dropped phone calls on voice over wifi

[LewBob]

My wife and I both have Motorola phones (mine is a G6). I have had the original Orbi for a few years. We moved from Verizon to T-Mobile a few years ago and got these phones. We are in a poor reception area so we use wifi for our calls. I can't remember when it started, but both of us are losing calls and/or have calls fade in and out.

Any ideas on what could be causing it? Anything in the Orbi settings? I tried turning off daisy chain (I have 2 satellites) and fast roaming. Firmware is V2.5.1.8

[plemans]

Try updating to the 2.5.1.32 firmware for the router and satellites. Make sure to update the satellites first. 

What modem/gateway is it connected to? 

[LewBob]

Thanks for the quick response. I upgraded firmware last night. No luck. Sitting at the kitchen island today, with a terrific,  line of sight, connection to the router I made a call. The person on the other end couldn't hear me and he was breaking up. I tried again, same thing. I turned off wifi and made the call again and it worked fine.

We are with Century link with a Zyxel modem.

[plemans]

which zyxel modem? 

And something to check is what api server you're using for the wifi calling. I've had the wrong server set on my phone for the wifi calling and it wouldn't work. 

[LewBob]

I have the C1100Z. I just remembered a change I made to the system this winter. I was not using the second satellite and had the first satellite hardwired in my living room as I had already run a cable there. I didnt; need the second satellite to get great coveerage all over the house.I put in a some POE cameras on my garage and porch, installed a POE switch in the garage to power the cameras and put the 2nd sat. next to the switch. I then ran cable to the switch and from there to the satellite. (That way I didn't have to run cables all the way to the POE recorder). I disconnected the ethernet cable in the living room to clean things up. I just hooked that cable back up in the living room in case that had anything to do with it.

I wondered if the phone was having trouble deciding which of the Orbi units to connect to. That is why I turned off fast roaming when this problem started up. BTW, data over the interent to the phone works fine everywhere in the house.

Today I changed the phone to use T-mobile network as preferred over the wifi.

[LewBob]

How do you choose the server on the phone? 

[plemans]

Its more directed at your provider. I use mint mobile so the settings are different versus buying a phone branded for like att/sprint

[FURRYe38]

Your 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 

You might try option #3 first...

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

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or may not 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).

One User Experience/Configuration:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Most-Stable-Orbi-Configuration/m-p/1941087/highlight/true#M970...

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@LewBob wrote:

I have the C1100Z. I just remembered a change I made to the system this winter. I was not using the second satellite and had the first satellite hardwired in my living room as I had already run a cable there. I didnt; need the second satellite to get great coveerage all over the house.I put in a some POE cameras on my garage and porch, installed a POE switch in the garage to power the cameras and put the 2nd sat. next to the switch. I then ran cable to the switch and from there to the satellite. (That way I didn't have to run cables all the way to the POE recorder). I disconnected the ethernet cable in the living room to clean things up. I just hooked that cable back up in the living room in case that had anything to do with it.

I wondered if the phone was having trouble deciding which of the Orbi units to connect to. That is why I turned off fast roaming when this problem started up. BTW, data over the interent to the phone works fine everywhere in the house.

Today I changed the phone to use T-mobile network as preferred over the wifi.

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[LewBob]

I tried everything suggested, many of which I had already tried.  No luck, so I broke out an old G5 plus and got it running. I made two calls, one to my son in LA, and walked all over the house, went down in the basement and then outside 'til I should have been out of range. I did not have a single glitch, so I just ordered a Samsung G S10e and will see if that works okay. If it does, I will assume the problem is the phones. Thanks for the help. Lew

[FURRYe38]

Sounds like your on to something. Thanks for letting us know.