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Orbi RBRE 960 drops WiFi clients several times a day
I recently installed a Orbi WiFi 6 RBRE960 router with two satellites. Both the satellites are connected over hardware backhaul. WiFi clients connected to both satellites randomly are dropped throughout the day. I would say about every hour or so. The only thing I see strange in the router logs are a continuous flow of DHCP address assignments. Seems to happen right after the WiFi clients are dropped. Anyone else seeing this? Any thoughts?
Re: Orbi RBRE 960 drops WiFi clients several times a day
Update. I was able to get the connection between the Satellites and Router to be stable by switching from a hardwired backhaul to wireless backhaul. It is about 90% more stable now but still has a few issues. My "far away" satellite works great when it shows it is connected to the "not so far away" satellite for its connection. But randomly the "far away" satellite will connect directly to the router and it shows a poor backhaul status. I have no clue why it does this, there are no power outages or anything that I can tell would cause the backhaul connection to change.
Anyone else seeing this? I think I will post this as a new issue.
Re: Orbi RBRE 960 drops WiFi clients several times a day
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?
What is the size of your home? Sq Ft? What is the distance between the router and 📡 satellite(s)? 30 feet or more is recommended in between RBR and RBS📡 to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/31029/Where-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite📡
What channels are you using? Auto? Try Auto and 48 on 5Ghz. Or try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz. Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
Is the separate 6Ghz and IoT SSID broadcast enabled or disabled?
What devices do you have connected?
Are the RBS directly connected to the back of the RBR or is there a LAN switch in between.
What is the brand and model# of the switch being used?
Are you using he 2.5Gb LAN ports or the 1Gb LAN ports to connect the RBS to the RBR?
Re: Orbi RBRE 960 drops WiFi clients several times a day
Thanks for the reply.
I don't think my issue is a signal strength problem. Wireless devices show full signal strength. They just loose connection. When I look at the iPad's WiFi setting (during the disconnect) the WiFi SSID is completely gone from the list. After a few moments it reappears and connects and works fine. What's a bit concerning is in addition to my SSID reappearing, I also see the NetGear's default IOT and Guest SSIDs appear in the available WiFi networks. The are there for a minute or two and disappear. I do not have those enabled! It almost appears as if the orbit satellite is rebooting or something??
My two satellites and router 2.4g ports, are plugged into a switch.
We live in a very rural setting no other WiFi hubs around.
Re: Orbi RBRE 960 drops WiFi clients several times a day
Update. I was able to get the connection between the Satellites and Router to be stable by switching from a hardwired backhaul to wireless backhaul. It is about 90% more stable now but still has a few issues. My "far away" satellite works great when it shows it is connected to the "not so far away" satellite for its connection. But randomly the "far away" satellite will connect directly to the router and it shows a poor backhaul status. I have no clue why it does this, there are no power outages or anything that I can tell would cause the backhaul connection to change.
Anyone else seeing this? I think I will post this as a new issue.
Re: Orbi RBRE 960 drops WiFi clients several times a day
I have a 950-based system, and I recently switched it from Router mode to Access Point mode so that my cable modem is now providing DHCP services to my entire Local area network. This has greatly improved stability of my network.
Previously when I looked at the router logs it was giving out IP addresses over and over, and my network was subject to random glitches. So I moved to access point mode and have seen a much better stability (100% as measured by NetUptimeMonitor on a PC with a wireless connection).
I imagine that the Orbi is running some form of Linux, so I'm surprised that disabling DHCP has had such a big effect. Maybe you could try that too and see what happens.
Re: Orbi RBRE 960 drops WiFi clients several times a day
If your ISP modem already has a built in router, this would not be recommended for use with the RBR in router mode. This would be a double NAT (two router) condition which isn't recommended. https://kb.netgear.com/30186/What-is-Double-NAT https://kb.netgear.com/30187/How-to-fix-issues-with-Double-NAT Couple of options, 1. Configure the modem for transparent bridge or modem only mode. Then use the Orbi router in router mode. You'll need to contact the ISP for help and information in regards to the modem being bridged correctly. 2. If you can't bridge the modem, disable ALL wifi radios on the modem, configure the modems DMZ/ExposedHost or IP Pass-Through for the IP address the Orbi router gets from the modem. Then you can use the Orbi router in Router mode. 3. Or disable all wifi radios on the modem and connect the Orbi router to the modem, configure AP mode on the Orbi router. https://kb.netgear.com/31218/How-do-I-configure-my-Orbi-router-to-act-as-an-access-point and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7LOcJ8GdDo&app=desktop
I would have tried option #2 in your case. Otherwise changing to AP mode would have cleared up some network instability due to your ISP modem configuration. I've not seen any instability with my 9 series in router mode, however I don't have a modem with a built in router. Stand alone modem here.
I have a 950-based system, and I recently switched it from Router mode to Access Point mode so that my cable modem is now providing DHCP services to my entire Local area network. This has greatly improved stability of my network.
Previously when I looked at the router logs it was giving out IP addresses over and over, and my network was subject to random glitches. So I moved to access point mode and have seen a much better stability (100% as measured by NetUptimeMonitor on a PC with a wireless connection).
I imagine that the Orbi is running some form of Linux, so I'm surprised that disabling DHCP has had such a big effect. Maybe you could try that too and see what happens.
Re: Orbi RBRE 960 drops WiFi clients several times a day
Thanks for the suggestion. My cable modem is a fiber router / gateway managed by my ISP. It is locked down (doesn't have WiFi or anything I can manage). Since I switched from a hardwired backhaul to wireless backhaul the DHCP traffic has settled down and things are much more stable. If I had to guess I think there is an issue with the 960s over a hardwired configuration.
Re: Orbi RBRE 960 drops WiFi clients several times a day
Well, if it works it works, but I would have expected the wired backhaul to be superior to the wireless backhaul. Never mind!
I still think it's worth relieving the Orbi of DHCP work. If you have a NAS or any other server on your network, it can probably be configured as a DHCP server. The Pi-Hole raspberry pie DHCP server is rock solid, and is a cheap way of seeing if you can improve stability further.
