RBR50 intermittent DNS lookup issues

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SidewinderX wrote:

I'm chiming back in to say that I still have found a solution with my system yet, even after a week of back-and-forth with the netgear L2 support (who has not suggested any beta firmware or anything yet, just continuing to ask questions and for debug logs). 

 

My current workaround, which is stable, is that I've put my Orbi system into wireless access point mode and added an old router (Archer C7 with the wifi off) in-line between the cable modem and the Orbi to serve as the router. In that configuration, I've been stable for a couple days now. Obviously not ideal (why did I buy and expensive Orbi if all I can use it for is being a dumb wifi access point?), but it's letting my wife and I work in the meantime. 

 

If the Orbi support folks don't have many ideas, I think my next attempt will be to try some flavor of the Voxel firmware and see if that solves it. 

 

In the spoiler tag below I've added a summary of my past troubleshooting steps that haven't worked:

Spoiler

Issue: Devices on the network repeatedly lose the internet connection for some period of time, which normally presents itself as a DNS issue. It's usually not all devices on the network (for example, my Roku and work laptop may work fine with no interruption, but my cell phones and wife's laptop might not be able to access).

Investigation notes:
* this started after upgrading to the .104 firmware (where I had the traffic meter on).

* I have tried the methods of disabling traffic meter, disabling daylight savings time, changing NTP, changing default DNS servers, etc.

*I've change the wire between the router and the cable modem to confirm the issue isn't on that end.

* I have factory reset the Orbi system (both router and satellite) several times, to no effect including:
- A factory reset while still on the .104 firmware (therefore disabling traffic meter); no improvement
- downgraded to 2.6 firmware, and then factory resetting on that firmware; no improvement
-upgraded back to the .104 firmware, and factory resetting on that firmware; no improvment

*during the investigation, seems more and more clear that it has something to do with the router and the internet routing (DNS/DHCP or something?).
- The router has always been able to run a speedtest from the router to the internet with no issues, even while some of my downstream devices have issues.
- Similiarly, I've never had wireless or wired connection dropouts, so the internal LAN seems to work just fine. For example, I'm able to endlessly ping my NAS device with not issues, even while the actualy internet connection from the device is inconsistent

*Finally, my last step, which seems to working for now, is that I've put the Orbi system (RBR50 and RBS50) into wireless access point mode, and added my old router (a TP Link Archer C7) in-line as the router (with its own wifi disabled). The configuration, with the Archer as the router, has had no issues managing the internet connection, so it seems pretty clear that the issue is in the Orbit LAN to WAN routing in some way.

 

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You're not alone with Orbi DNS issue.  It's a long standing problem with Orbi across all version of firmwares.  It's more likely to happen with high traffic loads, which is taxing Orbi internal DNS server.  You've discovered the right solution by putting Orbi in AP mode.  I've done the same a while back and never look back.

Check out this thread: Orbi RBR50 Circle frequent DNS failures and solution 

An alternate solution: RBR50 DNS Issues/Solution 

Good luck!

Since NG obviously doesn't have coders with the skillset necessary to fix the issue, they should open telnet back up so others who are able to fix the issue can do so - at least for themselves (and anyone so inclined to follow instructions).

Perhaps an online petition will garner attention to the issue?