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Orbi 970 startup issues with 4 or 5 satellites
We purchased an Orbi 970 with 3 satellite and added 4 all connected through a netgear 10g ethernet switch. We noticed some issues on boot up where they may boot up as wireless, or stuck in config sync or not found, and every once in awhile out of sync We added 5 as wireless and it got really bad where maybe only 1 out of 20 reboot would all come up as good. We have done the reset and resync etc etc. We have also notice the list of connected devices on the remote login or app is not accurate and question even if the boot up state information on the app is accurate or not because a satellite will be blue but it will say not found? Any ideas? Is there a setting or a why we need to change the balance between wired and wireless that would make this boot up every time? Any way to get accurate data in the app and remote login?RBE 970 Magenta Light
Running 970/971, latest firmware. Arris S34 cable modem. Purchased unit new last May, no issues until now. Sudden loss of internet with a solid magenta light. Checked modem, ISP, etc., to no avail. Performed factory reset a few times but could not ever get unit to pick up internet. Fails the “Checking for Ethernet and connection type” step every time. Swapped in a test 970 and everything works perfectly, so I don’t think it’s modem issue. What else can I try?MLO Backhaul (Daisy/Star topography)- Wifi7 - Orbi 970/870/770/330
With your Wifi 7 range of Mesh Wifi Systems, in a set-up with more than 1 satellite , will MLO Backhaul work with those Satellites NOT directly connected to the Router? i.e for those satellites in a Daisy chain wifi set up topography.Device flipping to celllular/disconnecting when on WiFi? Read this for possible solution!
Technical Analysis and Repeatable Evidence of DHCP/Routing Bug in Netgear Orbi 971 (Router Mode) Summary of Issue In environments using the Orbi 971 system in router mode, certain iOS/iPadOS devices (tested: iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPad Pro 2024) sporadically exhibit a failure state in which the device: Remains physically connected to the Orbi Wi‑Fi network (SSID displays as connected), Maintains a strong Wi‑Fi signal with excellent throughput (700–1200 Mbps), Yet silently fails over to the cellular interface (e.g., 5G), with no data traversing the Wi‑Fi path. Others on the Netgear forums over the past months have posted similar failures, using both Apple and Android devices. My analysis and solution may be correct for other non-Apple devices and other Orbi routers. This failure is not associated with actual signal loss and does not trigger any user notification other than the UI-level switch from Wi‑Fi bars to a 5G indicator. It self-recovers after 1–2 minutes. No other devices on my network (macOS, smart TVs, Windows laptops) display similar behavior. Summary of Solution For any device exhibiting drops/flips to cellular when on a good WiFi signal, change IPv4 address to a manual address, outside the router’s DHCP range. Also, change DNS address to a manual entry – it can either be your router (192.168.1.1 usually) or a 3 rd party DNS server of your choice. Finally, you must disable IPv6 on the 970 router – Advanced tab, expand the Advanced section in the sidebar, choose IPv6 and disable. To learn more as to what the problem may be, read on. My Environment Netgear Orbi 971 (Wi-Fi 7), latest stable firmware (9.13.1.2) as of July 2025. Router mode (default DHCP and NAT). IPv6 disabled at the router level. iPhone and iPad running latest iOS/iPadOS 18.5. Orbi system is sole DHCP and DNS provider on LAN. WAN is Comcast/Xfinity (stable, no packet loss during tests, 2100/300 dl/ul plan). Orbi clients tested within 15 feet of router or satellite in clear line-of-sight — eliminating signal strength as a factor. Problem Behavior When in default DHCP configuration (automatic IP and DNS): iOS devices periodically experience a silent failover to cellular (5G). Devices retain visible SSID connection. Internet connectivity is routed over cellular until the issue self-resolves. The issue is sporadic, occurring 1–5 times per week for me (others have seen higher failure rates) under default conditions. Disruptions have been reported on non-iOS devices on the Netgear forums. I wrote and tested an Apple Shortcuts automation that will trigger when the Apple device it is running on does a Wi‑Fi disconnect. It does not fire, confirming that SSID association is intact. Testing Methodology and Key Finding I conducted controlled testing to isolate the failure cause. After numerous incidents in DHCP mode, I applied the following configuration to both iPhone and iPad: Manually assigned IPv4 address within the LAN’s valid range (outside the DHCP pool to avoid collision). Manually assigned IPv4 DNS server set to 192.168.1.1 (Orbi’s own LAN IP). IPv6 explicitly disabled at the router. This configuration has now been running for over 5 consecutive days as of the date of this posting, with no recurrence of the issue. Devices have remained on Wi‑Fi, and no visible or functional failovers to cellular occurred. Why Disabling IPv6 Was Critical On iOS and iPadOS, users cannot manually configure IPv6 addresses or DNS servers via the system interface. As a result, if IPv6 remains enabled on the network: iOS will continue to obtain IPv6 connectivity using SLAAC or DHCPv6 (often via Router Advertisements from the Orbi), Even if IPv4 is statically assigned, IPv6 may still be selected for outbound traffic when iOS considers it preferred (which is often), This reintroduces reliance on the Orbi’s IPv6 DHCP or routing stack, which in prior testing exhibited instability and routing failures, often leading to connectivity loss or fallback to cellular. Thus, disabling IPv6 at the router level is a necessary precondition to ensure the device fully relies on the statically configured IPv4 path — eliminating Orbi-managed DHCP lease/route state from the equation entirely. Theory: Root