RBS20 Satellite Showing Poor Connection Since Netgear Armor Activated

[JWhite04]

Recently I've noticed poor performance from our RBS20 Satellite. This is not something I've experienced in the year and a half of owning the system.

I've tried to remove and re-add the Satellite - no change.

I then realized that I recently Activated Netgear Armor. I saw a post suggesting to turn it off so I disabled the service and rebooted the system and the Satellite still shows a Poor signal.

What would be the best next steps? I'd rather not reset the whole system.

[FURRYe38]

What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet or more is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.

Have your powered OFF the RBR and RBS for 30 seconds then back on after Armor was disabled? 

A reset maybe needed and then don't enable Armor. 

[JWhite04]

Thank you for the response.  Apologies for the brevity of the first message, but I was typing on my phone and we all know how much fun that is.

I would estimate the distance is approximately 45ft to 50ft from Router to Satellite.

I did not unplug the entire system after disabling the Netgear Armor.  I'll do that after we wrap up work today.  I had only performed a restart of the system in the app.

Some additional details you may find useful.

We have AT&T Fiber (300Mbps) internet and their standard BGW210-700 modem which has not had any issues to date.

The construction of the home is long and narrow single story and provides a fairly open pathway from Router (at one end of the house) to Satellite (at the opposite end of the home.)  The plan is to install a 2nd satellite in a separate studio we have at the far end of the house another 50ish feet from the 1st satellite.

I hope this helps provide additional color regarding the issue.

[FURRYe38]

Your ISP modem already has a built in router and wifi. This would be a double NAT (two router) condition which isn't recommended. https://kb.netgear.com/30186/What-is-Double-NAT
https://kb.netgear.com/30187/How-to-fix-issues-with-Double-NAT
Couple of options,
1. Configure the modem for transparent bridge or modem only mode. Then use the Orbi router in router mode. You'll need to contact the ISP for help and information in regards to the modem being bridged correctly.
2. If you can't bridge the modem, disable ALL wifi radios on the modem, configure the modems DMZ/ExposedHost or IP Pass-Through for the IP address the Orbi router gets from the modem. Then you can use the Orbi router in Router mode.
3. Or disable all wifi radios on the modem and connect the Orbi router to the modem, configure AP mode on the Orbi router. https://kb.netgear.com/31218/How-do-I-configure-my-Orbi-router-to-act-as-an-access-point and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7LOcJ8GdDo&app=desktop 

In regards to Armor, seen it where even after disabling Armor, can still cause problems so a reset and setup from scratch with out Armor maybe needed...

[JWhite04]

Sorry, I should have been more clear.  The Orbi routed is connected to the AT&T modem and we are not using Wi-Fi from the AT&T modem.  Wi-Fi is not disabled and hasn't been since the Orbi was installed in September 2019.  It should be noted that there were no issues with connectivity to the satellite until 2020.

Performing a factory reset of the Orbi system is not desireable given the number of components connected, but I may try it.  I would prefer Netgear to have offered a product that works and didn't degrade performance of the components.

[FURRYe38]

Armor can be problematic and cause odd issues. Why I don't use it. My Orbi AC works fine with out it. 

There is a Armor forum specifically meant for help and information for users that use Armor:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/NETGEAR-Armor/bd-p/en-home-armor
https://www.netgear.com/landings/armor
Good Luck.

[JWhite04]

Hello, so I can perform a factory reset, but Armor is tied to my Netgear account so won't it just be recognized when everything is setup again or would I met to create a new Netgear ID?

[FURRYe38]

It will ask you if you want Armor enabled when the setup wizard completes, just so No. 

[JWhite04]

So it showing "Activated - Off" is not sufficient?

Sorry if the questions are dumb. I just don't feel like doing hours worth the work to be back in the same place.

[FURRYe38]

When walking thru the setup wizard when you do a reset on the RBR using a wired PC and web browser, It will ask you if you want Armor enabled when the setup wizard completes, just say No. 

[FURRYe38]

Just select Never Remind Me Again:

[JWhite04]

Understood, but when I sign in with my Netgear account won't it recognize that I've purchased Armor and that its part of my account?

[FURRYe38]

When setting up the RBR using a web browser, the setup wizard will not ask for this. Just walk thru the setup wizard. 

[JWhite04]

What about when I setup the app on the phone?

[JWhite04]

Performed a full reset of the system this morning, set everything back up, and Armor reactivated itself without any action from me.

The Satellite still shows Orange in the Orbi and the Backhaul Status on the website still shows Poor

[JWhite04]

Also worth noting that I once again turned off the Armor service, but the results are still the same.

[JWhite04]

And just to be thorough I performed a second factory reset, but this time I setup the system through the web interface instead of the Orbi app.

This time the Armor shows that it is subscribed, but did not turn back on automatically.

The Backhaul Connection still shows as Poor.