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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?
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.
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?)
- I tried resetting the router to factory settings and setting it up as a new network. I recreated the same network name as had previously existed with the same password and all my devices immediately connected. I still have no idea why the restart that occurs when power is cut off and restored causes device connections to fail because of an inability to get an IP address but I'll try to figure that out later. However, I ran into another strange situation. My phone was connected to the new network but the list of wifi networks contained a second entry with same network name with a label stating "Available via Orbi." I figured this was left over from the previous network of the same name so I selected the entry with the intention of forgetting it. The only option when I selected it was Connect and, when I tried that, the connection failed and the label now showed "Available via Orbi. Reset password and try again." Selecting the entry still gave only a Connect option, no password entry screen appeared, and the entry failed. This is now the only entry for my network in the list of available networks so I cannot connect my Android phone to wifi. I don't want to reset and reinstall the router all over again- can you tell me how to connect my phone to the wifi network?
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?