WiFi 7 and iPhone 16 Pro Max along with wireless backhaul
Having issues with iPhone 16 Max Pro's and iPad Pro's each will intermittently drop WiFi signal & WiFi calling and try to default toward using the cellular network.
My setup is the following: FW V9.12.5.3 on both RBR & RBS / Single story home 5000 sq ft with 14' ceilings throughout. I use a CAT 6 wired backhaul. I have the RBR at one end of the house and the RBS at the other end of the house, both facing toward the middle of the house, both are 12' off the floor. The middle of the house WiFi signal is showing RSSI - 45dBm's to 58dBm's (Good signal strength) I have 90 to 110 clients on my network at any given time with 60 of them being wireless. 20 are on 2.4ghz and 20 on 5ghz same SSID. 20 are on the 2.4ghz IoT SSID network.
We only lose connection or drop WiFi calling (while on a call sometimes) on the iPhone & iPad (all have WiFi 7 support) no other wireless devices have issues. So issue seems to be associated with WiFI 7 / 6E devices. To get functional again, I then have to forget the network and rejoin even when it shows the network with a checkmark next to it but the device isn't connected and never shows the WIFI icon at the top of it. The behavior happens intermittently, which leads me to believe it to be a WiFi channel conflict potentially. I understand the wireless backhaul is always broadcasting even when not in use.
If the router has assigned a channel to the 2.4 ghz and the 5 ghz network, why does the wireless backhaul try to broadcast on those channels in those same ghz at anytime? Shouldn't their be logic to say skip them.
Any suggetions? I am just trying to discover the root cause.
Re: WiFi 7 and iPhone 16 Pro Max along with wireless backhaul
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too? Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6A STP is recommended.
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 wired or wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/31029/Where-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite 🛰
How are the RBS ethernet connected to the back of the RBR? Any Patch panels or LAN Switches in between?
What channel configurations are currently set on the router?
Has a power off for 1 minute then back ON with the ISP modem and router and satellites been performed since last update?
Does this happen with the RBS turned OFF?
Is IPv6 enabled on the RBR?
Have you connected to the separate IoT network with the Apple devices to see if this still happens?
Can you provide a drawing of the house floor plan and where the RBR and RBS are located on this plan? Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update?
NG IS aware of the Apple issues on Orbi BE systems. They are working with Apple on these issues.
Re: WiFi 7 and iPhone 16 Pro Max along with wireless backhaul
@phillipsaz your config seems almost identical to mine, house too, except I have 2 satellites.
Is this a 970 system? If it is, the wireless backhaul does not use the same channel as the devices do - it's a dedicate wireless backhaul. Right @FURRYe38 ? Is this true for 770 and 870 as well?
Not a lot to offer here, we know Apple/NG are working on this. It's actually banding issues, conflict between devices. The 2.4 and 5GHz channels don't really affect the 6 and 7 usage (5 is used for the 7), and we don't know what the 6E/7 channel decisions are that are being made as we have no config for that.
My experience has been when the devices flip to 5G, if you wait max 2-3 minutes, they figure it out and flip back - you don't have to forget the network. Can you try that? It's a lot easier if it works for you.
Re: WiFi 7 and iPhone 16 Pro Max along with wireless backhaul
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?
COX IS ISP / CABLE MODEM IS Motorola MB8611 Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6A STP is recommended.
Yes, that is the cable I am using,..
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 wired or wirelessly connected.
DISTANCE IS 90 FEET BETWEEN RBR & RBS WITH NETGEAR PROSAFE XS505M 10GB SWITCH BETWEEN THEM
How are the RBS ethernet connected to the back of the RBR? Any Patch panels or LAN Switches in between?
SEE ABOVE
What channel configurations are currently set on the router?
2.4 ghz = Channel 6
5 ghz = Channel 44
What iOS version is on the Apple devices? 18.2.1
Be sure to disable any MAC Address randomizers on phones and pads while at home:
Has a power off for 1 minute then back ON with the ISP modem and router and satellites been performed since last update? YES and always - best practice
Does this happen with the RBS turned OFF? YES
Is IPv6 enabled on the RBR? YES
Have you connected to the separate IoT network with the Apple devices to see if this still happens? YES and it does
Can you provide a drawing of the house floor plan and where the RBR and RBS are located on this plan?
Single Story 5000 sqft home that is 105' wide EAST to West (RBR is on EAST Side of house and directly down the hall 90' is the RBS) then add 10' because it is South on the West wall. Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update? YES
NG IS aware of the Apple issues on Orbi BE systems. They are working with Apple on these issues.
Re: WiFi 7 and iPhone 16 Pro Max along with wireless backhaul
Yes it is the 970 system Black Edition. I have a 2nd Sat but i don't have it online or powered up. It was overkill for my house. So, I did a Wifi scan on all my wireless networks and the backhaul broadcasts on random channels and I saw it used Channel 6 and Channel 44. Odd right? I would like to be able to just turn it off since my backhaul is wired..Process of elimination. However, they don't have that capability.
I am not clear on how WiFi 7 works. See the definition:
WiFi 7 operates on the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz radio spectrum bands and doubles the number of MU-MIMO (Multi-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output) streams to 16, enabling WiFi 7 to handle more throughput than its predecessors.
I can never get my devices to flip back to Wifi when it drops and tries to go cellular.. It never reconnects, I have waited 5 to 10 min during troubleshooting. Thanks for replying..
Re: WiFi 7 and iPhone 16 Pro Max along with wireless backhaul
On the Orbi network, WiFi 7 just uses the 6GHz+5GHz channels in tandem - not the 2.4 - you can see that reported in the router admin web page's device list.
Did you say above that Apple devices would flip to cellular even when on the IoT network? Are you sure they stayed on that network? I have found they will fit back to the main network (not sure why - maybe because WiFi 6E/7 is available there?). You have to 'forget' the main network on the Apple devices to keep them on the IoT network, in my experience. The reason I say that is odd, is that there is no 6E or 7 on the IoT network - just 5 and 2.4. I have never seen cellular flips when a device is on 5 or 2.4.
More similarities in our configs - I too have black 970, and I have IPv6 (many don't still, plus NG defaults it to 'off' on a new install).
EDIT/UPDATE: Just heard from Netgear Eng - you have to 'forget' the main network for Apple devices connecting to the IoT network, or they will switch back. If you didn't do that, can you try the test again? I bet it will work fine as it's only 5GHz tops.
Re: WiFi 7 and iPhone 16 Pro Max along with wireless backhaul
@phillipsaz , my RBE973 Mesh System is no longer doing the WiFi/cellular flips since, 1) I reduced the WiFi channel collisions in my home by turning off one satellite (I still have 2 mesh nodes), and, 2) updating the firmware that was released last month (I’m old and can’t remember the version #, nor do I want to retype this info if I try to leave Safari, go into Orbi App to verify, and then come back to find this post “won’t post” when I do finish typing, sorry).
Another work around I used when I was dealing with the “flips” (before I resolved the issue last month as outlined in previous paragraph), was to go into my iPhone 15 pro max (WiFi 6E iPhone version) Settings and select my RBE971 Orbi “IOT” SSID. My iPhone would connect to the 2.4Mhz band, and very shortly after that connection was made, I went back into iPhone Settings and reconnected to the Orbi Main 5/6/7 MHz WiFi SSID.
