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Forum Discussion
RBR850 Frequent Disconnects Starting March 9th AM EST
Yesterday 3/9, starting at about 6AM EST, my Orbi system is disconnecting my Nest Cameras and Thermostat and my work laptop every 10-20 mins or so. I have about 20 devices connected to my mesh syste...
After adding updates1.netgear.com to the blocked sites list my RBR850 was no longer able to reach out for updates last night and is still sitting on 3.1.5.23. The only wacky thing is that the RBS (satellite) did manage to reach out and has upgraded to 3.2.9.2. That doesn't appear to be an issue because I have not experienced dropped connections with the satellite on this version.
For those of you who want to try this and you are using your Orbi in router mode, all you will need to do is:
1) In the Advanced\Security\Block Sites page add a keyword for updates1.netgear.com (make sure to hit the apply button in the upper right after adding the keyword).
2) Revert your RBR850 firmware to 3.1.5.23.
3) Confirm you are still seeing updates1.netgear.com on the Block Sites page.
4) Click on Administration\Firmware Update and wait a few moments. You should see the web GUI say that the service is unreachable under the status column for the RBR850.
If you are using the Orbi in AP mode the same principal applies, but you will need to add updates1.netgear.com to the blocked sites on your upstream router rather than the Orbi.
I hope this helps people get on with their digital lives while netgear figures out what they have broken.
I have been having the same issues with quick signal dropout as well with the RBR850. I noticed I was having audio streaming drop outs with Sonos (ethernet to BOOST to speakers via mesh network), Elder Scrolls Online (PC via ethernet), vairious online games (PS4 via ethernet) and YouTube/Netflix restarts and drop outs (Roku and Android devices via ethernet and also wifi).
System is Netgear Orbi RBK852 (RBR850/RBS850) and a Netgear CM1200 Modem (my own) with Spectrum ISP.
Steps I took to no avail:
- Rebooted Modem & Orbis (of course)
- Checked stats on modem and Orbi and could not find anything that stood out
- Checked Modem direct and the PC direct worked perfectly with no drop outs
- Checked CTS and RTS values and those were set to 2347 for both as suggested
- Checked Modem in case it was a low signal that for some reason worked direct but didn't work with a router, no issues stood out
- Tried rolling back drivers to 3.9.2 and there was no change in the issue
- Used my protection plan to get a new Orbi System...same issue right out of the box without upgrading firmware. It was 3.9.2 out of the box originally. This means anyone picking up a new Orbi AX6000 will have issues most likely.
- Tried running a ping in CMD (pinged Google for a couple nights in a row) and would get a few drop outs (~10) but less then what I was actually experiencing which was around 4 or 5 an hour
- Tried about a dozen other fixes I have research with none of them working
- Found my old router, connected it up and had no issues
The only thing that has worked so far is the fix I found on here where you roll back the firmware to 3.1.5.23 on the Satellite, then the Router, then factory reset both (I did Satellite first then the Router). Then blocked the update site (remember to click always and then aply) and so far it has stuck and has worked. I honestly think someone at Netgear was quitting made this code to spite the company, because when a system right out of the box has issues with your firmware retroactively, it had to be on purpose. Thanks Netgear, probably not recommending this to anyone now. Also a huge thanks to the individual who figured out this fix!
- This seems to be a problem with anything long tcp connection based. I do not think udp has the issue. Once a buffer gets full the connection freezes and drops. In video it can fill faster than others.
This is my theory without actually seeing data.I've been getting regular disconnects again on my cell phone that last only as long as it takes to reconnect. to WiFi I've also had the same sorts of issues with Teams meetings over wired connection and WebEx over wireless (two different devices, one on VPN, one not). Thankfully I'm able to connect via phone for audio, so that stays going while my meeting connections are down.
I'm not sure how much of this can be blamed on the Netgear firmware, cloud infrastructure, or something else at this point. My streaming box (2019 nvidia Shield Pro) seems to be dealing with the connection alright at this point, probably because the disconnects aren't lasting long enough to burn through the entire buffer. If I can spare another hour or so, I may re-downgrade my firmware (since I was initally caught in the upgrade loop prior to people here figuring out the way to block DNS and prior to Netgear pulling down the buggy firmware from upgrade servers). I've said it before, but I'll say it again; I expected a LOT better quality from a $700 WiFi system.
Another very annoying result of this bug is that random IoT devices connected via WiFi are always unavailable. In my case, it's WeMo. I've got about a dozen WeMo devices and at any given moment there seems to be a 50/50 chance that at least one is offline.
