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Introducing the Orbi 970 Series Mesh System with WiFi 7(BE) technology. For more information visit the NETGEAR Press Room.

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Re: Orbi netgear Router Wont Let My Shark Ion Robot vacuum through the firewall

LouMac
Follower

Orbi netgear Router Wont Let My Shark Ion Robot vacuum through the firewall

We got a Shark Ion Robot for Christmas and have been trying to hook it up to our Wi-Fi for days now and evey time it says that "it can not connect to the cloud"....? Called Shark Tech who gave us to the Engineer, who was very helpfull but still could not get it to connect, the error code it was throwing on his end was that the Orbi wouldnt let the vacuum through the firewall. He suggested we call netgear. First call through the guy had me un hook my phone to wifi and then back again and said ok thank you have a great day......!?! called back got a lady who had me try to change my networks name to see if that did anything after I stated several times that I had other device that connected just fine, She then tells me I will have to call the vacuum company. !!!!!?!? So now I am here. HELP!!!

Message 1 of 6
ekhalil
Master

Re: Orbi netgear Router Wont Let My Shark Ion Robot vacuum through the firewall

Two things that I can think can help:

  1. It can be that your robot vacuum accepts only an alpha-numeric password, please try changing your wifi password to a simpler one and see if that helps.
  2. This robot vacuum supports only 2.4 GHz band and the issue can be that your phone (where you have the vacuum's app) is connected to the 5 GHz band while the vacuum is connected to the 2.4 ghz band. Please try to -temporarily- reduce the transmit power of the 5GHz band and make sure your phone is connected to the 2.4 gHz band while you're doing the setup

You can change the transmit power of the 5 GHz band in the GUI as follows:

Namnlöst.png

Message 2 of 6
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Orbi netgear Router Wont Let My Shark Ion Robot vacuum through the firewall

This user was able to get her Roomba working, similar vaccum unit:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-amp-the-new-Roomba-i7-connectivity/m-p/1655054/highlight/...


@LouMac wrote:

We got a Shark Ion Robot for Christmas and have been trying to hook it up to our Wi-Fi for days now and evey time it says that "it can not connect to the cloud"....? Called Shark Tech who gave us to the Engineer, who was very helpfull but still could not get it to connect, the error code it was throwing on his end was that the Orbi wouldnt let the vacuum through the firewall. He suggested we call netgear. First call through the guy had me un hook my phone to wifi and then back again and said ok thank you have a great day......!?! called back got a lady who had me try to change my networks name to see if that did anything after I stated several times that I had other device that connected just fine, She then tells me I will have to call the vacuum company. !!!!!?!? So now I am here. HELP!!!


 

Message 3 of 6
Avamill
Aspirant

Re: Orbi netgear Router Wont Let My Shark Ion Robot vacuum through the firewall

I think you can read the settings on the robot vacuum cleaner or reflash it.

Message 4 of 6
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Orbi netgear Router Wont Let My Shark Ion Robot vacuum through the firewall

Were you able to get your device working? 


@LouMac wrote:

We got a Shark Ion Robot for Christmas and have been trying to hook it up to our Wi-Fi for days now and evey time it says that "it can not connect to the cloud"....? Called Shark Tech who gave us to the Engineer, who was very helpfull but still could not get it to connect, the error code it was throwing on his end was that the Orbi wouldnt let the vacuum through the firewall. He suggested we call netgear. First call through the guy had me un hook my phone to wifi and then back again and said ok thank you have a great day......!?! called back got a lady who had me try to change my networks name to see if that did anything after I stated several times that I had other device that connected just fine, She then tells me I will have to call the vacuum company. !!!!!?!? So now I am here. HELP!!!


 

Message 5 of 6
Ult1mat3X
Aspirant

Re: Orbi netgear Router Wont Let My Shark Ion Robot vacuum through the firewall

When referring to WiFi, iRobot are referring to a 2.4Ghz network on a single SSID (Service Set ID that identifies the network that can be seen by a wireless device). In other words a single modem/router possibly bristling with WiFi antennas, that broadcasts a 2.4Ghz WiFi network with a unique SSID. Most modem/routers also deliver a 5.0Ghz network, but Roomba won’t work with that. By the way, the 2.4Ghz network is heavily congested with connected WiFi devices, and other legacy devices like microwave ovens, cordless phones and baby monitors often use it too.

Modern houses with multiple rooms may have spotty WiFi when it comes from a modem/router located near where the internet cable enters the house. So next-gen WiFi is available, which uses multiple Access Points (network-connected devices that transmit and receive a WiFi signal evenly throughout the house. Imagine an open umbrella representing each Access Point (AP)). These could be called mesh networks, range extenders, satellites or even sentinels. Google WiFi, Linksys Velop, Netgear Orbi are examples. Such systems are designed to allow fast roaming between Access Points when highly mobile devices like laptops, iPhones and iPads move with the users. A new term, BSSID identifies Access Points and the attached devices called clients

When you physically move your laptop or mobile phone from one room to another, the BSSID you use can change because your device looks for the strongest signal as you move from the area covered by one access point to the area covered by another access point, but this does not affect the connectivity of your laptop or phone. I can open on my iPhone or laptop to, say, a You tube video and stream it, and open another app that shows the BSSID of the nearest Access Point. Then I walk from one end of my house to the other watching the video uninterrupted, whilst keeping my eye on the other app to see the BSSID change as I approach then leave the “umbrella” of each AP.

Therefore the laptop or the phone is aware of the BSSID and connects to the strongest signal automatically so there’s seamless connectivity, which is exactly what should be happening with Roomba, but instead it is tied to a single congested 2.4Ghz network’s SSID, ignoring Access Points as it moves around. If ever there was a need for maintaining continuity between the Roomba and the network, irrespective of the BSSID

It’s difficult to cover a topic like this without delving into the underlying technology and its jargon. Nevertheless, I do hope the essence of the issue I raise is clear.

Message 6 of 6
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