Devices not connecting to Sattelite

[rinku2012]

Hello,

Recently i have purchased Orbi ( 1 Router and 2 Sattelites). I have R8500 router in my 3 story town home.

I have router in my 2nd floor. I have setup orbi as AP and kept sattelites in 1st and 3rd floor. after initial setup, i see that almost all devices are connected to orbi router which is on 2nd floor.

Same is the case with devices on 1st floor.

when i contated netgear support, they have mentioned that since i have router in 2nd floor and sattelites in 1st and 3 rd floor ( router in middle), they have asked me to disable daisy chain.

after disabling daisy chain, few of my devices in 3rd floor connects to 3rd floor sattelite and all other devices ( 2nd and 1st floor) connects to 2nd floor router

when i move my device from 3rd floor to 1st floor then also i see that my devices are connected to 3rd floor sattelite. Since its connected to 3rd floor, i see that signal is weaken.

as per orbi topology, when i am close to 1st floor sattelite, device should connect to 1st floor sattelite.

why its not happening ?

i have couple of cameras on 1st floor and i see them they are connected to router. Am i doing anything wrong here ?

I have R8500. do you guys suggest me to return back orbi or use orbi in AP or remove R8500 and just use orbi in my home ?

[rinku2012]

can i keep my Orbi router on 1st floor and satellites on 2nd and 3rd floor and enable daisy chain. will this help me in any way ?

[st_shaw]

I would keep your Orbis where they are. Many devices need to be reset, or power cycled, before they will connect to the correct Orbi. You will need to do this after every Orbi reboot or power loss. Cameras and laptops are like that. This is a device issue not an Orbi issue. Phones should roam properly. 

[rinku2012]

i have around 55 devices in my home ( cameras, ipads, tv, ps3, phones, laptops etc). if this is the case then whats the use of orbi.

can i use my old router (make it as AP) and keep it in my 1st floor . will the devices on 1st floor then connect to my old router ?

[st_shaw]

Most phones are designed to roam, and will switch quickly to the nearest/strongest AP as the environmnet changes. Many other devices do not operate this way, such as cameras and laptops.  For example, OSX devices do not switch APs until the AP they are connected to drops below -75 dBm RSSI.  So, if an OSX device connects to the Orbi router on the middle floor, you can move it right next to an AP on the 1st floor, and the OSX device will not switch APs.

I've noticed that when Orbi starts up, the router will boot first and the satellites will come up 30 seconds or more later.  This means all the "sticky" devices in your network that do not roam properly (cameras, laptops, etc.) are going to connect to the router (because they see it first) and stick there. So, you must cycle the WiFi on the sticky devices after all your APs are booted and become stable.

You probably could use your old router as an AP, but you shouldn't need to do that with Orbi.

[rinku2012]

U guys recommend me to use orbi instead of R8500 ?

as i mentioned in my post i have 3 floors and my router is on 2nd floor and sattelites are on 1st and 3rd floor

which setup is right for me ( router on 2nd, satellite on 1st and 3rd OR router on 1st , sattelites on 2nd and 4rd floor ) ?