Orbi RBR850 Extremely high wifi ping/latency

I just spent almost 2 hours on a call with netgear's paid support team. They had me do yet another factory reset and the end result was that I need to buy a replacement. They said that since the warranty is expired even though I opened my original ticket before the warranty expired, Netgear is not willing to honor my warranty. I asked to be escalated to someone who could override it and was told I would get the same answer.

Notes from the gearhead support conversation:

* They wanted me to adjust implicit beam forming but I don't have that option on my router so we skipped it

* They said I should be getting hundreds of Mbps on a 900Mbps service. I think 802.11n is llimited to 3-400Mbps and the best I saw during testing was 120Mbps which would be totally acceptable if it was reliable and not high latency.

* They asked me to bring all my sattelites into the same room but also keep them 15' apart, which is a challenge for most people but my office is just large enough

* One test we did was with the RBR factory reset and connected only to power and the CB1200 and the sattelites both on wireless backhaul, basically the platonic ideal of a simple network setup. Same problems. Wifi rate was reasonable but ping was multiple seconds.

* I am astounded at how much advertising my router gave me just setting it up after a factory reset. I don't want armor and I don't want nannyware.

I've searched the community but I guess I need help on how to reach out to a moderator.

Select on the moderator names I tagged and it will open up there profiles. Select Send message in there profiles. 

BenZvan -

I have the Netgear Orbi 753 system and have issues with it similar to what others have reported on this forum.  I am patiently waiting for a firmware update that hopefully solves these problems and trying to keep up on the status of a fix by monitoring this forum. 

I am astounded at the poor customer service position that Netgear has taken in your case in not honoring the warranty on their product even though you flagged an issue with it to them while the product was under warranty.  This unfortunately pretty much fits the overall impression I have of Netgear from experiencing my own problems with the Orbi system and from reading the experiences of others in dealing with Netgear.  They clearly are selling a defective product/system and are failing to stand behind it.  

I would contact the Attorney General for your state and let them know that Netgear is failing to honor their warranty and ask for help in escalating your issue.  Let Netgear know you are taking this action - it might get their attention.

I have purchased Netgear products for many years and as a result of the really terrible experience I have had with the Orbi system I will probably not purchase any Netgear products in the future as many others on this forum have also indicated.  

MNChuck

Oh geez. I didn't even see the tags. They blended into your signature in my brain. Thanks.

:smileytongue:

Wanna try this?

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-RBK852-4-6-3-16-broken-Solved/m-p/2174967/highlight/true#M129671

I'll give it a shot. Support kept saying they wanted me on v4.6.5.14 but never gave me a path to upgrade. No download link or anything.

Nope. If anything it's worse. I uploaded the new firmware, did a full reset, and went back through the setup again (happy to note it found my wired satellites extremely quickly).

Speed reported by Orbi router: 117Mbps

Speed reported by laptop and phone via Orbi WiFi: 4Mbps

Speed reported by laptop via wired connection to Orbi: 927Mbps

Wifi ping time to router: 600ms

Wired ping time to router: 0.6ms

Ok. Id keep working with support. Ask them about any RMA options.

Possible the RBR is just faulty...

They told me last time they won't honor my warranty even though I started a return before my warranty expired. The return people told me the router is fine because the power light is green and the paid support people told me I have to buy a new router.

Please reach out to a forum moderator and see what options are avaialble and explain the situation to them.

Blanca_O ErnestTheGreat DarrenM 

I reached out to one last week and got no response. Perhaps they are on vacation. I will reach out to another.

i have reached out to all three of the mods you mentioned over the last 3 weeks and received no response. Unless you have other suggestions or some special access to get their attention, I think I've reached the end of my options.

Last resort would be to try this:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-WiFi-6-AX-and-WiFi-6E-AXE/RBK-8-Series-Only-Unofficial-v4-6-6-11-Firmware-Experiences/m-p/2178954/highlight/true#M24956

If not, you'll need to return the Orbi system and find something else. 

Hmm…not sure how I feel about downloading from a wordpress site, but if the router only accepts signed code, I guess it's probably fine.

Reminder: I cannot return the orbi system as netgear refuses to honor my warranty, so it's this or the dumpster.

Ya I know, it's not officially released by NG however seems to be given to a user who called NG support. 

I loaded it on mine and seems to be working fine...

Here a ping test I did with my wired PC connected to a ASUS GT-AX11000 router in wireless client bridge mode connected to my RBR on 5Ghz AX mode:

ping -t 192.168.0.1

Pinging 192.168.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=7ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 47, Received = 47, Lost = 0 (
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 2ms, Maximum = 8ms, Average = 3ms

I'll let you know how it goes.

Updated the firmware on everything and I'm waiting for the real verdict. I had awful performance right after the 3rd firmware update but rebooted the router again and it got better but that could just mean another device got the bad connection. The bad connections seem to wander from device to device, so we'll see how it goes over the next few days. 🤞🏻

I would test with the RBS off and get a base line with the RBR alone. Then try with the RBS ON.

