Orbi dropping connection to iPads

[astrojohn]

Orbi has been in use since May 18, 2018 and started briefly dropping iPad connections.  The first one to drop was yesterday (Jun 5, 2018) on the main router and it was 10 feet or so away.  The second drop was today on a satellite about the same distance from a different iPad while the original iPad remained online.  Both iPads indicated no WiFi service when dropped, and returned to service within a few minutes.  I tried rebooting the iPad and re-establishing the network but it couldn't be done until it all came back on by itself.  Other devices seem to remain online OK.  No problem with hardwired devices and no errors show up in the logs.

Router and satellites have the latest firmware as of this date (6 June 2018).  Any ideas?  Rebooting is an obvious first try but that can't be the solution.

[FURRYe38]

What channels are you using? Try 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz. Any unused channels on 5Ghz.

Disable MIMO, Daisy Chain and Fast Roaming on the router.

Any Satellites connected? What is the distances between the router and satellite(s)?

Any wifi neigbors near by? If so, how many?

Any other broadcasting devices in your house?

[astrojohn]

What channels are you using? Try 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz.

Automatically selecting Ch 9, also least used in the neighborhood.  iPads always connect on 5GHz.

Any unused channels on 5Ghz. 

On 48, WiFi Analyzer shows mostly unused.

Disable MIMO, Daisy Chain and Fast Roaming on the router.  

I'll try that individually next time it happens.  Fast Roaming already disabled. 

Disabling MIMO kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

Any Satellites connected? What is the distances between the router and satellite(s)?

Two, Sat 1 about 25', Sat 2 about 40', Orbi shows good connections to both.

Any wifi neigbors near by? If so, how many?

TOO MANY!  Condo area, 3 house-style units in a block, we're on an end. Neighbor in the next block of 3 has a Uverse router that's screaming at the top of it's digital lungs (different channel) - which is why Sat 2 is so important. 

Any other broadcasting devices in your house?

No

[FURRYe38]

Change to 1 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz. Least used of these channelr.

if you have many other wifi nieghbors, you maybe in a wifi congested area FYI which will be hard to deal with. You may need to turn down the power of your system to create a smaller foot print which will have less impact and interference from others. Which maybe a reason why your seeing these problems I presume.

MIMO is only needed if you have lots of MIMO supporting devices. It's not required to have it on either. Just a trouble shooting step as well.

[bbmertz]

I was also having problems with my iPads and iPhones dropping from the WiFi network and frequently had to deselect the WiFi network on these devices to reconnect.

After reading many threads on this issue, I tried all of the following previously suggested solutions with NO success:
1) Switching from default “Auto” channel on 2.4 GHz to fixed channels 1, 6 and 11.
2) Turning on Beamform and MU-MIMO (from default Off setting)
3) Turning off Daisychain (from default On setting)

Ultimately what worked for me was removing one of the two Orbi Satellites (2 included in RBK53 from Costco) from my small 3200 square foot home, unplugging and replugging in the router to reboot, and then forgetting the WiFi network on my iOS devices and the reselecting/re-entering the WiFi password. These last steps seem to do the trick after a lot of trial-and-error experimentation.

Despite all the dropping issues, my WiFi was consistently above 300 mbps download and 20 mbps upload speed.

[FURRYe38]

The size of your home and having 3 wireless sources going and placement may have played a roll in your problems. You may have been experiencing some too much signal over lap. Since you removed one of the satellites, I presume now your system is working better?

30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials.

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@bbmertz wrote:
I was also having problems with my iPads and iPhones dropping from the WiFi network and frequently had to deselect the WiFi network on these devices to reconnect.

After reading many threads on this issue, I tried all of the following previously suggested solutions with NO success:
1) Switching from default “Auto” channel on 2.4 GHz to fixed channels 1, 6 and 11.
2) Turning on Beamform and MU-MIMO (from default Off setting)
3) Turning off Daisychain (from default On setting)

Ultimately what worked for me was removing one of the two Orbi Satellites (2 included in RBK53 from Costco) from my small 3200 square foot home, unplugging and replugging in the router to reboot, and then forgetting the WiFi network on my iOS devices and the reselecting/re-entering the WiFi password. These last steps seem to do the trick after a lot of trial-and-error experimentation.

Despite all the dropping issues, my WiFi was consistently above 300 mbps download and 20 mbps upload speed.

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