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RBR850 needs a reboot every 2-4 days - how to stop?
I wanted to share with you a problem I have been seeing with my RBR850 installation plus 4 satellites. Periodically, maybe every 2-4 days, the performance in streaming from multiple Apple TV apps (like AT&T TV, BritBox), streaming stops working - it is unable to download or stream live or recorded content. It keeps saying things, depending on the app, like "Still trying to download", then "Unable to stream try again later", etc. Restarting the Apple TV device, or deleting all the Apple TV apps and starting over, does not help. But if I reboot the RBR850, things resume working perfectly right away.
First some prelims - the network ordinarily seems to be working perfectly:
- Netgear CM1200 modem show very few errors, SNR is perfectly in range, power levels are perfect, no errors in the log, just notices;
- Topology is 3 RBS850 satellites wirelessly connected to the RBR850, and a 4th satellite RBS850 from the third floor daisy chained wirelessly to the second floor RBS850 to the router. The Apple TV/TV device is located on the 1st floor about 10 feet from a satellite RBS850 devices, which is direct linked, not daisy chained, to the RBR850. This is how the system was set up automatically, I didn't interfere with how it was set up. Everything is wireless, no wired backhauls etc. All RBR and RBS devices are at least 30 feet apart, the RBSs are all pretty centrally located in the house around an open staircase that goes from first to third floor. The first floor has a second satellite in the family room/kitchen, about 45 feet from the 1st floor staircase RBS device;
- I am not subscribed to the Armor security service, and I do not have a guest network configured;
- I have set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only, WAN aggregation on, AX is enabled on 2.4 and 5.0GHz, no Port Forwarding, no Dynamic DNS, no VPN, UPnP is OFF, IPv6 is operational, MTU size is 1500,
- All RBBs and RBR are on firmware rev V3.2.17.12_1.4.14; Netgear CM1200 modem is on 3.02.01 - these are the latest versions as far as I can see;
- Running a speed test from the iOS Orbi app, COMCAST -> RBR850, shows full speed regularly - ~1400 Mbps down, 42 Mbps up;
- Speed test on the Apple TV device in question is usually ~75-100 Mbps down, 20-30 Mbps up;
- orbilogin.net device list shows all satellites with a "Good" status; restarting the satellite nearest the TV/Apple TV comes up "blue", showing good connection to router;
- Running the XFinity app shows no problems in the area;
- I have tried both OpenDNS (what I normally used) and the Comcast DNS servers, and the problem still reoccurs every 2-4 days;
- The Apple TV is connected via 5 GHz; checking for congestion on the 5 GHz frequency (I have the network set to use channel 44), shows no other networks using that in this area (I am in a 3 floors plus basement townhouse, so other networks are around but not a lot).
When the problem occurs, speed test from the Apple TV speed test app goes to < 10Mbps down; running speed test from an iPad in the room is close to the same - and this iPad normally will be ~230 Mbps download in that location.
Restarting the closest satellite does not make things better.
So it doesn't seem to be confined to the Apple TV device, it doesn't seem to be just one rogue streaming app, only restarting the RBR850 seems to help (power off/on or reboot through the Orbi app), Comcast is running fine, there is no network congestion, the modem seems fine, and restarting the RBR850 seems to immediately fix the problem.
Is there anything you can think of that I could try to fix this? It seems like a bug to me - the RBR850 just gets in a state it doesn't work and needs a reboot. I am seriously considering other options as this is very aggravating to deal with when the family is sitting down watch a movie every 2-4 days.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Possible or your wifi environment is getting too saturated with wifi signals having that many RBS online. Remember, these things cover up to a good decent range so the wifi over lap will be out there a ways. So this should allow for more coverage and range using less RBS units. I get great coverage with just two or some times even 1 RBS in a 5000 sq ft home including basement.
Keep the 4th RBS as a backup in case something happens.
Enjoy.:smileywink:
25 Replies
Some other config settings I forgot to add in the OP:
20/40 Coexistance is checked ON (mess up above);
WMM is on for 2.4 and 5.0;
CTS/RTS is 2347 for both 2.4 and 5.0;
Preambe mode Auto;
Power transmit is 100%.
So the Apple TV is the only device to exhibit this problem? If so, you might check with the Mfr as well on this.
When this happens, which orbi unit is the ATV connected too?
What happens if you set 40Mhz only on the RBR.
LAG is enabled on the RBR and CM1200?
