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Satellites wont connect iPhone & Sonos to wifi after 12 hours
I have an Orbi RBE771 router with three RBE770 satellites connected via Ethernet CAT6 back-haul through two unmanaged Netgear switches. The router and one satellite are in the house, the other two satellites are in the shed.
All networking equipment, Sonos and Ring devices have fixed IP reservations.
iPhones & iPads use DHCP.
DHCP has a range of 89 IPs (.10 - .99) despite only around 10 DHCP clients having leased IP reservations.
Firmware is V10.5.20.10_2.2.51 and Wi-Fi security is WPA2-PSK + WPA3-Personal. There is no ability in the web-UI to only select WPA2.
After factory resetting the satellites, the wifi network works normally for about 12 - 24 hours. Then iPhones, iPads, and the Sonos speakers in the shed can still see the SSID but are unable to connect to Wi‑Fi. And the Sonos app does not display the lost speakers.
Ring cameras around the house and the shed remain connected and fully functional.
Rebooting a satellite does not resolve the issue; it only enters a Config Sync state and constantly flashes white. Only a factory re-set of the satellites gets it to a Good state ... but then the problem re-occurs :(
What is the most likely cause and recommended fix?
Yeah I thought about doing that too, and will try connecting the Satellite in the shed directly to the router, but still daisy chained to the second Satellite. This will need a minor change to the cable run in the cupboard in the house.
20 Replies
have fixed IP reservations.
which means
- These devices have entries in the LAN setup table? or
- These devices have static IPs defined on the device itself?
I have set the fixed IP reservations in the LAN table referencing the MAC address of each device.
The router and one satellite are in the house, the other two satellites are in the shed.
It sounds like all the problem devices are in the shed - is that correct?
How far is the ethernet cable between the shed and the house?
Is anything else connected to the switches?
Can you access the shed satellites from the house when the problem occurs?
What is the most likely cause
I'd look first at the backhaul between the shed and the house.
Hi Stephen, thanks for your reply. The distance from the house to the shed is about 60m. These have been in use for 4 years and there are two cables in the ground. One connects to the 5-port switch, the other is "loose" i.e. not connected to anything as it used to be for my WFH area, and connectivity through that cable is fine. From the switch the two satellites are connected (one in the main shed, the other in a partitioned area for my "new" office), as well as directly to my workstation's Dell 6000 hub. Connectivity there is solid too. So I have confidence in the back-haul. Everything has been working fine until this past month.
Turns out there is new firmware available and the Netgear moderator has pointed me to that. I'll upgrade and see if that fixes the issue.
Turns out there is new firmware available and the Netgear moderator has pointed me to that. I'll upgrade and see if that fixes the issue.
I agree that is the right next step.
These have been in use for 4 years and there are two cables in the ground. One connects to the 5-port switch, the other is "loose" i.e. not connected to anything as it used to be for my WFH area, and connectivity through that cable is fine. From the switch the two satellites are connected (one in the main shed, the other in a partitioned area for my "new" office), as well as directly to my workstation's Dell 6000 hub.
I am assuming these are Cat 6.
You might try changing over to direct connections between the satellites and the router. Mixing backhaul and client traffic on the same connection isn't ideal, and you should be able to get a 2.5 gpbs backhaul if you connect directly. But see if the new firmware solves the problem before optimizing the network topology.
Hello lachlanwm ,
Welcome to the NETGEAR Community!
I understand that you are having issues with your RBE771 network connection to your IoT devices using firmware 10.5.20.10_2.2.51. To mitigate this issue, please update your RBE771 to our latest firmware release version 12.1.7.23.
Navigate to the link below for the download file for your RBE771:
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rbe772v2
For step-by-step instructions on how to manually update your RBE771 please navigate to the link below:
https://kb.netgear.com/31573/How-do-I-manually-upgrade-firmware-on-my-Orbi-router-using-orbilogin-comBest,
Kevin
NETGEAR Team
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for the advice and link to new firmware. I downloaded the newest firmware, and followed the instructions, but each time I attempt to update the Satellite (as Netgear recommends to update the Satellite before the Router), I get an error"Failure. Firmware update failed. Please check your file." The file I am selecting is RBE770v2-V12.1.7.23.chk
Regards
Lachlan
Be sure you have a 770v2 series system as the V12.1.7.23 firmware is ONLY compatible with the v2 series system and is NOT compatible with a 770v1 series.
Thanks for the advice and link to new firmware. I downloaded the newest firmware, and followed the instructions, but each time I attempt to update the Satellite (as Netgear recommends to update the Satellite before the Router), I get an error"Failure. Firmware update failed. Please check your file." The file I am selecting is RBE770v2-V12.1.7.23.chk
Regards
Lachlan
Hi Kevin, my RBE770/771 hardware is v1. The new firmware you recommended is for v2 hardware, and looks to be why it failed. I checked
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rbe770 and
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rbe771 both firmware versions are what mine have installed.
Is there likely to be an updated firmware for REB770/771 v1?
We are hoping for v1 FW soon. I'll post soon as it's been officially released.
I have set the fixed IP reservations in the LAN table referencing the MAC address of each device.
Just a technical "nit pick". The mechanism devices use to request IP addresses is DHCP, no matter whether the device has a 'reserved' IP in the LAN setup table or not.
When there is a networking problem, it is almost always a good idea to update to the newest firmware and verify whether the problem persists. Since this version was released on Sept 2, you will get to be one of the "Early Adopters".
Thanks everyone for your help. I have re-worked my network given the suggestions below.
Wifi drops (was stable for months, but recently became unstable. Hub is Dell 6000 which is my workstation)
----------
Router
│
Switch
├────┐
│ Sat
│
Switch
├─────┬─────┐
│ │ │
Sat Hub Sat
Wifi drops + Hub connected but no internet (experiment where switch should be downstream from Sat - didn't work. Also took 2 of the satellites offline for experimenting)
----------------------------
Router
│
Switch
│
Sat
│
Switch
│
Hub
Stable (has been for 24 hrs now :) by daisy chaining the satellites, and no downstream switch. All iPhones, iPads, Sonos and Ring devices enjoying stable wifi connectivity)
------
Router
│
Switch
├───────┬─────┐
│ │ │
Switch Sat Sat
│ │
Hub Sat
Thank goodness I laid 2 ethernet cables down to the shed!
Still looking forward to the new firmware.
Brand and model# of these Switches that are in between the RBR and RBS?
Both switches are Netgear. The first one in the house is a GS316PP, and the one in the shed is a GS105Ev2
Stable (has been for 24 hrs now :) by daisy chaining the satellites, and no downstream switch. All iPhones, iPads, Sonos and Ring devices enjoying stable wifi connectivity)
Although it might not be practical (depending on where the cable runs are), you'd get the best performance if you connect the satellites directly to the router LAN ports, and then connect the switches to router or satellite LAN ports.
Yeah I thought about doing that too, and will try connecting the Satellite in the shed directly to the router, but still daisy chained to the second Satellite. This will need a minor change to the cable run in the cupboard in the house.
