Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973

Re: No internet through Orbi Pro Satellites (SRS60) even though backhaul status shows "Good&amp

Farscape
Guide

No internet through Orbi Pro Satellites (SRS60) even though backhaul status shows "Good"

Have had an Orbi Pro Router (SRK60) and 2 Satellites (SRS60's) installed for less than a week now.  The router and satellites are on firmware 2.1.3.2.  Internet is Comcast xfinity (200Mbps down, 20Mbps up).  The xfinity router is in bridge mode so the Orbi Pro is in router mode.

 

The issue is that at least once a day (several times tonight), the internet connection through the satellites is lost.  The router still works fine though.  When I check the web interface Attached Devices page, it shows the backhaul status as "good" on both satellites.  I hit the refresh button on the page a few times to make sure that the backhaul status doesn't change from "good".  Satellites themselves show no light on top (no magenta, blue or white light).  Devices such as an iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Android tablet, Windows 10 pc, Windows 10 laptop still show an internet connection too, but cannot access a web page and/or an app that requires wifi.  The Windows 10 network troubleshooter tells me there is no issue with accessing web pages (which is not correct).

 

I've done mutliple resets (reset button on the back of the router and satellites) and daisy chain, implicit beamforming, mu-mimo & fast roaming are all unchecked currently.  The 2.4GHz signal is set to channel 11 too.  The only way to get the internet through either satellite again is to turn it off then back on and wait for the sync. 

 

I've got about 20 more days to return the system.  It's a shame because when it's working, the speed is excellent.  This was going to replace a 3-puck Google WiFi system which was in place for about 6 months and never had a disconnect.  The only issue was the speed was basically cut in half, but there's something to be said for no complaints from the family except for some buffering when everyone was streaming video.

 

I had the regular Orbi system previous to Google WiFi and that worked flawlessly for almost 10 months until a firmware update in August 2017 started satellite disconnects and the subsequent firmware update after still did not fix it.  Wanted to give Orbi Pro a try, but right now it is very disappointing.  

Model: Orbi Pro Tri-band WiFi System (SRK60) AC3000
Message 1 of 6

Accepted Solutions
wase4711
Luminary

Re: No internet through Orbi Pro Satellites (SRS60) even though backhaul status shows "Good&quo

what I would try is this:

 

have the Xfinity router in router mode, and turn off the wifi part of that router

have the orbi pro in access point mode

I have found having the Orbi in AP mode always makes everything work perfectly

 

Of course, once you get things switched that way, unplug EVERYTHING, then recoonect the xfinity modem/router first, let it find the internet, then connect the orbi router, let it find the internet, then connect the orbi satalite..

See if that makes things work they way you want them to

View solution in original post

Message 2 of 6

All Replies
wase4711
Luminary

Re: No internet through Orbi Pro Satellites (SRS60) even though backhaul status shows "Good&quo

what I would try is this:

 

have the Xfinity router in router mode, and turn off the wifi part of that router

have the orbi pro in access point mode

I have found having the Orbi in AP mode always makes everything work perfectly

 

Of course, once you get things switched that way, unplug EVERYTHING, then recoonect the xfinity modem/router first, let it find the internet, then connect the orbi router, let it find the internet, then connect the orbi satalite..

See if that makes things work they way you want them to

Message 2 of 6
Farscape
Guide

Re: No internet through Orbi Pro Satellites (SRS60) even though backhaul status shows "Good&amp

At the risk of jinxing the now AP mode Orbi Pro setup as you suggested, it’s been about 18 hours now in AP mode with no disconnects and no loss in speed.

 

I did further testing in router mode before switching to AP mode yesterday and while the wireless from the satellites did not appear to be working, the satellite Ethernet ports were working.  There was another anomaly too where an iPhone X would not get any higher than 35 Mbps in Speedtest, but an iPad Pro would rate at full speed and both had the same iOS version 11.2.6.  I thought the IPhone X may be connecting to the 2.4 GHz band, but the Attached Devices page displayed it as connected to the 5 GHz band.  So far, no such issues in AP mode.  Just wish I knew what was causing the issues in router mode.

