RBK753S AX4200 WiFi 6 Mesh System dropping connection when moving around house
I purchased a RBK753S AX4200 WiFi 6 Mesh System in Dec. 2020. I added an additional RBS750 maybe a year later. I have both 2.4G and 5G SSIDs enabled and am using a the same uncommon SSID for both. I notice this mostly with my phone (Pixel 6 Pro) but it also happens with other devices too - frequently when I move around my house (and presumable between APs), I sometimes get dropped from the WiFi. To make it worse, it often takes a couple of attempts to reconnect before I get a successful connection. I've made sure everything has the latest firmware, I've rebooted all my devices, I have good signal strength everywhere this happens.
My suspicion is this is some sort of unsuccessful handoff between APs (which shouldn't be happening) combined with some sort of cache corruption or something which is why the reconnect fails a couple of times (which also shouldn't be happening) - but my networking "expertise" is many years old, so I can talk a good game but am really over my head here.
Please, I really want to get this thing resolved as it has been bugging me for probably a year now. 😔
If this also happens to other devices, then this article may not be helpful, and
Their issue was "failure to roam", rather than lose WiFi completely.
In other words, "I got no idea." It is unclear (to me) whether the issue is with the Orbi system, those devices, or how they interact. Anyway, I would continue to search for information about Pixel 6 and WiFi roaming.
As a tip, however, at some point the topic of rebooting the system will come up. Since the first IBM PC (1982?), when strange things happen, one tactic is to "turn the damn thing off and back on again."
The last resort, of course, is to do a Factory Reset on the router.
I do a Factory Reset in two steps: (1) quick, and (2) thorough
After reset, the User Name is "admin" and password is "password"
For a quick reset, save a copy of the configuration to a file on the computer.
Press something into the "Reset" hole until the power LED turns amber and begins to flash, then pull it out.
When the router boots up, go through the setup steps on the web interface, ignoring every attempt to enter anything* until you get to a page offering two choices:
Restore a saved configuration.
Set up the router manually.
At that point, load the saved config and the router will reboot. When it comes up, every device will reconnect as before.
Total time: 10-15 minutes.
If this solves the issue, you are done.
* do not set up the SSID/password, register the product (again), sign up for Armor, Parental Controls... nothing.
If this did not solve the issue, the only recourse is the thorough reset by hand. During this step, again do not change the SSID/password until everything you want to customize has been done. Once the SSID/password that every device in the house knows about appears, they will all rush to connect and will get assigned whatever IP comes up next in the list. Once you are all done, change the SSID/password, and off you go.
Re: RBK753S AX4200 WiFi 6 Mesh System dropping connection when moving around house
Interesting. If I break this up into 2 different problem statements (dropping/unsuccessful handoff vs. temporary unsuccessful reconnects), then I think I can say the former issue is my Pixel 6 Pro and the later is my phone and other devices.
The dropping does tend to happen when I pass through the middle of the house where potentially all 4 APs are reachable. I don't know how to lower the power (I need to log in from my personal, not work PC, so I will investigate later) but I can unplug one or two of the APs and see what happens. In hindsight, I got the 4th AP and my Pixel phone around the same time...
I will report back. I am still hopeful someone else has some good ideas. Thank you for taking the time to respond, CrimpOn.
Re: RBK753S AX4200 WiFi 6 Mesh System dropping connection when moving around house
FWIW, I have the same system only mine came with two satellites. Both satellites are upstairs, one hardwired and one WiFi for the backchannel, and we have had zero issues with WiFi on our iPhones. The router is downstairs. The house is two-story, 3500 sq.ft. home. Outside on the property is fine as well.
