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AX6000 Mesh system (RBR850+1xRBS850)-very slow Wi-Fi or even disconnect
Hi,
Issue description:
about 3 months after I bought and installed my Orbi RBR850 with one satellite RBS850 Wi-Fi system, I started experiencing very slow bandwidth on both, laptops and iOS devices on Wi-Fi, ethernet works fine when doing speedtest via speedtest.net. Between 0.2 and 3 Mbit/s. Also, On Apple iOS devices, I see dropped Wi-Fi connections and errors when running a speedtest. When I run a continuous ping on multiple laptops (ping -t www.google.com), I see request timeouts.
It's having a bad effect on both, work and private related Wi-Fi based activities. But especially with online meetings where my audio and video gets choppy for the other attendees.
I've spent days now troubleshooting it and I've tried almost everything there is available via the Orbi router admin page and am at a loss. I'm not a novice, having worked in IT for my entire life and never had these type of issues with not even the cheapest Wi-Fi router. Not to mention the heavy price tag of $750 I paid and only having 3 months of support from Netgear.
I'm hoping to find help from Netgear or the community.
Here are the things I observed and tried:
Wi-Fi signal on all affected devices is indicated at maximum/full bars/100%
Satellite indicated "Backhaul Status Good"
All affected devices I measured seem to be using the 5GHz frequency. I disabled the 5 GHz support in the hardware properties on the NIC of one laptop in Windows to force the 2.4 GHz band. It seems like it's stable and speed test maxes out at 73 Mbit down and 12 Mbit up (the latter is the maximum with my provider plan)
So it seems only the 5Ghz band is affected? But that just a workaround and not feasible for all devices to implement nor would it be acceptable.
I have a total of 33 devices connected to the system-a mix of computers, servers, printers and a range of IOT devices
I tried disconnecting the satellite but that made it worse when testing on the upper flow of our house
I'm running firmware version 4.6.14.3_2.3.12 on both, the router (RBR850) and the satellite (RBS850)
I have tried all 5GHz and 2.4 GHz channels, outcome was the same or worse. I might not have tried all combination of both
I have disabled "AX" on the 5 GHz band, outcome was the same or worse
I'm using WPA2-PSK [AES] encryption
I have disabled 20/40 MHz coexistence with no effect
I have adjusted the CTS settings on both bands from the default of 64 to 32, 500, 1000, 2347, outcome was the same or worse
I'm at a loss and hope someone here can help me. Thanks!
Re: AX6000 Mesh system (RBR850+1xRBS850)-very slow Wi-Fi or even disconnect
Mystery resolved. I had a T-Mobile LTE extender box installed in my office about 7 years ago. As soon as I unplugged it, the WiFi started working flawlessly. Why that wasn’t a problem last year, I don’t know. But the radio signals between the receiver in my office and the sender on the 1st floor must have interfered with the Orbi WiFi. Crazy!
Re: AX6000 Mesh system (RBR850+1xRBS850)-very slow Wi-Fi or even disconnect
Both pings are very similar. The issue is that on the 2nd floor I only get about 10 MBit/s bandwitdh on my computers and 1 MBit/s on iOS devices or even dropped connections. It's terrible.
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too? Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6 is recommended.
What is the size of your home? Sq Ft? What is the distance between the router and 📡 satellite(s)? 30 feet or more is recommended in between RBR and RBS🛰️ to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.
What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz. Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
Try disabling the following and see: Armor, Smart Parental Controls or Circle, Traffic Meter.
Has a power off for 1 minute then back ON with the ISP modem and router been performed since last update? Be sure to restart your network in this sequence: Turn off and unplug modem. Turn off router and computers. Plug in and turn on modem. Wait 2 minutes for it to connect. Turn on the router and wait 2 minutes for it to connect. Turn on computers and rest of network.
Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update? A complete pull of the power adapters for a period of time after the factory reset then walk thru the setup wizard and setup from scratch. Recommend setting the default DHCP IP address pool range to the following after applying and a factory reset: 192.168.#.100 to 192.168.#.200. I would power OFF the ISP modem for 1 minute. Factory reset the Orbi router and power it off. Power ON the ISP modem and let it sync. Then power ON the Orbi router and walk thru the setup wizard again using a wired PC and a web browser. Press the back reset button for 15 seconds then release. https://kb.netgear.com/31486/How-do-I-reset-my-Orbi-system-to-factory-default-settings
Enable SIP ALG under Advanced Tab/Setup/WAN Setup.
