(RBK50) Wifi devices randomly don't recieve data for short periods of time.

[KobeW50]

My configuration:
I use 2 RBR50s connected via ethernet with one in AP mode. I also have 2 RBS50s which are connected wirelessly to the AP router via a daisy-chain. All the devices in my home are only connected to the the SSID of the AP mode router (except 1 desktop that is connected via ethernet to the main router). I have 200MB internet. I have Implicit Beamforming, MU-MIMO, and Fast Roaming all turned on (if these even matter).

The problem:
Pretty often devices over Wi-Fi just stop receiving data and are unable to upload data for 1-10 seconds. Although the devices remain connected to the network. This makes it extremely frustrating when gaming or streaming live content.

I do not have many devices demanding much data at any given time (at most it is 10 devices which are 4 phones, 1 ethernet gaming console, 2 ethernet desktops, 1 wifi printer, and 1 ethernet module that controls 4 security cameras).
I know that this issue occurs even when 8 of these devices are connected, but haven't tested with less than that because I'm usually only home when other people are home too. I do know however that this problem did not exist when we had just one RBK50.

Lastly, (and I don't know if this is at all related or just an irrelevant bug) when I go on the app when connected to the main router it says that there are no satellites connected (as is correct) but when I go to the site to configure the settings for the router it says that one of the satellites are connected to the main router (although this is unlikely to be true because I recieve 200MB/second when I'm near that satellite and it is too far away from the main router to provide those speeds if it were in fact connected to the main router and not via the daisy-chain to the AP router).

I'm curious to know exactly what the problem is stemming from.
Here are the possibilities I thought of and I'd like to get your guys' opinions on them.

1: Some of the settings such as Beamforming or Fast roaming are causing issues (perhaps interfering with the AP router configuration).
2: I have too many devices on the network simultaneously (perhaps the backhaul is clogged due to the AP router or daisy-chain configuration).
3: There is some sort of bug that the main router randomly thinks that the satellite is indeed connected directly to it and that causes issues with the entire Wi-fi network (ethernet devices are always stably connected).

[CrimpOn]

The information did not specify whether the router WiFi SSID is the same as or different from the AP WiFi SSID.  Since none of the WiFi devices are using the router, it would be interesting to see what happens when the Advanced Settings option is set to not broadcast the WiFi SSID on the primary router.

Even if they happen to have the same SSID/password, these two RBR50s remain separate WiFi systems.  WiFi features such as Fast Roaming, MIMO, etc. are independent. They will not propagate from the router to the AP.  If satellites are connected to one of the RBR50s, they should remain connected only to that Orbi.  Also, WiFi devices will not "roam seamlessly" between the two systems.

---

@KobeW50 wrote:
Here are the possibilities I thought of and I'd like to get your guys' opinions on them.

1: Some of the settings such as Beamforming or Fast roaming are causing issues (perhaps interfering with the AP router configuration). Pretty sure not.
2: I have too many devices on the network simultaneously (perhaps the backhaul is clogged due to the AP router or daisy-chain configuration). Pretty sure not. People report 50-60 devices on this model Orbi all the time.
3: There is some sort of bug that the main router randomly thinks that the satellite is indeed connected directly to it and that causes issues with the entire Wi-fi network (ethernet devices are always stably connected). Pretty sure not.

---

Is there a way to isolate the problem:

• Does it ever happen to the PC attached to the main router?
• Does it affect devices wired to either of the satellites?

I often use a "ping tool" (there are many), such as the free Ping Info View for Windows from Nirsoft:

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/multiple_ping_tool.html 

Running on the computer connected to the router, have it ping a couple of internet IPs, such as 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 and an assortment of IP's connected to the AP and satellites. (including the IPs of the AP and satellites)  Set the ping options to every 1 second.  Ping places almost zero load on the network.

[KobeW50]

Hi there. Thank you for your lengthy response. It took me a long time to do maintenance on the network because I'm lazy and restricted to times when my family isn't using the network so that's why I'm only responding now.

A few weeks ago I did a factory reset on the network and made it so it's all under one router/SSID. Now the pc that was connected via ethernet to the main router is connected via wifi. So there's no AP mode or any of that. Unfortunately, this didn't solve the issue and the exact same behavior of wi-fi randomly not delivering data kept persisting.

Just now I turned off daisy-chain, Beamforming, Fast-roaming, and MU-MIMO and rebooted everything but it hasn't fixed the issue.

I don't know what to do.

[CrimpOn]

---

@KobeW50 wrote:
So there's no AP mode or any of that.

---

In the current setup:

• There is one RBR50 router connected to the Internet Service Provider device.
  This router is broadcasting WiFi.
• There is another RBR50 router  connected to the first router using an Ethernet cable.
  This second router is also in the default 'router mode.'
• There are two RBS50 satellites, which are connected using WiFi to....which router?
  The first one, the second one, or perhaps one to each?

Putting the second router into Access Point (AP) mode achieved one goal:  all devices, both wired and WiFi, are in one IP subnet.  The first router assigns IP addresses to every device.

If router number two is now in 'router' mode, then it really matters which Orbi device they connect to. Sometimes they may be able to communicate with other devices because they are in the same IP subnet, and other times they cannot because they are in a different IP subnet.  With both routers using the same WiFi credentials, devices may connect to one router and then switch to the other router. It is really unpredictable.

If the only usage is to access the internet, then this would not even be noticed.

What this sounds like is a service disruption from the ISP.  (They will almost certainly deny it.)  There have been recorded instances of faulty cable wiring causing errors that mysteriously "went away" when the drop cables were replaced.  This may be a suitable problem for a "divide and conquer" approach.

• If the ISP connection is unreliable, no amount of changing the router network will help.
• If the ISP connection is rock solid, that points at the local network.

One tool that might be useful is to record the reliability of the ISP connection over a period of time using something like PingInfoView by Nirsoft (free) https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/multiple_ping_tool.html Set the program to ping three common DNS servers, such as Google (8.8.8.8), Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) and OpenDNS (208.67.222.222) once every second.  As long as the ISP connection is good, the counters should march up steadily. (I have run it for an entire week.)  If some devices are being frozen for 5-10 seconds, then there should be instances of "failures to respond".  I used the Advanced Options to record the failures to a file.  DNS uses UDP packets, which are not 100% reliable.  It is not unexpected to have a failure now and then.  But regular instances of 4-5 failures in a row.... Not Good.

[KobeW50]

Hi there. Thanks for your prompt reply.

I'm really sorry that you wrote all that all because I explained my setup poorly. What I meant was that I'm only using one router for my current network. I unplugged and am not using the other router. So I have a normal network setup. 1 RBR50 and 2 RBS50s.

[KevinLiT]

Hello KobeW50,

Thank you for your post!

I understand that you have been experiencing network issues with your Obri Mesh System on FW 2.7.4.24. Please update to the latest FW for your RBK50 which is 2.5.7.4. 

Please navigate to the link below for the download file for your RBR50: 
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/RBK50#download

For more information on manually updating your RBK50 please navigate to the link below:
https://kb.netgear.com/31573/How-do-I-manually-upgrade-firmware-on-my-Orbi-router-using-orbilogin-co...

(Please ensure to update the satellite first.)

Best,
Kevin
Community Team

[KobeW50]

Hello Kevin.

Thank you for this info, as I did not know that there were newer firmware versions. However, after manually updating (my satellites and then router) the issue is still ongoing.

[KevinLiT]

Hello KobeW50,

Thank you for your feedback!

Please factory reset your Orbi Mesh System after you update your Orbi.

Be sure to keep us informed on the progress of this issue!

Best,

Kevin

Community Team