 

In any case, whether this setup continues to work or not, thank you for the reply and instructions.

Message 3 of 6
wase4711
Luminary

Re: No internet through Orbi Pro Satellites (SRS60) even though backhaul status shows "Good&amp

ive had mine in AP for over a month with out a single disconnect, or issue, so hopefully that will be the case for you

Message 4 of 6
Farscape
Guide

Re: No internet through Orbi Pro Satellites (SRS60) even though backhaul status shows "Good&amp


@Farscape

A few comments;

1) Orbi does not officially allow the separation of the 2.4G & 5G bands, or the ability to disable the 2.4G band. Hence your iPhone X with 35Mbps was almost certainly connected to the 2.4G.

2) The Orbi 5G front haul is only 2 x 2  Max. 866 Mbps. This is the same front haul capacity as the old D6200.

3) Does the Orbi support MU-MIMO?

4) Using Wireless backhaul is not as reliable as Ethernet backhaul

5) Try installing the following App Wi-Fi Sweetspots (free) on ios and Android and test out your WLAN(not your ISP speed).

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/wi-fi-sweetspots/id855457383?mt=8

6) Does the Orbi support Wi-Fi Roaming standards? See link Apple does.

https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT202628

7) If you have a 200/200 Mbps Up/Down ISP plan and have newer generation devices such as iPhone X, perform 4K streaming then the Orbi is too low end.

 

1)  I did read through a lot of the thread about separating the bands through Telnet.  Now that the Orbi Pro router plus 2 satellites are in AP mode, it doesn't appear that the iPhone X is connecting to the 2.4GHz band any longer.

 

2)  I think the front haul of 866 Mbps is fine for what everyone in the house is using the internet and network for.  No server or NAS.  I did set up the scan-to-network function of an HP printer though.

 

3)  Yes, the Orbi and Orbi Pro support MU-MIMO, but it looks like many recommend disabling it along with implicit beamforming, daisy chain and fast roaming if there are connection issues.

 

4)  The original reason I purchased the regular Orbi system when it first came out was because of the wireless backhaul.  It worked great for 10 months with the firmware updates until one update in particular from August 2017 kept causing satellite disconnects.  I waited one more firmware for Netgear to fix it, but the next update did not fix and I ended up with a 3-puck Google WiFi system.  No disconnects with Google WiFi, but speeds were basically cut in half.  I remember many on the forum asking for the ethernet backhaul when the Orbi first came out and Netgear finally implemented it in one of the firmware updates and now also on the Orbi Pro, though I remember reading about issues as to whether it is actually working, but I really haven't been following the topic.

 

5)  Downloaded and installed the app WiFi Sweetspots onto an iPad.  Getting very good speeds all around, some spots averaging 423 Mbps and another spot averaging as low as 145 MBps, but for some reason it wasn't always connecting to the satellite/router closest to the spot being tested.  Also, sometimes it would not actually start the test when I moved to a location closer to another satellite or the router.  I closed out the app and then restarted the app to get it to work again.

 

6)  I'm the wrong person to ask if Orbi supports WiFi roaming standards.

 

7)  Only one 4K TV and that is an 8000 series Samsung 4K HDR TV.  No problems so far with streaming 4K through an Apple TV (4K version) or using the the built-in apps of the tv for the same streaming services.  I'm the only one in the house who cares about 4K anyway, though the 4K Blu-Ray player hasn't been used in a while.  Everyone else is fine with a regular HDTV.  In fact, the kids almost exclusively watch their shows on their iPads.  If you go over to avsforum.com, it seems many don't even consider streaming 4K from a service like Netflix to be "true" 4K.

 


 

Message 5 of 6
Farscape
Guide

Re: No internet through Orbi Pro Satellites (SRS60) even though backhaul status shows "Good&amp

@Case850

Not really sure what you mean, but ok.

 

Orbi Pro is working right now in AP mode with no issues, but does have satellite disconnect issues when being used in Router mode (at least in my setup).

 

Thanks for your input.

Message 6 of 6
Top Contributors
Discussion stats
  • 5 replies
  • 7146 views
  • 1 kudo
  • 2 in conversation
Announcements