Forum Discussion
Solved
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 availabl...
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.
This reared its ugly head again. My network was bouncing down and up, with just minutes in between. I remembered this experience and thought I'd go check the router setting for Armor--which I have not touched in nearly a year since the last fiasco.
First I opened the web admin console and there was a firmware update available--I received no notification for that so I guess I'm glad I noticed it. Got the new firmware installed.For some reason this also reset my router such that it thought it was a new device, so I had to go through that whole flow again. Same problem, network bouncing down and up.
Back into the admin console. Lo and behold, there is Armor Security with ENABLED in the admin console on the web browser. I definitely did not re-enable this myself. So I searched around for the setting to disable it and then remembered -- oh yeah, for some reason changing that setting is only in the app, and nowhere near any intuitive spot. Finally found it, and disabled it. Network's been up for the last 10 minutes, which is better than before, and I assume this is the same problem as before -- Armor sucks, and the same solution as before -- disable it.
Everything about this experience is user un-friendly. Not getting a notification an update is needed. Having to do the new router flow again. Somehow re-enabling a setting that I most definitely don't want. The fact that Armor wrecks my connectivity. Hell, even going back into this forum was not easy, since SSO doesn't carry over from Netgear.com to here. Seriously, Netgear--do better.
Notifications about FW updates are seen on the web page or in the Orbi app.
Also if you had FW updates enabled on the RBR, then this may have auto updated on it's own as well.
Always check the forums or NGs Download site for new updates or ask about them here.
Save off a new RBR backup config for safe keeping. Saves time if a reset or setup is needed.