Nest Thermostat Batteries LOW on a new ORBI AX setup

I bought RBK753S from Costco a month ago.

Then suddenly my Nest E battery started draining (I also don't have a C wire) after 2 years of perfect operation. I contacted nest, no solutions, so I went ahead and bought a new Nest Pro, assuming the battery had degraded over time.

The new nest is draining in 1 day, so I started going crazy troubleshooting it over and over.

Now I see this thread, and it all makes sense. The ORBI is killing my nest battery :(

So what can I do?

Firmware Version V3.2.15.25_1.3.15

I changed  CTS/RTS Threshold (1-2347) to  2347

Now what? what do I do?

I spent a lot of money on this router, can someone please suggest a solution 

:smileysad:

Try FW version v32. Leave CTS values at default after doing a factory reset and setup from scratch. 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/RBR850-RBS850-Firmware-Version-3-2-15-32-Hot-Fix-Firmware-Update/m-p/1943164/highlight/true#M5113

My Router is RBR750

I found and installed V3.2.15.32 on Router and both satellites.

I set CTS/RTS Threshold for 2.4 and 5ghz to back to 64

Do I really HAVE TO do a factory reset and set everything up from scratch?

Let try the reset as a last resort. Changing CTS back to 64 should help. Though you see the problem continue I would update to v32 on your system, reset then, then keep CTS at 64. 

I just experienced my 3rd gen NEST disconnected or 3 hours before I noticed it. I had changed CTS from 64 to 2347 yesterday. I feel there is an issue on Orbi AX and 3rd gen NEST controllers if CTS is set to 2347. It had been working well with 64 up until I made the change. I have reverted back to 64 and will check the NEST during the week. I don't see NEST problems with CTS set to 2347 using Orbi AC or other routers that use 2347 as defaut values. So I think there is something going on with Orbi AX FW and NEST controllers. 

I will be clear in a few days whether this has fixed it. But so far, I think your suggestion with firmware 32 has helped.

seems like battery power is not draining as fast.

https://p198.p4.n0.cdn.getcloudapp.com/items/kpuboG7R/Image%202020-08-04%20at%209.00.53%20AM.png?v=c955057814923d9b140c9db87cda7286 

Thanks for adding the additional infromation on details. I've let NG know about this as I've been testing a few different configurations since loading v32. All seems stable until I changed CTS from 64 to 2347. I've changed back to 64. 

Keep us posted on this and let us know if you see any issues with using 64 for CTS. 

I was so excited, I thought we had found a solution with the firmware 32.

Now, i'm not sure again :(

Nest Pro v3

Monday 1:27pm  3.85V (newly usb charged)

Wednesday 8:52am 3.82V (still holding a charge)

Thursday 9:11am 3.74V

Thursday 6:46pm 3.66V (I noticed farsight didn't work)

Obviously, I don't have a C wire, and I believe the nest is supposed to get charged during the time A/C is running, which is almost all the time, because I'm in Nevada  heat.

Anything else I can try?

P.S.: btw,  before I switched to nest pro, my nest E was running with no problem for 2 years, before I bought the orbi RBK753

My RBR850 is running V3.2.15.32 and I set CTS/RTS back to 64.  However, my two Nest thermostats 3rd gen still reported low battery issues after running overnight with this configuration.  Therefore I put them back to my old Asus router wireless network that I have running as a guest network (I haven't been able to connect my Nest thermostats to my Orbi AX system since I got it back in March).

Ive set my CTS to 64 and also make sure that channel width is set for 20/40Mhz. I noticed my 1st gen NEST disconnected last nite after setting 40Mhz only yesterday. So I set it back to 20/40Mhz. 

I would make sure that your NEST are fully charged. I used a apple phone charger for 30 minutes on my 3rd gen the other day after it had been disconnected over night and said battery was low. Charnged it and it's been online since. 

Make sure your NEST controllers are configured correctly for your house system as well. 

How old are these NEST controllers? I had 2 1st gens and 1 of them the battery gave out early on vs the other one is still working after 5+years. 

If your still having problems with NEST and orbi AX, please open a support ticket and let NG know about this. 

Blanca_O 

I still get updates to this thread since I posted, but I got rid of my Orbi AX's a few months back when this all happened to me, and I'm seriously glad I did.  I can't believe that NetGear products interfere so much with these devices that they drain them.

Also having to fully reset your brand new hardward, and reconfigure seems like a very odd setup.

I think NetGear LABS needs to start getting some IoT devices in the testing mixture to reduce this for most folks.  Honestly, if I weren't nearly as techy as I am I could see where most folks would be lost.  A main networking component shouldn't need a computer science degree for the home user.  If this were a business class setup, I would then change my opinion, but this is really well over the top for any normal home user to deal with and at the price point, its a slap back at the purchaser for buying it!

Again for NetGears name, and the limited warranty that they sell with thier products they really need to make this more fool proof and more quick setup than its invovling for folks.

I've bitten my tounge in seeing these task updates, but just feeling the frustration I had with the orbi products, and the same feeling of having the Nest components drain!  Again I was just glad mine wasn't during peak heating season and not allowing me to have any heat.  otherwise I would have had to take them off the base and plug them in vis USB on the back to give them a quick charge so I could basically LIVE in my house.

I followed up with Netgear support on the Nest Thermostat battery drain. Their guidance: The Nest Thermostats connect to the Orbi on 5 GHz which causes the drain. It is not possible to force connection to 2.4 GHz. I ended up connecting my old wireless router to the Orbi as an access point, only on 2.4 GHz with a different SSID and connected the Nest Thermostats to that. They've worked fine for the last several weeks, although it is a little annoying to have to go to this level of workaround. 

