iPad Pro wifi dropping out on Orbi

[berwickgeek]

I have an Orbi with the Satellite amazon echo. Over the past 6 months or so we've noticed a common behaviour with the iPads and sometimes iPhones in the house.

It's a standard 4 bedroom home, single story. The satellite is roughly 10 meters from the base. Generally between 25 and 35 devices connected at any point in time.

The behaviour is as follows:

* iPad connectivity is good, operating normally

* put the iPad down and come back to it after an hour or so

* The iPad shows a full connection to the wifi however when doing anything requiring internet, there's no internet

* Turn off wifi on the iPad, wait a few seconds, turn on wifi

* The iPad connects to the same network again, but this time working

I've updated to the latest firmware for both the base and satellite. Currently:

Base RBR50 - 2.5.2.4

Satellite RBS40V - 2.6.1.4

Any suggestions?

[berwickgeek]

Replying to my own message...

I've seen other similar posts and the resolution appears to be related to advanced wifi settings and turning on/off beamforming and changing the preamble mode to long.

I have tried the above and variations on the above, but still no change in behaviour.

[tucsontico]

What version of Apple iOS are you running on your iPads and iPhones? The latest version of iOS (14.1) has some quirks regarding WiFi connectivity. Be certain you've selected the proper configutation in iOS for your ORBI WiFi. 

Another ORBI "Advanced" setting to try is to turn off "Enable Fast Roaming". That worked in my scenario. Good Luck!

[berwickgeek]

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@tucsontico wrote:

Be certain you've selected the proper configutation in iOS for your ORBI WiFi. 

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Can you elaborate on what I would do in iOS for this, please?

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@tucsontico wrote:

Another ORBI "Advanced" setting to try is to turn off "Enable Fast Roaming". That worked in my scenario. Good Luck!

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Enable fast roaming has been off as long as I can remember.

Thanks for your suggestions.

[FURRYe38]

One User Experience/Configuration:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Most-Stable-Orbi-Configuration/m-p/1941087/highlight/true#M970...
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/Community-FAQ-My-Orbi-speeds-are-slow-inconsistent-and-don-...

[berwickgeek]

Thanks - I've going through these settings and will see how it goes.

[FURRYe38]

[Art3000]

Were you ever able to resolve this issue?  I have had the exact same problem with an iPad Pro (while the iPad Airs, iPhones, computers, etc. don't see to have an issue).

[FURRYe38]

What iOS is loaded on the iPad? Newer iOS seems to be giving some users problems...

What model Orbi system do you have? 

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@Art3000 wrote:

Were you ever able to resolve this issue?  I have had the exact same problem with an iPad Pro (while the iPad Airs, iPhones, computers, etc. don't see to have an issue).

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[Art3000]

RBR50 with one RBS50 satellite.  Firmware v2.3.5.30.

Original iPad Pro.  Running 14.3.

This is a long standing issue which has presisted through multiple firmware updates and iOS updates.  After giving up on fixing it (I can toggle the WiFi to reset the connection), I decided to take another stab.  

Note, like the original post, the WiFi only breaks when the iPad is asleep for some period of time.  It only happens on the original iPad Pro.  A newer iPad pro, multiple iPad Airs, and various iPhones do not show the issue.

Any tips you have are appreciated.  Recently, I have turned off fast roaming, beamforming, and the private MAC address (on the iPad) - all items identified as possible tweaks to address similiar issues.

[FURRYe38]

Sounds like sleep on the Ipad and coming back awake is not be handled correctly. Something that Apple needs to look at. I presume NG could however NG can only do so much and if other devices are working ok and these particular models don't with the iOS version thats loaded, it would be on part of the iOS and handling of it's sleep mode and connections being re-established upon waking that needs to be looked into. This would be Apples side of the fence here...

You are using an older version of FW. You can try upgrading FW to see if that might help, if not you can revert back to v30. Try v16  or v4 first. If you do, update the RBS first then RBR lastly. If your in the USA region, you can try v2.7 versions as well. 

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@Art3000 wrote:

RBR50 with one RBS50 satellite.  Firmware v2.3.5.30.

Original iPad Pro.  Running 14.3.

This is a long standing issue which has presisted through multiple firmware updates and iOS updates.  After giving up on fixing it (I can toggle the WiFi to reset the connection), I decided to take another stab.  

Note, like the original post, the WiFi only breaks when the iPad is asleep for some period of time.  It only happens on the original iPad Pro.  A newer iPad pro, multiple iPad Airs, and various iPhones do not show the issue.

Any tips you have are appreciated.  Recently, I have turned off fast roaming, beamforming, and the private MAC address (on the iPad) - all items identified as possible tweaks to address similiar issues.

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[Art3000]

I tried the update.  It did not help, unfortunately.  

I agree that there is something specific about the iPad Pro.  That said, it did not have the issue until I got the Orbi.  So, there is some interaction with Netgear that never existed when I was using an Asus router (or the various routers it has encountered outside my house). 

  Thanks for your help.  If you have any other Orbi side suggestions, I am all ears.  

Art

[alokeprasad]

FWIW, I'm using iPad Pro 12.9" 2nd generation (June 2017) iOS ver 14.3 using the Orbi system (in my sig below).

In the iPad's WiFi settings (the circled i next to the SSID), I have Private Address and Auto Join enabled.  The Orbi settings are in attached screengrabs.

Try resetting all network settings on the iPad (General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings) and see if that helps.

[alokeprasad]

Another screen grab

[FURRYe38]

You might try fiddling with MIMO, fast roaming and beamforming on the RBR. Turn OFF RBS while your try these out. 

[Art3000]

Thanks.  I tried all those and no luck.  Not sure how much effort to put into this.  It is pretty easy to toggle the WiFi, even though it is a nuisance that it is required.  

[FURRYe38]

"Try resetting all network settings on the iPad (General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings) and see if that helps."

I'd make contact with Apple support...

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@Art3000 wrote:

Thanks.  I tried all those and no luck.  Not sure how much effort to put into this.  It is pretty easy to toggle the WiFi, even though it is a nuisance that it is required.  

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