Adding a RBS20 satellite to RBR40 Router + 2 RBS40 Sats

[WhyDidIBuyOrbi]

Hi,

I've been having problems with my Orbi system since reworking the back of my house (well more problems, it's never been great). The groundfloor is about 750sqft with two further floors of 500sq ft on top.

Now a RBR40 and a Couple of RBS40s used to cover everything fine, but with the remodelling I'm struggling to get a signal in the open plan room at the back and to the Nestcam that is on the back wall beyond that.  That wall is concrete block and brick, so pretty thick.  But (when its working) I get 50mb down and 15mb up on the internal side of the wall.

I've tried adding a new RBS20 satellite to boost coverage in that room, but it just seems to bring the rest of the system down whenever its plugged in. It updated to the latest latest firmware (v2.5.1.16) fine, so can't see why its causing problems.

I know Orbi systems are fragile and tend to take a while to settle down after making any change whatsoever.  But this is driving me mad, especially in lockdown, when everyone need a stable connection.  I struggle to understand why a system like an Orbi with 2x sat can't cope with a house that is not much more than 1500sqft, which the old stock modem/router my network gave me used to just about do.

So question is should I persist with RBS20 and hope things settledown, or stick it back in the box and send it back to Amazon?

[plemans]

Any chance you can hardwire in the device that's having to be on the other side of that brick wall? 

Either using ethernet, moca adapter, or powerline? 

You might find better speeds/stability that route because brick/concrete are basically amazing at blocking wifi. 

[WhyDidIBuyOrbi]

That is what is annoying, the Nest Cameras have a power lead and that is it. They are plug and play. The only thing you can do with them is turn them off and back on again. 

[plemans]

how far apart are your orbi devices? they need at least 30 ft minimum. 

What firmware are you on?

Is it just the devices on the other side of the brick wall having issues? 

[WhyDidIBuyOrbi]

I'm on firmware v2.5.1.16.

The boxes are propbably less than 30ft but if I try and move them further away they just don't pick up a connection.  The RBS20 I added for example was on the same floor as the router and less than 30ft away but still only managed to get an orange connection (rather than green).

I've removed and the system is stable again.  What I don't get is why adding this additional satellite creates system instability and actually makes the conection worse in the room I've added it to.

Has anyone else had issues adding 20s to 40 systems?

[plemans]

what version of the firmare is the satellites on? 

[WhyDidIBuyOrbi]

Everything is on the same (latest) firmware, router, old sats and the new, unusable, RBS20

[plemans]

have you tried factory resetting the unstable satellite?
Was the concrete in between the unstable satellite and other devices?

[WhyDidIBuyOrbi]

Not tried factory reset, will give that a go.

It was brining own the whole network when I connected it, the camera behind the wall became more of a secondary concern when this problem arrived with the new satellite.