sattelites disconnecting users, arp showing 192.168.1.250 flip flopping between sattelites
I have the RBK53 system. I have it setup in AP mode with the base router setup with ip address 192.168.1.2. I have DHCP reservations for my satellites to get IP 192.168.1.3 and 192.168.1.4.
My clients are getting slow connections and frequent disconnects. I have since updated the firmware to 2.1.3.4 and it didn't help. I started looking in my gateway/firewall logs and noticed some networking oddities.
When I look at the arp table in my pfsense firewall (default gateway), I can see that the satellites do indeed have the IP addresses assigned via DHCP but they are also fighting over 192.168.1.250 and have active ARP entries. I have put screenshots in the link below.
Why are these satellites fighting over 192.168.1.250 while they have their own IP reservations? 192.168.1.250 is out of scope for my DHCP server because I had that address assigned to a wireless printer that is currently offline. Can I set the IP address manually to give them a static address? Could this be causing my clients to disconnect from the satellites?
Model: RBK53| Orbi Router + 2 Satellites Orbi WiFi System
192.168.1.250 is the hardwired default IP address of every satellite. The satellite will respond to ARP with this address immediately after boot-up and before obtaining an IP address from your DHCP server.
Seeing this in your ARP table doesn't necessarily mean anything. However, it could mean that your satellites have a poor backhaul connection to your Orbi "router", causing your disconnect problems, and causing delays in the satellites acquiring a new IP via DHCP after reboot.
Thank you for the reply. I found some docs that said that 192.168.1.250 was the default IP address. Why would the satellites keep getting registered in the arp cache AFTER it already has grabbed it's 192.168.1.3 and 192.168.1.4 addresses from DHCP?
The satellite backhaul is over 5Ghz. I could possibly run cat6 between the router and 1 satelitte but the 2nd would be a challenge. My 2 story home is about 1400sqft per floor... Newer construction (2008) with mostly open space. Basement is unfinished. The satellites are about 25-30ft away from the "router". I have the router and one satellite on either side of the house. I have the second satellite in my upstairs office in the middle of the house. Strong 5Ghz signal everywhere.
Before tonight, there was just the pfsense firewall uplinked to orbi and a couple other devices plugged into orbi/pfsense switch. I just put in a netgear GS105Ev2 with vlan 2 on port 4/5 for the FIOS uplink and link to pfsense. VLAN1 on ports 1-3 for pfsense uplink to switch, orbi plugged into netgear, media server plugged into netgear.
There are other houses around me in my development... I'm in the middle of a neighborhood with 1/3rd acre lots. Everyone has wifi.
I had the Asus ac66u and wireless coverage was fine. I was just maxing out it's capabilities with 30+ regularly connected devices + remote office workers. Ended up with a netgate/pfsense sg-3100 firewall for the router/firewall and orbi for wireless. Have a lot more streaming devices/tablets/games as the kids have gotten older. I got the RBK53 system for better 5Ghz coverage.
If I try to delete the 192.168.1.250 arp entry from the gateway, it shows back up. Interestingly, it doesn't show up in my the arp cache of my workstation. I'll have to see if I can grab a packet capture on the gateway to see whats going on.
With my qos policy I get 130/95 on the Orbi. Without the policy I get over my 150/150 connection. qos policy just prioritizes real-time services and vpn tunnels over other traffic. P2P is lowest queue.
IF your firewalll or NG switch have IGMP protocol enabled, try disableing this feature on these two units. Seen some managed switches don't work well wtih the Orbi system and one user meantioned that disabling IGMP protocol seems to help.
I just enabled IGMP on the firewall over the weekend but this problem was prior to that. I will disable it to see if it gets better. The managed switch is new as of tonight. Just moved my equipment closer to the demarc and wanted to rule out the built in switch on the netgate sg-3100.
Here is the last several minutes of a traffic capture on the firewall... Why is the orbi satelite(s) using 192.168.1.250 on the network when they only respond to 192.168.1.3 and 192.168.1.4 which is their DHCP addresses? They don't respond to 192.168.1.250. That address is assigned to my wireless printer which is unplugged.
So can you remove the firewall and switch from the mix and connect everything directly between the router and satellite?
I would remove the printers IP address from the mix and set it to a different IP address. I use a static IP address on my printers here thats outside of the routers default IP address pool of 192.168.#.100 to 200. Anything on either side of this pool can be used for static IP addresses.
My priinters use part of there model number as there last octel IP address to make it kind of intuitive to what they are. LaserJet P2014n as 192168.0.14 as an example.
What do you mean by remove the firewall and switch from the mix? My goal is to have this RBK53 system running in AP mode only because there are a lot of advanced features I use that Orbi doesn't provide. Before this pfsense box, I had a sophos home utm as my firewall and the asus ac66u running for about 5 years. The asus just wasn't able to handle the amount of devices I've added over the years so I'm migrating to a new setup.
The printer is currently not in the mix. It is unplugged and is not communicating on the network. If I turn it on, the arp entry is updated with the printer MAC as I would expect. I can and will certainly change the static IP address and it is currently outside of my DHCP scope as you have mentioned.
The current topology is FIOS ONT <-> UNTAGGED VLAN2 NETGEAR SWITCH UNTAGGED VLAN2 <-> sg-3100 <-> UNTAGGED VLAN1 NETGEAR SWITCH UNTAGGED VLAN1 <-> ORBI "router" in AP mode <-> 5Ghz wireless connection to satellite is star (not daisy chain). The Orbi "router" reports Backhaul Status "Good" on both satellites.
I can see the satellites constantly pinging the gateway and I'm not seeing ICMP from 192.168.1.250... just arp broadcasts.
The question remains: If the satellites are getting an IP address via DHCP (I can't find how to set them static), then why are they not using that address for arp resolution/broadcasts. As you can see from the traffic capture, the satellites are using the 192.168.1.250 at the same time.
Thanks for the replies and your time. I'm working a ticket with them in conjunction and have been cross posting my updates. They want me to go back to router mode which I can't do this very moment as I'm not home. I'd rather troubleshoot this issue as is because my goal is to use this in AP mode but I'll revert to router mode for testing.
I'm waiting to hear from my wife (remote worker) if the network is more stable since I've added the Netgear GS105v2 and disabled daisy chain.
I wish I had done more research before my impulse buy at Costco. I had also heard good things about this system on the IoT podcast (Stacey Higginbotham) and I generally trust their opinions on tech reviews. Maybe they were biased because Orbi is/was a sponsor. I'm used to working with Aruba wireless at work but it's too expensive for home. I probably should have deployed ubiquiti instead of Orbi... Will try to get this to work as I want or I'll return to Costco.
If any if your firewall or switch devices have IGMP, please disable this feature on these devices as well. One use has stated that after disabling this on his managed switch, his problems were solved.
You have an advanced setup and i agree with your after thought of going with ubiquiti. Alternately; if you don't mind paying a yearly license fee meracki also have good entry level APs.
