Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
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Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

astonerii
Star

Are all RBR750s defective?

Apparently first post was to wrong forum.
 
Are ALL RBR750s defective?

RBR750

ORBI

RBR750

V3.2.16.6_1.4.4

 

The symptoms of the defective units in my case are. My phone will show it trying to connect, then nothing, then trying to connect and this will go on for several cycles taking up to 30 seconds before it just simply stops trying or gives the "authentication error occured" with the very rare connected followed by a long checking connection quality sequence. When I check my connection quality on my phone, it will say 173Mbps or less. 173 Mbps is the absolute limit that the base unit will communicate with my phone. Maybe it is my phone? Well, my wife's phone, my daughter's phone, MY PC, the Wife's laptop, pretty much everything that connects to the ORBI base unit has a terrible time of it. While I typed this paragraph my phone has lost connection to the Orbi RBR750 base unit 9 times.

 

I am on my 4th RBK753 system, the latest one is an RMA base unit direct from Netgear.

The satellites in general seem to work very well. But the base units are always coming in as if they are defective, except the very first one I bought. It worked splendidly for 10 days!

 

The first unit I bought installed quickly and gave gigabit WiFi all through the house and well into the yard. I never noticed a large number of disconnects nor "authentication error occured" messages on my phone. I do not recall any at first. Until day 10 of ownership when the only communication I got was "authentication error occured"  I burned 3 work hours trying to get it back to working and finally returned it.

 

Waited a week for a replacement. Got the replacement, and it started out either failing to connect or "authentication error occured". It took me hours and many factory resets to get it through initial set up. I spent 2 hours on the phone with their tech support and got no where with it.

 

After failing to get anywhere with technical support, I spent the next day evaluating things. I discovered that if I left the base unit room and connected to the satellites that I would get great connections in the near gigabit range and many fewer "authentication error occured" messages. I wrote up a very detailed message for Netgear only for their system to eat it and refuse to give it back. So I sent that unit back and bought another one. Third time's the charm sort of thing.

 

Waited another week. Costco 2 day delivery is the worst 2 day delivery in America! That was even with paying the extra money to get it expedited. Anyways, to my surprise, the 3rd unit came in worse than the second one. It was so bad that I actually did the initial setup using a satellite. Called up tech support who immediately asked me to do a factory reset! Blew 3 hours on this trying to find a solution. No good. I finally had enough, figured I would have Netgear send an RMA unit, maybe Costco got a bad batch.

 

Got the new unit today. Another week, always get them on Monday... Set it up and the first thing it spits out is no connection, then "authentication error occured" and finally connected, 173Mbps. Seriously? What is the meaning of 173Mbps? I have never once gotten a better connection on the base unit. Satellites my wife gets over 1Gbps sometimes.

 

So, what is the deal with these RBR750 units? Are they all like this? If not, how on earth can I get 3 of them in a row like this?

 

I have done everything possible to make it work. Here is the list of actions.

 

Obviously I did the set up. No love.

I called tech support and spent hours doing all kinds of stupid worthless things.

Multiple factory resets.

Reinstalling the firmware.

Rolling the firmware back.

Reinstalling the latest firmware.

Did I say multiple factory resets?

Turning off the AX on one, then the other then both bands. Why did I buy an AX router again? Why is this an option on a $700 WiFi 6 router?

Restarting my ISP modem? What on earth do they expect that to do?

Oh, the one I loved and am still loving, wiping out my internet history in my web browser on my PC which is not even connected to the WiFi! But what the hell, I gave them every opportunity to get this thing working.

Turning off my ISP WiFi, I can see the point of that a bit, but seriously? People have dozens of wifi signals to hundreds of wifi signals around, this stuff should not be required, and of course, it did nothing. What do you expect, theoretically I should be able to connect 254 devices to this thing.

Well, maybe it is my computer room that is causing the interference, so I take a long ethernet cable and move to the other end of the house. Nope, nothing new. No connection, dropped connection, "authentication error occured" and 173Mbps!

I even tried doing it without it connected to anything in the middle of the living room, and still no benefits.

 

Any solutions out there? Is anyone else having these problems? Am I really this unlucky with the silicone lottery?

 

Message 1 of 18
astonerii
Star

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

 
  
Hero
Re: Are ALL RBR750s defective?

