Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
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Re: Brand new RBK753 losing connection

zielin
Tutor

Brand new RBK753 losing connection

I just purchased the RBK 753 3 unit Orbi package from Costco and am having some connectivity issues with it so far.

The issue that occurs most frequently is my Chromecast will lose connectivity. Sometimes it will say connected with no internet. Other times it will disconnect from wifi altogether and I have to go choose the network to reconnect again. One of the satellite units is just a couple feet from the Chromecast.

The Orbi is installed in an apartment that is around 1000 square feet. The router unit is in the middle with one satellite on either side. There are tons of other wifi networks within range.

Is this distance too small for the Orbi to work well? Does the Orbi not work well in the presence of a lot of other networks? Is this a known issue? Did I possibly get a lemon?

 

Disappointed that such an expensive mesh router is performing so much worse than the years old cheaper individual unit it replaced.

Message 1 of 13
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Brand new RBK753 losing connection

Netgear has set up a community forum specifically for the Orbi AX (WiFi 6) products. Most of the people who watch that forum are more likely to have experience with Orbi AX and know how to work it better than those of us who follow this "general Orbi" forum. Might be more likely to find someone who has a solution if the question is posted there:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/bd-p/en-home-orbi-ax

Thank you.

Message 2 of 13
zielin
Tutor

Re: Brand new RBK753 losing connection

@FURRYe38 thanks. I moved it over.

Message 3 of 13
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Brand new RBK753 losing connection


@zielin wrote:

The Orbi is installed in an apartment that is around 1000 square feet. The router unit is in the middle with one satellite on either side. There are tons of other wifi networks within range.


Yes, this is a lot of WiFi for a 1,000 sq. ft. space.  Unless the building construction is unusual (lots of interior brick, stone, and concrete) a single router is probably enough.  If this was a stand-alone house, the two satellites could be located near exterior walls and blast WiFi out into the yard.  (Not so likely in an apartment.)

 


@zielin wrote:

The issue that occurs most frequently is my Chromecast will lose connectivity. Sometimes it will say connected with no internet. Other times it will disconnect from wifi altogether and I have to go choose the network to reconnect again. One of the satellite units is just a couple feet from the Chromecast.


Do other WiFi devices disconnect frequently, or just the Chromecast?  If it is only the Chromecast, posing the question to Chromecast users may be more productive.

Message 4 of 13
zielin
Tutor

Re: Brand new RBK753 losing connection

@CrimpOn It is indeed a lot for 1000 sqft. Problem is there are a ton of other networks around me. So I thought I might fare better with a mesh solution.

I had a single router before this. It's old and out of support now, but it was one of the first to support DFS. So I had some frequencies pretty much to myself at the time. I DFS is more common now so that's no longer the case. There are parts of the home where network performance isn't optimal.

Other devices have misbehaved too. Though the chromecast is the only one that is constantly disconnecting. Easier to reproduce and troubleshoot with. It was not disconnecting at all until I replaced my existing router with the Orbi.

 

It was suggested in another thread that I turn down the power on the router.

 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/Brand-new-RBK753-losing-connection/m-p/2099936/highlight/tr...

 

That seems to have stabilized the chromecast somewhat. Though now I'm seeing suboptimal coverage in a couple spots in the home with other devices. So seems like a tradeoff.

 

Maybe I need to try rearranging the satellites to position them further away and turn up the power again, or maybe I need a single router solution that is better at overpowering the competing networks.

 

 

Message 5 of 13
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Brand new RBK753 losing connection

Message 6 of 13
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Brand new RBK753 losing connection

Interesting that you should mention DFS.  5G WiFi seemed to have such promise, but there are only two frequency bands that are available with any sort of bandwidth (32-48 and 149-161) Those darn radar channels (DFS) consume 50-148.  Orbi complies with DFS, but in much of the world simply sticks to 32-48 for user 5G and 149-161 for backhaul 5G.  From what I understand, WiFi 6 adds new encoding strategies, but uses exactly the same frequencies as 5G.  It is WiFi 6E that opens up a number of new 80 and 160MHz channels (in the US), but faces the reality that 6G radio suffer more attenuation than 5G.

 

Apartments are a horrible challenge, with every unit blasting both 2.4G and 5G WiFi at full power.

Message 7 of 13
zielin
Tutor

Re: Brand new RBK753 losing connection

Thanks for the info!

 

I didn't realize Orbi may not be utilizing the DFS channels. 

 

I also didn't realize that Wifi 6E was adding 6GHz spectrum as well. Now you've got me wondering if I should hold onto my own router until 6E is more affordable. Though I guess it wouldn't help immediately as I'm guessing none of my existing devices yet support it.

Message 8 of 13
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Brand new RBK753 losing connection


@zielin wrote:

I also didn't realize that Wifi 6E was adding 6GHz spectrum as well. Now you've got me wondering if I should hold onto my own router until 6E is more affordable. Though I guess it wouldn't help immediately as I'm guessing none of my existing devices yet support it.


I have zero WiFi6 and certainly zero WiFi 6E devices. I am hoping that the 6E capability will be used for communication between nodes, which will free up the 5G bandwidth for user devices.  My Orbi is staying around for at least 2-3 more years.

Message 9 of 13
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Brand new RBK753 losing connection


@zielin wrote:

The issue that occurs most frequently is my Chromecast will lose connectivity. Sometimes it will say connected with no internet. Other times it will disconnect from wifi altogether and I have to go choose the network to reconnect again. One of the satellite units is just a couple feet from the Chromecast


Amazon brought my ChromeCast v2 today and I'm ready to attempt to duplicate this problem (not on the primary TV - I'm not looking for conflict!).  My "plan" is to periodically turn on the TV and see if my phone will cast to it.  Other than that.. what can I do?

  • It responds to ICMP (ping).  I can add it to the list of devices that I check once per minute and see if it fails to respond.
  • or.....

Found the setup pretty slick except for the step after setup and after updating firmware when Google Home said it could not be found, although it was merrily casting my phone screen to the TV set.

 

p.s. At $29US on Amazon, it might be worth getting another Chromecast to rule out the possibility that the first one has gone bad.

Message 10 of 13
zielin
Tutor

Re: Brand new RBK753 losing connection

Wow, that's some dedicated troubleshooting.

 

There is nothing specific I have to do in order to reproduce. Just stream something and it will eventually disconnect. Going into the settings and choosing the network will reestablish the connection.

 

To be clear I have the $49 Chromecast (with Google TV) model that comes with the remote.

 

I'm fairly certain the Chromecast hasn't gone bad. The issue began exactly when I installed the new router. 

 

I'm going to try disabling the satellite closest to the Chromecast as was suggested in the other thread to see if that helps now.

Message 11 of 13
zielin
Tutor

Re: Brand new RBK753 losing connection

I wish I could say I solved it and have a good answer for you. Unfortunately after hours of troubleshooting I was unable to resolve the problem and I ended up just returning the Orbi.
Message 12 of 13
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Brand new RBK753 losing connection

Sorry it didn't work out. 

Message 13 of 13
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