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Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

LouBasil
Aspirant

Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

Hello - I am having an issue getting devices to connect to my Orbi Satellites despite the satellite being essentially next to the device.  

 

I have the latest firmware updated and I have read and tried all of the different suggestions in these forums around beamforming, daisy chaining, etc with no luck.  

 

Currently the router is on the second floor of the home with the satellite on the main floor.  I get great coverage all throughout the house but no matter where I am, devices only connect to the router.  What am I missing and what can I do to resolve this? 

 

Thank you.

Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 1 of 20
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

Try turning down the power output of the RBRs wifi radios from 100% to 50% and see if this changes anything. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

Message 2 of 20
LouBasil
Aspirant

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

 


@FURRYe38 wrote:

Try turning down the power output of the RBRs wifi radios from 100% to 50% and see if this changes anything. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings


@FURRYe38 Just to confirm, in that setting menu, this will only affect the Router radios and not the satellite correct? 

Message 3 of 20
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

Coorect.

What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)?

Message 4 of 20
LouBasil
Aspirant

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

@FURRYe38 

 

I turned the radios down and it actually seemed to make it all worse.  I lost connection with one the device which was connected to the satellite per the attached devices menu.

 

The satellite and router are approximately 20 feet away from each other in a staright line.  However, I am struggling to get them further apart as I have one particular device which struggles to connect to either device.  Could this ultimately be causing my issue? 

 

Message 5 of 20
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

What is the device thats not connecting to the RBS? 

if you can try 30 feet in between the RBR and RBS. 

Message 6 of 20
LouBasil
Aspirant

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

@FURRYe38 

 

The device which won't connect is a wifi board for a grill. It will only connect via 2.4ghz which should not be an issue for this system. 

 

I am currently scouting the house for different access points for the router and satellite.  Will try to change the location shortly.

Message 7 of 20
LouBasil
Aspirant

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

@FURRYe38 

 

It does not, strictly 2.4ghz.

Message 8 of 20
LouBasil
Aspirant

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

 

 

I have used this process to initially get it set up.  However, despite not changing anything or the location of the orbi, it constantly tries to change between the router and satellite at which it ultimetaly won't make a connection.  

 

While investigating this, I noticed nothing was connecting to the satellite despite the proximity of the satellite and the extra distance and walls between the router and the devices. 

Message 9 of 20
LouBasil
Aspirant

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

 

 

I do have a hardwired connection with the Sat.  Would that indicate it is not faulty? 

 

Also, what is the reset procedure for a sat, if you don't mind me asking.

 

Thank you.

Message 10 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

Factory reset procedure is the same for all Orbi units:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMw4ePACgc4

 

I disagree with Furrey on the Transmit Power.  There is no menu on a satellite to modify Transmit Power, so my understanding is that it applies to all Orbi's in the system.

 

There seem to be two issues:

  • No devices connecting to the satellite (except for one hardwired connection, which works, correct?)
  • The Grill WiFi controller not connecting reliably to either router or satellite.

Can you perform another experiment.  Move close to the satellite with your cell phone. "Forget" the Orbi WiFi. Then search for WiFi, select the Orbi SSID, and connect.  Wait several minutes for the Orbi to update connection tables. (It takes far longer than I think reasonable, but that's just the way it is.)  Does the Attached Devices web page show the cell phone connected to the router or satellite?

 

If you provide the brand of grill controller, people can look at their support web site to see how they advise connecting to mesh WiFi systems.

Message 11 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite


@LouBasil wrote:

I have used this process to initially get it set up.  However, despite not changing anything or the location of the orbi, it constantly tries to change between the router and satellite at which it ultimetaly won't make a connection.  


Can you share how the grill controller indicates that it is trying to change?

Is the grill controller electically powered, or is it a battery powered device that is turned on each time it is needed?

Message 12 of 20
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite


@LouBasil wrote:

 

 

I have used this process to initially get it set up.  However, despite not changing anything or the location of the orbi, it constantly tries to change between the router and satellite at which it ultimetaly won't make a connection.  

 

While investigating this, I noticed nothing was connecting to the satellite despite the proximity of the satellite and the extra distance and walls between the router and the devices. 


If you take a phone or pad near the RBS, disable the wifi radio on the phone or pad for 5 seconds then back ON, does the mobile device seem to connect to the RBS? You'll need to check the RBS web page for connected devices. 

 

If nothing seems to connect to the RBS wirelessly, though a wired PC does, possible the wireless portion of the RBS could be faulty. A reset should be performed on the RBS and resync. 


The power adjustment on the RBR is a troubleshooting step to see if wifi devices will pick the stronger singal from the RBS vs the RBR and see if they will connect to the RBS. You can of course set the power level back to 100% if you want to. 20 feet in between the RBR and RBS is too close. Theres too much wifi over lap at this distance. The RBRs signal alone and reach out to 30-40 feet and beyond depending upon building materials. 

Message 13 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

I have been mistaken so many times, that this power level issue seemed to be a good topic for an experiment.

My Orbi system has:

  • RBR50 router
  • RBS50 satellite
  • RBS40V satellite

On the Advanced wireless setting screen, I changed Transmit Power from 100% to 25% and watched the graph on my WiFi Analyzer app.

