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Re: Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing

greattutor9000
Aspirant

Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing

Hello,

I am having a weird problem with my NetGear Orbi(RBR50).  My entire network will just freeze up for about 2-3 minutes and then it will go back to normal.  When I say freeze up when I try to browse a webpage it just sits there for about 10 seconds and then it says page cannot be displayed.  After about 2 minutes it just works as if nothing happened.  This is happening on all of my wireless devices and wired devices on a regular basis now.  I have firmware version 2.2.1.210 and I have AT&T fiber (modemBGW210).  I also noticed that when the freeze happens I try to ping google.com on my wired computer and it just times out, after a minute or 2 it just starts working.  The network icon in the system tray doesn't show any indication that the network has been disconnected.  I connected one of my computers directly to the modem to test it when the network freezes and it works just fine so I know the modem is not the issue

 

Also I set the AT&T modem to IPPassthrough and I can see on the Orbi that the internet port has the IP assigned to me by my ISP

 

Any advice or help would be appreciated!

Message 1 of 14
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing

Try a full power OFF of the ISP modem and Orbi router for 1 minute. Then back on with the modem and let it sync. Then power ON the Orbi router.

 

Might try a factory reset of the Orbi router if your FW was autoupdated. 

Message 2 of 14
greattutor9000
Aspirant

Re: Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing

Hi, 

Thanks for the reply, I powered of both devices and powered back on the modem and let it sit for about 5 minutes.  THen I powered on the Orbi.  Unfortunatly about a hour or so later I expereinced the same 1-3 minute freeze up of my network.  I don't see any error messages or anything  that could lead me to the problem

Message 3 of 14
ekhalil
Master

Re: Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing

What wired devices do you have connected to Orbi? Any wired mesh speakers (eg. Sonos)?
Message 4 of 14
greattutor9000
Aspirant

Re: Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing

Well I have three unmanaged switches through out my home.  One switch is connected to the hub while the other two are spread out in my home.  I have a PC, some Amazon devices, two smart TV's and a XBOX unit.  I have one switch dedicated to my home automation hubs (smarthings, Hue, and sonos).  None of my Sonos speakers are hardwired.

Message 5 of 14
ekhalil
Master

Re: Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing


@greattutor9000 wrote

............ 

 I have one switch dedicated to my home automation hubs (smarthings, Hue, and sonos).  None of my Sonos speakers are hardwired.

For testing purpose, can you please test to see if disconnecting the wired Sonos Connect hub will have any change on the system’s performance. 

Message 6 of 14
greattutor9000
Aspirant

Re: Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing

Okay I will dissconnect my Sonos Hub and test it for a few days and I will get back to you with my results

Message 7 of 14
greattutor9000
Aspirant

Re: Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing

Well that didn't take long, I disconnected the Sonos Hib like you suggested and my network just froze up for about 3 minutes.  My wireless devices did not give me any indication that they were disconnected or anything.  When I try to access anything on my network(Smarthings, Hue, Server, Webpages) it just sits there and then they timeout for about 2-3 minutes and then all of a sudden they start working.

Message 8 of 14
st_shaw
Master

Re: Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing

When you wire any one of your Sonos components, such as your Sonos "hub" (a bridge or boost), this makes your sonos system run off its own proprietary 2.4 GHz mesh network, named Sonosnet.  This works great, but you must have things configured properly.  You must configure sonos and Orbi to use non-overlapping 2.4 GHz channels, or interference will occur.  Set Orbi to use channel 11 and sonos to use channel 1, or vice versa.  Do not use Auto on either system.  The Sonosnet channel is configured via the iOS or Android controller, under settings.

 

You may still have issues though.  Make sure you don't place Orbi too close to any Sonos unit, as Orbi can still interfere.  Also, Sonosnet uses spanning tree protocol (STP).  If your switches block STP or you have cascaded switches that are not configured properly for STP, some of your switch ports can be shut off temporarily. The purpose of STP is to disable switch ports to remove network loops.

 

It might be simplest for you to change Sonos to a "Standard" setup where it uses Orbi's WiFI.  You will need to unplug the Sonos "hub" you are using and be sure to never connect any of your Sonos devices to a wired Ethernet port aftet the Standard setup is completed. I don't think you can use the "hub" at all in a standard setup.

 

See this for instructions:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3209?language=en_US

Message 9 of 14
ekhalil
Master

Re: Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing


@st_shaw wrote:

When you wire any one of your Sonos components, such as your Sonos "hub" (a bridge or boost), this makes your sonos system run off its own proprietary 2.4 GHz mesh network, named Sonosnet.  This works great, but you must have things configured properly.  You must configure sonos and Orbi to use non-overlapping 2.4 GHz channels, or interference will occur.  Set Orbi to use channel 11 and sonos to use channel 1, or vice versa.  Do not use Auto on either system.  The Sonosnet channel is configured via the iOS or Android controller, under settings.

 

You may still have issues though.  Make sure you don't place Orbi too close to any Sonos unit, as Orbi can still interfere.  Also, Sonosnet uses spanning tree protocol (STP).  If your switches block STP or you have cascaded switches that are not configured properly for STP, some of your switch ports can be shut off temporarily. The purpose of STP is to disable switch ports to remove network loops.

 

It might be simplest for you to change Sonos to a "Standard" setup where it uses Orbi's WiFI.  You will need to unplug the Sonos "hub" you are using and be sure to never connect any of your Sonos devices to a wired Ethernet port aftet the Standard setup is completed. I don't think you can use the "hub" at all in a standard setup.

 

See this for instructions:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3209?language=en_US


Thanks @st_shaw. Can't be better desribed!

Please also make sure to reboot Orbi after you disconnect the Sonos hub to "clean" the network.

Message 10 of 14
greattutor9000
Aspirant

Re: Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing

Just so that you know none of my Sonos speakers are hard wired.  They all connect to my Sonos Hob wirelessly but I took your advise and set my Orbi router to Channel 1 and my Sonos Bridge to channel 11.  I will test it for the next few days and report back with the results.  Thanks for that info about Sonosnet, that is good knowledge to know!

Message 11 of 14
st_shaw
Master

Re: Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing


@greattutor9000 wrote:

Just so that you know none of my Sonos speakers are hard wired.  They all connect to my Sonos Hob wirelessly but I took your advise and set my Orbi router to Channel 1 and my Sonos Bridge to channel 11.  I will test it for the next few days and report back with the results.  Thanks for that info about Sonosnet, that is good knowledge to know!


It's good that none of your speakers is wired.  You want to avoid having more than one Sonos device wired, as that will create network loops.  Either wire none and use WiFi, or wire one and use Sonosnet.  Also, it doesn't matter whether the wired device is the Sonos "hub"or one of your speakers.  The result is the same.  As soon as you wire ANY Sonos component the system enters Sonosnet mode. That's why I say you cannot use the "hub" in WiFi mode. You can, however, use the "hub" in Sonosnet mode unplugged from the LAN if you have any one of your speakers wired.

 

 

Message 12 of 14
ekhalil
Master

Re: Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing

It was also reported that -for some reason- even wiring Sonos Connect alone has negative impact on Orbi:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Slow-satellite-speed-on-RBK40-in-AP-mode-how-to-reproduce-and/...

 

Message 13 of 14
Blanca_O
NETGEAR Moderator

Re: Netgear Orbi Keeps freezing

Hi @greattutor9000

 

We’d greatly appreciate hearing your feedback letting us know if you need further assistance.

 

Regards, 
Blanca 
Community Team

Message 14 of 14
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