Orbi Setup Issues

[bpanagio]

Hello,
I just purchased the RBR50 and RBS50. I have a modem that is in bridge mode and I have my Orbi router downstairs by my demarc and the satellite upstairs with an ethernet backhaul. Everything was working fine today and I was actually getting very good speeds throughout my home but all of a sudden tonight the thing fell apart. I am getting between 4-12Mbps when my ISP is 120. If I hard-wire in, I get 120 no problem.

I have manually set 2.4 and 5.0 channels after scanning the neighborhood, and I only have MU-MIMO on for advanced settings as putting Implicit Beamforming on was causing me issues with speed.

Router Firmware Version
V2.3.5.30

Please help!

[FURRYe38]

What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or maynot be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings Beamforming should not be inpacting speeds. 

Try disabling the following and see:
Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Set Short preamble instead of Long preamble modes. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).

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

You may want to update FW as well:

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

[bpanagio]

Distance is set per the diagram and Netgear recommendation. Implicit beamforming when enabled messes up my network. The way I understand beamforming is that it focuses the wifi signal on one device in particular. so if you have multiple devices then it could cause a worse experience for them. I have Mu-Mimo and WMM enabled and 2.4/5.0 GHZ channels are set manually after neighborhood scans to find less busy channels.

Pre-amble settings are set to Auto and it sounds like that's the best place to keep them and when I tried disabling 20/40 Mhz coexistence, I noticed very poor results.

Finally, why would I update the firmware when the only fix in the release notes is in regards to the Attached Devices list?

[FURRYe38]

What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? Being too close to each other will cause problems. 

Do you have MIMO supporting devices? If you don't MIMO can be disabled. 

Users have expressed having better experiences with v16. Thats up to you though. Just a suggestion. 

IF beamforming seems to work better for you disabled, then go with it. 

[bpanagio]

The router is downstairs by my Demarc hardwired to my modem and the Satellite is upstairs about 40-50 feet away, but they are hardwired backhaul together.

Ok, I'l try that out tonight. From what I understand, I download the firmware files, hardwire to the router and manual update the Satellite, and then reboot and the router should pop up?

Right now when I go to manual update, I only see the Satellite.

Thanks

[FURRYe38]

Yes, RBS first then RBR lastly. 

Manually if you update the RBS, log in to the RBS web page and update the RBS directly there first. 

Then use the Manual section in the UI to up the RBR. 

[bpanagio]

So I cannot do this over wireless, correct?

[FURRYe38]

Wired is preferred, however I believe that the FW update process is worked as such that you can use a wireless connected PC or laptop. Before years ago after sending the FW on wireless connection would fail as the wireless was shut down on the host route before the FW update was sent. This caused problems. I think now days the FW is sent wired or wireless, fully to the host router, after it's fully sent then the router begins to process and file. 

[bpanagio]

Thanks. On second thought with netgears past of FW upgrades I am going to stay away from this one since the only fix it shows actually doesn't apply to me. 

I am going to mess around with the system a bit more this weekend and try enabling/disabling settings to see if I can find my sweet spot.

I'll report back on Monday.

[FURRYe38]

Thats works too. 

From what others have posted about, v16 seems to be working better than v1.8. Though some of us didn't see problems with that version either accept some minor device nams not appearing on the RBS side. There was reported problems with Circle which is appart of FW however the actual services are separate. Disabling of Circle fixed most problems. Haven't seen much mention of v16 and Circle as of yet. 

Have a good weekend. 

[bpanagio]

Sounds good. I am not using Circle, but appreciate the feedback.

I'll get back to the thread Monday with my findings and what worked for me.

B

[FURRYe38]

[bpanagio]

Morning!

I took the plunge and FW updated both units Saturday and things seem to be working as expected which is good. I re-enabled MU-MIMO and Implicit Beamforming and I haven't really noticed a difference so  I will probably turn those back off. The one issue I am still fighting is when I step outside and go to my garage (Detached about 20 feet away from main router), The signal just dies. Granted it's going through a brick wall, but my old nighthawk at least provided me 20(ish) Mbps in the garage. I am wondering if it's becase beamforming is on since it sends the signal DIRECT to the device instead of a traditional wifi where it just beams out. I will do some more tests and let you guys know.

[FURRYe38]

Let know what you find out. 

Yes brick wall isn't good for wifi signal. 

You may need a RBS out in the garage or a wired RBS if signal is needed in that area.