Re: Issue with Netgear Orbi Mesh Router system: Router: RBR40 (2 Satellites: RBW30)

Trishan · ‎2022-08-22

The problem I have is that my computer keeps connecting to a satellite which has a poor signal instead of the satellite which is closest to my computer. I want to force the computer to connect to a specific satellite with the strongest signal.

Within the administration app (or website), I cannot find my MacBook Pro listed anywhere so I can't see what it is connecting to but it is definitely not connecting to the closest satellite.

We have a Netgear Orbi Mesh Router system:

Router: RBR40

2 Satellites: RBW30

Orbi Voice Speaker (which is also a satellite): RBS40V

The Router & Speaker or on the first floor. One Satellite is on the 2nd floor, the other is in the basement.

I'm working in a 2nd floor bedroom which is close to the speaker (one room over & below me) and right above the Basement Satellite (two floors down) and a bit farther from the 2nd floor Satellite (but that's on the same floor). The Router is at the other end of the house so it should never really connect to that.

The problem which I originally had was that the Speaker connected to the main router and then the Satellites connected to the Speaker (daisy chain) which meant that all the internet traffic for most of the devices in the house went through the Speaker which I don't think is capable of handling that traffic. Even though I had a strong connection to the Speaker (full signal on computer WiFi icon), the internet would often break up or pause on video calls.

I turned off the Daisy Chain option to force each Satellite to connect directly to the Router. After that, the computer had a weaker signal (just 2 "bars" on the computer icon) so I'm connecting to a different Satellite and it won't switch to a stronger signal. I also enabled Fast Switching & Beam Forming yesterday but that doesn't seem to help.

Questions:

1) How can I get my computer to show up in the list of devices? I've already checked the Disconnected Devices list and it's not there. There is nothing in the Blocked Devices list.

2) How can I force the computer to connect to a specific Satellite? In this case it would be the Speaker.

2

ekhalil · ‎2022-08-23

.....
1) How can I get my computer to show up in the list of devices? I've already checked the Disconnected Devices list and it's not there. There is nothing in the Blocked Devices list.

There must be an issue in the Orbi's database, one way to fix this is using factory reset, but before that please try one of the following:

Make the computer forget the wifi network and connect again.
Try reserve an IP address in Orbi for the computer in the DHCP reservation table.
Will connecting the same computer to the Orbi by LAN cable also not show in Orbi?

.....
2) How can I force the computer to connect to a specific Satellite? In this case it would be the Speaker.

According to the implemented standards, it's the computer who chooses which node to connect to, not the router. Please try with the driver setting in yourcomputer, check the following settings (see screenshot below from my computer, when it's approved by a moderator):

Preferred Band
Roaming Agressiveness
Channels widths for 2.4 and 5 GHz respectively.
Throughput Booster
Transmit Power
......

Trishan · ‎2022-08-31

Thanks for the response. My computer randomly started showing up in the device list so I think that i'm OK on that front. However, I can't seem to solve the issue of the laptop connected to a weaker satellite when there is a stronger satellite available. I have a Macbook so don't have the same setting as the Windows screenshot you posted. In fact, i can't find anything even remotely equivalent.

Any other ideas?

CrimpOn · ‎2022-08-31

Does your MacBook have a page similar to this one:

https://kb.netgear.com/25191/Configuring-TCP-IP-and-Proxy-Settings-on-Mac-OSX

The page did not show what is on the Hardware tab.

ekhalil · ‎2022-09-01

Sorry, didn’t see that it’s a MacBook! In MacOS under networks (see the good link the was shared by CrimpOn) you can find some of these settings, but there are much less controllable parameters than what’s in Windows.