No, it happens on all devices as far as I know. It just happened again this morning, and I checked my iPhone it was getting download speeds of 5 Mb per second. I rebooted the router, and the iPhone was getting 200 Mb per second.
Should I consider downgrading my firmware to Version 3.2.16.22? This has happened since I moved into this house, and I actually upgraded to Version 3.2.17.12 when I moved into the house. So I can say it's always happened on this firmware, and it did not happen on the prior version. But that could be circumstantial.
Do you mean I should uncheck "Enable 20/40 MHz Coexistence"? That just affects 2.4GHz, and these devices are all on 5 GHz right? If that's what you want me to try, I'll try that.
donawalt wrote:I wanted to share with you a problem I have been seeing with my RBR850 installation plus 4 satellites. Periodically, maybe every 2-4 days, the performance in streaming from multiple Apple TV apps (like AT&T TV, BritBox), streaming stops working - it is unable to download or stream live or recorded content. It keeps saying things, depending on the app, like "Still trying to download", then "Unable to stream try again later", etc. Restarting the Apple TV device, or deleting all the Apple TV apps and starting over, does not help. But if I reboot the RBR850, things resume working perfectly right away.
Your problem may be different from my RBR850 system issue, but I suggest try running without your satellites to eliminate any satellite-specific cause. I have an RBR850 and 3 satellites, but only run 1 satellite. After running for a day or two with more than 1 satellite, then any device connected to the extra satellite will not have internet connectivity. I don't recall what that satellite status said when this internet connectivity disruption occurs. Devices connected to the RBR850 continue to run just fine.
This was my original post: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/RBS850-satellites-lose-internet-and-gateway-connectivity-several/td-p/1952486 . This afflicts 2 of my 3 satellites, so I have run with only 1 satellite for a long time. I need the 1 satellite running as an access point. The issue may be caused by too many satellites for my 3-story, ~3K square feet home but I didn't have a problem running 3 satellites with my RBR50 system. I have tried positioning the satellites in various other places, as far as possible from the base, but without any success.
Every time a new firmware version appears I try turning on a second satellite to see if the issue might be fixed, but even with the latest V3.2.17.12 I still see the issue. I'm not interested in playing with power levels or doing more experimentation. I'm able to continue with 2 of my satellites powered off, hoping for a future firmware fix.
Have you contacted NG support about your problem? Hoping NG will fix your problem with a FW upate maybe fruitless if you don't let them know about it.
Mikey94025 wrote:Your problem may be different from my RBR850 system issue, but I suggest try running without your satellites to eliminate any satellite-specific cause. I have an RBR850 and 3 satellites, but only run 1 satellite. After running for a day or two with more than 1 satellite, then any device connected to the extra satellite will not have internet connectivity. I don't recall what that satellite status said when this internet connectivity disruption occurs. Devices connected to the RBR850 continue to run just fine.
This was my original post: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/RBS850-satellites-lose-internet-and-gateway-connectivity-several/td-p/1952486 . This afflicts 2 of my 3 satellites, so I have run with only 1 satellite for a long time. I need the 1 satellite running as an access point. The issue may be caused by too many satellites for my 3-story, ~3K square feet home but I didn't have a problem running 3 satellites with my RBR50 system. I have tried positioning the satellites in various other places, as far as possible from the base, but without any success.
Every time a new firmware version appears I try turning on a second satellite to see if the issue might be fixed, but even with the latest V3.2.17.12 I still see the issue. I'm not interested in playing with power levels or doing more experimentation. I'm able to continue with 2 of my satellites powered off, hoping for a future firmware fix.
Mikey - you seem to be describing a very similar issue to what I'm having.
It's driving me nuts.
I'm running RBR850 with 2 satellites; randomly during the day I just lose connection to devices but it seems only those connected to the satellites, not the main router.
Not sure if this is also what is causing problems in this post as I've seen restarting the router seems to help.
Anyways, thanks.
FURRYe38 it failed again last night, couldn't even stream at all, speeds very low. Previously in the last step I had disabled LAG at the modem, removed the second cable modem -> RBR cable, power cycled the modem, and power cycled the router.
Yesterday I also moved the satellite further back into the kitchen, still in eye contact and only 20 feet from the TV, but maybe 40 feet from the other staellite on that floor (which is on the other side of a plaster wall). Should I try removing this satellite closes to the TV? I would then have 1 RBR and 3 RBS, an RBS each on floors 1,2 and 3. The RBS is in the basement were the cable comes in.
Or do you have another idea? Thanks for your help!
