Re: Satellite's show 'waiting for connection' always in Firmware Update (V2.5.1.16)

jessaskey · ‎2020-07-24

Hi... I have an RBR50 Router and two RBS50 Satellites.... My router and satelittes were on V2.5.1.8 but I was not getting any connectivity to the Satellites on the Firmware Update page... they both just said 'waiting for connection'. If I logged into each Satellite individually, they were showing as connected to the router, and on the router under Attached Devices, both Satellites were listed with a wired backhaul (correct). But with all of this, I still am never able to get the firmware update to show any sort of connectivity to the satellites... always 'waiting for connection'. This bothers me because I am always seeming to have dropped WiFi connections and I feel that my RBR was spontaneously rebooting. I had Access Control turned ON, but I just turned it off to lighten the load on the RBR. Since firmware version V2.5.1.16 is now listed, I manually updated each satellite to V2.5.1.16 via .img file, then after they were complete, updated the RBR to V2.5.1.16 to match. Satellites are showing connected and wired backhaul again, but under firmware, still 'waiting for connection'. Why is this? I feel this centralized Firmware Update has never worked reliably on my Orbi's (Owned for over 3 years now)... any suggestions besides unpairing and resyncing my Satellites to the RBR (I have done this, and it is really quite annoying to pull them from their current location and bring them back within 10 feet of the RBR to have them re-sync, plus they are incredibly slow at that process.

Feeling frustrated by my constantly dropping WiFi. Thank you for any suggestions.

J.A.

jessaskey · ‎2020-07-25

Okay, I have solved this issue...

I gave up on trying to put satellites into a Ethernet wired location that defines a perimeter of my house... Router in the middle of the house on main floor networking closet, Satellite #1 in the middle of the basement in the networking closet, and Satellite #2 in the far garage (with Ethernet). The issue here was that while they were great Ethernet wired locations, they were horrible for Wireless Backhaul communcation between the RBR50 and the two RBS50's. Im concluding that Ethernet) is not a substitute for this as the Orbi devices *need* to have wireless communication at all times, even if they are using Ethernet Backhaul.

The new locations are 'closer in' to the RBR... basement location is in the room directly below the RBR location on the main floor and the second satellite is now in the Laundry room right before the garages start, so it is in the main house floorplan with obstacles, but no exterior walls to go through)

With this topology, Im obviously on Wireless backhaul and not Ethernet backhaul, but at least the satellites are showing as connected.

REMEMBER: Just because a satellite is listed in Connected Devices and in the Satellite section, it does *NOT* necessarily mean it is synced with the router and sucessfully backhaul communicating... I had both Wired and Wireless icons showing in that section and my satellites did not appear to be doing anything. The only reliable way I have determined to tell that the Satellites are actually connection to the RBR50 and functioning to route wifi traffic between them and the RBR is via two ways..

1. Firmware Update Page.... if it says 'Waiting for connection' they are NOT connected to the RBR.

2. Orbi App - Will show the Satellites as Red or Green dots by their icons with the actuall RBR connectivity status.

I am going to try and get a couple RBW30s or RBS20's to put into the locations where I current have my RBS50's to see if I can move the RBS50's back into a nice Ethernet connected location but use the smaller satellites to hop communication from the distant RBS50's back to the RBR50. So, another $200 getting thrown at this problem, but hopefully that should make things much more reliable.

In closing, this has been frustrating, but alas, it is important to understand the topology. The Netgear interfaces certainly are not all that clear in communicating the full status of all the Orbi devices because there seems to be somewhat conflicting info depending on where you look, this was really the crux of my confusion. I hope that Netgear can continue to get the UI more polished and the Orbi App is actually fairly nice.. so I appreciate it.

View solution in original post

FURRYe38 · ‎2020-07-24

What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?

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

jessaskey · ‎2020-07-24

No, haven't factory reset the satellites or the router. Interestingly, since I have two satellites, I have found that one is working fine and the other is being stubborn... so I have some troubleshooting tools via A/B satellites.

For the garage satellite, this process worked...

Moved into house by router, not plugged into LAN
Performed Sync (got Blue on Satellite)
Let sit for 15 mins, verifed on Firmware Update that the Router can see the Satellite, also reporting Wireless connection in Connected Devices.
Unplugged Satellite and moved back to garage.
Plugged in LAN and powered on Satellite
After 10 mins, it showed connected in Firmware Update (not 'waiting for connection') and also Wired Backhaul.
Using the Orbi App confirmed that the Satellite was wired (solid line instead of dashed) and Green status.

