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Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

0703kb
Star

RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

I bought RBR50 and RBS50 pack and the later on, purchased an additional RBS50. All working fine. I also have a "fingbox" for managing access to the network. It is wired into a satellite. The problem has been that the fingbox kept dropping off the network - once or twice a day - and would inform me the internet had gone down. Re-plugging the network cable was enough to get the fingbox recognised again. I tried all fixes on the fingbox website, but nothing worked. I then moved the fingbox to the original satellite which came with the pack. This satellite (another RBS50) does not loose connection with the fingbox.

 

So, do I have a faulty satellite or is there a setting I can make to stop it dropping attached fingbox device? It's the additionaly purchased satellite that looses the connection.

 

thanks.

Message 1 of 17
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

Try connecting the box to the RBR..

 

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

 

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. Set Short preamble instead of Long preamble modes. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).

Message 2 of 17
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.


@0703kb wrote:

The problem has been that the fingbox kept dropping off the network - once or twice a day - and would inform me the internet had gone down.


How does the Fingbox notify you that the internet had gone down?  (blink a light? send an email? beep?  You have a "Find App" running on a separate machine that does something?)

Message 3 of 17
0703kb
Star

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

I get a notification to my mobile phone that the fingbox has dropped off line. I think that the company has servers which monitor for the device and then notify me when it is not seen. In effect, it is telling me my Wifi network has gone down. But In this case it actually means that the fingbox is no longer connected to Orbi satellite. It ceases to be listed as a connected device even though the fingbox is connected directly by an Ethernet cable into the satellite. It works fine when plugged into the one satellite, but gets dropped a couple of times a day when plugged into the other satellite. I can’t see any specific configuration settings that could be made for satellites in the admin pages. Both satellites are running the same firmware. So the satellites behave differently.
Message 4 of 17
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.


@0703kb wrote:
I get a notification to my mobile phone that the fingbox has dropped off line. I think that the company has servers which monitor for the device and then notify me when it is not seen. In effect, it is telling me my Wifi network has gone down. But In this case it actually means that the fingbox is no longer connected to Orbi satellite. It ceases to be listed as a connected device even though the fingbox is connected directly by an Ethernet cable into the satellite. It works fine when plugged into the one satellite, but gets dropped a couple of times a day when plugged into the other satellite. I can’t see any specific configuration settings that could be made for satellites in the admin pages. Both satellites are running the same firmware. So the satellites behave differently.

Thanks for the explanation.  For sure, there are no "settings" on a per-satellite basis.  I am at a loss to explain this situation.

I was unable to find any mention on their website of Fingbox monitoring customer servers.  Would it be convenient to take a screen shot of one of these messages that appear in the Fingbox "app"?

 

There is a definite explanation for a WiFi device "dropping off" the Attached Devices display.  My Nest thermostat does that when the app is not open.  It only sends/receives data packets when talking to the app, so it goes totally quiet when the app is closed for a while.  I was able to reproduce the effect by bringing up Attached Devices (no Nest).  Open the app and Nest appears.  Close the app and in about five minutes Nest disappears again.  This probably does not apply in your situation since the Fingbox app is probably running in the background 24/7 on the mobile phone.

 

The same ethernet cable is being used with both satellites?

You have tried more than one ethernet jack on the offending satellite?

 

Are both satellites connected independently to the router, or does one satellite "Daisy Chain" off the other?

 

Message 5 of 17
0703kb
Star

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

Thanks for the information.


if we say the RBS50 on which it drops off is "A" and the RBS50 on which it always works is "B", then I did the following:

 

I first had fingbox running on "A" and it drops off one or twice a day. So I moved fingbox to "B" and it did not drop once over a few days. I used the same network cable. So I then switched the satellites around, and placed "A" in the room of B and placed "B" in the room of "A" to fully replicate the scenario where the fingbox was back in the room where it did not work, but now connected to the satellite on which it had worked. (Hope this still makes sense!). It continues to work without any drops. So I concluded that the room / range from the router was not the issue, but instead must be the actual satellite device. I have not tried yet plugging it back into "A" whilst A is still in the room that "B" was in to see if it still drops the fingbox. I expect it will but will try to be sure. 

 

So I have a workaround now in that I have fingbox plugged in where I wanted it by swapping the satellites around. But i would like to understand if I could get Sat "A" to work properly in case I need to plug any other devices into it in future.

