The network keeps going down again and again

Question

I’m experiencing the exact same issue, and honestly, this is beyond frustrating.

The network keeps going down again and again. Resetting the system helps — but only for a few hours. After that, the same problem returns. Every single time.

What makes this even more ridiculous is that the main router itself is fast. When I test upload and download speeds, they are excellent. So performance is clearly not the issue. Stability is. A network that constantly drops out is simply useless.

I switched back to my very old network, and guess what — it works perfectly fine. No drops, no constant resets, no drama.

The worst part? This was the most expensive network system I’ve ever bought. I convinced my family to invest in what was supposed to be a premium, reliable solution — and instead, it has turned out to be the worst network I’ve ever had.

Months of troubleshooting, hours spent reading forums, and I can see that many other users are facing the exact same problem — yet nothing seems to change.

I would not recommend this product to anyone. Extremely expensive, extremely disappointing.

RBE971

V9.13.2.1

Serie: 7EM4517MD0079

afight · Answer

I feel for you. My solution ended up being to take the loss (an huge loss) and I switched to an eero system. It has worked beautifully and was half the price.

My experience with the Orbi system was beyond frustrating. I can’t believe they can even continue to sell this system - especially hearing it is STILL having these issues.

I well never buy another NETGEAR product again after the experience I had.

Hope you are somehow able to resolve it!

donawalt · Answer

urs2025​ so sorry you are having these troubles. I have had a 971 router and 2 970 satellites running for about 18 months or so, and I have not experienced any of these kind of issues. So maybe the group here can get to the bottom of this for you. You are on a solid version of the FW from my experience.
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I do have some questions for you to answer below, if you would like some help please answer them - and here is why...depending on what your 'old' network is, I would be the radio/Wifi signals on the 979/971s if any, are much stronger. So if you have the same number of router/satellites ads before with the new network, this can easily cause oversaturation of wifi signals from multiple sources, and anything you read will say this is one of the biggest reasons for disconnects.
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So -&nbsp;
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what is your "old model" network, and assuming it's a mesh, how many satellites?
how many satellites beyond the 971 router?
what size house, how many floors, and where are any satellites and the router located?
approximate distance between the Orbis?
who is your ISP?
what modem/model do you use? Was that the same with the old network?
if you have satellites, do they use wireless or wired for backhaul?
are any devices ethernet connected not wifi, and if so do they experience disconnects?
how do you define "the network keeps going down" - lights on the router/satellites, all devices lose connection, only noticed one or a few devices los connection, etc.? The more specifics the better.
do you see the disconnects on "mobile" devices, ie phones being walked around the house, stationary computers/laptops that stay in the sam eplace, or both?
do you see disconnects on older technology devices (probably WiFi 5), newer ones (WiFi 6, 6E, etc.) or both?
if you have satellites, can you run just with the router for a few hours to see if it disconnects then?
do you have Mac computers, Windows computers, or both? (this will be useful if there is an opportunity for some simple diagnostic work)

the answers to those questions should get us started. Thanks!

donawalt · Answer

afight​ I read your posts, the only thing that makes me wonder is in your initial post you said:
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"I had the RBR50 with one satellite for many years and it worked perfectly. Then one day, it started dropping connections and slow connections. I upgraded to the RBE971 (with one satellite) and the problem has continued, if not gotten worse. "
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Logic would conclude that the problem is not the network if the same problem occurs on two totally separate systems. That said, if the Eero is working fine, we'll never know the answer to that one! Hope it keeps working for you.

afight · Answer

donawalt​ Yeah, I thought the same which is why I brought my isp into the mix. &nbsp;Used their router for a week and there were no problems. &nbsp;Zero issues with the eero system. Has worked perfectly since the day I put it in and has ever since. Other users (includingurs2025​ ) all over the internet with the same issues I experienced (wish I would’ve read a few forums before purchasing).&nbsp;Given all these data points logic would conclude it was the Orbi system ;)

donawalt · Answer

afight​ I suspect something else. While it won't help you, I just finished sending a long writeup to engineering making a suggestion of much better diagnostic/error logs that users can see in the system. While I sure can't prove this, what I see in your scenario I have seen a bunch on these forums; I think it's over saturation. Let's look at your systems over time:
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I don't have access to signal strength of various networks, but I can infer signal strength from coverage per spec. You went from:
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RBR 50 - 2000 square foot coverage per node (router or satellite) TO:
RBR971 - 3300 square foot per node TO:
EERO. Now I don't know what EERO you have , but if I look at what I think are the two top of the line systems, EERO MAX 7 offers 2500 square foot per node, and EERO PRO 7 offers 2000 square feet per node.
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So you went from RBR50 to a system with 65% stronger implied signal strength, dropping back to a system with the original signal strength or less. And, 6600 square feet of coverage in a 3000 square foot house is massive saturation overkill.
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The other thing I suggested was to bring back the ability to reduce power level in the Orbis - on older systems we could easily tell a customer to "set the power level to 60%". That would have been a trivial change for you, and if my theory here was right, your problem goes away. You can then decide on you own time whether to re-do the network topology in your home, or just keep it running like that. For some reason, they took that out of the router UI. Bring it back!!!
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I know in my case, I have an old house with concrete floors, basement (where the router is) and 3 more floors above - all with 15 foot ceilings. I can get good signal from the satellite on the 1st floor, in my office on the 3rd floor near the other end of the house! And I can see the signal from the router, even though it would be unacceptably low strength. That was pretty amazing when I sampled signals.
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It's just a theory - maybe this is the cause, maybe this contributes to the cause, all the more reason why some concerted effort in better failure information for customers could be invaluable. But your case study is far from unique, and once I re-placed my Orbis based on walking around with a freeware signal strength detector to determine proper placement, my system was rock solid (I came from an older Orbi 850).

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The network keeps going down again and again

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