Frustrating experience with devices staying on the weaker Orbi unit
Unfortunately I cannot select my product model because they haven't added it yet to the list of products but this is for the new RBR750 AX4200 mesh system. Firmware 3.2.15.25_1.3.15.
I bought this system a week or so ago and really love it except for one very big problem. My laptop, when I move up to my office which is significantly closer to the satellite unit, stays connected to the main unit downstairs. This is causing daily problems with my work VPN dropping connection and even when not on VPN, I am now getting audio and video dropouts on my Zoom calls. I did not experience this with my previous Nest wifi system, but I did have a small satellite unit in my office. I would rather not have to buy another Orbi satellite because my home is 1800 sq ft and two should be more than enough.
Also I really don't want to move my satellite closer because its current position gives me the best blanket of coverage including outside. but that may have to happen, at least for testing purposes.. When I go into the bedroom where the satellite is, it *eventually* switches over but it takes a while. So I suppose that's a workaround as well, go sit in the bedroom until it switches to the satellite then go to the office. But that's obviously not a great experience.
So far I've tried lowering the 5ghz power to 50%, and I guess I could try 25% but curious if anyone has any other suggestions. Seems like the lowering of the power is the only potential workaround for this. I really wish you could manually switch which access point a device is attached to! This should be included in a firmware update. But this stuff is supposed to just work!
I also noticed on my device list that my Nest thermostat is connected to the upstairs unit when it lives downstairs way closer to the main unit, and the Nest shows as having a not great wifi connection when it should be fully strong.
A friend who also has this system said he got on a call with support and they had him download separate firmware updates for the main unit and satellite, that are newer than what you can get via the app, but I am scared of trying to get phone support due to concerns about support quality.
Re: Frustrating experience with devices staying on the weaker Orbi unit
When you move locations, are you first disabling the wifi radio on the laptop, then move to the RBS location, then re-enabled the wifi radio on the laptop to see if it connects to the RBS?
Re: Frustrating experience with devices staying on the weaker Orbi unit
@FURRYe38 thanks for the reply! The units are separated by the two stories of my home plus about 40 feet in distance. I could move the satellite to a farther away corner of our bedroom but that would also make it farther away from the middle bedroom where the office is. Right now I've moved it out into the hall outside our bedroom just for testing but haven't had time to test yet today.
I did try disabling wifi then reconecting but it stuck on the lower main unit. After sitting in the bedroom with the satellite it did eventually switch over and did stick when I went into the office.
I've done extensive wifi analysis of neighbors and have it set to the best possible channels for both frequencies. And for the 5ghz band all of my neighbors are using the higher 100+ channels and I am on channel 48 which is wide open. 2.4 is on channel 6 which is definitely the best option looking at my wifi analyzer.
Besides lowering 5ghz power to 50%, I also set CTS/RTS to 500, and chose short preamble on my wifi settings. But I don't think that should affect this issue AFAIK.
Re: Frustrating experience with devices staying on the weaker Orbi unit
Ok if the distance is about 40 feet, you shouldn't need to move it farther away from the RBR. If anything you could try a bit closer to the RBR. Say 5 feet closer.
I would not recommend setting 500 for CTS. Keep 64 however you can try 2347. I don't know if 2347 will make any different though. I've been told by NG to keep with 64 for CTS value for Orbi AX.
So when the laptop connects to the RBS, does it maintain the connection while it's nearest the RBS?
Re: Frustrating experience with devices staying on the weaker Orbi unit
So far yes, it does maintain connection to the satellite while upstairs once I am connected to it. I am out in my back yard right now and it's back on the RBR which is about 15 feet away.
The CTS/RTS stuff is still a little foreign to me. The reason I changed it is because I have a Nest theromostat and read about some potential issues there and also an extensive Sonos system and I was experiencing a couple odd Sonos issues so that was a troubleshooting step for that.
Re: Frustrating experience with devices staying on the weaker Orbi unit
Yes NG is aware of NEST issues. So far with mine, CTS 64 and 20/40Mhz with AX enabled, my NEST controllers are working well. I did have a couple of disconnects the other day, however has been online since. I'm on v32. Something I recommend you try.
NG said there is a ping ponging effect happening when NESTs are connecting. Distance from the RBR or RBS is a factor. The closer the NEST is to either RBR or RBS seems important. My 3rd gen is 5 feet away from the RBR while my 1st gen is over 10 feet way from the RBS nearest it.
Regarding the Laptop, it's up to most any wifi device to pick and choose which signal source to connect to. So with the laptop it may connect and prefer the RBR vs RBS. Distance from each will be a factor and possible the laptop wifi may not support any Roam features so onces it's locked on to a singnal it may not move to a closer singal until you disable the wifi radio on the LT then turn it back ON. Nature of the beast here.
Re: Frustrating experience with devices staying on the weaker Orbi unit
This is an extremely frustrating situation. I have one computer on the third floor of my house that is only connecting to the satellite which is two floors away and on the other side of the house. I am getting barely 1 megabit per second. Other devices in that same room, are properly connecting to the closer main unit and getting 75Mbps+. if I unplug the satellite, then it will properly connect to the main unit and I will get very good speeds. however, sometimes even when it is connected to the satellite, the connection will drop, and it will not reconnect to the main unit. Then that computer which is running a music server and needs to be running 24/7 will have no internet connection at all. The only way I can get it back is to reboot the computer or reset network settings. It has been a constant headache since I added this RBR750 system. It is not ideal, but I've temporarily moved the satellite to the third floor and I'm using the ethernet connection. I hope there's a fix for this in the future or a way to force a particular connection. I am currently running the most current firmware version: 3.2.15.32
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?
This is an extremely frustrating situation. I have one computer on the third floor of my house that is only connecting to the satellite which is two floors away and on the other side of the house. I am getting barely 1 megabit per second. Other devices in that same room, are properly connecting to the closer main unit and getting 75Mbps+. if I unplug the satellite, then it will properly connect to the main unit and I will get very good speeds. however, sometimes even when it is connected to the satellite, the connection will drop, and it will not reconnect to the main unit. Then that computer which is running a music server and needs to be running 24/7 will have no internet connection at all. The only way I can get it back is to reboot the computer or reset network settings. It has been a constant headache since I added this RBR750 system. It is not ideal, but I've temporarily moved the satellite to the third floor and I'm using the ethernet connection. I hope there's a fix for this in the future or a way to force a particular connection. I am currently running the most current firmware version: 3.2.15.32
Re: Frustrating experience with devices staying on the weaker Orbi unit
Orbi connected in AP mode to Verizon Quantum Gateway Router with it's own WiFi turned off. Not sure what the ONT model is. 5,000' house. Distance between main unit and satellite was 1 floor and approximately 30' in distance. The distance from the device that was connect to FURTHER away satellite was TWO flooor and 35' or so. The closer main unit was 1 floor and 20' or so.
Auto for channel selection and no interfering WiFi signals from neighbors.
Re: Frustrating experience with devices staying on the weaker Orbi unit
Also try turning down the power output of the RBRs wifi radios from 100% to 50% and see if this changes anything. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