Like far too many things, changing transmit power causes the entire radio system to shut down and restart, a process that takes what seems like forever.  Because I am (literally) sitting right next to the router, the RSSI reported by WiFi Analyzer for the router barely changed at all, but the RSSI for both satellites dropped dramatically.  When I changed the transmit power back to 100%, (and after a tremendous wait), the satellite RSSI levels came back to their original readings.

 

And the guest network mirrored the primary network. When primary transmit power is reduced, guest transmit power is reduced as well.

 

I am thus pretty confident that changing transmit power on the Advanced WiFi Settings menu applies to every Orbi device in the system.

 

This is yet another disappointing feature of the Orbi firmware.  One would think Netgear would make it possible to control each Orbi radio separately, but it appears to me that they did not.

Message 14 of 20
LouBasil
Aspirant

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

@CrimpOn 

 

I will try your experiment this evening but wanted to respond with a few things you asked about . The brand of wifi controller is a Grilla Grills Alpha Connect Wifi.  

 

Also, the way I noticed it switching between the two was that I was on the orbilogin.net and I would continually see it moving between router and sat.  I am now seeing it as connected to the satellite but the app is saying there is no connection to Wifi so I am beginning to wonder if this is a controller or app issue now. Also, the grill is hardwired, no battery. 

 

As I mentioned I will give your experiment a try this evening and report back. 

 

Appreciate all the help and support.   

 

 

Message 15 of 20
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

Look at the RBS web page to see whats connected there. 

Message 16 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

Every Orbi device hosts a web server, the router (RBR) and satellites (RBS)

Once the IP address of a satellite is known, a web browser will open it, such as http://192,168.1.5 (for my RBS50 satellite) or http://192.168.1.50 (for the RBS40V).  (Had I been planning ahead, I would have set aside IP's 2,3,4,5 for satellites when the Orbi system was set up.  As it was, three devices got attached before I powered on the first satellite and four years went by before I purchased a second satellite.

 

Satellite web pages have a menu item for "Connected Devices".  (One of my pet peeves. Router has "Attached Devices" while satellites have "Connected Devices".  Was no one paying any attention when these web pages were created?)

Message 17 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite


@LouBasil wrote:

I will try your experiment this evening but wanted to respond with a few things you asked about . The brand of wifi controller is a Grilla Grills Alpha Connect Wifi.  

 

Also, the way I noticed it switching between the two was that I was on the orbilogin.net and I would continually see it moving between router and sat.  I am now seeing it as connected to the satellite but the app is saying there is no connection to Wifi so I am beginning to wonder if this is a controller or app issue now. Also, the grill is hardwired, no battery.  


What an amazing cooking beast.  It appears they have taken steps to avoid problems attaching to WiFi.  Rather than the common solution of having the device create a temporary WiFi access point, they are using Bluetooth to connect the grill to the phone so that the phone can pass the WiFi information directly to the grill over Bluetooth.  The "step by step" guide is very clear and then suddenly goes silent at step 5 Choose or Add your network.  This would be perfect place to key in the WiFi password, which would mean that the grill could connect at 2.4G and the phone could be connected at 5G.  If they are never having the user key in the password, they are missing the cleanest, most obvious way to get the grill connected.  Wish there were two or three more picures in the instructions.  (HOWEVER... the grill did get connected, so this is simply a rant on my part.)

 

The grill seems to have a lot of metal, which wreaks havok on WiFi connections.  Would it be possible to reorient the grill so that the WiFi module is facing more toward the house?

Message 18 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite


@vajim wrote:

Never knew you could go straight to the sats page, but I guess the real question is why would I?  Is there more or different info there as opposed to the router's page which as far as I know covers the entire network 


Attached (or "Connected") Devices is one of the weaker features of the Orbi firmware.  People have reported issues with this feature for at least 2-3 years.  The Orbi "app" is especially inconsistent when compared to the web interface.  I, personally, do not go out of my way to look at the satellite's version of what is connected.  But when "something feels wrong", it is an alternate view.  If the satellite matches the router exactly, that's wonderful.  If it doesn't match, there is something amiss.

 

I haven't loaded firmware manually for a couple of months, but when I do a manual load, I always connect directly to the satellite.

Message 19 of 20
LouBasil
Aspirant

Re: Devices Won't Connect to Satellite

@CrimpOn 

No Luck this evening.  I did reorient my sat and router to be about as far away as possible, i.e. one in the basement the other on the second floor.  This also means the router itself is about 10 feet from the grill in the basement and still no luck.  

 

I tend to agree on the direction of the grill itself.  This morning I was able to get it to work remotely but have not had any luck since, even with all the settings and orbi modules in the same spots in the house.  

 

Also, the only way in which I was able to get this to initially pair and yes it did ask for a password right after the bluetooth connection when it also asked you to select the network, was to have the board partially removed from the grill instelf.  My thought was that the metal was shielding the antenna far too much and this did work but is not a long term solution.  

 

The reason for pinging you all was to see if perhaps there was a setting which may be able to optimize the connection I am trying to make.  I also spoke to Grilla but they were puzzled and are going to get back with me.  

 

Appreciate all the help and if there is anything else I can do or try, please let me know.

Message 20 of 20
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