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ORBI + SAMSUNG TV + BT
After a factory re-boot recommended by on-line support, the problems disappeared only to return within a day or two, just as they had done before. They relate specifically—very specifically–to what apps work on my Samsung QE75 television, namely that although all the apps work initially, within a day or two some fail to work. Most noticably this happens with Amazon Prime (even though the television is a registered device on that app) that returns either nothing or an error code of 5004. The APPLE tv app initially works, then suddenly fails to recognize me as a user and after re-loading my user name and so forth then only works after a fashion. It takes an interminably long time to load a movie, for instance (several minutes -- see details of download speed below). Other apps work fine (for now). Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Curzon Home Cinema, among them. Moreover, the Apple tv and Amazon prime work fine on other devices using the Orbi as a wireless connection—iPad and iPhone for instance. Importantly the problem occurs whether the Samsung television is connected by Cat 6 Ethernet to the Orbi or by wi-fi. Speed is not a problem. The Orbi app speed test regularly returns values of close to 300 mb download and 50 mb upload speeds. The BT line is a FTTH link to a BT modem that's connected thereafter to the Orbi router using the provided (short) Cat 6 cable. Sometimes I have recorded values at around 50 mb, but for the most part the speeds are in the range specificed for the service.
Samsung diagnostics have been able to make the television work via my iPhone. However, two calls to them led to the suggestion that the ISP is responsible for firewalls that might lead to thes problems. Tellingly perhaps they have not been able to connect remotely to the television to undertake diagnostic. Unfortunatly, my ISP is unehlpful. Becuase I am using a non-BT router, they declare they are unable to provide any technical support (so the sum of three telephone calls suggest emphatically).
Many, many hours have been spent grappling with thes problems. Sometimes this has been done under advicefrom a generally helpful Netgear telephone support but who I now feel they have run out of ideas. I have spent more time than is reasonable in reloading apps, delecting cache, changing addresses, shutting down the modem in the prescribed manner, re-booting the router, changing wi-fi settings (it's not a wi-fi problem as the above attests) and on and on to the point where I have lost confidence in the Orbi. Certainly if I hadn't destroyed the original boxing the Orbi would be on its way back to the retailer. I have got the point at which I throw myself on the mercy of the community and call out for help!
Zzio got in touch after my last (rather grumpy) message with some beta upgrades to the software. I downloaded and the Orbi system worked immediately. I waited three days, during which I tested all the apps systematically, and I am happy (ecstatic!) to report that it is working well, indeed incredibly well. So there you have it, after a month and maybe thirty hours of fault-finding, it works. Early adoption is often quite difficult, but not THIS difficult.
So thanks to ZZio for persisting when I did not. And thanks to all the others who contributed suggestions and support. The Community has been a great resource (technical and emotional).
It's difficult to be gracious about Netgear. Why the tech support team in India didn't seem to have the beta upgrade, I can't fathom. Ironically they asked me for a copy of V3.2.10.1. This has led me to question whether Netgear supports them appropriately.
Thanks to all who helped.
31 Replies
Let's start at the beginning....
Who provides your internet?
What is type of modem etc?
What firmware do you have on your Orbi system?
How is TV connected to the Orbi?
Any other details are useful.
Thanks Chuck for getting in touch.
The ISP is British Telecom (BT), their Homehub service, which is a fibre to the home service. They typical provide a modem and a router. Their router works perfectly well within the system (including all the ancillary connections). It is supposed to run at 300 mb and does. I can substitute for the Orbi and everything on the TV works fine (except slower) and the wi-fi for telephone use is much less effective.
The modem is Echolife GPON Terminal (HG8110H-20) that delivers a telephone line (feeding an ageing Bang and Olufsen wireless telephone) and a port that feeds––via a short internet cable—the Orbi RBK852 Router.
Outputs from the Router are as follows:
By ethernet cable
to an iMac
to the Samsung television
to a NetGear switch (Nighthawk S8000)
And then from the Switch to:
An AppleTV (for driving speakers)
An Apple TV (for a second set of speakers)
To a Rako Bridge (this drives a wireless lighting and curtain control system in the appartment
The problems persist even without any cable outputs from the Orbi router.
Wirelessly we run two iPads and two iPhones. The Orbi has been really very effective in improving phone reception via Wi-Fi (4G reception is very poor here). We drive a Blink security camera wirelessly (currently not in use).
And there's the satellite Orbi, which appears to work perfectly well.
The Orbi is connected to the Internet via a login: PPPoE (a password is not used).
The TV is connected currently to the Orbi by Ethernet, but the problems are identical if it is connected by wi-fi. It's about 30ft away from the Orbi. This distance didn't prove to be an obstacle for the BT router.
All this sits in a 2500 sq ft appartment with concrete walls, but this is not a challenge to the Orbi if we can judge by the very good phone-wi-fi coverage.
The iPads and iPhones work with all the APPS: Netflix, ITV Hub, YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Apple TV, Curzon Home Cinema, Amazon Prime using the Orbi wireless.
After a re-set of the Orbi (and resetting the Moden) all the apps work well for about a day. Then Amazon Prime stops working, it gives error 5004 (which relates, I believe to authentication -- but the Samsung is a device recognized by the Prime). Then the Apple TV works but fails to recognize me as a user and all my account details have to be re-entered; before this loading is slow (so I can pick a movie) but then I pick a movie and it doesn't work (I don't get any error messages).
Is this enough detail? Naturally, happy to provide more. I'm intrigued to hear your views.
Great rundown!
The first thing I would do to make sure there is nothing askew inside the RBR850 is to do a proper and complete factory reset. Chances are you have already done this, but just to be sure make sure you do it by the numbers.
ekhalil -- seems like I remember a similar issue (with the RBR50) with authentication that by changing a value (via telnet) the RBR authenticated more often preventing disconnects or timeouts?