Let's start with:

Who is your ISP and what equipment did they provide? AT&T lightspeed BGW210
What is the current firmware on your Orbi device? Listed above, it is latest and greatest.
What device is your Orbi router connected to? BGW210 from the ORBI box.

 

Let me go through this and report back...


Did you reboot your ISP modem/router, before starting the Orbi router install? Between 10 and 15 times.
Have you changed the network cable connected from the ISP device to your Orbi router? 3 times, every time I get a new system.
Are your satellites wired or wireless? Wireless and they are the only part of the system functioning as intended.
Disable Circle, Armor, Daisy Chaining, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and uncheck 20/40Mhz Coexistence. 
Enable WMM, Implicit BeamForming, Mu-MIMO,
Set Short preamble mode. Save settings, reboot Orbi.
If wired, what cable size was used, as wrong size can cause slow speed.

Message 2 of 18
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

Modem Combo Units: 
This would be a double NAT (two router) condition which isn't recommended. https://kb.netgear.com/30186/What-is-Double-NAT
https://kb.netgear.com/30187/How-to-fix-issues-with-Double-NAT
Couple of options,
1. Configure the modem for transparent bridge or modem only mode. Then use the Orbi router in router mode. You'll need to contact the ISP for help and information in regards to the modem being bridged correctly.
2. If you can't bridge the modem, disable ALL wifi radios on the modem, configure the modems DMZ/ExposedHost or IP Pass-Through for the IP address the Orbi router gets from the modem. Then you can use the Orbi router in Router mode.
3. Or disable all wifi radios on the modem and connect the Orbi router to the modem, configure AP mode on the Orbi router. https://kb.netgear.com/31218/How-do-I-configure-my-Orbi-router-to-act-as-an-access-point and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7LOcJ8GdDo&app=deskto

Message 3 of 18
astonerii
Star

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

Just to be clear, I bought the Orbi RBK753 because of the almost universal constant that the Orbi 782's get great reviews, and instead of getting great reviews quality service out of their slighly less amazxing, I have burned over 30 hours of my life trying to get them to work over a near month long period of time. I am angry and I think rightly so. So, do not take my anger personally, unless you are a Netgear employee.

 

Before I go through this kind of alteration to my work at home network that also is required to keep my kid's educations going, can you answer me one question...

 

If I take this Orbi 753 system out to the desert, 5 miles from the nearest anything, having 3 inverters connected to solar panels to power them up where I place them exactly 25 feet apart in well ventilated electromagnetically transparent tents where they are kept cool enough to function, starting up the 2 satellites first at the outer sides and having the base router unit in the center powered up last, Should I have a problem connecting to them with my Galaxy S8 plus?

 

I ask this because it seems that people are not understanding where the problem is with this unit or all of the units I have gotten so far.

 

It is not an internet connection problem! period!

 

The first problem is that my phones will not easily connect to a brand new unit wirelessly. This includes the following phones. My personal Galaxy S8 plus, my daughter's Galaxy S10 plus and my wife's Galaxy Note 10 Plus. What does my ISP or the Modem have to do with this? Even unplugged from any ethernet cables, this thing should function as a wireless router, no? If i click on any other network, even at walmart, lowes, home depot, or AT&T at home and click connect, it starts to connect, and then is connected. If I try to connect to Orbi##, it will say it is trying to connect, then nothing, then trying to connect, then nothing, then trying to connect, then nothing, then trying to connect and if I am lucky, it will then say something about evaluating the quality of the connection, and then connected. When I go to check my connection quality, it is always 173 Mbps. These Orbi Routers are the only devices that I have this specific connection quality limit on. 

 

The second problem is that it constantly fails to aunthenticate my login credentials, even after having been connected. I seriously doubt that my ISP or the modem/router I connect to them through is causing this problem either. I do not think my phone is sending bad credentials.

 

The third problem is that at 6 feet, I should have a fast and stable connection to the WiFi. Instead my Galaxy S8 plus that can connect to the BGW210 at 866 Mbps when it is in the other room behind a wall cannot connect to the Orbi router base unit any faster than 173 Mbps. It then has half life measured in seconds rather than hours or days.

