RBK853- Devices often struggle to connect to network
Hi everyone! I've been an Orbi system owner for about half year now, and I've been having one persistent issue that i cannot resolve. My setup is RBK853 system + 2 separately bought RBS850s. All 4 satellites are connected via a wired Backhaul. The property is an old house with thick concrete walls but all satellites are positioned such that you have about one wifi bar of signal from a neighboring satellite where the other satellite is placed so pretty much no dead spots.
The issue is this: mobile devices (phones, tablets etc.) occasionally* take ages to connect to the WIFI network. It usually happens during handoff (when a device is carried to a different part of the house and thus comes out of range of one Orbi unit and into the range of another), but a few times it happened upon the first connection to the network when a device has been outside the range of the network for a while. When this happens, Wi-Fi menu of a phone would just show it trying to connect with the little circle icon spinning but it just wouldn't connect for up to 5 or so minutes at a time. Sometimes it would read ("no internet connection" or "failed to obtain IP address" under the network name while trying to connect. Turning Wi-Fi on and off on a device seems to help it connect sometimes but not always... This happens pretty much universally on all kinds of devices including all kinds of iOS devices of various generations, MacBooks and Android phones. While one device is struggling to connect the network works fine and already connected devices don't have any issues. I feel i should specify that it doesn't happen every time you move a device too. On my phone for example it happens about once a day or so. Feels like every time i walk into another room there is like a 5-10% chance my phone will drop the Wi-Fi connection for a few minutes. I've had other mesh systems before and its the first time I'm experiencing this issue.
Things I've tried that didn't do anything about this issue:
updating firmware (currently on v4.6.8.2)
doing a full reset and a setup from scratch while having all satellites in the same room
Switching to AP mode
reducing transmit power
I hope i provided enough information, but feel free to ask clarifying questions) If anyone has any idea what's causing this or how to resolve it- id greatly appreciate your input! Thanks in advance!
Re: RBK853- Devices often struggle to connect to network
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?
How many devices do you have connected?
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. https://kb.netgear.com/31029/Where-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite📡
What channels are you using? Auto? Try Auto and 48 on 5Ghz. Or try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.
Re: RBK853- Devices often struggle to connect to network
Thanks for the response!
The modem unit is from my local Italian ISP- "TIM" called the TIM HUB but its an older model from 2016 (so maybe that could be an issue?). The connection we have is a DSL one with speed about 50 down/20 up. I think i should also mention that the modem doesn't have a bridge mode and I'm running RBR in router mode. But when i tried running Orbi in AP mode the issue persisted so I'm not sure if this setup is related to the issue. I switched back to router mode as i started having other problems related to wifi streaming when running in AP mode.
The home is a fairly big old concrete building, which is why i had to get 4 satellites, but they are all hardwired to the RBR850. The closest two satellites are about 8-9 meters from each other (≈28 feet) but they got 2 thick concrete walls between them so they barely overlap in coverage.
The channels are already at "1" for 2.4Ghz, and "40" for 5Ghz
20/40Mhz Coexistence is disabled, i dont think i have an option to specify 40Mhz only..
Re: RBK853- Devices often struggle to connect to network
The Modem does have Routing and WIFI functionality, yes. I disabled wifi on it but, for whatever reason there is no an option to disable the router part.
Despite the concrete, RBR and 4 RBSs have a pretty much deadzone free coverage of the property. The annoying part is that devices would often take a few minutes to connect to network when they are like a meter away from a satellite. Feels like something goes wrong only during the handoff process between satellites when a device has to disconnect from one and connect to another. It does disconnect from a satellite in a room you leave but it takes ages to connect to a satellite located in a room you just entered. Hope that explanation makes sense..
Re: RBK853- Devices often struggle to connect to network
And do all RBS show good "wire" connection status?
CAT6 would be recommended. However 5E would be ok. Make sure all terminating jacks and plugs are in good condition. Seen bad jacks and plugs cause problems.
Might try lowering the transmit power to 50% and see if this changes anything.
Re: RBK853- Devices often struggle to connect to network
Yeah, they all show up with the green "good" connection status in the web interface.
All the terminations look ok, and seem to work fine when i plug a laptop into them instead of the RBSs. Might try replacing the wires with CAT6 at some point tho, those 5e cables are almost 10 years old at this point.
Im already running the 5Ghz band in 50% transmit power but i really dont want to do the same with the 2.4 since it would create a bunch of deadspots in important places around the house which would honestly be worse than the problem im having now.. Not sure what else i could try tho..
My house should be getting a fiber connection within the next few month and likely a new modem unit with it. Ill try to get one with Bridge mode option and see if that'll helps. If not, ill try running new CAT6 cables to the satellites. Not sure if i can try anything else in the meantime.. If you think of anything else please let me know)
And thanks for your time btw, i greatly appreciate you trying to help!
Re: RBK853- Devices often struggle to connect to network
Only thing to try next would be to turn OFF the RBS and just make sure devices can get connected to the RBR and work there. Then turn on one RBS and test with devices connected near the RBS. I would disable the wifi radios on these devices for 5 seconds then back ON to ensure they are connected to the nearest RBS.
Possible there maybe some roaming issues here as well.
