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Orbi RBK753S cannot obtain IP address
Last year I purchased the Orbi RBK735S wifi router and the Nighthawk CM1150V modem with Xfinity (Comcast) as my ISP. I have a smart home with Alexa and 40 devices (Kasa switches, Roku TVs, Android pho...
At the bottom of the list of available WiFi systems, my Android phone has an option to "Add a Network".
What happens when you select that option and manually enter the correct WiFi SSID/password?
Is this bit the issue?
mbailey555 wrote:
We have lost power three times and, in every case, I cannot get the wifi to work for several days.
The rest just seems to be background detail.
After a power cut, it is important to restart the network on the correct order.
Be sure to restart your network in this sequence:
- Turn off and unplug modem.
- Turn off router and computers.
- Plug in and turn on modem. Wait 2 minutes for it to connect.
- Turn on the router and wait 2 minutes for it to connect.
- Turn on computers and rest of network.
You say nothing about the software version on your router. What is it? Please don't say "the latest". That tells us nothing useful. The number is what matters.
If you live in an area where the power is flaky, then it might be a good idea to invest in an uninterruptible power supply "UPS".
- The firmware version on the Orbi is 4.6.14.3 and checking for updates indicates this version is current.
As I described in my original post, I restart in the same way you suggest (unplug router, satellites, and modem, wait 5 minutes, restart modem, wait for modem to complete startup, restart router, wait for router to complete startup, then check for device reconnections. In the case of our android phones and multiple Roku Ultimate TVs, the signal strength of the wifi network shows as Excellent but attempts to connect to the network fail because the damn router won't assign an IP address. The assignment method is DHCP rather than static due to the large number of smart switches and other appliances. When the router is restarted, a few of the switches reconnect but the individual switches that reconnect change with each restart of the router. I plan to get a UPS for the modem and router but I still need to determine why this ridiculous failure to assign IP addresses is happening.It is often useful to compare
- how the router describes connections to individual devices, with
- how the devices themselves describe the connection.
There are several tools on the Orbi management web site (http://orbilogin.net ) that provide information:
- The Attached Devices display, available from both the Basic tab and the Advanced Tab
- The Orbi log which is found under Administration on the Advanced Tab.
- Access Control, which is found under Security on the Advanced Tab.
See the user manual for directions on how to find these displays:
https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RBK752/RBK752_UM_EN.pdf
Do the Android phones show up in the log file, Attached Devices, or Access Control?
p.s. I agree that Static IPs are generally "not the way to go" (for a variety of reasons). However, I have found that having the router "assign" ( or "reserve") IP addresses for specific devices is useful for devices that will remain connected to the network for a significant period of time. (Devices like Roku's, Smart Switches, Vacuums, phones, tablets, laptops, etc.) The LAN Setup page provides a mechanism to enter the hardware MAC address of these devices to that every time they connect, they will get the same IP address.
The most recent software releases for Apple, Android, and Windows devices have a WiFi setting to "randomize" the MAC address when they connect to WiFi. (It's a "security" feature that I find really annoying, so I deliberately turn it off. Every time Apple or Google update software, they happily turn it back on again. What would the user know about what's best for his smartphone?)