 

It has nothing to do with the technology in general. If I go upstairs to where the satellite is, I assume the satellites use the same WiFi technology as the base unit, I will get a 650 Mbps WiFi connection through Orbi, my wife's Galaxy note 10 Plus occassionally exceeds the gigabit spped. If I then check my internet speed, I will get a good proportion of that connection speed as internet throughput. 

 

 

Message 4 of 18
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

The ISP modems wifi should be fully turned off so as to not cause interference problems while you have the Orbi system running. Wifi problems can be caused by near by or in same home wifi coming from ISP modems. Reason for modem suggestions presented. 

 

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 wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router

 

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

 

Try testing with AX mode disabled on the RBR. 

Also try changing CTS values to 2347 as well. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

Message 5 of 18
astonerii
Star

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

Starting off, I did yet another monotonous factory reset, I then set up the router through a hard wire, my phone did not connect for over 30 attempts and 8 minutes of trying.
I unplugged my AT&T Modem/Router, it could cause no problems.
When I set up my WiFi bands I did a WiFi scan and picked the least abused ones. Band 1 had 1 user on it, which I think was me, and I did not see anything in the under 100 bands for 5GHz

I have pretty much disabled everything. And not one single thing has improved. My AT&T router is not possibly interfering with anything, as it is unplugged.

 

Here are my settings. I went through the advanced settings bottom to top.

 

 

VLAN/Bridge not enabled
Traffic Meter not enabled
IPv6 not enabled
UPnP on
Remote management off
No static routes
No VPN service
No Dynamic DNS Service
No Port Fowarding programmed.
Router mode
2.4GHz
20/40MHz coexistance off for both
Enable WMM on
CTS 2347
Short Preamble
100%
5GHz
Enable WMM on
CTS 2347
Short Preamble
100%

Firmware V3.2.16.6 all around

Says to use default NETGEAR NTP server
Set to time zone eastern which is correct for california. Just kidding, east coast is right.

Attached devices, 2 satellites, both are showing good backhaul status.

Wireless
1(P) + 5(S) up to 400 Mbps
36 + 40P + 44 + 48 up to 1083 Mbps

Security is what ever default is

I did not set up security or speedtest by ookla

Use router as DHCP server

WAN setup only has Disable IGMP proxy checked.

no guest network

Wireless set up is 01 for 2.4GHz and 36 for 5GHz

WPA-PSK [AES]

 

Here are the results.

While I went through all this, not counting resets, my phone, sitting 8 feet away from the router disconnected at a minimum of 14 times, 6 of those times it gave the "authentication error occured" message. The highest connection speed was and is 173 Mbps. Obviously, internet is not available. In case you think that my phone is lying about the quality of service, the 173 Mbps is probably an exageration, as my internet speeds are 73.9 down and 48.2 up. Hard wired through Orbi my PC is getting 644 down and 679 up. My phone can get much higher connected to the AT&T wireless  right now it showed 302 and 122.

 

 

 

 

Message 6 of 18
larryindublin
Luminary

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

I upgraded from an RBK53 set to the RBK753. Kept same SSID and all default settings (except added smtp for log emails). Everything reconnected, connection quality is as good if not a little better (My Note 20 Ultra is only device that supports Wifi 6). One Satellite is in the basement, 1 is on the first floor and the router is with the ISP cable modem (Aris 6183, modem only) up on the 2nd floor.

 

Only problem I've seen so far seems to be a pretty well documented but not fixed yet issue with DNS occastionally.

 

Have been on several multi hour video calls with no issues while others are streaming netflix.

 

Not sure why some people have issues while others see Orbi as rock solid.

 

Message 7 of 18
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

"my phone, sitting 8 feet away from the router disconnected at a minimum of 14 times, 6 of those times it gave the "authentication error occured" message". IF your turn off all RBS and leave just the RBR online, does the phone still disconnect? 

 


@astonerii wrote:

Starting off, I did yet another monotonous factory reset, I then set up the router through a hard wire, my phone did not connect for over 30 attempts and 8 minutes of trying.
I unplugged my AT&T Modem/Router, it could cause no problems.
When I set up my WiFi bands I did a WiFi scan and picked the least abused ones. Band 1 had 1 user on it, which I think was me, and I did not see anything in the under 100 bands for 5GHz

I have pretty much disabled everything. And not one single thing has improved. My AT&T router is not possibly interfering with anything, as it is unplugged.

 

Here are my settings. I went through the advanced settings bottom to top.

