of other wifi networks within range.
Is this distance too small for the Orbi to work well? Does the Orbi not work well in the presence of a lot of other networks? Is this a known issue? Did I possibly get a lemon?
Disappointed that such an expensive mesh router is performing so much worse than the years old cheaper individual unit it replaced.
12 Replies
Netgear has set up a community forum specifically for the Orbi AX (WiFi 6) products. Most of the people who watch that forum are more likely to have experience with Orbi AX and know how to work it better than those of us who follow this "general Orbi" forum. Might be more likely to find someone who has a solution if the question is posted there:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/bd-p/en-home-orbi-axThank you.
zielin wrote:The Orbi is installed in an apartment that is around 1000 square feet. The router unit is in the middle with one satellite on either side. There are tons of other wifi networks within range.
Yes, this is a lot of WiFi for a 1,000 sq. ft. space. Unless the building construction is unusual (lots of interior brick, stone, and concrete) a single router is probably enough. If this was a stand-alone house, the two satellites could be located near exterior walls and blast WiFi out into the yard. (Not so likely in an apartment.)
zielin wrote:The issue that occurs most frequently is my Chromecast will lose connectivity. Sometimes it will say connected with no internet. Other times it will disconnect from wifi altogether and I have to go choose the network to reconnect again. One of the satellite units is just a couple feet from the Chromecast.
Do other WiFi devices disconnect frequently, or just the Chromecast? If it is only the Chromecast, posing the question to Chromecast users may be more productive.
CrimpOn It is indeed a lot for 1000 sqft. Problem is there are a ton of other networks around me. So I thought I might fare better with a mesh solution.
I had a single router before this. It's old and out of support now, but it was one of the first to support DFS. So I had some frequencies pretty much to myself at the time. I DFS is more common now so that's no longer the case. There are parts of the home where network performance isn't optimal.
Other devices have misbehaved too. Though the chromecast is the only one that is constantly disconnecting. Easier to reproduce and troubleshoot with. It was not disconnecting at all until I replaced my existing router with the Orbi.It was suggested in another thread that I turn down the power on the router.
That seems to have stabilized the chromecast somewhat. Though now I'm seeing suboptimal coverage in a couple spots in the home with other devices. So seems like a tradeoff.
Maybe I need to try rearranging the satellites to position them further away and turn up the power again, or maybe I need a single router solution that is better at overpowering the competing networks.
zielin wrote:The issue that occurs most frequently is my Chromecast will lose connectivity. Sometimes it will say connected with no internet. Other times it will disconnect from wifi altogether and I have to go choose the network to reconnect again. One of the satellite units is just a couple feet from the Chromecast
Amazon brought my ChromeCast v2 today and I'm ready to attempt to duplicate this problem (not on the primary TV - I'm not looking for conflict!). My "plan" is to periodically turn on the TV and see if my phone will cast to it. Other than that.. what can I do?
- It responds to ICMP (ping). I can add it to the list of devices that I check once per minute and see if it fails to respond.
- or.....
Found the setup pretty slick except for the step after setup and after updating firmware when Google Home said it could not be found, although it was merrily casting my phone screen to the TV set.
p.s. At $29US on Amazon, it might be worth getting another Chromecast to rule out the possibility that the first one has gone bad.
Wow, that's some dedicated troubleshooting.
There is nothing specific I have to do in order to reproduce. Just stream something and it will eventually disconnect. Going into the settings and choosing the network will reestablish the connection.
To be clear I have the $49 Chromecast (with Google TV) model that comes with the remote.
I'm fairly certain the Chromecast hasn't gone bad. The issue began exactly when I installed the new router.
I'm going to try disabling the satellite closest to the Chromecast as was suggested in the other thread to see if that helps now.
- I wish I could say I solved it and have a good answer for you. Unfortunately after hours of troubleshooting I was unable to resolve the problem and I ended up just returning the Orbi.
Sorry it didn't work out.
