Can't connect some devices to wi-fi network after installing Orbi router and two satellites.

[jmckeever]

I recently installed 3-pack Orbi router and two satelites and the setup was a breeze.  Unfortunately, half of my devices refuse to connect.  Two of three of our household's MacBook Pros refuse to connect to the network.  Occassionally, after renewing the DHCP lease, or restarting the Cable modem, these MacBooks will connect to the wifi network, however, there is then no access to internet.

For all other devices (cameras, mobile devices, etc) the connection is easy and always works - even when the above devices are failing.

I have tried restarting everything and repower them on in (slow) sequence.  No avail.  

Any ideas?  If I can't solve this, I am gonna take these back and return to the extenders I was using.   

[MachineLearner]

JM,

A few quick things you can check, if you haven't done so already:

• What cable modem do you have?  When I had similar problems last year, our cable internet provider's tech support team was helpful in conducting some tests that pointed to a failing cable modem.
• What was your previous router?  If you still have it you can plug it in, compare the settings on the old router to the settings on the orbi router, and see what is different. One of the default settings may be causing a problem.
• You mentioned falling back to your old extenders, but didn't mention the old router -- on the outside chance you are using a cable modem/router combo from your cable company, you may have inadvertently set up a second WiFi network (one for old router, one for new).   You'll probably need to turn WiFi off on the old cable modem/ router.  
• When our ISP rolled out IPv6 support last year, many of us with a specific router had lots of problems that required settings changes and a firmware update from the router provider.   You could check the IPv6 settings on the new router.  My Orbi came with IPv6 disabled by default, which means it is supporting IPv4 connections only  (a subject of debate on these forums).  In case yours has IPv6 enabled, you may want to try disabling it and see if that changes anything.

Good luck!  I am very pleased with the one satellite Orbi I set up last week.  It is performing very well for us. 

js

[jmckeever]

Thanks MachineLearner,

Netgear Level 2 support told me there is a known issue with the current Orbi firmware that prevents Mac OS X devices of certain OS versions  (mine is 10.10.5)  from connecting to Orbi networks.    They claim the most recent Mac OS version fixes this.    Apparently they are looking to address this in the next firmware version.  

I host Airbnb and lots of guests and I can't ask my guests to upgrade their OS just to connect to wifi, so unelss Orbi fixes this within 5 days,  goodbye Netgear.  

Because I like to fiddle, I may try looking at your approach and look into configs, IPV6, etc.   Have you ever heard of an entire OS version not being able to connect to a wifi network?  

[MachineLearner]

JM,

Looks I have OS X 10.12.5 on my Mac, and I'm not having any issues with the Orbi.  You might want to try the OS X update and see if it solves the problem.  I haven't heard of that specific issue, but I have seen some odd incompatibilities with Apple software from time to time that get corrected with software updates.  The router / IPv6 compatibility issue I mentioned in my previous reply seemed to affect only users of Apple Airport Extreme routers during Cox cable's rollout of IPv6 last year.  An Apple firmware update for the router solved the problem.  Cox customers using other routers didn't report as many IPv6 problems, and Apple AE router users with other cable providers didn't seem to have issues with other cable providers' IPv6 support.   Our workaround, till Apple issued the udpate, was to change the AE router's IPv6 setting to "link-local", which provided IPv6 support on the LAN only, for IPv6 only devices, and used IPv4 to connect to the internet via the router.  

js

[Hsc1102]

ORBI!!!!! Get your stuff together!!!!! ICANT STAND THIS ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DISCONNECT DISCONNECT DISCONNECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!