 

 

VLAN/Bridge not enabled
Traffic Meter not enabled
IPv6 not enabled
UPnP on
Remote management off
No static routes
No VPN service
No Dynamic DNS Service
No Port Fowarding programmed.
Router mode
2.4GHz
20/40MHz coexistance off for both
Enable WMM on
CTS 2347
Short Preamble
100%
5GHz
Enable WMM on
CTS 2347
Short Preamble
100%

Firmware V3.2.16.6 all around

Says to use default NETGEAR NTP server
Set to time zone eastern which is correct for california. Just kidding, east coast is right.

Attached devices, 2 satellites, both are showing good backhaul status.

Wireless
1(P) + 5(S) up to 400 Mbps
36 + 40P + 44 + 48 up to 1083 Mbps

Security is what ever default is

I did not set up security or speedtest by ookla

Use router as DHCP server

WAN setup only has Disable IGMP proxy checked.

no guest network

Wireless set up is 01 for 2.4GHz and 36 for 5GHz

WPA-PSK [AES]

 

Here are the results.

While I went through all this, not counting resets, my phone, sitting 8 feet away from the router disconnected at a minimum of 14 times, 6 of those times it gave the "authentication error occured" message. The highest connection speed was and is 173 Mbps. Obviously, internet is not available. In case you think that my phone is lying about the quality of service, the 173 Mbps is probably an exageration, as my internet speeds are 73.9 down and 48.2 up. Hard wired through Orbi my PC is getting 644 down and 679 up. My phone can get much higher connected to the AT&T wireless  right now it showed 302 and 122.

 

 

 

 


 

Message 8 of 18
astonerii
Star

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

I no longer have my phone, but with my daughter's phone, Galaxy S10 plus, I get a little better connection speed. 220ish i think was the highest I saw.

When I tried to connect to the Orbi network I still get this long repeating connecting, nothing, connecting, nothing, connecting, checking network speed, connected cycle, sometimes it connects, other times it times out. So far her phone has not come back with an authentication error occurred message.

It took about 6 cycles to connect the very first time. It never seems to connect the first itteration.

I tried to do a speed test on the phone, and was surprised to see 350Mbps and when i checked the wifi however, it had disconnected from Orbi and had jumped to AT&T. So, I am still getting disconnections and poor connections with the satellites turned off. 

Message 9 of 18
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

I would enable debug logging at router IP address/debug.htm and capture this phone conneting to the RBR behavior. After it's done. Save off the logs and send then to NG support for review. There is a problem at the RBR or between the RBR and your phones. 

@Blanca_O 

Message 10 of 18
astonerii
Star

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

It is odd, under include in log everything is checked, but there are only 2 messages, Admin login and some DHCP IP thing.

I log in and out with the phone, but it does not update at all.

Message 11 of 18
astonerii
Star

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

I was unable to get any of the 3 netgear RBR 750 routers to function as they are supposed to function. Returning all 3 today.

 

My only possible conclusion is that there is in fact something wrong with the all the units they sent me, which is indicative of a greater issue than just three bad parts.

 

I was able to get better connections across the board with the RBS 750 units as high as the 866 Mbps I get with AT&T router and the wife was able to register and get screenshots of greater than gigabit at 10 to 15 feet away.

 

Along with the usual changes the following did not improve things...

 

Moving the RBR 750 to the same location as the satellites with 50 feet of Cat5E cable did not end up with any benefit, no known degradation either. It functioned the same no matter where it was. 

 

Turning off the AT&T wireless did nothing to help.

.

Turning off AX did nothing.

 

Changing channels repeatedly did nothing.

 

Never turning on armor or checking speed through the device did nothing.

 

Most of the suggested settings simply do not even exist in the settings of this unit. There is no daisy chaining setting anywhere and both satellites were working anyways asn both were directly connected to the router anyways.

Message 12 of 18
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

What Firmware version is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?

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 wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router

 

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

 

What wifi devices are you using? Some devices don't support wifi speeds over 500Mpbs. AX maybe near 900Mpbs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unc36O66Ef0&feature=youtu.be&t=1062

 

What is the connection rate of your wifi devices? Load wifiisweetspots app on your devices to check the connection rate between the device and the RBR.
https://kb.netgear.com/19668/Link-Rate-and-Transfer-Speed

 

Check the speed with a wired PC connected to the RBR. 

