Orbi RBR752 unstable internet, notifications come in batches

[KevTheGutman]

I have an Orbi mesh at home (AX4200) with the router and one satellite. I use the Netgear CM1200 cable modem. I'm on the Xfinity 1.2gbps plan, but the CM1200 limits me to 1gbps. The speed test on the Orbi app generally hits 941 Mbps down, 42Mbps up. This has been working well enough since April 2021...until the last couple weeks. I can get up to 700Mbps on my Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G, and reasonable 300Mbps +/- on my laptop's wireless connection. I'm good with all of this. However, over the last couple of weeks, the notifications on my Note 20 come in batches. I'll use the GMAIL app, for example, with zero notifications showing. The app loads, I have new mail, and suddenly the Note lights up with new email, maybe ESPN Fantasy Football alerts, LinkedIn alerts, etc. So I basically have to access any app that is enabled with notifications and then all my notifications come in. The same Note 20 gets the alerts in a timely manner when I'm not connected to the Orbi.

Note that I've rebooted the CM1200, then the router, then the satellite multiple times. Since this problem started, I regularly get "your internet connection is unstable" messages in Zoom (laptop). When I review the logs, I'm reminded how inadequate they are. I run a speed test when I get those errors, the throughput is fine. So it's hard to properly define the problem aside from notifications from multiple unrelated mobile apps come in batches and wifi connections are randomly unstable.

I'm dead stumped. Apparently the support for these is very time-limited. I'm six months in on this solution, and no support. Any ideas? I'm ready to dump this system.

[KevTheGutman]

A few more notes to add:

1. My Wireless Settings CTS/RTS for 2.4GHz and 5GHz is set to 2346 each. 

2. Firmware is at V4.6.5.14_2.0.54.

3. LAG is active between the RBR750 and CM1200 on the 1Gbps ports, and connected with CAT8 gold plated RJ45.

4. Traffic meter is disabled.  

5. IPV6 is disabled.

6. VPN Service is disabled.

7. Guest network is disabled.
8. Orbi is the DHCP server.
9. I use CloudFlare and Quad9 for my DNS (1.1.1.1, 9.9.9.9).

[FURRYe38]

Has a power off for 1 minute then back ON with the ISP modem and Orbi system been performed since last update?

[KevTheGutman]

No, but I'll do that directly. Thanks!

[KevTheGutman]

FYI, update was performed this morning. I'll still do the power off.

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

Has a power off for 1 minute then back ON with the ISP modem and Orbi system been performed since last update?

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[KevTheGutman]

I've turned off the router and satellite, and then the modem. As soon as the router was turned off, I got flooded with notifications from ESPN, Reddit, LinkedIn, Discord, and more. I brought up the modem first, and waited for all appropriate lights to turn solid green. Then I brought up the router, and then the satellite. I'll report back if I see any differences. 

[FURRYe38]

👍

I would change custome DNS back to Auto and see if you notice any changes as well. 

[KevTheGutman]

Just now, I had three notifications pop in at the same time. Two text message and an alert from my office systems. Thus, the firmware update and power-off had no effect. 

I'll restore the default DNS (auto) values and try again.

[FURRYe38]

Is this the only device this is happening on? 

[KevTheGutman]

My wife reports that her iPhone seems laggy. I also notice that my Note 20's installation of Chrome and the ESPN app both show on startup a screen that indicates network connection has been lost, then it quickly reloads and works. 

And since I did the power-off/on of the CM1200 and Orbi stuff, my VPN software (Cisco AnyConnect) has disconnected and reconnected on my laptop seven times. Grrrr.

[FURRYe38]

Try this on the RBR:

Set CTS to 2347. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

Do you have Armor enabled? 

Is the RBS FW version same as whats on the RBR? 

You might try this as well, turn OFF the RBS and connect to the RBR only...

[KevTheGutman]

The RBR and RBS are both 4.6.5.14, and a check shows there is not a newew version available. The orbilogin.com page shows V4.6.5.14_2.0.54.

I updated RTS and CTS from 2346 to 2347. Not sure why I had set it to 2346...but yeah. That's correct now.

Armor is disable already.

When I powered everything off, I neglected to turn on the RBS right away. I went about 20-30 minutes with the satellite off. That's not the problem. Good idea though. 

[FURRYe38]

Hmmm kind of running out of ideas here. 

Only other thing to try is to disable AX mode on the RBR. 

I presume your using WPA2 and AES only on the RBR? 

[KevTheGutman]

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

Hmmm kind of running out of ideas here. 

Only other thing to try is to disable AX mode on the RBR. 

I presume your using WPA2 and AES only on the RBR? 

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You had more ideas than I had. 😄 

I'm reluctant to disable AX. Ugh. I'd rather plug in my old AC AP. 

Your assumption is correct on the security options.

Again, this is a fairly new problem. Maybe a couple weeks old. Now my VPN is going nuttier than squirrel poo and I'm thinking more and more I need to use the return insurance I paid for at Best Buy. The downer is that I started with the Arris mesh solution. It rocked. It rocked...and then it died. I could RMA (which would take a week or two according to Arris) or go back to Best Buy. Since I work remote, waiting was not an option. I walked out of Best Buy with this AX4200. It is noticeably slower than the Arris, and it has the damn Armor subscription that I hate. But it worked, and it kept working...until now. I got six months out of it, which is slightly better than what I got out of Arris. I'm not sure if I'll take it back, but I know my patience is really thin right now. If someone tells me to do a factory reset, I may just commit a felony.

[FURRYe38]

So had this system been working up to recently? 

That was going to be my last resort suggestion...A FR. 

[KevTheGutman]

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

So had this system been working up to recently? 

That was going to be my last resort suggestion...A FR. 

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I can't help myself.......FR. FR? FR?!?!?!

[FURRYe38]

factory reset 

[KevTheGutman]

Gah!

Fine. Later tonight. Probably within 10 minutes of Best Buy closing for the night.

[KevTheGutman]

Still haven't done the FR. Things seem more stable over the last 12 hours. The biggest change to which I can attribute that improvement is dumping the DNS servers and going with what Xfinity gives me. Sad. But now the connection is usable and I feel less self-imposed pressure to pre-order new stuff from Netgear.

Thanks for your help!

[FURRYe38]

What happens if you only use Quad Nine DNS for your custom DNS on the RBR? 

Wondering if using two different DNS services could be causing problems or one of the DNS services is not working as they should as well. I used Q9 maining when I do test with other DNS. I remember seeing some bad performances with Q1 services. 

[KevTheGutman]

I may try that. Q1 was my primary. I've got a few meetings and stuff. I'll let you know.

[FURRYe38]

👍