Wondering if this is something NEST should be looking into as well. They should be collaborating with NG on this. 

Only other thing you can try to see if the NEST will connect to 2.4Ghz on Orbi is to turn down the power output on the RBR from 100% to 25% and see if the NEST will connect. Though you shouldn't have too. 

Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

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P_Joyce wrote:

I followed up with Netgear support on the Nest Thermostat battery drain. Their guidance: The Nest Thermostats connect to the Orbi on 5 GHz which causes the drain. It is not possible to force connection to 2.4 GHz. I ended up connecting my old wireless router to the Orbi as an access point, only on 2.4 GHz with a different SSID and connected the Nest Thermostats to that. They've worked fine for the last several weeks, although it is a little annoying to have to go to this level of workaround. 

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And, they connected just fine of 5 HGZ on my older Synology and Nighthawk routers. 

Ya my 2 NESTs work with Orbi AC as well. No issues. 

Are you re-charging the NEST controllers before connecting them back to Orbi AX? They need to be re-charged.

I would keep on NG support and ask them to look more into this. Have them contact NEST mfr as well if they haven't already. So far with my 8 series Orbi AX, CTS 64 and 20/40Mhz channel width, I don't see any battery drain. I have seen it only when the NEST controller has disconnected for long periods of time and doesn't connect. I then re-charge the battery. 

Possible there maybe some differences between the 7 and 8 series systems that NEST doesn't like. 

One thing I do notice is that the 3rd gen seems to not auto reconnect if I make any wifi changes to the RBR. I have to make sure it's re-connected manually. 

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P_Joyce wrote:

And, they connected just fine of 5 HGZ on my older Synology and Nighthawk routers. 

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overnight,  battery went to 3.61 and in the morning it got disconnected.

I'm now charging the nest with usb.

next thing, I've setup a mini router under new ssid and it is connected to the ORBI, using my old netgear PR2000

Once nest is fully charged, I'm going to connect it to this mini router and let's see how many days nest will last connected to this router instead.

Ok sounds good.

What are the current values on the Orbi RBR?

CTS?

Channel width? 

FW version? 

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proxy2 wrote:

overnight,  battery went to 3.61 and in the morning it got disconnected.

 

I'm now charging the nest with usb.

 

next thing, I've setup a mini router under new ssid and it is connected to the ORBI, using my old netgear PR2000

 

Once nest is fully charged, I'm going to connect it to this mini router and let's see how many days nest will last connected to this router instead.

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my last experience: firmware 32, CTS=64, 2.4ghz=Auto, 5ghz=48

Mon 1pm  3.85V (newly usb charged)

Tue 9am 3.82V (still holding a charge)

Wed 9am 3.74V

Wed 6pm 3.66V (I noticed farsight didn't work)

Thu 8am 3.659 (wifi disconnected)

it appeared that firmware 32, allowed nest to last a little longer  (3 days) than previous firmware.

Is 20/40Mhz coexistence enabled or disabled? 

And did you notice the battery drain with CTS set to 2347? 

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proxy2 wrote:

my last experience: firmware 32, CTS=64, 2.4ghz=Auto, 5ghz=48

 

Mon 1pm  3.85V (newly usb charged)

Tue 9am 3.82V (still holding a charge)

Wed 9am 3.74V

Wed 6pm 3.66V (I noticed farsight didn't work)

Thu 8am 3.659 (wifi disconnected)

 

it appeared that firmware 32, allowed nest to last a little longer  (3 days) than previous firmware.

 

 

 

 

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Hi, 

Can you get us a distance in Ft, between the RBR and NEST controller and distance between the RBS and NEST controller? 

I'm getting some informration regarding possible reasons why your NESTs maybe loosing battery power. 

I can confirm that the problem of battery drain is clearly caused by Orbi 

I setup a tiny router, which wireless connects to my orbi and creates a new SSID.

I connected the 3.858V nest to this SSID on Aug6 1pm

it is now 48 hours and battery of the nest is doing fine at 3.848V

Yeah, its lame that I need to run a second router, if orbi releases a firmware that 100% fixes the battery drain issue, please update this topic. Until then, i will have to keep this mini router going for the nest thermostat.

proxy2 and brandobot 

Can you get us a distance in Ft, between the RBR and NEST controller and distance between the RBS and NEST controller please? 

What FW version are you currently loaded? 

Thank you for this infromation. 

What current CTS values do you have set on the RBR? 64 or 2347? 

NG believes there is a ping ponging happening on the NEST and the NEST is some how getting disconnected and attempting to connect to the other signal(RBR) then maybe getting disconnected again then ping ponging it's connection back and forth between the RBS and RBR signal. One thing I do notice with mine, 3rd gen, is that if a change is made on the RBR, the NEST won't auto reconnect and if I don't catch it soon enough, the battery will drain as it gets stuck in the connection non connection loop thus causing the battery to be drained. 

10 feet should be close enough, however NG mentioned moving the RBS closer to the NEST controller thats having battery drains to see if this helps any. Let us know the new distance. 

I have my 1 3rd gen NEST about 4 feet away from my RBR. I haven't had any problems with this NEST which has been problematic since the introduction of Orbi AX. With v32 FW loaded, I have AX enabled and using 20/40Mhz and CTS at 64. 100% power output and manual channels, 11 and 48 since my next door neighbor has a Orbi AC using lower channels. NEST has been stable and online and no battery drain.