Cause Analysis I propose the following sequence of events under default DHCP operation: iOS frequently initiates DHCP lease renewal or INFORM messages more aggressively than other OSes (due to roaming, sleep/wake cycles, and Apple’s proactive network health checks). The Orbi 971’s DHCP server intermittently fails to respond promptly (or at all) to these renewal or rebind requests. During this silent DHCP stall, the iOS device: Still has a valid SSID association and a cached IP, But considers the Wi‑Fi interface non-functional due to: Missing or expired lease, Failure to renew default gateway, Unsuccessful DNS resolution, Or failure to receive HTTP 204 from captive.apple.com. iOS silently switches to cellular, even with Wi‑Fi Assist disabled (which I did a long time ago), because it considers the Wi‑Fi path “connected but unusable.” Eventually, the Orbi responds again, routing is restored, and iOS resumes Wi‑Fi traffic — all without disconnecting or notifying the user. Supporting Factors No failure symptoms observed under static IPv4 + DNS configuration with IPv6 disabled. Monitoring showed no WAN outage or SSID drop during incident periods. When using dynamic DHCP/DNS, the issue persists in high signal-strength environments, ruling out RF-related causes. IPv6 had previously been associated with similar instabilities and was disabled early in the test cycle. Recommendations to Netgear Engineering I recommend the following areas be prioritized for investigation: DHCP Server Responsiveness Analyze handling of frequent DHCP RENEW/INFORM messages from Apple devices. Investigate whether ACK or lease confirmations are being dropped or delayed. Internal Lease Table Integrity Confirm whether memory or timing issues affect DHCP state or ARP caching. Routing Table Consistency Validate propagation of default routes across mesh nodes, especially post-roaming or post-sleep. IPv6 Handling (if re-enabled) Evaluate Router Advertisement stability and DHCPv6 consistency. Provide user-accessible controls for IPv6 lease time and DNS relay. Debug Logging Tools Enable deeper client-specific DHCP logging in future firmware versions to support field diagnosis. Conclusion The silent failover of iOS devices to cellular, despite strong Wi‑Fi signal, appears to be rooted in intermittent failures of DHCP IPv4/IPv6 or routing state management by the Orbi 971. Disabling IPv6 and bypassing DHCP/DNS with manual configuration eliminated the issue so far — confirming the failure lies not in radio or ISP connection, but in the Orbi’s handling of dynamic IP and DNS lease logic under typical iOS behavior. I welcome the opportunity to collaborate on further testing or provide supplemental logs to support engineering review.320 Mhz Channel width on RBE971
My RBE971 and 2 RBE970 will not broadcast 6ghz in 320 mhz channel width. I have some wifi 7 stuff and mostly wifi 6 or 6e and then some older on 5ghz/2.4 for like streaming/IoT stuff. Regardless I am curious if someone knows about this. My wifi 7 connections do show the MLO like it does on the attached devices part of the router admin panel. with 5ghz + 6 ghz. The advertising as shows the 320 mhz channel width as a feature on the site for the 970. As it should for such an expensive mesh wifi 7 router going for full featured as things like 4kqam and 320mhz are the big deal if you aren't buying the dual channel cheap things. However, anytime I look on something like netspot the 6ghz band is broadcasting in 160 mhz. it doesn't matter if i am right next to it. a few feet away with zero blockage. even longer as a test. Do these orbi units just not broadcast in 320 if you use wifi 6e? That is generally the other way around and client devices are supposed to go for a 160 mhz channel off 6ghz if wifi 6e but 6ghz is 320 but I am having a bit of confusion on this. since I have never measured a 320 channel from any of these units. like some wifi 6e routers can make a 5ghz band go to 160 mhz but im assuming the 970 doesn't as mine are all 80 and there is no actual option to do so in the settings in admin. But something has got to be weird right? im only getting 40 80 160 across the board for 2.4/5/6 n never 320 and if i could get some help that'd be great. I use ethernet a lot when i can but the wifi 7 connection is not great. like I say that, but, I have 2g/1g fiber and if im right in front of the base unit the wifi 7 connection is not what it should be. I get like gigbit down and 600 mbit up. which i can match over 5ghz on a google tv streamer that uses wifi 6 not even 6e connected to my one wireless backhaul satelite. if i ethernet directly to the main unit i get 2g/1g, same for the wired backhaul unit too. and the ethernet on the wireless backhaul unit is like 1.8g/700m that eventually will be wired but i live in a house that is nearly 100 years old and finding where to thread the cord is kind of a pain. I attached a netspot readout of mynetwork. circled the satellite im attached to. 6ghz. i didnt want to edit out the admin console but the connection does show 5g+6g meaning it is MLO active. I just want it to be 320. and btw yes I do have a 320 capable nic. its one of those intel killer ones with latest driver set. even says 320mhz when you set it up in device manager on this pc. though say other pcs and phones don't pop it off either to show a 320 broadcast. I am genuinely curious if that is what is tanking my upload speeds? note, I am the only wifi 7 network in the neighborhood. so it shouldn't be something where congestion is messing with 6ghz. there are no other 6ghz routers at all around me.Why can't you extend it with the 960 as an AP?
So it's official, you can't extend an Orbi 970 network with anything but a 970 satellite. I tried the 'mesh range extender' it was a no-go. I tried my old 960 router as a AP, and that didn't work either. Why can't you extend it with the 960 as an AP? We used a Nighthawk router in AP to extend or 970 system and it works fantastically. Saved like $600 over having to buy another 970 satellite...
