Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
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Orbi RBK853 losing connection

HomeUser21
Aspirant

Orbi RBK853 losing connection

Last month I replaced my old Netgear R6300 router with a brand new Orbi RBK853 set (1 router, 2 satellites), as the old one just couldn't pull it anymore. The new set works great and gives me fast and stable connection throughout the entire house.

But roughly once every 2 days (3-4 times a week, at different times of the day, sometimes in the middle of the day while I'm working, sometimes in the middle of the night) the router loses its internet connection and lights up purple. I have no idea why that is happening, and the router does not seem to be able to recover the connection on its own.

I never had these issues with the old R6300... the internet connection in my region has always been extremely stable and reliable.

When the Orbi router loses its connection, all I have to do is log in to the router's web page and click the "Test" option. That's enough to restore the connection.

 

Does anybody have any idea why this is happening, what I can do to stop this from occurring, or how I can find out what is triggering this (maybe any particular logging that I can activate somewhere) ?

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

 

Fred

 

PS: both the router and the satellites are running on the latest firmware version V3.2.16.22_1.4.9

Message 1 of 5
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Orbi RBK853 losing connection

What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?

 

Ensure the ISP modem and it's service is working well. Most causes of the RBR loosing connection to the modem is, bad service signals to the modem, bad cabling or a router is built in to the modem.

Have the ISP check the signal and line quality UP to the modem. Be sure the ISP provisions the modem correctly.
Be sure there are no coax cable line splitters in the between the modem and ISP service box. 
Be sure your using good quality RG6 coax cable up to the modem. 
Be sure to power OFF the modem for 1 minute them back ON.
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Cable-Modems-Routers/General-info-and-Troubleshooting-for-Cable-Mod...

Message 2 of 5
HomeUser21
Aspirant

Re: Orbi RBK853 losing connection

My ISP's router/modem is the Technicolor TC7200.U, which is set up in bridge mode.

As I said in my original post, with my previous router (Netgear R6300) I never had any issues, the connection is generally fast and very stable and I have been using it for years without any issues. The ISP's router didn't change, I only replaced the R6300 with the Orbi (because the R6300 couldn't handle the growing number of devices in my home anymore).

The Orbi router is (through a coax cable) directly plugged in to the ISP's modem, no line splitters etc in between.

Also, it's not an issue of having a bad internet connection... the connection works great for more than a day, and then all of a sudden the Orbi loses its connection (purple light) and is unable to recover. Then I log in to the router's web page, click the "Test" button on its Internet page, and the connection is restored and it works again for 1-2 days.

 

So there's two issues here:

1) Why does it work fine for 1-2 days, then all of a sudden lose the connection? (even though the internet connection is fine once I click the Test button in the router webpage)

2) Why isn't the Orbi able to recover the connection on its own, and do I manually need to tell it to 'Test' the connection to restore it (without making any other changes to its setup)?

For a router in this price range, it's extremely disappointing that it doesn't appear to be smart enough to recover the connection on its own, when it's much cheaper predecessor (R6300) had no such issues.

Message 3 of 5
Chuck_M
Mentor

Re: Orbi RBK853 losing connection

This brings up a very interesting question;

 

Why is the firmware for the 853 (a 3 piece kit comprised of an RBR850 and 2  x RBS850) different than the listed firmware for an RBK 852 or an RBK 854?

 

The kits are all the same with the only difference being the number of satellites included in the kit.  They all include RBR850s and RKS850s (the router and the satellite units)

 

Under the support section of Netgear site:

 

The current firmware for the 2 piece kit is listed as:  3.2.17.12 (https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rbk852.aspx#download)

The current firmware for the 3 piece kit is listed as: 3.2.16.22 (https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rbk853.aspx#download)

The current firmware for the 4 piece kit is listed as:  3.2.17.12 (https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rbk854.aspx#download)

 

My deduction:  The website above has not been updated and the real firmware you should be on is 3.2.17.12.

 

I Recommend you update your satellites (do that first) and then the router.   Do a factory reset afterwards and see if the issue has gone away (which it probably will)

 

@Blanca_O what do you think?

 

Message 4 of 5
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Orbi RBK853 losing connection

Yes, lets update the FW on your system, RBS first then RBR lastly. I would then factory reset the entire system. Power OFF the ISP modem for 30 seconds then back ON. Setup the Orbi system from scratch. I would first get the RBS synced then turn them OFF. Test the RBR alone with out the RBS online and see if the problem continues. 

 

Possible reasons are that the ISP modem maybe failing and the Orbi can't get the modem to handshake correctly and thus fails to get reconnected or the modem is failing to re-establish the conection and for some reason takes a bump from the orbi when you manually check it to make it work. Anything is possible with ISP modems and routers. Most of the time Orbi does re-establish the connection IF it's good from the modem. ALL routers depeind on having a good signal from any ISP Modem. 

 

Get your system updated and lets go from there....

Message 5 of 5
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