New Orbi RBK853 setup; multiple issues after setting up
Note: Reposting to the correct forum.
I just received my Orbi 853 (AX6000; 3-pack) from Netgear and set it up this morning in my environment. SFH, 3 floors, ~4000+ sq. ft., about 48 clients in mixed 802.11ax (1), ac, an in both 2.4 and 5 GHz. Using a single SSID. Firmware was automatically updated to the latest version: V3.2.15.25_1.3.15.
The initial setup (just the router) went fine but then became unstable.
Some symptoms and the changes I made:
1. I noticed most of my IP cameras (Foscam, 2.4 GHz) were going offline in Blue Iris every few seconds. I think the issue was the default RTS/CTS and after changing it to 500, it seemed to have stabilized and the cameras remained online. What should I set them at? 500? Saw another thread that said it should be at 2347?
2. Wired backhaul; I can't seem to get a stable wired backhual for my satellites going. Out of the two satellites, only one would connect and remain connected via wired backhaul but the second would't, no matter what I tried (reboot, replace patch cable, etc.). I saw another thread that mentioned a "daisy chain" setting in the Advanced Settings/Wireless tab but I don't see that option on my firmware. Is that option not available for the RBK853?
3. Anybody here using Circle Plus (the external device) with the Orbi 853? Should the Circle Plus be set up in regular or compatibility mode? I currently have the Circle Plus disconnected/shut off while I'm troubleshooting these issues to get things stable.
I just received my Orbi 853 (AX6000; 3-pack) from Netgear and set it up this morning in my environment. SFH, 3 floors, ~4000+ sq. ft., about 48 clients in mixed 802.11ax (1), ac, an in both 2.4 and 5 GHz. Using a single SSID. Firmware was automatically updated to the latest version: V3.2.15.25_1.3.15.
The initial setup (just the router) went fine but then became unstable.
Some symptoms and the changes I made:
1. I noticed most of my IP cameras (Foscam, 2.4 GHz) were going offline in Blue Iris every few seconds. I think the issue was the default RTS/CTS and after changing it to 500, it seemed to have stabilized and the cameras remained online. What should I set them at? 500? Saw another thread that said it should be at 2347?
Yes, 2347 would be recommended.
2. Wired backhaul; I can't seem to get a stable wired backhual for my satellites going. Out of the two satellites, only one would connect and remain connected via wired backhaul but the second would't, no matter what I tried (reboot, replace patch cable, etc.). I saw another thread that mentioned a "daisy chain" setting in the Advanced Settings/Wireless tab but I don't see that option on my firmware. Is that option not available for the RBK853?
Did you first set up the RBS wireless before connecting thernet?
3. Anybody here using Circle Plus (the external device) with the Orbi 853? Should the Circle Plus be set up in regular or compatibility mode? I currently have the Circle Plus disconnected/shut off while I'm troubleshooting these issues to get things stable.
I think someone reported using the external device and it worked. You might do a search on this forum for Circle and see.
I just received my Orbi 853 (AX6000; 3-pack) from Netgear and set it up this morning in my environment. SFH, 3 floors, ~4000+ sq. ft., about 48 clients in mixed 802.11ax (1), ac, an in both 2.4 and 5 GHz. Using a single SSID. Firmware was automatically updated to the latest version: V3.2.15.25_1.3.15.
The initial setup (just the router) went fine but then became unstable.
Some symptoms and the changes I made:
1. I noticed most of my IP cameras (Foscam, 2.4 GHz) were going offline in Blue Iris every few seconds. I think the issue was the default RTS/CTS and after changing it to 500, it seemed to have stabilized and the cameras remained online. What should I set them at? 500? Saw another thread that said it should be at 2347?
Yes, 2347 would be recommended.
2. Wired backhaul; I can't seem to get a stable wired backhual for my satellites going. Out of the two satellites, only one would connect and remain connected via wired backhaul but the second would't, no matter what I tried (reboot, replace patch cable, etc.). I saw another thread that mentioned a "daisy chain" setting in the Advanced Settings/Wireless tab but I don't see that option on my firmware. Is that option not available for the RBK853?
Did you first set up the RBS wireless before connecting thernet?
3. Anybody here using Circle Plus (the external device) with the Orbi 853? Should the Circle Plus be set up in regular or compatibility mode? I currently have the Circle Plus disconnected/shut off while I'm troubleshooting these issues to get things stable.
I think someone reported using the external device and it worked. You might do a search on this forum for Circle and see.
Thanks for the suggestions. I think I finally have success and stability in my setup.
Here's what I did:
1. I factory reset all the satellite units back to their factory defaults and configured them again, this time plugging in the ethernet cable while adding the satellite from the app. It initially added the satellite via Wi-Fi but then switched to wired for the backhaul once they were up. Both satellites are wired back to a Netgear Gigabit (GS116) switch.
2. I changed the CTS/RTS Threshold numbers to 2347 for both 2.4 and 5 GHz from 500 (and before that, I believe it was 64, the factory defaults).
3. Changed the channels from Auto to 1 (for 2.4 GHz) and 36 (for 5 GHz) based on the Wi-Fi Analyzer from the app to determine the cleanest channel.
4. Re-enabled Circle Plus under "Compatibility Mode" and so far seems to be working. I did notice something strange: Circle keeps reporting an "unknown device" with a mac address of 12:0c:xx.xx.xx.xx that has joined my network but I can't find any references to that mac vendor ID. Does the Orbi mesh create or have a special mac address that isn't registered? This isn't the mac of either satellites or the main router (RBR850) itself so I'm at a lost as to what it is.
