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psheld's avatar
psheld
Tutor
Mar 19, 2022
Solved

Orbi RBK753 has chucked my Airplay speakers off the network after firmware update

Orbi AX4200 WiFi 6 High-Performance Router (RBR750). (It doesn't fill me with confidence that this community forum doesn't have my Orbi model available in the selection field above. But heh ho.)   ...
  • psheld's avatar
    psheld
    Mar 23, 2022

    The speakers connected to the AVM once it was changed to the same SSID and password as the Orbi, and then would not connect to the Orbi. Nice try 🙂

    So I printed off every single setting and did a full factory reset of the Orbi network. I then reconfigured it just as I had done before, and found myself saying "A-HA!"

     

    Now I don't know exactly when I changed Orbi to WPA3?  Was it a day before or after the firmware update? Not more than that surely. Seemed harmless, or the right thing to do in fact, but could this be the culprit rather than the firmware update?

     

    So I got everything back exactly as before but with WPA2, crossed my fingers, and before I went to check the speakers I heard their little chime indicated wi-fi connection was established! 🎉

     

    I went to check KEF.com and found they do not recommend open networks or WEP (no surprise there!) And they add: "The WPA2 security protocol is recommended." Note, KEF does not say: "The speakers are not compatible with more recent security protocols such as the three years old WPA3."

     

    But if the effect is indeed related to the cause here, it would seem that KEF should indeed include that sentence in its documentation, or even better, get their kit compatible with WPA3. I will point them to this thread.

    Thanks Mikey94025 and thank you FURRYe38, and thank you [at]netgear on Twitter.

     

     

Mikey94025's avatar
Mikey94025
Hero
Mar 19, 2022
psheld wrote:

 

Attempting to connect them "the Airplay way" suggests every wifi SSID in the neighbourhood except my Orbi network. And connecting them the KEF app way balks I guess for much the same reason. The app tells me the speakers receive the network credentials, but then the speakers never appear on the network.

Older 2.4hz wireless clients sometimes do better with Orbi settings changes.  Try setting your CTS/RTS Threshold to 2347 to maximize compatibility:

  1. Go to the web admin portal at http://orbilogin.com/
  2. Click to the Advanced tab, Advanced left menu, Wireless Settings
  3. Set CTS/RTS Threshold to 2347 for both 2.4hz and 5Ghz networks
  4. Press Apply

See if that helps.  If problems still persist, next try disabling AX mode for the 2.4Ghz band:

  1. Go to http://orbilogin.com/
  2. Click to the Advanced tab, Setup left menu, Wireless Setup
  3. Uncheck "Enable 2.4G" under the top Enable AX section
  4. Press Apply
psheld's avatar
psheld
Tutor
Mar 20, 2022

Thanks Mikey94025 for your reply here.

 

Before giving the CTS/RTS tweak a go, I'd like to ask a question about your reply, specifically where you write "Older 2.4 wireless clients ..."

 

Both pairs of speakers were purchased in 2021. Of course, I cannot vouch for what generation of chip or protocols KEF may have seen fit to use, but I'm fairly certain, given that they appear to know their stuff and win lots of awards, that they would not qualify as "older ... clients".

 

Does this mean your CTS/RTS tweak is less valid in this particular instance? I'm also wondering if the CTS/RTS would influence the speakers being able to join the network in the first place, or only their subsequent performance? And I guess that last question goes for AX too?

 

 

  • Mikey94025's avatar
    Mikey94025
    Hero
    Mar 20, 2022
    psheld wrote:

    Does this mean your CTS/RTS tweak is less valid in this particular instance? I'm also wondering if the CTS/RTS would influence the speakers being able to join the network in the first place, or only their subsequent performance? And I guess that last question goes for AX too?

    These are common tactics we use to improve compatibility with 2.4Ghz clients, many of which predated the AX mode (which was not that long ago)  It's safe and easy to try it since you can simply undo it if you see no improvement.

    • psheld's avatar
      psheld
      Tutor
      Mar 21, 2022
      Hi Mikey94025

      I disable AX for both 2.4 and 5, but no improvement. Same failure for both the AirPlay way and the KEF app way.

      I found the RTS / CTS page via the menu as you describe, but I cannot see a way to change the associated numbers. See the screenshot here.

      (Nope, this old forum software isn’t responding when I press “Browse files to upload”. What a joyful UX this is!!)

      Thanks again for trying to find a solution here.
      • psheld's avatar
        psheld
        Tutor
        Mar 22, 2022

        On a big screen now so able to upload that screenshot.