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Forum Discussion
Cannot use POP or SMTP on WiFi with RBR850
We just set up an Orbi RBR850 with three RBS850 satellites. All three satellites are connected via ethernet to the RBR850. The RBR850 has Firmware Version V3.2.10.11_1.2.12, which is current. Satellites have the same firmware version.
I'm on a Mac using an older email program called PowerMail, connecting via POP for incoming email, and SMTP for outgoing email. I've got three email providers, Earthlink, Gmail, and Yahoo. POP ports are 110 and 995, SMTP ports are 465 and 587.
I cannot receive or send email when connected to the Orbi system via WiFi.
If I connect via ethernet to the RBR850 I can send and receive email.
If I connect via WiFi to my iPhone's hotspot I can send and receive email.
If I reconnect our AirPort Extreme base station (set up as a WiFi access point, plugged into one of the Orbi satellites) and connect to that I can send and receive email.
So the only time I cannot send and receive email is when using Orbi WiFi. All other internet connections from my Mac appear to work fine on Orbi WiFi (web browser, Slack application, various iCloud functions, FaceTime, Messages, etc.) Only email has a problem.
Netgear support wanted me to use port forwarding to try to fix the problem. I am concerned that this adds a security risk. And it should not be necessary. My suspicion is that Netgear's firmware is messed up, and will not pass POP and SMTP requests that come in on WiFi.
Any other suggestions? It's not practical for us to keep the Orbi if it won't work for email on WiFi.
(Aside re forum posting: There is no way to enter RBR850 as a model in the "Model" line of the form to make a new post.)
13 Replies
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?
What Mac do you have?
What OS do you have loaded on the Mac?
Try this:
Be sure to check your CTS and RTS values. If they are at 64, please change both to 2346. Reboot both RBR and wireless devices.
I use a Mac Mini and Mac Book Pro 2018 OSX 10.14 and Mozilla Thunderbird. No issues sending or receving emails when wirelessly connected to the Orbi AX router. Never had had a problem. Though I don't use this PowerMail program.
Is odd that the one email program won't send or recived email when wirelessly connected to the Orbi AX router with just using default settings. uPnP is enabled by default.
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected to?
Manufacturer: ARRIS
Model Number: BGW210-700
Service is AT&T gigabit fiber. Gateway is set to IP Passthrough.
What Mac do you have?
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010). Has 16 GB memory
What OS do you have loaded on the Mac?
Mac OS 10.11.6
CTS/RTS Threshold is set to 2347 for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks. Was done a couple of days ago, and has not made any difference.
Our Airport Extreme was plugged into one of the satellites. When connected to the AirPort Extreme I could receive mail, but intermittantly, and not send email.
When I plugged the AirPort Extreme directly into the RBR850 I was able to both receive and send email normally. It actually took me connecting my Mac to the AirPort Extreme via ethernet first, then switching back to WiFi. But having done that email is working normally. This indicates the problem may be with the satellites.
I have not tried disconnecting all the satellites to see if the RBR850 alone allows me to use email over WiFi. But even if it does, that's not a solution as we need the satellites to give us full coverage.
You can try and disable AX mode on the RBR, however i don't know if that will result in anything changing.
Well one thing you can try. Remove the IP pass thru configuration for the RBR from the modem. Confiure the RBR for AP mode.
https://kb.netgear.com/31218/How-do-I-configure-my-Orbi-router-to-act-as-an-access-point
Use the modem as your router and Orbi as just WIFi. See if the problem still happens. If it does with this one app over the wireless connection, you'll need to contact NG support and have them review this. Send them your debug logs that you'll need to capture when you go to use this email program.
Also would be interesting to see if a different email program does the same thing. Try Apples default email program or Mozillas Thunderbird as a test.
Do you have any other Mac to try to test with?
All41 wrote:I cannot receive or send email when connected to the Orbi system via WiFi.
If I connect via ethernet to the RBR850 I can send and receive email.
If I connect via WiFi to my iPhone's hotspot I can send and receive email.
If I reconnect our AirPort Extreme base station (set up as a WiFi access point, plugged into one of the Orbi satellites) and connect to that I can send and receive email.
You've tested very thoroughly. This behavior is very surprising to me. What error are you getting from Powermail when you are connected to the Orbi wifi and cannot read mail?
Have you tried putting the IP address instead of the DNS hostname for one of your POP endpoints? It shouldn't matter, but just something else to try.
Mikey94025 wrote:
All41 wrote:I cannot receive or send email when connected to the Orbi system via WiFi.
If I connect via ethernet to the RBR850 I can send and receive email.
If I connect via WiFi to my iPhone's hotspot I can send and receive email.
If I reconnect our AirPort Extreme base station (set up as a WiFi access point, plugged into one of the Orbi satellites) and connect to that I can send and receive email.
You've tested very thoroughly. This behavior is very surprising to me. What error are you getting from Powermail when you are connected to the Orbi wifi and cannot read mail?
Have you tried putting the IP address instead of the DNS hostname for one of your POP endpoints? It shouldn't matter, but just something else to try.
Also, are you running any firewall or antivirus software on your Mac? Sometimes these programs may have rules or overrides specific to paticular network devices and that might explain things. It's unlikely, since you are able to send/receive mail over wifi to the iPhone and the AirPort, just not the Orbi wiki, but you never know... I can't think of what else might behave differently on your Mac depending on what IP address it gets assigned (other than an IP conflict, but then your other internet apps would also be affected).
Please let us know if you ever figure this out. I love a good mystery!
