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Forum Discussion
RBE970 satellite does not bridge traffic between its own 5 GHz and 6 GHz clients (V12.1.11.15)
System: RBE971 router + 3x RBE970 satellites, all on firmware V12.1.11.15 (no newer firmware offered). Main SSID on 5 GHz + 6 GHz, WPA2-PSK + WPA3-Personal mixed mode, 5 GHz channel 40. IoT SSID is separate and not involved.
Symptom: Two Wi-Fi clients connected to the same satellite (Orbi Satellite-3) cannot reach each other when one is on 5 GHz and the other is on 6 GHz. Both clients reach the internet, the router, and wired LAN devices normally.
Devices (all on Satellite-3):
| Device | Band (per Attached Devices page) | Can reach the Mac? |
|---|---|---|
| Mac (Wi-Fi 6E) | 6 GHz | n/a |
| iPhone (Wi-Fi 7) | 5 GHz + 6 GHz (MLO) | Yes |
| Older iPhone (5 GHz only) | 5 GHz | No |
| Synology NAS | Wired to router | Reachable from all three |
Evidence:
- From the Mac: ping, TCP connects, and an IPv6 all-nodes multicast ping to the older iPhone all get no reply. ARP for the older iPhone does resolve to its real MAC, so the clients share a broadcast domain. Only IP traffic is dropped.
- From the older iPhone: Safari to an HTTP service on the Mac hangs (no refusal, no error). Safari to the wired Synology on the same subnet loads normally.
- From the Mac: the same TCP probe to the Wi-Fi 7 iPhone (which has a 6 GHz link) succeeds immediately.
- The Mac's IPv6 all-nodes ping gets replies from all four Orbi nodes and every 6 GHz or wired host, and from no 5 GHz-only host.
- Decisive test: I plugged the same Mac into one of Satellite-3's LAN ports (Wi-Fi off, so the Mac used only the wired address). The older 5 GHz iPhone immediately became reachable: ping replies (~26 ms) and HTTP 200 from the same port that timed out over Wi-Fi. The client, the satellite, and the firmware were unchanged; only the Mac's port on the satellite changed from the 6 GHz radio to Ethernet. So the satellite bridges 5 GHz <-> Ethernet and 5 GHz <-> backhaul correctly, and fails only 5 GHz <-> 6 GHz.
- Mac firewall verified not involved (app allowed, stealth off, no block log entries); no VPN or filtering on either phone.
Expected: Clients on the same SSID and same satellite should be able to reach each other regardless of which radio they associated to. There is no wireless-isolation setting enabled or available.
Current workaround: Mac wired to Satellite-3's LAN port. That works, but it only helps the one device I can cable. Disabling the 6 GHz radio would presumably also avoid the bug, but that gives up Wi-Fi 7 performance for every client and isn't acceptable as a fix.
Questions: Is this a known issue on V12.1.11.15, and is there a firmware fix or a setting that restores 5 GHz <-> 6 GHz bridging on satellites? I can run further tests on request (changing the 5 GHz channel, moving one client to another node, debug logs from the satellite).
11 Replies
If the older iPhone is connected to a different Orbi unit (not Satellite 3), does it respond to ping and (what is the TCP probe?)
i.e. does the problem exist only when devices are connected to the same satellite?
FWIW, I don't have any web servers set up, but I did connect my wife's iPad (5 GHz only) and my MacBook Pro M4 (6GHz) via WiFi to the same 970 and tried pings, as that establishes communications back and forth - it worked fine. So at least here, cross-band communication works on the same 970.
What model is this older iPhone?
What iOS is loaded on it?
Seems maybe this one particular phone could be the factor...
Have a different 5Ghz only device you can test with.
yes I can confirm it works perfectly if I connect it to a different satellite (or presumably the router). Just retested this with them back on the main SSID with the 5 ghz iPhone in the basement and my 6ghz laptop on the top floor.
The only place this shows up is if they are both on the same SSID and on the same satellite.
donawalt : I am not 100% sure I have another iPad that only connects via 5 ghz (but I might) let me see if I can replicate the same behavior on that. The older iPhone is an iPhone 12 (the newer iPhone is a 16). That is interesting that is working for you are you on the same / latest firmware? (mine is an m2 pro iPhone 12 and iPhone 16 I am noodling with).I have a iPhone 12 Pro Max. Haven't used it in a while. I'll put a charge on it and check this with my iPhone 17 Pro Max both on same RBS.
Testing with a 870 series here.
Yes, 2 970s and router are all on 12.1.11.15.
bloosqr I am also on WPA2-PSK + WPA3-Personal mixed mode
A few things I can think if, long shots, to try or check:
- The first thing I thought of, is that it's a stale satellite configuration or forwarding state. SO can you try power cycling that satellite and try again?
- I am on 5GHz channel 48 not 40 - worth a try to see if it's a channel thing.
- My 970s are on a wired backhaul - is your wired or wireless?
- Can you temporarily try the test on one of your other 970s?
- How about the infamous Protection Engine? ON the router admin web page it's advanced tab/security/protection engine. Mine is ON. What is yours?
- I assume you checked on the given 2 devices themselves that they report being on the same SSID and not the IoT network?
I hunted around to see if I could find another 5 ghz only machine .. my iPad is an m2 so is 6 ghz also. That said I just realized I have a raspberry pi 5 sitting around that I used to use as a pihole/DHCP server. I am reformatting that and going to see if that connects as that will confirm this is not some accident of iOS and truly a 5 ghz / 6 ghz thing.
If that does not connect wireless and connects wired I will retest on another 970 somewhere and also try your channel idea.
I unfortunately do not have wired backhaul but should ;)
Yes have checked the devices and via orbilogin to see match IP addresses / Mac addresses and SSIDs...
I do have that protection engine on.. I do not know what that is actually.I can confirm the same symptom on the raspberry pi 5. I do not really want to power cycle the satellite but I will try this now.
