Re: Orbi RBR20 (V2.3.5.26) not connecting to some websites

sharpdad · ‎2020-05-18

I have had a RBR20 with 2 satellites working reliably since October 2019 with the occasional reboot required. Standard configuration (router mode) and my cable modem is an older Netgear C3700 modem/router combo which I switched to bridge mode when first installed. (Running pretty old firmware, my own modem and ISP doesn't push new firmware upgrades)

In the past week or so, maybe 5% of websites have been inaccessible unless I reboot either the modem or Orbi or both. This morning it was worse and the kids couldn't get on their school websites. Rebooted either device did not fix the problem.

I ended up putting the old modem/router back into router mode (which I only could do via a hardware ethernet cable back into the modem) and then I put the Orbi into AP mode. Using the old modem/router to access the websites via the ethernet port from a Mac worked 100% so definitely something with the Orbi(??). (CNN, eBay were two random failures). (DNS Servers in use both originally and just with my old modem/router were the same (both ISP default).

At this point I couldn't get access to the Orbi at all. Only after connecting a hardware cable to the Orbi (and I think also having it get a solid connection to the modem) that I could access the Orbi again. After leaving things be for 10-15 minutes, it seems to have settled down and is working okay right now.

Is there any explanation for the missing websites? Some better configuration I should be using? I was tempted to replace my aging cable modem to see if it fixed the problem but if leaving the Orbi in AP mode has no downsides, I'll try that for a while.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Ironically, the neatgear website was one website I could not connect to as well as RCN, my internet provider.

FURRYe38 · ‎2020-05-18

Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update?

Try disabling the following and see:
Armor, Circle

You may want to update as well: v16 is available.

@sharpdad wrote:
I have had a RBR20 with 2 satellites working reliably since October 2019 with the occasional reboot required. Standard configuration (router mode) and my cable modem is an older Netgear C3700 modem/router combo which I switched to bridge mode when first installed. (Running pretty old firmware, my own modem and ISP doesn't push new firmware upgrades)

In the past week or so, maybe 5% of websites have been inaccessible unless I reboot either the modem or Orbi or both. This morning it was worse and the kids couldn't get on their school websites. Rebooted either device did not fix the problem.

I ended up putting the old modem/router back into router mode (which I only could do via a hardware ethernet cable back into the modem) and then I put the Orbi into AP mode. Using the old modem/router to access the websites via the ethernet port from a Mac worked 100% so definitely something with the Orbi(??). (CNN, eBay were two random failures). (DNS Servers in use both originally and just with my old modem/router were the same (both ISP default).

At this point I couldn't get access to the Orbi at all. Only after connecting a hardware cable to the Orbi (and I think also having it get a solid connection to the modem) that I could access the Orbi again. After leaving things be for 10-15 minutes, it seems to have settled down and is working okay right now.

Is there any explanation for the missing websites? Some better configuration I should be using? I was tempted to replace my aging cable modem to see if it fixed the problem but if leaving the Orbi in AP mode has no downsides, I'll try that for a while.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Ironically, the neatgear website was one website I could not connect to as well as RCN, my internet provider.

sharpdad · ‎2020-05-19

Thanks for the reply.

I have not done a factory reset. No Armor or Circle running on the Orbi.

It's been fine for 24 hours now in the new configuration so I'm planning to leave it as-is unless it starts acting up again.

FURRYe38 · ‎2020-05-19

Possible a web site, ISP or DNS service issue rather then Orbi.

sharpdad · ‎2020-05-20

Yeah, except once I switched my modem/router back into regular mode and had a wired connection to it, all the troublesome sites worked fine. Same auto configured DNS servers from my ISP.

Still working so leaving it as-is.

I'm curious if a factory reset would have solved the issue but don't feel like messing with it now.

FURRYe38 · ‎2020-05-20

At some point if you choose to do a factory reset, then you might want to update FW first, then reset and setup from scratch.

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/RBR50-RBS50-Firmware-2-5-1-16-Update/m-p/1897955/highlight/tru...

Possible problem between the modem and the RBR as well.

@sharpdad wrote:
Yeah, except once I switched my modem/router back into regular mode and had a wired connection to it, all the troublesome sites worked fine. Same auto configured DNS servers from my ISP.

Still working so leaving it as-is.

I'm curious if a factory reset would have solved the issue but don't feel like messing with it now.