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Solved
Wifi drop-outs constantly
Watching this with interest.
I've just bought and installed the Orbi RBK750 setup and facing soul-crushing Wifi drop-outs constantly. At the moment I'm out the best part of $1000 and copping an...
For that size of home, you only really need the RBR and 1 RBS. Possible having two RBS maybe causing problems.
4-5 meters is too close for any RBS to the RBR.
See how the system does with just 1 RBS.
Also might consider updating to v.2 manually with the RBS first then RBR lastly:
Thanks for reply.
I'm on Firmware Version V4.6.5.14_2.0.54 on the RBR, Firmware Version : V4.6.5.14 on the RBS.
Modem is a Draytek Vigor 167 in Bridge Mode connected to VDSL FTTN NBN broadband connection. Connection is about 17Mbps UP/50Mbps DOWN and solid as a rock (it's not the internet cutting out).
Home is... uhh... I guess 3500 square feet? Mostly on one level, two rooms downstairs. Timber. Big block.
Satellite 1 is ~15 meters (3 rooms) away from router - it's connected via ethernet cable.
Satellite 2 WAS downstairs (also via ethernet cable) but I have temporarily turned it off as I suspect this was a primary cause of the issue (Sat 2 and Router Wifi overlapping significantly). Whilst this is downstairs, I think it's only 4-5 meters away in a straight line (through a floor of course).
Channels I've got 2.4Ghz using Channel 1, 5Ghz Channel 48.
Minimal Wifi neighbours (I live semi-rural).
The behaviour I have experienced is Wifi devices losing connect for 30 seconds to a few minutes, regularly (multiple times per hour). Streaming TV pauses and buffers - even plain old web-browsing grinds to a halt on (for eg) my iPad before it finds the connection again. Wired devices OK (or mostly OK) as far as I can tell.
Last night I disabled Satellite 2, so will see if that changes the behaviour - one suspicion I have is that devices near or between the RBR and Sat 2 were getting confused the options and flipping between the two. Is this something other users have experienced? I can't seem to get a definitive answer on this even as a possible root cause of the symptoms - only "too much Wifi might cause problems". It would seem to be a re-creatable scenario.
Only other thing I've done is reserved a few IP addresses for the Satellites themselves and selected wired devices that are always connected (printer, NAS, SONOS bridge, etc).
For that size of home, you only really need the RBR and 1 RBS. Possible having two RBS maybe causing problems.
4-5 meters is too close for any RBS to the RBR.
See how the system does with just 1 RBS.
Also might consider updating to v.2 manually with the RBS first then RBR lastly:
Thanks again. Will monitor and revert. If it seems to be more stable I'll look at locating the Satellite somewhere else or not using it altogether.
Also, I'll tell the missus that we need a bigger house to justify the network setup I bought.
đ
Update - I'm not ready to call this one "solved" YET, but general experience over past day or two seems to be vastly better having removed the second satellite. The network hasn't had a heavy workout yet, though - will likely occur Friday night when live sport is being streamed, movies watched, etc.
I would urge anyone having Wifi drop-outs with Orbi to try moving Satellites further away from Router - or try testing with one less node, to see if it makes a difference. I don't have enough data yet, but superficially it seems that most wireless devices (in our case, iPads, Chromecasts, Smart TV, phones) were having problems in a physical area that probably had strong signals from both the Router and Satellite simultaneously.
If this is indeed most of the problem, I'd like to suggest Netgear/FAQs underline this point and potential problem more strongly in their documentation. Eg. "Please be aware that if your Router and Satellite are too close the signals will overlap too much this may cause Wifi drop outs." I know there's some recommendations about placement, but my experience (so far) would appear to be users will get major Wifi stability issues that COULD be easily resolved with physical distance, rather than exotic network settings. It's an important Troubleshooting step. I wasn't experiencing "some performance degradation", I was experiencing not-fit-for-purpose level stability problems.
The Orbi was days from being returned or binned, but there's cautious optimism at the moment.
Thanks for the responses, and I'll keep providing updates in the hope it gets me to where I want to be and helps others.