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Orbi RBR750P Wi-Fi Drops
I bought a new RBR750P with one satellite in April 2025. It's been problematic from the outset, insofar as I am getting random wi-fi drops. Meaning:
- the SSID disappears from the list of available networks
- multiple devices (e.g. my MacBook and iPad) connected to that SSID lose their wi-fi connection
- all SSIDs are lost e.g. the main network and the guest network
- neither the router or satellite are allowing connections
- the device is still powered on, and my knowledge never lost power
- after a few minutes the network will come back up, but in spite of having "auto-join" selected, I have to manually reconnect from my MacBook and iPad
- it happens randomly, maybe every couple of days, plus or minus 1
Some other data points:
- the router is plugged into the little network closet in the laundry room
- router is less than 20 feet away from my MacBook and iPad
- this is not a matter of weak signal -- there is no wifi to connect to at any strength
- satellite is upstairs, but it shouldn't matter because there is no SSID at all
- house is 4000 sq ft, but it shouldn't matter when my devices are 20 feet from the router
- I do have Armor, and yes it is enabled, and no I don't plan on disabling it--I'm paying an incremental subscription cost for this and I want the functionality I've paid for
- I usually have 20-25 devices connected, on a combination of router & satellite connection--almost all of those are very low traffic--thermostats, fridge, water leak detector, etc.
It's really aggravating. I expect network to be solid as a rock. My attitude right now is that of General McKittrick in WarGames: "After careful consideration I've determined that your newfangled system sucks". Is anyone else experiencing this?
I had an interesting experience yesterday that I'll share, and I suppose wrap this thread up while I'm at it.
Over the course of...I don't know, a few weeks or a month, I kept getting drop-outs periodically. Annoying but I would just push through. They started getting more frequent toward the end, until yesterday it culminated in me not being able to keep the connection up for longer than about 3 minutes. Literally I'm trying to have a conversation with ChatGPT from my Mac about what's going on and what to do, and I can't because the connection is bouncing so much.
Interestingly, this time it was only happening from my MacBook Pro--I was watching Netflix from my iPad on the same network during the whole process (except when I manually rebooted the router or bounced the power). Which is different from what I recall when I opened this thread, and of course makes me think there must be a problem specific to my MacBook, whether hardware or software. Did the OS get an update that broke it? Is my wireless radio just dying? Have I got a VPN causing a problem? Is there a client-side wi-fi setting I need to change? Is there a router configuration that could stabilize it?
I actually started shopping for an Eero. Then I remembered this conversation, and among the many steps ChatGPT had me try, the same recommendation appeared: shut down Armor. So after going through the mind-boggling mobile UI to find this setting, I shut it down. It was a miracle cure. Immediate relief from the symptoms. Network's been up since then.
So, I'm not sure what to make of this. The fact that my iPad and iPhone behave differently makes me want to give Orbi the benefit of the doubt. On the other hand, Armor on the router seems like it should be a total black box with the same behavior across any client. In any case, I'm sick of dealing with it. Unfortunately it appears I wasted my money on the Armor subscription (of which I've used for maybe 4-6 (painful) months out of the 12, because I won't be turning it back on.
19 Replies
I forgot to mention, I'm on the latest firmware as of Jun 13 2025, which means:
Router: V6.3.8.5_1.4.80
Satellite: V6.3.8.5
Does the front LED on the RBR or RBS turn on PINK or blink any?
Does this happen if you temporary disable Armor?
What is the distance between the router 📡 and satellite(s)🛰️? 30 feet or more is recommended in between RBR 📡 and RBS 🛰️ to begin with depending upon building materials when wired or wirelessly connected.
https://kb.netgear.com/31029/Where-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite ‌‌🛰Might try the RBR out in a open space instead of a closet area. This may inhibit good wifi signal travel.
What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.
Be sure to disable any MAC Address randomizers on phones and pads while at home:
https://community.netgear.com/kb/en-orbi-knowledge-sharing/netgear-mobile-applications-and-androidapplewindows-devices-faq/2457046Thank you for your thoughtful reply. You’ll forgive any perceived pushback below. It’s not you, it’s the problem.
Does the front LED on the RBR or RBS turn on PINK or blink any?
On the RBR750P I think the LED is atop the unit. I haven’t noticed anything but I’ll honestly have to take a closer look next time to be sure.
Does this happen if you temporary disable Armor?
I don’t know, I’d have to test that. But as I said in my original post, I’m not keen to do this. I’m assuming/aware you mean just to test, not permanently. But if I find that Armor is behind the problem, this is not helpful to me—I want that functionality and I’m paying an incremental subscription price for it. Netgear needs to test that, not expect me to lose paid functionality in the meantime.
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet or more is recommended…
I have one satellite, it is upstairs while the router is down, so I imagine more than 30 feet away. But I also don’t understand the relevance, if we are talking about an SSID that drops completely, and devices that are previously connected to the router, not the satellite.
Might try the RBR out in an open space instead of a closet area. This may inhibit good wifi signal travel.
I appreciate the suggestion but I’m not going to do this. The router is less than 20 feet from the devices mentioned here, with open doors in between. What I meant buy “closet” is a fancy Leviton wall-mounted network enclosure of thin plastic, specifically constructed to be porous for wi-fi signals, and my previous router (also an Orbi) did not have this problem in the same setting. That’s where I want the router to be, and I can’t fathom how the current location is problematic for any self-respecting router. I also don’t understand why strength of wi-fi signal would matter, if there is no wi-fi network to connect to at all?