5. I also added static IP reservations for both satellites but it looks like they are still holding to the original DHCP IPs; I can't find the menu where the lease times settings are. Anyone know?
This is the the first time I've used an Orbi product and for the price, I have to say that the feature set is quite lacking and the issues that I stumbled across from a first impression wasn't what I had expected. Performance, once it was stable, is great. My internet is Fios Gigabit and according to the built in speed test, I'm getting 936.66 Mbps download, and 914.23 Mbps upload. Hopefully they'll improve the firmware as time goes on.
Besure to power OFF the RBS then back ON after setting up a IP address reservation on the RBR and it reboots after making the change.
It looks like the lease finally renewed sometime last night as this morning, both satellites are now in their new IP reservations. I still can't find where the setting for the lease times are (if there is even one?).
Re: New Orbi RBK853 setup; multiple issues after setting up
I just posted a new thread on the RBS850 using a wired backhaul. I absolutely could not get mine to be seen on the RBR850 when they're connected to a switch. Tried your reset and config while their wired as well. Even downgraded firmware a few revs to see if it was something specific to latest firmware for backhaul. There seems ot be a lot of chatter here for wired backhaul setup.
I'm returning mine. too expensive to sit on and wait for the bugs to get ironed out. My RBK53s are super stable and work just fine through my switch. Something is definately wrong with the firmware for these new AX routers and satellites.
2. Wired backhaul; I can't seem to get a stable wired backhual for my satellites going. Out of the two satellites, only one would connect and remain connected via wired backhaul but the second would't, no matter what I tried (reboot, replace patch cable, etc.). I saw another thread that mentioned a "daisy chain" setting in the Advanced Settings/Wireless tab but I don't see that option on my firmware. Is that option not available for the RBK853?
Did you first set up the RBS wireless before connecting thernet?
1. I factory reset all the satellite units back to their factory defaults and configured them again, this time plugging in the ethernet cable while adding the satellite from the app. It initially added the satellite via Wi-Fi but then switched to wired for the backhaul once they were up. Both satellites are wired back to a Netgear Gigabit (GS116) switch.
2. I changed the CTS/RTS Threshold numbers to 2347 for both 2.4 and 5 GHz from 500 (and before that, I believe it was 64, the factory defaults).
3. Changed the channels from Auto to 1 (for 2.4 GHz) and 36 (for 5 GHz) based on the Wi-Fi Analyzer from the app to determine the cleanest channel.
4. Re-enabled Circle Plus under "Compatibility Mode" and so far seems to be working. I did notice something strange: Circle keeps reporting an "unknown device" with a mac address of 12:0c:xx.xx.xx.xx that has joined my network but I can't find any references to that mac vendor ID. Does the Orbi mesh create or have a special mac address that isn't registered? This isn't the mac of either satellites or the main router (RBR850) itself so I'm at a lost as to what it is.
5. I also added static IP reservations for both satellites but it looks like they are still holding to the original DHCP IPs; I can't find the menu where the lease times settings are. Anyone know?
This is the the first time I've used an Orbi product and for the price, I have to say that the feature set is quite lacking and the issues that I stumbled across from a first impression wasn't what I had expected. Performance, once it was stable, is great. My internet is Fios Gigabit and according to the built in speed test, I'm getting 936.66 Mbps download, and 914.23 Mbps upload. Hopefully they'll improve the firmware as time goes on.
I just posted a new thread on the RBS850 using a wired backhaul. I absolutely could not get mine to be seen on the RBR850 when they're connected to a switch. Tried your reset and config while their wired as well. Even downgraded firmware a few revs to see if it was something specific to latest firmware for backhaul. There seems ot be a lot of chatter here for wired backhaul setup.
I'm returning mine. too expensive to sit on and wait for the bugs to get ironed out. My RBK53s are super stable and work just fine through my switch. Something is definately wrong with the firmware for these new AX routers and satellites.
I just posted a new thread on the RBS850 using a wired backhaul. I absolutely could not get mine to be seen on the RBR850 when they're connected to a switch. Tried your reset and config while their wired as well. Even downgraded firmware a few revs to see if it was something specific to latest firmware for backhaul. There seems ot be a lot of chatter here for wired backhaul setup.
I'm returning mine. too expensive to sit on and wait for the bugs to get ironed out. My RBK53s are super stable and work just fine through my switch. Something is definately wrong with the firmware for these new AX routers and satellites.
Re: New Orbi RBK853 setup; multiple issues after setting up
Update on my last post (dated 7/4) on my experience with the RBK853 so to date and some changes that I've made:
1. I've changed the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz channels to 1 and 36 (from 8 and 40).
2. Changed the CTS/RTS Threshold from 2437 to 500 after reading several threads that 500 is the recommended setting.
3. Statically assigned an IP reservation to the two satellite nodes
So far, my WLAN environment seems to be stable.
1. Wired Ethernet backhaul is working for me. The nodes are connected back to a Netgear GS116 (unmanaged) gig switch.
2. I haven't heard any complaints from the wife or the kids about the wireless "disconnecting or dropping" when they are online in a class, Zoom meeting, etc.
3. One annoying issue that I am monitoring is that Blue Iris would occassionally report that one of my IP cameras (Foscam C1; a 720p 2.4 GHz only) lost its communication to the camera briefly several times a day. It might be the camera's Wi-Fi radio going bad (ping times were 2000ms and it times out, until I rebooted it). Will have to do some further troubleshooting on this.