Re: AX6000 Mesh system (RBR850+1xRBS850)-very slow Wi-Fi or even disconnect
Can you try the following:
Turn off Satellite:
Enable 20/40MHz Coexistence, enable 802.11ax on all bands.
Reboot Router, Wait 5 minutes:
Then on you iOS Device, assuming it is 802.11ax client, run speed test. Once it is complete, post numbers here.
Then go to 192.168.1.1 or routerlogin.com or routerlogin.net or 10.0.0.1. Once login, go to Advanced, click on setup, then speed test and press Test speed. Post the numbers here. You can do this on the same iOS Device connecting to the Main SSID not Guest SSID.
Re: AX6000 Mesh system (RBR850+1xRBS850)-very slow Wi-Fi or even disconnect
Hi,
I noticed that when I'm close enough, about 50 feet from the router, Wi-Fi works fine, even on iOS devices. It is when I'm on the 3rd floor that I experience the issues. Strange thing is, the issues started about a month ago, it worked fine before.
I did what you asked for. Attached are the screenshots you requested.
Something must be interfering with the WiFi signal. I have many WiFi's in the neighborhood. But I tried all 5GHz channels and multiple CTS settings. No luck.
Re: AX6000 Mesh system (RBR850+1xRBS850)-very slow Wi-Fi or even disconnect
Here is the screenshot from the speedtest on my iphone. It doesn't even complete, it errors out. But as you can see in the upper right, the WiFi signal is strong. From running pings from a laptop in the same location, and from Zscaler on my work laptop, I can see that the WiFi connection drops regularly.
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too? Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6 is recommended.
It’s a Cisco modem and irrelevant. Router based speedtests are 100% fine. It’s the internal Wi-Fi connection that’s the issue.
What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
3.500 square feet
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet or more is
80 feet
recommended in between RBR and RBS️ to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.
What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.
Yes, I tried all of the available channels and no difference Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
I count 4 of where I’m standing and scanning right no
Try disabling the following and see: Armor, Smart Parental Controls or Circle, Traffic Meter.
There are all disabled already
Has a power off for 1 minute then back ON with the ISP modem and router been performed since last update? Be sure to restart your network in this sequence: Turn off and unplug modem. Turn off router and computers. Plug in and turn on modem. Wait 2 minutes for it to connect. Turn on the router and wait 2 minutes for it to connect. Turn on computers and rest of network.
Yes, I have done this more than 5 times already
Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update?
Yes, I have done a factory reset
A complete pull of the power adapters for a period of time after the factory reset then walk thru the setup wizard and setup from scratch. Recommend setting the default DHCP IP address pool range to the following after applying and a factory reset: 192.168.#.100 to 192.168.#.200. I would power OFF the ISP modem for 1 minute. Factory reset the Orbi router and power it off. Power ON the ISP modem and let it sync. Then power ON the Orbi router and walk thru the setup wizard again using a wired PC and a web browser. Press the back reset button for 15 seconds then release. https://kb.netgear.com/31486/How-do-I-reset-my-Orbi-system-to-factory-default-settings
Yes
Enable SIP ALG under Advanced Tab/Setup/WAN Setup.
Re: AX6000 Mesh system (RBR850+1xRBS850)-very slow Wi-Fi or even disconnect
Reason for asking for brand and model of ISP modem is to help sure that's not interfering with wifi signals as some have built in routers and modems. So question is very relevant. Just making sure here.
80 feet would be too far of distance in between the RBR and RBS. Try 40-50 feet in between the RBR and RBS.
Re: AX6000 Mesh system (RBR850+1xRBS850)-very slow Wi-Fi or even disconnect
Hi,
Thanks for your response. When you ran into the error in speedtest was Satellite powered on or off?
If powered on, Can you please power off and try again at same distance where you got the error.
If power off, we are looking at two potential issues here with router firmware:
1)Roaming from 5GHz to 2.4GHz is not occurring. But this does not look likely based on your Wi-Fi signal strength.
2) 2.4GHz roaming has occurred but interference is really bad in 2.4GHz huge possibility.
No matter your answer to the question above, I will be asking to collect the debug logs from router and/or satellite. I will provide instructions based on your answers afterwards here.
Re: AX6000 Mesh system (RBR850+1xRBS850)-very slow Wi-Fi or even disconnect
Mystery resolved. I had a T-Mobile LTE extender box installed in my office about 7 years ago. As soon as I unplugged it, the WiFi started working flawlessly. Why that wasn’t a problem last year, I don’t know. But the radio signals between the receiver in my office and the sender on the 1st floor must have interfered with the Orbi WiFi. Crazy!