 

i did also change the network cable on fingbox before doing these experiments as fingbox suggested that could be the reason a network stops seeing it. Satellite "A" dropped the fingbox on the old and new cable. Sat "B" worked with both.

 

I will also research a bit more how Fing notifies. I will get the notification when I am out of the house if fingbox fails to see the internet. Hence why I thought it was a notification coming direct from the company themselves. In fact, thinking about it, our internet properly failed last week (global outage in UK) and Fing notified my mobile with a message saying:

 

Resolved: Major outage

Outage of Virgin Media resolved after 15 mi

 

This was the first time I got a message like this. It made me realise they are fully reviewing all internet providers where their fingbox devices are installed. 

So I assumed that the notification came direct from fingbox servers to the app on the phone as this was very specific info to UK issue at a specific point in time. But I am guessing on this part and so will research it more to be sure. 



 

Message 6 of 17
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

The diagnostic steps are precisely what I would have done.  It makes no sense at all.

Since the remaining concern is "what if?", do you have some random ethernet device that can be connected to the "bad satellite" for the Fingbox to monitor?  I have an old laptop that I drag out from time to time.

 

And, you did try different ethernet jacks on the bad satellite?

Message 7 of 17
theoak
Luminary

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

Did you try a different port on the impacted Satellite?

Message 8 of 17
0703kb
Star

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

Hi,

Yes, each time it dropped out, I would unplug and re-plug the Ethernet cable. And so I started re-plugging in different sockets to check that one wasn’t faulty. So unfortunately, it’s not that.

To my (fairly simple) knowledge, it must be a software error as it works for an amount of time (could be 12 hours or more) before failing - which sort of rules out a hardware problem. But both satellites are running on same firmware. Which then suggests it is a difference in hardware. I’m fully confuse.
Message 9 of 17
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

Would be more like a hardware issue rather then a HW issue. If other RBS are working and the one isn't, then the one RBS is probably faulty. 

Message 10 of 17
tomschmidt
Virtuoso

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

@0703kb, You do not state if your RBR50 and RBS50 nodes are hardware v1 (with a USB port) or v2 (without a USB port).  Is your second satellite the same hardware version as the first?  Mixing the two versions should work, but maybe you found a case where it does not.  Either way, as @FURRYe38 mentioned your second satellite is probably defective due to how it is misbehaving, so you should contact Netgear for an RMA.

Model: RBK53|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi System
Message 11 of 17
0703kb
Star

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

I've just checked and the purchased satellite is identical to the original (working) satellite. It is the RBS50 with a single USB 2.0 socket as well as the 4 network sockets. I checked Netgear site and I still have a few months of hardware support left on this, so will try to get it swapped.

 

Thanks everyone for all of the interest and ideas and support.

Really appreciate it.

Message 12 of 17
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

Let us know how it goes. 


@0703kb wrote:

I've just checked and the purchased satellite is identical to the original (working) satellite. It is the RBS50 with a single USB 2.0 socket as well as the 4 network sockets. I checked Netgear site and I still have a few months of hardware support left on this, so will try to get it swapped.

 

Thanks everyone for all of the interest and ideas and support.

Really appreciate it.


 

Message 13 of 17
0703kb
Star

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

An update to my issue, and also hoping for some more advise from you experts out there.

 

i raised a case with Netgear. The quickly cam back to me and confirmed the hardware was under warranty. However, they informed my 90 day free technical support has run out and therefore they would like me to pay £90 for 12 months Gearhead support.

 

i kindly declined the offer and asked them to support my hardware issue. This was the last I heard from them and now it is over a week with no reply. I've updated the case in the meantime as it will automatically close after a week.

 

I'm a bit confused. Do I need to pay to get support when my device is still in hardware warranty?

This seems wrong. Anybody else had this issue and what is the right way to resolve it?

 

Any comments gratefuly received.

 

Message 14 of 17
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

I recommend you contact the following:

@Christian_R 

@ChristineT 

Message 15 of 17
Blanca_O
NETGEAR Moderator

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

Hi @0703kb

 

According to our records, your case is currently being attended to by the support team. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.

 

Regards,
Blanca
Community Team

Message 16 of 17
0703kb
Star

Re: RBS50 satellite keeps dropping a wired device (Fingbox) but other RBS50 satellite does not.

Hi Blanca,

 

Yes, I can confirm the Support Team now agreed to look at the case. It's on-going, and I'll give an update on the forum as to the solution when it's reached a resolution.

 

Thanks.

Message 17 of 17
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