Now, for the basement version... I did the exact same process. but on Step 6, I sit with the 'waiting for connection' and 'Red Icon' in Orbi app showing the Satellite offline.. I also only have 1 satellite showing on the Orbi app home screen.

Im going to factory reset the basement satellite and see if I can get it to sync up. Oddly, I get the 'Blue' lite on the basement Satellite but it never comes 'online'... my phone can connect to it (the wifi on the basement) but no internet is found.

My ISP in Centurylink (which is awesome dsl here) and I have the Zyxel C3000Z router, but it just is a DMZ to my Orbi which is in Router Mode and the Wan Port of the Orbi is going to my Zyxel and is the only thing connected on the DMZ. The Orbi is by all intents my internal router currently.. the DSL router LAN is obviously on a different subnet (10.) vs my internal Orbi network which is (192.168)

jessaskey · ‎2020-07-24

Firstly... Furrye38... thank you for chiming in and I appreciate any suggestions you might have as well!!!

Secondly.. my posts are starting to dissapear in this thread... is someone trimming them at Netgear?

Back on topic...

Okay, I factory reset the RBS50 in the basement and went through the same 7 steps that worked for the Garage RBS50 Satellite.

Same deal, got to Step 6, shows blue but never actually comes online (Firmware page shows 'waiting for connection' and Orbi app shows the satellite as Red/Offline).

Other interesting note: About 5 minutes after plugging in on Step 5... my main RBR50 Router apparently 'locks up' because all Wifi is lost in the house. Something on that Basement RBS50 is so whacked, that it is making my RBR50 very angry. Looking at the RBR logs, I see nothing about a reboot, so it isn't crashing per se, but the negotiation with the RBS50 is certainly causing issues back onthe RBR50.

Some theories..

1. The RBS50 *must* require Wireless Access to the RBR50 at all times even if it is wired to LAN for backhaul?

2. I feel like the power cycle of the RBS50 when I move it down to the basement (which is directly below the RBS50 on the floor above, with wood framing) is really upsetting these two devices.

3. Syncing of the RBS50 while it is in the basement, will get a BLUE light after about 10 minutes, but it will never come 'online' with the RBS50... why? Because of #1 above? I don't actually think the Garage RBS50 can communicate wirelessly to the RBR50, but it seems to work fine.

4. I feel like my basement RBS50 may have issues... it has never behaved well since I bought it.

5. A lighthearted joke: If anyone at Netgear actually will take the time to support me and investigate, Im more than happy to dig through logs and check things out via telnet/SSH etc. But, I have a succinct feeling this isnt going to happen which is sad... try me!

Direct Question: Does the RBS50 require wireless connectivity to the RBR50 or can it communicate, sync and backhaul 100% over the LAN?

Im out of ideas.... perhaps some Office Space treatment for this RBS50 to save my sanity.

FURRYe38 · ‎2020-07-25

A factory reset maybe needed on the RBR as well.

What happens if you bring the RBS near the RBR or in the same room as the RBR and sync them there first.

I recommend setting a IP address reservation on the RBR for each RBS when they connect.

jessaskey · ‎2020-07-25

Both RBS50's seem to work fine when they are in the same room on Wireless communication with the RBR50. It's when I go to LAN backhaul that everything falls apart and the RBR50 and Orbi app shows the RBS's as offline.

Is the MAC address on the RBS50 the same via Wireless AND LAN (port 1?).... Im not sure what you are attempting to suggest with the IP reservation... my DHCP server hands out the same LAN IP Address to the RBS50's after a reboot... so they are essentially 'reserved'... but the RBS50's certainly show two different IP addresses between WiFi and LAN... however, they are the same after a power cycle and move to their respective locations. In summary, my DHCP will give both the WiFi and LAN RBS50 interfaces, the same IP address (via reservation) after a power cycle.

Im hesitant to go through the process of a factory reset on the RBR firstly because of the pains, and secondly, because of the other recent thread (started the same day) by another person who did go through the same factor RESET on the RBR and is having a very similar issue to me. We are both on the 2.5.1.16 firmware (not that I think it is a firmware issue, I was having the same issue on previous firmware versions as well, for years).

I suspect I need to understand the topology requirements for the Wireless communication between the RBR50 and RBS50, because Im assuming that the LAN backhaul connection can completely replace that functionality? I may be wrong, not clear.

jessaskey · ‎2020-07-25