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Was going to return--but settings fixed intermittent outages

dfgalletta
Aspirant

Was going to return--but settings fixed intermittent outages

I was running with 2.1.4.16 but dropouts were rampant. We could not have a 5-minute conversation on Alexa Echo Show with our grandkids without a 5 second dropout every minute or two. And that was on a good day. Skype from my PC was equally bad. So I downgraded to 2.1.4.10 with the same result. Not good.

 

We have a 2800 sq ft home and our Echo Show sits right at what could be the midpoint between our base Orbi RBR50 and our satellite RBS50. The base unit sits in the family room. The satellite sits in our 2nd floor bedroom right above our kitchen (next to the family room). The Echo show sits in the kitchen.

 

I figured there was a problem with switching between the two stations, and was losing faith in Orbi for our home. I tried many solutions suggested here but nothing seemed to help. We did not use streaming that much until more recently, but every now and then we would click on a link and it seemed like the internet was dead for about 15 seconds.

 

Using the command prompt, I typed ping -t 8.8.8.8 (note: 8.8.8.8 is Google's DNS) to get some quantifiable information. I let it run for about 10 minutes. The result: There was only 89% throughput, as every 15 to 45 seconds, there were some dropped packets. Seems pretty awful.

 

So I called tech support at about 11pm last night to arrange for a warranty repair and the person on the other end made some suggestions that contradicted settings that are all over the place here in the forum. They seemed to have worked. 

 

They told me to do three things:

(1) Unplug my wired backhaul and use only wireless backhaul (because of 2.1.4.10?).

(2) Change from AP mode to ROUTER mode.

(3) set channel numbers for 2.4 and 5 GHz channels.

 

 

I asked about ROUTER mode with my Verizon FiOS Quantum Gateway, because there is no quick way to change to bridge mode. There are two routers operating at the same time. I don't understand why this works.

 

But the result was stupendous: This seemed to work miracles! The guy said to try it for a few hours then call back to be guided through the firmware update back to 2.1.4.16. So after about 90 minutes with zero dropouts after over 3,500 pings, I called back. Strangely, the tech support woman said NOT to update firmware unless I have problems. I asked why not update, and she was a little evasive. She finally said that perhaps 2.1.4.10 was going to work better for me.

 

I'm tempted to restore 2.1.4.16 but I will comply and keep testing this. This morning I tried the PING command again and out of 2274 packets sent, there were zero lost. 100% were received.

 

Does anyone have comments about running in ROUTER mode while my FiOS gateway is also routing? Maybe this can help avoid phone wait for others who are having intermittent problems.

Model: RBK50| Orbi AC3000 High-Performance Tri-Band WiFi System
Message 1 of 6
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Was going to return--but settings fixed intermittent outages

Modem Combo Units:
Couple of options,
1. Configure the modem for transparent bridge 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 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, LAN to LAN and configure AP mode on the Orbi router.

Message 2 of 6
dfgalletta
Aspirant

Re: Was going to return--but settings fixed intermittent outages

Thanks, but why mess with bridge mode or LAN to LAN at all? This seems to be working perfectly. The Netgear support person said not to worry about it. Will I be giving up anything just using it like this? 

 

(1 Gigabit FIOS Gateway)

Message 3 of 6
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Was going to return--but settings fixed intermittent outages

You will be in a double NAT condition. This can effect how some programs and devices connect to the internet:

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/nat.htm

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/networking/fixing_double_nat.htm

 

Up to you though. You have all the information you need.

 

 

Message 4 of 6
dfgalletta
Aspirant

Re: Was going to return--but settings fixed intermittent outages

Thanks. I went through the "fixing double NAT" steps (at least those that are still possible--it is not possible to lower the 5GHz firewall to minimum security) and then had no Internet access at all. I reversed many of the steps and then found that the FiOS Quantum Gateway is already set to Bridge mode. Therefore, all those steps seem unnecessary. I now have Internet access again.

 

I am incredulous that there is bickering and disagreement from just about everyone on these forums. The vendors are not even consistent in what is best. I'm about to give up and just leave this as the NetGear support person said to leave it.

Message 5 of 6
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Was going to return--but settings fixed intermittent outages

Ok, thats the idea of #1. We have no idea what the configuration is of the modem so one reason why we ask what the Mfr and model is so we can find out if you have a modem with a built in router or not. If you do, like you said, FIOS Gateway, this is a Modem/ONT with built in router capabilities. I didn't know how the FIOS was configured until you said that it's currently bridged. If this is the case, you in a single NAT condition and yet, you can leave the Orbi system configured as is and you'll be fine.

 

 

Message 6 of 6
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