Orbi50 Wifi keeps dropping

[sydhsydh]

Last night my wifi went down for no reason. I have rebooted the router and the satellite and the satellite light turned blue but now the wifi keeps dropping out and then appearing again, but it is out 90% of the time.

Unit is only 3 months old and has been working flawlessly until now. Can anyone advise? I am wondering if this is a warranty claim.

[sydhsydh · Accepted solution]

Furry - Eventually managed to get the Orbi registered, but this serial number showed it was already registered to someone else. It seems Amazon sold me a faulty unit because the previous owner also had a case with Netgear for wifi dropping out. Amazon agreed to refund. I have ordered another Orbi reluctantly. I checked all the reviews but it still seems the Orbi is one of the best mesh systems, so fingers crossed.

[FURRYe38]

What Firmware is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?
Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode?

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or maynot be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

Try disabling the following and see:
Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).

Power OFF the ISP Modem and RBR for 30 seconds, then power ON the ISP Modem and let it sync, then power ON the RBR. 

Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update? 

[sydhsydh]

What Firmware is currently loaded? 2.3.5.34. I even tried the beta. it was on 30.
What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too? EchoLife HG62 (Openreach).
Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode? Router.

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft? The RBR & RBS are around 10 metres with a stud wall in between. All worked fine for 3 months.
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many? Tried 10 manually. It was on Auto. 4 neighbours all around channels 1 to 6. 

Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or maynot be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings Have turned on Beam Forming and MIMO. WMM already on. Still dropping signal.

Try disabling the following and see:
Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s). Have yet to try this. Only Fast Roaming is diabled so far.

Power OFF the ISP Modem and RBR for 30 seconds, then power ON the ISP Modem and let it sync, then power ON the RBR. Already tried that.

Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update? Not yet. Trying to find out why things failed suddenly befrore I try reset.

I see this is a common problem. Has anyone found the solution yet?

I should also add, router and satellite are connected by ethernet.

[FURRYe38]

The system maybe trying to update to v2.5.1.8. You may want to apply this version. It's stable and works well. Fixes device naming problems seen in older version of FW. If you choose to do this, apply the RBS first then RBR, then factory reset and setup from scratch. 

Use channels 1, 6 or 11 or 13 only. All other channels are sub channels used by the wifi system. All other channels should not be set an primary channels. 

[sydhsydh]

Why does one question always lead to another? Just tried to update the firmware on the RBS50 and it immediately asks for a password, but my usual login does not work. Login works for 192.168.1.1 but not for 192.168.1.3. Any ideas? Tried all the usual such as the wireless password and "password" but no luck.

[FURRYe38]

Try a factory reset on the RBS and resync.

Means the RBS failed to sync correctly to the RBR. Admin and password should work as default for the RBS. 

[sydhsydh]

Furry, Still no luck. I have done reset and I have updated the firmware on the router and the satellite to 2.5.1.8.

I now have no wifi at all. This is beginning to look like hardware issue. I tried the Netgear support line but they just refer me to the community as it is more than 90 days. Frustrating as I bought this in October.

Any more ideas Furry?

I should add that I am getting a blue light for good connection.

[FURRYe38]

I would make contact with a forum Moderator to see what your options are. Seems like this unit is faulty and needs to be replaced.

@Blanca_O 

[sydhsydh]

Busy morning. Couldn't find a number for Netgear and they were not replying to my email so I contacted Amazon who sold it. They phoned Netgear direct and patched me in. Netgear have sorted a registration issue on my account and after 48 hours for the issue to be registered on the system, I can then contact them to start a case. This is really putting me off Netgear. I told Amazon I would like a refund but they want to wait on Netgear. The Orbi I was sold had already been registered by someone so it looks like I was sold a faulty return.

[FURRYe38]

Ok, thanks for this info. Ya, if the system was sold as faulty by someone else, I'd get it replace ASAP. Hopefully NG will respond soon. I tagged a forum moderator as well. I'm sure NG and Amazon will work things out for you. Amazon is pretty good at returns. Let us know how it goes. 

[sydhsydh]

Will do. Thanks for your help so far.

[FURRYe38]

[sydhsydh · Accepted solution]

Furry - Eventually managed to get the Orbi registered, but this serial number showed it was already registered to someone else. It seems Amazon sold me a faulty unit because the previous owner also had a case with Netgear for wifi dropping out. Amazon agreed to refund. I have ordered another Orbi reluctantly. I checked all the reviews but it still seems the Orbi is one of the best mesh systems, so fingers crossed.

[FURRYe38]

Good to hear. Ya, was kind of thinking that this unit was faulty from the get go. Glad Amazon refunded it. Hope next one is new and not previously owned. Ask Amazon to send you a new one. 

Good Luck.