👍

So fun story… 

If you read through this thread you'll see that the Orbi app gave every indication that it was using the best possible channels for both bands and, when talking to Netgrear's paid tech support, they had me change the 2.4GHz channel as part of the testing. After adding a new mesh system to my shopping cart, it kept bugging me that the 5GHz connection seemed to be the biggest problem (though it really didn't seem to be at first) so I made a last-ditch effort of changing the 5GHz channel from the default 48 to 44 and it has been remarkably better for the last couple days so far. Crossing my fingers any lingering problems are minor and not too intrusive for now.

Moved the new mesh system to "saved for later." Still dissatisfied that I can't use 6G without getting rid of all my 2.4 and 5GHz clients. And that I can't use WPA3 without disableing WPA2 (and getting rid of all my older clients). These kinds of critical limitations should be prominent in the advertising so people don't spend $1200 on a system with fewer features than a $400 one.

---

BenZvan wrote:

Still dissatisfied that I can't use 6G without getting rid of all my 2.4 and 5GHz clients. And that I can't use WPA3 without disabling WPA2 (and getting rid of all my older clients).

---

Perhaps there is a typo?  The Orbi 850 does not support 6G (WiFi6E)  It supports WiFi6, which is on the 5GHz frequency band.  The router supports simultaneous use of 802.11ac client devices and 802.11ax devices on the 5G band at the same time.  It has absolutely nothing to do with the 2.4G band, which is an entirely different set of radios.

The newer (and ghastly expensive 900 series Orbi) adds another set of radios and antennas to support the 6G frequency band while continuing to provide one 2.4G channel and two separate 5G channels.

WPA3 is a confusing situation.  I believe there are products which support both WPA2 and WPA3 (but not the Orbi 850).  Once again, the expensive RBKE963 supports both WPA2 and WPA3 at the same time.  I view this as a significant miscalculation on the part of Netgear engineering.  I can sympathize with their dilemma.  Suppose a customer tells his locksmith, "I want my house to have the highest security door lock. Put in Medico locks."  (They require a very unusual key that can be purchased only by registered (and screened) locksmiths.)  Then the customer says, "Oh, and I want all the existing Kwikset keys to open the door as well."  The locksmith would be aghast. "Do you want high security, or do you not?"

I see the combination WPA3/WPA3 situation in the same light.  Everybody has countless devices that will never update firmware and can do only WPA2.  The only environment that can go to WPA3 authentication is one that has total control over the WiFi devices and they are all WPA3 capable.

Sorry for the rant.

Rant away!

Not a typo. Apparently, I meant WiFi6 but netgear's advertising has been capitalizing on the newness of 5G cellular by calling their routers 5G and 6G so I don't know what's real any more. I thought I read somewhere in the setup that it wouldn't support WiFi6 unless all clients supported WiFi6 but maybe that was WPA3. All this dicking around trying to get it to work has been painful and frustrating. Happy to be wrong.

As far as WPA, I'm more worried about the security of data in flight than strictly access to the network. Maybe I'm wrong but I assumed that a WPA3 handshake would be a more secure exchange of keys than WPA2. Maybe it's nothing like SSL though and it doesn't really make a difference. I also assumed with the prevelance of WPA + WPA2 there wasn't a technical issue with WPA2 + WPA3. Given I'm likely to have my Nest devices for several more years, it's unlikely I'll be able to upgrade to WPA3 any time soon. I tried setting up the guest network as WPA2 and the main network as WPA3 but that was a huge pain and I still can't get my garage door sensor to reconnect to the original network.

So for your information. Just know that NG WiFi speeds use the #G terminology for there wireless routers in the Ghz meaning and NOT cell phone services. 

Ya I agree some are confused by the #G text being seen in the UI. Just know that this only referred to the 5Ghz wifi radio signal on any NG wifi router or MESH system. Nothing else. WiFi6e is the 6Ghz radio frequency that is not seen and supported on Orbi 9 Series systems and RAXE500 Nighthawk routers. 

FYI NG had supported mixed mode WPA2/WPA3 initally however they removed that due to finding technical problems with non WPA3 devices not working correctly with mixed modes. So they moved it until the WPA community could review and get it fixed. This was a WPA community issue that NG had to wait to be ressolved. Was not a NG problem. 

I can tell you that WPA community seems to have fixed it as WPA2/WPA3 mixed modes is working on the Orbi 9 series. Were hoping the the Orbi 7 and 8 series will see this mixed mode in the future. Not idea if or when that will happen. So don't ask. Something to post about here and let NG know of your wants for it:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Idea-Exchange-For-Business/idb-p/idea-exchange-for-business

Currently theres no big problems with using WPA2 only at this time. It's still a good securty mode even though it and WPA3 have been compromised at some level, it's still secure. So you don't have to use Guest Netowrk or non WPA3 devices. So you'll need to wait for NG to get the mixed mode developed and hopefully in the future we'll see it. Just have to be patient.