PLEASE HELP: CBR40/RBS20 X2 capping speed at 10 to 40 Mbps with 400Mbps service.

[Benjamin_Gulder]

I bought my ORBI CBR40 and two RBS20 satellites from Staples in May of 2019 about the same time as when I initiated cable internet service at 250Mbps through Atlantic Broadband in South Carolina. Hardware warranty expired May 14th 2020 along with my ability to create a case with Netgear. Skip to chapter 2 for modem issues and troubleshooting. Prologue: System Stats CBR40 ORBI Firmware version V2.3.5.12_1.0.8/CM Firmware Version V1.01.05 1st RBS20 Firmware version V2.5.1.16 2nd RBS20 Firmware version V2.5.1.16 Admin status on all three “No New Firmware Available” Currently set to ”Router Mode” Environment: 2200 square foot two level home equipped with Nest security system, doorbell, two cameras, and smart lock - and a google home mini, and some LIFX smart lights. All computers on network are windows 10, and our phones are android 10 Chapter 1: History of ISP repairs. I had no issues with the system for a few months. I never got the full speeds that I was paying for, but since this internet provider has a bad reputation in the area where I live, I assumed the issue was theirs. Finally, I got fed up with the slower than provisional speeds and had techs out to the house. They confirmed signal noise and other issues, which they then fixed within the house, and put a maintenance request in for service to the main tap. I still experienced less than 75% of the speeds I was paying for on average even after the main tap was supposedly fixed. A few months later, I changed my service to include landline telephone service since that was a requirement of my new work from home job. In order to achieve this they split the cable between my CBR40 and their own modem. At this point I was getting fully 50% of the provisioned speed on my Orbi, so I was a satisfied customer. Just a few weeks ago I switched back to internet only, and ABB was able to provide me with a cost savings along with a speed upgrade to 400Mbps. Immediately upon switching service solely to my Orbi (since the ISP modem was no longer needed), my speeds dropped to 50Mbps or less and my connectivity had regular outages for periods of 30 minutes off and an hour or two on. After having techs out to the house again, they confirmed that all cabling in the house was not at fault, but that the main tap had not been serviced correctly in the past. They scheduled maintenance on the tap, and all was well and good. Tap maintenance occurred a few days later and immediately my speeds dropped to an average of 10Mbps. I got on the phone with ABB tech support again and they looked at the stats on their end and this time stated that my modem may be having issues. Reason cited was something to do with the ports auto filling after being reset. Chapter 2: Confirmation of Modem issues Had the same tech crew out to my house just a week later, and they confirmed that the issues that had found last time were repaired correctly, and they hooked up an ISP modem to test the speed. The ISP modem was able to reach the full provisioned speed of 400Mbps tested through Ookla over wifi on mobile phone. We then reconnected my modem and ran the same test, and it was coming in at 7Mbps. I know for sure that my system has been able to reach at least 150Mbps in the past, so I’m extremely confused as to what is going on. Chapter 3: Factory Reset and troubleshooting After the techs left, I started doing troubleshooting and research of my own. I started with a factory reset. I was overjoyed to discover that, after the factory reset, I was getting 390Mbps through my own modem! My desktop was hard wired into the CBR40 to do the speed test. About a minute later I tested the speed on my cellphone, and it was down to 3 Mbps. Shocked, I tested it again on my desktop and I was getting a measly 10 Mbps again. So, I tried doing a second factory reset. This time the speeds never reached the full provisioning, but my average speeds leveled out at around 40 to 50 Mbps. Here is an example of what is showing up in the event log over and over again today. Sep 03 2020 07:18:54Critical (3)No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out Sep 03 2020 07:19:47Warning (5)Lost MDD Timeout There is at least 40 odd entries in this sequence just for today since I did the second factory reset. The only other one showing in the logs besides the two shown above is a single entry. Sep 03 2020 08:38:09 Warning (5) MIMO Event MIMO: Stored MIMO=-1 post cfg file MIMO=-1 At this point I looked up this forum and followed the directions in the following post: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Most-Stable-Orbi-Configuration/m-p/1941087/highlight/true# Alas, to no avail. My speeds are still at around 10 Mbps with occasional jumps up to 30 or 40 Mbps. Please help! I don’t want to have to buy another modem if this one can be repaired, and I don’t want to have to rent a modem from ABB that doesn’t even reach the far corners of my house. I like my orbi system and just want it to work. My heartfelt thanks to anyone who can help me solve this mystery.

[FURRYe38]

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/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Do you have any Armor or Circle enabled? 

These smart lights, are they LED? Can you turn them ALL OFF and speed test wired and wireless? 

[Benjamin_Gulder]

My CBR40 modem is in the southeast corner of my living room on the first floor. it's the furthest point southeast in my home. My first RBS20 extender is on the north side of my home on the second floor. so if you drew a straight line from the modem to the extender I estimate it would be around 40 to 50 feet. the second extender is in my office/work room above my garage at the furthest opposite end of the house from the modem. I would estimate the distance from the second extender to the first extender to be 25 to 35 feet, and the distance from the second extender to the modem to be around 65 to 80 feet. 

So, I did another factory reset after reading your message, and I plugged my desktop into the modem ethernet to test wired. I cut the power to all the wifi lights, and set the 2.4Ghz channel to 1, and the 5Ghz channel was set already to number 36. 

I count five other wifi networks within range, two of which are full strength, and the remaining three are under 3 bars. this is using my cellphone wifi discovery as a gauge. 

I do not have Armor or Circle enabled. 

After resetting the router and changing the settings, I did a number of sequential speed tests both wired and wireless. I tested both through speedtest.net and also the ookla powered iteration of the same thing on my ISP's website. Initial wired test came in at 150Mbps on ISP test, and 120Mbps on speedtest.net. Initial wireless test came in at 2.8Mbps on the speedtest.net app. 

After I tested wirelessly, I tested again on ISP test, and it came in at 10Mbps. Got the same result on speedtest.net. Kept periodically testing over the next 20 to 30 minutes as I write this, and wired eventually leveled out at around 90Mbps on both sites, but wireless testing never made it over 3Mbps. 

Update: I ran one last test before posting this reply, and I watched the wired connection start the test at 11Mbps, and slowly increase to 66Mbps on ISP site. On about 40 percent of the wired tests I've run, I have noticed drastic fluctuations in speed over the course of the test. 

What do you suggest I try next?

[FURRYe38]

Seems that wired and wireless is not working well. 

Have the ISP check the signal and line quality UP to the modem. 
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. 

What channels are the nearest wifi neighbors using? I presume something other than channel 1? 

For yoru wireless connection, install WiFiSweetSpots app on your phone or pad. Check the connection rate with the device about 4-6 feet away from the CBR. What does this app report the connection rate is here? 

https://kb.netgear.com/19668/Link-Rate-and-Transfer-Speed

You might make contact with NG support about this. Seems like the CBR is not working right.

@vkdelta