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RBR50 Wifi frequest disconnections

praskcr
Aspirant

RBR50 Wifi frequest disconnections

My house is small, about 90sqm. The WIFI signal in my bedroom seems to drop every few minutes and then connects again. I don't understand why I have to pay Netgear for support as I have spent quite a bit buying this product. I hope someone can assist me with this asap as this has been going on for a few months now. 

 

Hardware Version   RBR50
 
Firmware Version   V2.1.2.18
 
GUI Language Version   V1.0.0.314
 
Operation Mode   Router
Model: RBR50| Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi (Router Only)
Message 1 of 4
TChester
Initiate

Re: RBR50 Wifi frequest disconnections

Hello

I and many others have a problem similar to yours.  If you read the Orbi NetGear posts (search for something like "Orbi Chromecast disconnect") you will view hundreds of comments describing the same problem.  In general, updating the BIOS software, reconfiguring the router (e.g making it an AP as opposed to router, turning off plug-n-play, turning off beam forming, resetting to factory defaults), moving the satellites has not resolved the problem. 

Some of the posts imply that it is a problem with ChromeCast (Google Play Services) found on literally any Android or Google product that causes the problem of Orbi disconnects.  I have set all my Google/Android devices to join the play service beta program so as to get the latest version of Googles software.  This did not help.  Many have updated the Orbi BIOS software, this in general has not helped - per the posts.  You may want to go to the NetGear site and download a very old version of the BIOS software and load that onto the Orbis, as most claim that the problem started a few versions back in the BIOS software. Using an older version of the BIOS was suggested in one of the posts by a NetGear engineer.  In that post he gives instructions on how to carry out this process.  Note that the software for the router and satellites is different and that you should update the router first.  Talking to the NeatGear techs doesn't seem to be of much help as NetGear doesn't appear to be taking responsibility for the problem.  I have been in IT (Ph.D.) for over 30 years and have been on the Internet from almost day one.  The current stability of the Orbi is inferior to what I was getting from 300 baud modems when I was using them three decades ago.   

Some report that connections to the router are more stable than connections through a satellite.  Others are showing graphs documenting high packet loss, which might cause the problem seen. (I'm not suggesting this is an ISP issue).  Blaming the disconnect problem on other equipment, as stated in many blogs, such a phone or ChromeCast devices, in my opinion, is bogus.

 

My advice is to return the Orbi's for a refund, if you can, or sell them on eBay.   Go out and buy a nice Asus wifi router or similar brand name for a $100+ and be done with it.  I have purchased Eero (you location is not big enough to warrant this approach) and will soon swap out  the Orbi (I have 4 of them) and I will be junking them.  Like I said, laugh it off and move on.

You could also buy a cheap router and mothball the Orbis for 6 months or so and see if NetGear has fixed the problem at that time.  But this might not work as,I believe, there is a high probability that NetGear will introduce a "New and Improved Orbi" that will fix the problem (in hardware) so there will be no backward compatable fix.

 

Good luck on finding a satisfactory solution to your problem.  Who knows, one of the many "fixes" mentioned in the comments may work for you.

Message 2 of 4
praskcr
Aspirant

Re: RBR50 Wifi frequest disconnections

I'm wondering if anyone from Netgear has seen this post? What concerns me is that I pay a few hundred dollars for this product only to be told that we have to pay for premium support? Surely this is the responsibility of the Netgear team right? I've seen lots of other users having the sort of problem with their Wifi disconnecting every few minutes. Has anyone found a solution yet? Netgear, are you there? Can you please respond? This is so frustrating especially since I work from home quite a bit. 

Message 3 of 4
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: RBR50 Wifi frequest disconnections

For a small area and building, You may only need the Orbi router running. Are you using the satellite with the router? Lets turn it off for a whlie and see if we can get the Router portion running better. 

 

What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem? 

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

 

What channels are you using on the router? Try manual channel 1, 6 or 11.

Set security to WPA2 and AES only. 

If you don't have any older legacy devices you can disable 20/40Mhz Coexistence. 

Disable the following features on the router: Beamforming, MIMO, Daisy Chain and Fast Roaming if you see any of these. 

 

Your version of FW was pulled from the support site due to users reporting issues with it so you may have to downgrade FW to v2.0.1.4. 

Give the above suggestions a try first. 

 


@praskcrwrote:

I'm wondering if anyone from Netgear has seen this post? What concerns me is that I pay a few hundred dollars for this product only to be told that we have to pay for premium support? Surely this is the responsibility of the Netgear team right? I've seen lots of other users having the sort of problem with their Wifi disconnecting every few minutes. Has anyone found a solution yet? Netgear, are you there? Can you please respond? This is so frustrating especially since I work from home quite a bit. 


 

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