What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.
The 2.4Ghz channel is Auto. The 5g channel is 40 (I read something previously with the same suggestion, and made that change some time back). All the devices I’ve mentioned here are connecting to the router (not satellite), on the 5g (not 2.4g) channel.
Be sure to disable any MAC Address randomizers on phones and pads while at home
This is set to “Fixed” on my MacBook and iPad presently, for my home network. So it’s not actually “off” per your suggestion, but it does mean the MAC address is unchanging on this network. The router doesn’t seem to be having any problem identifying my device. For example, it appears consistently in the device list, with the same MAC address and the same device model, name, and type. I can look into this but—leaving room for my own ignorance or misunderstanding—how is an unchanging client-side MAC address causing the router to drop wi-fi, and stop broadcasting SSID, for multiple connected devices, all at the same time?I’d be more keen to test client-side settings and whatnot if the network was up, or if I had issues that differed across devices, at least in terms of timing of recurrence. As it stands, it’s hard for me to imagine this issue being anywhere but in the router.
Well we can't know for sure if Armor could be at fault or not unless you give it a try. If it is a prblem then we can let NG know about that so they can fix it. Try this will either help rule out Armor or point to it as a culprit. It won't bother anything if Armor is disabled for a few days either.
Id also turn off the RBS to help rule anything out there. RBS is doubtful being the culprit.
Last resort would be a factory reset and setup from scratch, with out Armor being enabled first, then if nothing is seen, then enable armor and continue to check for this issue.
All of these questions and suggestions are to help narrow down and figure out where the problem maybe, in router or else where. Gotta start some place.
A couple more thoughts:
- This frequently happens when I'm just sitting here in my home office, as I am now, and as it did recur today. So the devices aren't moving around, which should also imply that the signal strength is constant.
- Sucks that this is hard to test. E.g. if I did disable Armor, I'd still need to watch what happens for several days before making any determination about the result.
Does anything appear in the Orbi Log File when this happens?
This system appears to be within the magic '90 days of complimentary support' from Netgear. What does Netgear support say about this situation?
I don't now, I haven't studied it. Also, it appears the log has a 24-hour loopback window, so whatever it might have previously told us, I've lost. I'm going to turn on scheduled log emails hourly, and see if we capture anything useful the next time wi-fi bounces.
*lookback
Ah I forgot to answer about what Netgear says. This has not been reported to Netgear support yet.
Just to update the group. I've had this running for the past week or so with the log file being emailed to me every hour. It hasn't bounced during this time, at least not during a time when I've been sitting at the computer (I'm here a lot as I work from home). So that's nice because when I opened this discussion it was more frequent. Not nice insofar as all I can do is wait for the problem to duplicate.
Well, I give up. Prior to this post, I'd reset the router multiple times, and it was recurring at a completely intolerable frequency nonetheless. Ever since I put this post up, this problem has not recurred. I have no idea how one explains that, as there's been no configuration change on my side, but for enabling log emails daily, which of course tells us nothing when the problem doesn't recur. So, I've disabled log emailing and put this on the back burner.
I recommend that you make contact with NG support and see what your RMA options are. Maybe a faulty system from the get go since you mentioned having reset the system multiple times and issues are still happening. Ask aobut a cross shipping RMA option.
I see there hasn't been any FW updates and not sure if this system will see any thing.
Maybe I wasn't clear. The problem is not recurring presently.
I had an interesting experience yesterday that I'll share, and I suppose wrap this thread up while I'm at it.
Over the course of...I don't know, a few weeks or a month, I kept getting drop-outs periodically. Annoying but I would just push through. They started getting more frequent toward the end, until yesterday it culminated in me not being able to keep the connection up for longer than about 3 minutes. Literally I'm trying to have a conversation with ChatGPT from my Mac about what's going on and what to do, and I can't because the connection is bouncing so much.
Interestingly, this time it was only happening from my MacBook Pro--I was watching Netflix from my iPad on the same network during the whole process (except when I manually rebooted the router or bounced the power). Which is different from what I recall when I opened this thread, and of course makes me think there must be a problem specific to my MacBook, whether hardware or software. Did the OS get an update that broke it? Is my wireless radio just dying? Have I got a VPN causing a problem? Is there a client-side wi-fi setting I need to change? Is there a router configuration that could stabilize it?
I actually started shopping for an Eero. Then I remembered this conversation, and among the many steps ChatGPT had me try, the same recommendation appeared: shut down Armor. So after going through the mind-boggling mobile UI to find this setting, I shut it down. It was a miracle cure. Immediate relief from the symptoms. Network's been up since then.
So, I'm not sure what to make of this. The fact that my iPad and iPhone behave differently makes me want to give Orbi the benefit of the doubt. On the other hand, Armor on the router seems like it should be a total black box with the same behavior across any client. In any case, I'm sick of dealing with it. Unfortunately it appears I wasted my money on the Armor subscription (of which I've used for maybe 4-6 (painful) months out of the 12, because I won't be turning it back on.
Not the first time Armor has been the culprit. Glad you got it figured out. Thank you for coming back and updating us.
Be sure to save off a back up configuration to file for safe keeping. Saves time if a reset is needed.
https://kb.netgear.com/000062080/How-do-I-back-up-the-configuration-settings-on-my-Orbi-WiFi-SystemEnjoy. 📡