Message 13 of 18
astonerii
Star

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

FURRYe38, it is kind of like you do not read what I write. There are probably lots of instances where the generic go to box of restart the PC solutions work, but I spent hours working on this before I called Netgear, I also spent hours reading internet forums on the issues before I called Netgear. I then spent 3 multi hour sessions on technical support working on this before I came here out of desperation hoping soemone who had these problems had a non standard boxed solution. 

 

I explained above that I have been through changing the firmware versions repeatedly, and the latest is the one that was most recently loaded.

 

I also explained that I completely unplugged my service provider's box and still was not able to connect to the Orbi router with reasonable speeds. 173 Mbps regardless of distance was a repeated number and never higher. So my ONT is not the issue and neither is my ISP router.

 

I also just explained that I went through the channel changing and it did not affect anything.

 

All kinds of neighbors. Almost all on AT&T routers exactly like mine. Again, if congestion was a problem, the satellites would not connect any better than the main router. And I am able to get gigabit connections to the satellites. Which is why I specified it is the RBR 750 that is defective. I even moved the router to where the satellite with great connections was sitting and moved the satellite to the computer room. As I explained above. I am able to find clean channels, and even when the orbi was the only one on a channel, it did no better.

 

I am using Halo Samsung devices for the most part. Galaxy S8 plus, Galaxy S10 Plus, Galaxy Note 10 plus, the S10 and Note 10 are both WiFi 6 enabled devices. They get great connections with the satellites, and nothing higher than 250 Mbps on the router.

 

We already got back from dropping all the boxes off at the UPS, except the RMA unit from Netgear where they gave me a fedex return label, grrrrr. 

 

Anyways, I hope that Netgear is able to use any of my information to improve their products. It is a real shame that a company that I always trusted ended up failing me so badly. Good luck all.

Message 14 of 18
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

Ok. At leaset we tried. 

 

Good Luck.

 

 

Message 15 of 18
tpk
Aspirant
Aspirant

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

@astoneriiI shuddered to read your woes. I am on my third attempt to get a mesh going with Netgear kit -- first with an RBR850, then dropping down to a Nighthawk, and now with an RBR750. It, itself, seems OK, but its RBS750 Satellite is refusing to play well.

 

I hope my route to an answer does not involve what you had to go through. Netgear, if you are listening: we are USERS, not BETA TESTERS! And if your kit requires us to pay attention to subtle interactions with ISP cable modems and color of the wallpaper, then your kit will rapidly, and decisively lose its attraction.

 

And on that note, @astonerii, since it sounds like you never managed to get things fully resolved, can I assume you switched to something other than Orbi (or maybe even someone other than Netgear)? If so, could you recommend? I feel in my weary bones I may end up doing the same thing.

 

thx

 

Message 16 of 18
astonerii
Star

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

I gave up and went back to my original Velop AC6600 that has good speed but seems to lose connection too often. AT&T upgraded our main box and we moved the kids computers a bit closer to it, it never loses connection.

I am planning to buy one of AT&Ts extenders at some point in time. The router works so well, maybe their extender is just as good. It just does not have as high of Gigabit speed which is why I am a bit hesitant. 

Message 17 of 18
Guy-named-Eric
Aspirant

Re: Are all RBR750s defective?

Hello Astonerii,

 

 I feel Your pain,

 

(Interesting how there is no model selection in recommended selection box for RBS750...)

It should be at the top with all the issues with this product.

 

Have same issues as u describe over and over after purchasing just weeks ago.

 

Never had these problems with nighthawk single router system.

 

or any other netgear system for that matter.

 

For $500 ORBI mesh system should not have so many connectivity problems.

 

Appreciate all the experts trying to resolve problems yet one shouldn't be required to have a degree in computer science to diagnose items that should be plug and play.

 

I do NOT wish to bash NETGEAR as I have been a loyal customer and have never hard issues with any of their other products including the Netgear Modem i am currently utilizing.

 

I just feel that ORBI was not sufficiently debugged prior to release.

 

Please send this system and software back to the drawing board.

 

Guess this is what happens when trying to future proof technology 🙂

 

PS I do intend to purchase a nighthawk system newer than the one I previously own.

Message 18 of 18
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