RBW30 Poor Backhaul

[Nova17]

I'm throwing up the white flag here! To summarize, no matter what I've tried, I'm getting an amber "weak" signal from my two RBW30's. I'm getting very fast speeds at the router location itself on multiple devices.

My setup:

FIOS ISP - 1Gb plan

• RBR40 router
  • V2.6.1.36
• Two RBW30 satellites
  • V2.6.1.6

I've been testing on iPhone 12 Pro, MacBook Air, new PC, and my Samsung TV.

I live in a raised ranch. Router is located on lower level. One satellite is located about 10ft above the router on 2nd floor. Second sattelite is about ~30ft in hallway on 2nd floor.

I tried renaming my 5.0 network SSID and reduced the 2.4 network signal power down to 50%. No difference.

I would greatly appreciate any help!

[Nova17 · Accepted solution]

After a factory reset and rolling back the firmware, it seems to have done the trick!

RBR40 router firmware is now V2.5.1.22

Both RBW30 satellites are now V2.5.0.4

All the signals and speeds seem to be working perfectly for the last couple of hours.

[CrimpOn]

The "good thing" about the RBW30 satellite is that it is designed to plug directly into an electrical outlet (no cord).

The "bad thing" about the RBW30 is that electrical outlets are often close to the floor and surrounded by furniture and other material which can block WiFi signals.

Since it is SO portable, how about moving it around to try different locations. Start with the same room as the router.  (If it doesn't get a good connection in the same room, something is horribly wrong.)

With Daisy Chain disabled, both satellites are connecting directly to the router.  Depending on the direction that floor joists run in this building, there could be a lot of wood in the direct path between the farther away satellite and the router.

Changing the SSID and reducing transmit power have no impact on backhaul.

[Nova17]

Thank you for the reply CrimpOn! 

I moved both satellites into the same room. After the reboot they showed as weak for about 30 seconds but then changed to "Good" backhaul status. However, the wifi speeds were still nowhere near as other tests done in the last 24 hours. I'm seeing a download speed range of 100Mbps-650Mbps. It does not seem consistant, regardless of the satellite positions.

I raised the router up 2-3 feet. It must be 5-10 feet from the satellite right above it on the upper floor. There is one hardwood floor between them but I'm shocked that the signal could be "Weak" between just 1 floor and only 5-10ft distance.

I moved the satellites back to their original locactions but am still experiencing instability and weak signal. I am considering doing a factory reset tonight.

[CrimpOn]

Is it possible to try different locations that are not "right above" the router, perhaps a bit offset horizontally?  There could be something hidden in the ceiling that  is blocking the signal (air conditioning duct, plumbing pipes).

Generally, having a satellite very close to another Orbi unit (router or satellite) means that their WiFi signals will overlap and compete.

Most people would consider 10-15' actual distance to be "too close".

[Nova17]

Interesting turn of events. I moved the two satellites around both down and upstairs. I also repeated the experiment with putting both satellites in the same room. They seemed to flip between amber and green in the Orbi app and Good/Poor on the router page. I tried to factory reset both satellites twice...which seems to have done nothing. I pressed the reset pin in for at least 10 seconds and the LED flashed orange for a moment then went right back to the flashing white light, as if trying to resync with the router.

I'm tempted to do a full factory reset on the router but I'm confused as to why the satellites will not actually hard reset.

My gut tells me it's the satellites because I turned the satellites off and the router signal was actually pretty good for 2/3 of the house, no issues. The satellites just do not seem to be communicating or functioning correctly.

[Nova17 · Accepted solution]

After a factory reset and rolling back the firmware, it seems to have done the trick!

RBR40 router firmware is now V2.5.1.22

Both RBW30 satellites are now V2.5.0.4

All the signals and speeds seem to be working perfectly for the last couple of hours.