NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Frustrating experience with devices staying on the weaker Orbi unit
Unfortunately I cannot select my product model because they haven't added it yet to the list of products but this is for the new RBR750 AX4200 mesh system. Firmware 3.2.15.25_1.3.15.
I bought this system a week or so ago and really love it except for one very big problem. My laptop, when I move up to my office which is significantly closer to the satellite unit, stays connected to the main unit downstairs. This is causing daily problems with my work VPN dropping connection and even when not on VPN, I am now getting audio and video dropouts on my Zoom calls. I did not experience this with my previous Nest wifi system, but I did have a small satellite unit in my office. I would rather not have to buy another Orbi satellite because my home is 1800 sq ft and two should be more than enough.
Also I really don't want to move my satellite closer because its current position gives me the best blanket of coverage including outside. but that may have to happen, at least for testing purposes.. When I go into the bedroom where the satellite is, it *eventually* switches over but it takes a while. So I suppose that's a workaround as well, go sit in the bedroom until it switches to the satellite then go to the office. But that's obviously not a great experience.
So far I've tried lowering the 5ghz power to 50%, and I guess I could try 25% but curious if anyone has any other suggestions. Seems like the lowering of the power is the only potential workaround for this. I really wish you could manually switch which access point a device is attached to! This should be included in a firmware update. But this stuff is supposed to just work!
I also noticed on my device list that my Nest thermostat is connected to the upstairs unit when it lives downstairs way closer to the main unit, and the Nest shows as having a not great wifi connection when it should be fully strong.
A friend who also has this system said he got on a call with support and they had him download separate firmware updates for the main unit and satellite, that are newer than what you can get via the app, but I am scared of trying to get phone support due to concerns about support quality.
11 Replies
When you move locations, are you first disabling the wifi radio on the laptop, then move to the RBS location, then re-enabled the wifi radio on the laptop to see if it connects to the RBS?
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 wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router
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?Also there is v32 FW available to try though not sure if this will be helpful.
FURRYe38 thanks for the reply! The units are separated by the two stories of my home plus about 40 feet in distance. I could move the satellite to a farther away corner of our bedroom but that would also make it farther away from the middle bedroom where the office is. Right now I've moved it out into the hall outside our bedroom just for testing but haven't had time to test yet today.
I did try disabling wifi then reconecting but it stuck on the lower main unit. After sitting in the bedroom with the satellite it did eventually switch over and did stick when I went into the office.
I've done extensive wifi analysis of neighbors and have it set to the best possible channels for both frequencies. And for the 5ghz band all of my neighbors are using the higher 100+ channels and I am on channel 48 which is wide open. 2.4 is on channel 6 which is definitely the best option looking at my wifi analyzer.
Besides lowering 5ghz power to 50%, I also set CTS/RTS to 500, and chose short preamble on my wifi settings. But I don't think that should affect this issue AFAIK.
Ok if the distance is about 40 feet, you shouldn't need to move it farther away from the RBR. If anything you could try a bit closer to the RBR. Say 5 feet closer.
I would not recommend setting 500 for CTS. Keep 64 however you can try 2347. I don't know if 2347 will make any different though. I've been told by NG to keep with 64 for CTS value for Orbi AX.
So when the laptop connects to the RBS, does it maintain the connection while it's nearest the RBS?
