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Forum Discussion
Orbi 770 Satellites Randomly Disable All Radios and Drop Clients
I’m posting this to document a serious defect in the Orbi 770 series and to express growing frustration after months of dealing with it.
I have an Orbi 770 system (RBE770 satellites, firmware V10.5.20.3). One or both satellites will randomly stop broadcasting on all bands (2.4 / 5 / 6 GHz) while continuing to report a perfectly healthy status everywhere Netgear tells you to look.
From the router UI:
- Satellites show “Good”
- Backhaul (wired or wireless — tested both) remains connected
- No warnings, alerts, or errors
From the Orbi mobile app:
- Satellites show online and healthy
- No indication of any issue
From the satellite’s own web UI (when you log in directly):
- The page proudly states “Your WiFi Orbi Satellite connection is up and running”
- However, ALL radios (2.4 / 5 / 6 GHz) are disabled
This is incredibly misleading. Yes, the satellite is powered on — but it is not functioning as a WiFi access point. The management interface claims everything is fine while the radios are effectively dead.
The only way to discover this is by:
- Noticing degraded WiFi performance, and
- Manually logging into the satellite’s local web UI to confirm the radios are disabled
There is no notification, no alert, and no exposed log entry that explains why this happens.
Impact
When this occurs:
- Clients drop or cling to distant APs
- Overall network performance degrades
- The mesh effectively collapses silently
The only workaround is rebooting the affected satellite(s). This restores service temporarily, but the issue reoccurs — often once or twice per week. For a system in this price range, that is unacceptable.
Why “Interference” Is Not a Valid Answer
Even if this were RF-related (which I doubt), the platform provides no visibility and no control:
- No RSSI / dBm metrics
- No interference indicators
- No spectrum analysis
- No transmit power control
- No actionable RF diagnostics
If satellites were “too close” (they aren’t, they're more than 40 feet away from each other), I still have no way to tune or mitigate overlap. The system simply disables itself and leaves the user guessing.
Additional Context
- Firmware updates have not resolved this
- Hardware has been RMA’d with no improvement
- Wired vs wireless backhaul makes no difference
- My neighbor’s Orbi 970 series exhibits the same behavior
- All bands fail simultaneously, pointing to a firmware or radio state failure, not roaming behavior
Conclusion
This appears to be a fundamental firmware defect where the radio subsystem fails while every management interface (router UI, satellite UI, mobile app) continues to report “healthy” and “up and running.”
For a premium mesh product, silently disabling radios with no alert, no diagnostics, and no explanation is unacceptable.
If Netgear is aware of this issue, it needs to be acknowledged.
If logs exist, they need to be exposed.
If engineering is investigating, customers deserve transparency.
Right now, this product behaves like an expensive beta.
16 Replies
Does the Attached Devices display accurately report where devices are connected?
Does a WiFi Analyzer program, such as WiFi Info View (Windows) or one of the Analyzer apps for Android indicate that those BSIDs are no longer broadcasting?
I am unsure what you mean. I will try to answer though.
The attached devices appear to be accurate, as the disabled satellite shows “No Devices Connected”, which makes sense.
I posted screenshots but maybe they got removed.
2nd, I believe you meant BSSID? If so, I have not tried an app yet to see if that’s the case. It definitely appears as though it’s the case.
no devices connected, radios show as disabled and gray in the satellite web UI, etc. I know, not definitive…if you have a good app to use for iOS, I’m happy to test.
I do. I’m happy to do that. But what exactly am I looking for? The web GUI of the satellites clearly state the radios are disabled, and my connection on devices close to those satellites is very weak, and I see them connected to the router which is far away. What should I look for that can lead to a resolution? Please excuse my ignorance.
eric3312 since we can't post images right now, below is my dropbox link to an image of my network in WiFi Explorer Lite. What you see is all the transmit bands on my 2 satellites and router. I didn't show the MAC address, but by looking at the MAC address you could could tell if each Orbi is truly transmitting on all the appropriate bands (2.4, 5,6 GHz), plus you should see the backhaul if your satellites use WiFi (mine are connected via Ethernet so they don't show here.)
Also, you'll see the highlighted bar, which confirms where your Mac is connected at that moment - Orbi and band. In addition, the dBm signal shows how string the signal is from each Orbi - that might provide a clue as you'll know which device should have the strongest signal. You probably need no worse than -67 to -70 dBm to have a decent signal, or greater (ie -30 dBm is fantastic signal).
This is a great independent assessment of exactly what's going on - could provide a big clue to where the issue is.
Hope this helps!
Looks like a defective product, I would return it or replace the buggy satellites under warranty.
You could use wifiman app for iOS to test the radios.
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?
Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6A STP is recommended.
What devices do you have connected to the system in total?
What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router 📡 and satellite(s)🛰️? 30 feet or more is recommended in between RBR 📡 and RBS 🛰️ to begin with depending upon building materials when wired or wirelessly connected.
Does this happen with the RBS turned OFF?
What channel configurations are currently set on the router?
Does this happen if these are all disabled on the RBR?
Armor, Smart Parental Controls or Circle, IPv6, Protection Engine, Traffic Meter.
Thanks for responding. (sorry for the typo)
Yes, people are currently having problems when posting screen captures (or any type of image). Annoying.
The point of using a WiFi Analyzer application is to independently verify that the satellite radios are not broadcasting. If the router to satellite connections are showing as "Good", that seems to indicate that the backhaul channel is active. It would be interesting to know if the backhaul BSSID is broadcasting on certain channels and the user BSSID is not.
Is the case still open with Netgear? Might ask about another RMA
When you say you've had your 773 replaced multiple times and that your neighbor's 970 also exhibits the same behavior, it really piques my curiosity about your area. I've got an 773, an 873, and a 973 and haven't experienced any of this. When 1 device or package being bad is normal, 2 in a row is incredibly rare. But having 3 and then a neighbor with the same issue makes me think something in your area is broadcasting and causing issues/interference/blocking. Could be a random neighbor who picked up one of those cheap "wifi jammers' that used to be sold. Or something along those lines. Not sure but the odds of that many being bad is right up there with the lottery.
