I have suffered random disconnects from the first day I installed this router. My Comcast XFI gateway never loses it's Internet signal as the light on my Comcast gateway stays on constantly while the ORBI light is red.
This happens from one to four times a day.
Rose from support helped me on and off until my 90 days of support ran out and they went silent until I pay.
Has anyone else experienced this?
I am so disappointed that I spent a ton of money on this system with two satellites thinking I was getting a Cadillac.
Re: ORBI RBKE963 randomly disconnects from Internet
what comcast gateway is it connected to?
Most of their "gateways" are modem/router combo device and cause a double nat.
A double nat happens when you cascade more than 1 router. https://kb.netgear.com/30186/What-is-Double-NAT Fixes? There’s 3 options but only use 1. 1. Put the modem/gateway in modem only/pass through mode. This disables its routing functions. 2. Leave the modem/gateway in router mode but put the Netgears IP address into its DMZ. This forwards the data to the netgear. You can either leave the modem/gateway’s wireless enabled or disabled. Just make sure its using a different wifi channel to prevent interference 3. Put the Netgear into access point mode. This disables its routing functions. Wifi/ethernet still works but it does disable some features. https://kb.netgear.com/26765/Which-features-are-disabled-on-my-NETGEAR-router-when-it-is-set-to-AP-M...
Re: ORBI RBKE963 randomly disconnects from Internet
So, it's probably a coincidence but right after I responded to you I logged out of my xFi gateway and hit the Chrome button on my desktop computer to browse the evil Internet and it would not work. No Internet.
Hmmm.... Who knows.
I was thinking of possibly factory resetting the xFi gateway for all the good that might do.
Re: ORBI RBKE963 randomly disconnects from Internet
I have the same Orbi RBKE963 + extra AXE satellite connected to the Xfinity XB7 gateway (not the latest, which is XB8 and gradual rollout) in bridge mode. I do not experience the daily disconnect problems you are reporting, so let's check if there are any differences.
How is your Orbi router connected to the gateway? Is there a switch or anything else in between?
Have you tried swapping the network cable from Orbi to gateway (just in case)?
What do you do to fix the Orbi connectivity when the disconnect occurs? Do you go to orbilogin.com and press a Connect button and it recovers immediately? Describing your recovery procedure may help to isolate the nature of the issue.
As per the other reply, try switching to AP mode after taking your gateway out of bridge mode.
You may have an Orbi hardware problem, you can request exchange under warranty (longer than tech support 90 days).
Re: ORBI RBKE963 randomly disconnects from Internet
I used to have a ton of ethernet cables. I was in IT for 18 year before I retired five years ago.
I could only find two sad little cables with no markings on them at all so I just used it...
I just ordered the proper for sure cable from Amazon for delivery tomorrow.
The only way to be sure.
I just got lazy.
Thanks for pointing that out.
For what it's worth I have a 600MPS account with Comcast and the speed test this morning went to 702. I'm assuming it wouldn't do that with a real CAT5?
When I said "CAT5" cable earlier I really didn't know what it was.
I'm going to switch to that cable when it arrives and wait for it to fail before I reconfigure the gateway so I will know for sure which troubleshooting steps works rather than doing two or more at a time.
Re: ORBI RBKE963 randomly disconnects from Internet
CAT5 is only supporting of 100Mpbs. CAT5e was good up to 1000mpbs. CAT6 is recommended for most 1Gb RJ45 ports on current LAN devices. With recent increase in connection rates 2.5 and 10Gb, CAT6A STP cables are recommended as the higher speeds can be effected by lesser CAT versions of cables. I ran in to a odd reboot issue with my 9 series connected to my CAX80 while using it's 2.5Gb WAN port. I had been using CAT6 UTP cables. After getting a CAT6A STP cable in, the 9 series returned to good normal operation. So I kind of keep in mine that 1000Mpbs ports CAT6 UTP should be good up to this point. 2.5Gb and higher ports, I recommend CAT6A STP cabling. It's supporting of up to 10Gb connection rated speeds.
Re: ORBI RBKE963 randomly disconnects from Internet
So, sadly switching out the cable with a Cat 6e STP 10G between the Orbi and the xFi gateway did not change anything.
But, I verified an odd situation that I suspected was occurring.
Today I was streaming a totally LIVE event on my wired desktop Windows 10 computer while browsing the evil Internet on my other screen and all of a sudden the browser said "No Internet Connection" and stopped responding.
The light is solid red on the Orbi.
When the system disconnects it always takes about five minutes and it reconnects on it's own.
The really odd thing is the live streaming video and audio never missed a beat during the entire five minutes or so until the browser responded and I could browse the Internet.
Every time things start working again the red light is still on for about a minute also..
Crazy!
What do you make of that?
I don't understand that at all.
I appreciate your thoughts on this as I have no idea what to do.
PS, I have factory reset the system and started over to no avail.
When the system disconnects it always takes about five minutes and it reconnects on it's own.
The really odd thing is the live streaming video and audio never missed a beat during the entire five minutes or so until the browser responded and I could browse the Internet.
I do not recall every reading an explanation for what causes the router to turn on the magenta light or for computers/browsers to decide there is "no internet". From this description, one might infer the issue is not loss of connection, but rather loss of some specific capability (maybe DNS resolution? Maybe pinging netgear.com?)
So, sadly switching out the cable with a Cat 6e STP 10G between the Orbi and the xFi gateway did not change anything.
But, I verified an odd situation that I suspected was occurring.
Today I was streaming a totally LIVE event on my wired desktop Windows 10 computer while browsing the evil Internet on my other screen and all of a sudden the browser said "No Internet Connection" and stopped responding.
The light is solid red on the Orbi.
When the system disconnects it always takes about five minutes and it reconnects on it's own.
The really odd thing is the live streaming video and audio never missed a beat during the entire five minutes or so until the browser responded and I could browse the Internet.
Every time things start working again the red light is still on for about a minute also..
Crazy!
What do you make of that?
I don't understand that at all.
I appreciate your thoughts on this as I have no idea what to do.
PS, I have factory reset the system and started over to no avail.
