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Forum Discussion
bullm00n
Jun 11, 2025Virtuoso
Disconnects for iOS Devices Multiple Times Per Day with Orbi 970
I have EXACTLY this problem. Was fine until sometime around mid-April and now it's a nightmare. Only new Apple devices (iPhone 16/16 Pro and new iPad Air). I can sit with my older iPad next to my ...
bullm00n
Jun 17, 2025Virtuoso
I feel like my situation is maybe more complicated...
I'm sticking with WPA3 for the moment although I'm not sold on that fix - it could be coincidence. The behavior I was seeing, if I were just guessing and knew nothing else, would be that it seemed like some sort of interference; working good one second and then dropping out even when I was not moving around the house. So I got this "WIFI Commander" app for my PC that shows all networks...
My Orbi SSIDs are the NGOxxxx ones along with Sonos's hidden network, I think, and the backhaul - all on ch11 and ch36 now.
The "hidden" networks I circled in Yellow and very LOUD and should not be there (the weaker other SSIDs are neighbors). It turns out the Xfinity XB7 modem WIFI, even when disabled and especially in Bridge Mode will not be disabled. And they often come up automatically on the same channels I am using for Orbi. When I saw this and manually set the Orbi channels away from them, things improved quite a bit. Fingers crossed I'm back to normal - at least until the XB7 looses power and reboots back onto my Orbi channels. Someone on Reddit posted a way to open the XB7 up and unplug the antennas to stop it, so I may have to do that, but at least I can see what is going on and work around it.
I won't say this is the definitive solution, but there's no way Orbi would work well with another very LOUD network blasting on the same channels. Still not sure why newer iPhones and iPads were uniquely affected, so there may be more to it or a combination of issues including WPA3.
I'll keep an eye on it and see how it goes and if all is stable for a few days, I'll try reverting back to WPA2/WPA3 to see how that affects things. Fingers crossed.
- FURRYe38Jun 17, 2025Guru - Experienced User
Let us know if you see new FW on your system:
New - RBE970 Series v9.13.1.2 Firmware Via Auto Update | NETGEAR Communities
And if so, does it change anything?
- bullm00nJul 01, 2025Virtuoso
And finally I see the new firmware v9.13.1.2 on both the 970 and 971. Not sure when it got updated - sometime within the past few days.