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Forum Discussion
RBKE963B - Ethernet Backhaul with AP Mode
Hi Everyone,
I've been using Apple's AirPort Wi-Fi system for the past 10 years or so, quite reliably to be honest, but ancient technology by today's standards.
I had 4x Airport Extreme Base Stations acting as wireless access points, placed strategically throughout the house. Each WAP was configured to act as Bridge, and connected via Cat 6e cable to a central Xfinity router which acted as the DNS server.
I've recently started seeing ads for the Orbi 6 mesh system, so I've purchased the model RBKE963B (1 router + 2 satellites).
The setup was a bit more pain in the butt than I thought for a state-of-the-art product. However, I did manage to get it setup as follows:
All 3 units (1 router, 2 satellites) are placed throughout my house. They're all more than 30ft apart, and each is connected via Cat6e cable to my Xfiniti router/DNS server. The Orbi router is set to AP mode. The satellites, once connected, showed a steady blue light for a few minutes, and then no lights. My understanding is that this indicates a reliable ethernet backhaul connection.
All was well for a few days, and I was getting 600+Mbps on my iPhone 14 Pro, my iMac, my wife's MacBook Air, and my iPad Pro.
However, today problems started. Both my iPhone 14 Pro and iPad Pro wouldn't connect to my WiFi anymore. Clicking on my SSID on the iPhone just yielded a spinning wheel as the phone tried to connect.
Half an hour later, it would connect, but a dialog showed "no internet connection". Once it did connect, there was no data coming through. Same with my iPad Pro. Both are running iOS 17.2.
Checked the firmware on the Orbi and the latest firmware is running.
We have about 40 other WiFi devices throughout the house, and they're all connected and working fine (Nest Protect units, Apple TV units, Garage Door cameras/openers, etc.)
This leads me to think there's something with the hand off process between the satellite units.
Sadly, I can not see the Orbi satellite units when I log into http://orbilogin.net/start.htm. My understanding is that when satellite units are connected via backhaul ethernet, they don't show up in the orbi control panel (strange for such an expensive product).
If anyone has any tips on how to solve this connectivity issue, I'm all ears. Thanks again.
9 Replies
Does other devices have problems connected or is it only Apple devices? Reason for asking is that there are some known issues on Apples iOS 17 Wifi section that are causing problem coming down the grape vine. If your Apple devices were updated recently and now your experiencing this, I'd make contact with Apple support. I have my 960 series online, router mode, however both RBS ethernet connected and a iPhone 12 Pro Max iOS 16.5 and have not experience any issues. Been holding back on updating to iOS 17 due to a different issue, however with other users posting issues with Apple devices and recent iOS 17, I'm holding out for Apple to address this.
️Be sure to disable any MAC Address randomizers on phones and pads while at home:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-App/NETGEAR-Mobile-Applications-and-Apple-Devices-FAQ/td-p/2220016/jump-to/first-unread-messageAlso, how are the RBS ethernet connected to the system? You say you have the RBS connected to the ISP router? If so, this is not correct for there connection. They need to be connected behind the RBR like this:
ISP Router<RBR960<>RBS960.
Same thing here. Brand new Orbi 960 system. Spinning wheel on my phone and iPad. System is 4 days old. Wish I could be of more help, but there seems to be a lot of these types of issues plaguing the Orbi system.
Hey, thanks for the quick reply. Reviewing my connectivity, my Orbi router was connected to my switch through the yellow (internet) plug. I've reviewed the wiring diagram in the images you've provided, and they indicate that I should connect my Orbi router to my switch using the Ethernet plug.
I've tried this. However, this caused the internet to keep going in and out every couple of seconds. Speed tests would get hung up, resume, freeze, etc. I've rebooted the Orbit router, both satellites, as well as my Xfiniti modem/DNS server. After 15 minutes, the issue persists. As such, I've reverted back to connecting my Orbi router to my Xfiniti via the yellow "internet" plug.
The issue with my phone and iPad not connecting persists, unfortunately.
They are both iOS 17 indeed.
No, the RBS need to be connected to the LAN ports in back of the RBR. The Yellow WAN port on the RBR is still needed to be connected to the host router for that path. The LAN ports in back of the RBR can be connected to a LAN switch and then the RBS connected to this switch.
ISP Router<>RBR AP Mode>LAN Switch<>RBS connected to switch.
This is something I use in my configuration currently. I actually have 3 LAN switches daisy chained down to one RBS that's in the basement.
What is the brand and model of your switch you have currently?
