RBK750 - Devices lose connectivity when moving from base station to satellites (wired backhaul)

Question

I have an RBR750 with two RBS750, all devices on firmware V7.2.6.31. Each satellite is connected to the base station over gigabit ethernet. Once any wireless device successfully connects to the network via the base station or either satellite, connectivity and communication is excellent and completely stable. However, when such a successfully connected device is physically moved such that it connects to a different satellite, communication is often lost for up to several minutes. During this time, other wireless devices connected to the same satellite continue to have excellent throughput -- only the moved device is unable to communicate. Turning the affected device's wi-fi radio off and on does not resolve the issue. It's only after a period of several minutes that it can regain communication.

What I have tried:

Directly connecting a single satellite to the base station (single LAN cable with no switches in between)

Factory reset of base station and satellites

Switch base station between Router Mode and AP Mode

Use a static IP address on the device and adding a DHCP reservation for it

Different devices (iPhone, iPad and Android phone)

The only thing I've found that resolves the issue is using wireless backhaul instead of wired. However, this configuration is not acceptable due to reduced throughput and increased latency.

CrimpOn · Answer

What specific ports on the router and satellites are connected?
&nbsp;
Is the system currently in router mode or Access Point mode?
&nbsp;

DolceArdore · Answer

At the moment the router is in AP mode with the Internet port connected to the WAN and Ethernet port 3 (closest to the power connector) connected to a LAN switch.&nbsp; One of the satellites has the port 1 connected to a LAN switch and the other has port 2 connected to a LAN switch.&nbsp; All other ethernet ports are empty.

CrimpOn · Answer

There have been several posts recently describing issues when Orbi systems are in AP mode and satellites are not connected to router LAN ports.&nbsp; This does not appear to be the issue here unless somehow the LAN and WAN ports are attached to a common pathway.
&nbsp;
Does the Attached Devices page show devices attached to the satellites correctly?
&nbsp;
It is truly surprising that turning WiFi off and back on again on the device does not result in an immediate connection.
&nbsp;

DolceArdore · Answer

The router's Internet (WAN) port is attached directly to the fibre optic modem, which in turn is attached only to the service provider's fibre from the wall, so no chance of a common pathway.&nbsp;The Attached Devices page generally shows everything correctly when the router is in Router Mode.&nbsp; However, I have observed it occasionally showing my iPhone as having a wired connection to the router when it is actually connected wirelessly to a satellite.&nbsp;Yes it surprised me quite a lot as well that turning the wifi off and on did not immediately reconnect successfully.&nbsp; When using my Android phone, I could see it connecting to the satellite but failing to get an IP address.&nbsp;Also surprising to me was when I set my iPhone to use a static IP address, and when I moved to a different satellite I could see that it had a connection (the wifi symbol is shown in the top status bar) but I was unable to communicate with the Internet as well as devices on my LAN.&nbsp; And yet at the same time, no issues at all with my iPad connected to the very same satellite.&nbsp; It's as if the satellite and iPhone are connected but the satellite is ignoring all the packets from the iPhone rather than sending them to the router via the ethernet backhaul, while having no problems with the packets from the iPad.&nbsp; Or maybe it is forwarding the iPhone packets to the router but the router is ignoring them (I don't really know how it works TBH).

CrimpOn · Answer

It might be worth checking that on the Orbi web interface, Security Menu, that Access Control is not enabled. One of the symptoms of "Blocking" a device is that it can connect, but not communicate.&nbsp; But, if a device is Blocked, then it will never communicate.
&nbsp;
The most recent Apple and Android operating systems have the setting the "randomize" the hardware MAC address enabled.&nbsp; This has caused countless problems for WiFi users.&nbsp; Can you check that this setting is disabled?

Forum Discussion

RBK750 - Devices lose connectivity when moving from base station to satellites (wired backhaul)

8 Replies