RBRE960 - Intermittent Connectivity Issues

It appears the problem lies with the satellites and/or the backhaul WiFi network. This morning I shut down my two satellites and only connected to the router via WiFi. So far, no connection drops.

Updates to my testing...
This morning, I shut both satellites down and connected just to the router. I did not have any connection drops to my VM. I then turned one of the satellites on, made sure I was connected it it, and again did not have any connection drops. I powered that satellite off and repeated the test with the other satellite; again, no connection drops. I then powered the second satellite back on, and so far, no connection drops.

I am wondering if turning the satellites on one at a time, and letting the satellite fully connect before turning on the second one, resolved the issue.

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and 📡 satellite(s)?

I have 1 router and 2 satellites in about 3,000 square feet. The router is upstairs in the middle/front of the house, one satellite is downstairs in the right/front of the house, and the other satellite is downstairs in the left/rear of the house. This is likely a bit overkill for inside; however, I do this to support signal strength outside to my blink cameras.

So far, the connection to my VM is still rock solid. Before this morning, it would only last less than a minute to maybe a couple minutes.

Line of sight, without walls, I would say under 30 feet. One is probably 15 feet and the other maybe 20.

30 feet or more is recommended in between RBR📡 and RBS🛰️ to begin with depending upon building materials when wired or wirelessly connected.

And for that size of home, having two RBS maybe too many. I've got a 5K size home and can get away with one RBS. 

When I have two RBS running I reduce the power to 25% on the RBR. 

I'd ether turn OFF one RBS or reduce the power to 25%.

Thank you for the suggestion. If the problems arise again, I will either turn off the right/front satellite, or, reduce it's power. I have less of a need for WiFi in that area of the outside yard.

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bryan3301 wrote:

Thank you for the suggestion. If the problems arise again, I will either turn off the right/front satellite, or, reduce it's power. I have less of a need for WiFi in that area of the outside yard.

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The Transmit Power setting affects the user facing radios on all units. There is no capability to set each unit to a different power level.

The distance between Orbi units is a balancing issue.

• Performance of the router to satellite backhaul link is directly affected by distance.
  • The closer units are, the higher the connection rate will be.
  • The farther away the units are, the lower the connection rate will be.
  • In practical terms, a distance of approximately 30 ft. produces a connection that is "good enough" to support most user activity.  This is affected by building materials.  In my case, Orbi's claiming a backhaul speed of 1,733Mbps actually achieve about 760Mbps when placed about 25 ft. apart but going through several walls and a wooden floor.  Since my internet speed is less than that, user performance is not affected.
• WiFi coverage is a function of the distance as well.  If router and satellite were two feet apart, the backhaul link would be the maximum theoretical rate which is the number quoted in the Product Data Sheet. But, the total amount of are covered would be almost identical to the router's coverage by itself.  i.e., "nothing gained".  Placing devices approximately 30 ft. apart produces the most additional coverage while supporting good user performance.
• Placing units farther apart also reduces the problem of individual WiFi devices "flipping constantly."  WiFi signal levels are not constant.  As some devices compare available WiFi access points over time, some devices are more likely to get into a confused state where they keep changing from one access point to another, then back again, over and over again.  Reducing Transmit Power has the effect of making units that are farther apart seem much less attractive.

So the goal is to have everything good enough to be useable.  Backhaul link strong enough. Coverage Area adequate.Confusion limited.

I spoke too soon. This is so odd. With ONLY my router on, and no satellites, my connection is dropping again. Earlier this afternoon, things were rock solid for at least an hour.

Does the front LED turn on PINK when the happens on the RBR? 

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. CAT6A STP is recommended. 

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 with a wired PC and web browser. https://kb.netgear.com/22697/How-do-I-install-my-NETGEAR-router-using-the-router-web-interface
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.
https://kb.netgear.com/24089/How-do-I-specify-the-pool-of-IP-addresses-assigned-by-my-Nighthawk-router
https://kb.netgear.com/25722/How-do-I-reserve-an-IP-address-on-my-NETGEAR-router
I would power OFF the ISP modem for 1 minute. Factory reset the router and power it off. Power ON the ISP modem and let it sync. Then power ON the 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
https://kb.netgear.com/000062081/How-do-I-erase-the-configuration-settings-on-my-Orbi-WiFi-System

My issues are not with internet-facing connectivity. I do not even have issues when connected via Ethernet. These issues are only when I connect via WiFi and SSH or RDP to my lab machines.

I did perform a factory reset after I updated the firmware. I am not using Orbi for DHCP or DNS.

I have had a support case open with Netgear and am hopefully getting on with them this afternoon. Hopefully they can review the debug logs and we can figure out what is going on and how to address. If all else fails, I am thinking of giving ASUS ZenWiFi Pro a try.

Let us know how it goes with NG support.

All,

NetGear engineering will be reviewing the debug file I sent. I am out of guesses. Here is what I did the past week. I am posting here in the event others run into the same issue. I am hoping NetGear is able to resolve the issue; if not, I have an ASUS ZenWiFi Pro XT12, arriving on Sunday (and hopefully that doesn't have the issue).

SUMMARY FOR ENGINEERING:
PROBLEM: Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and Secure Shell (SSH) connections freeze (time varies, usually within a minute; on occasion never) when accessing Virtual Machines and Docker containers when my laptops are connected to Orbi via WiFi. I do not have the problem when connecting my laptops via Ethernet to the Orbi. This occurs both on Windows (Windows 11 Pro 23H2) and Mac (macOS Sonoma 14.0) laptops.

ORBI & NETWORK DETAIL:
1 x RBRE960 (located upstairs, front/middle of house)
1 x RBRS960 (located downstairs, front/right of house, about ~20 feet from router)
1 x RBRS960 (located downstairs, rear/left of house, about ~15-20 feet from router)
Orbi is NOT providing DNS nor DHCP to internal networks (handled by a Pihole Docker container on a Synology NAS box); Orbi only handles DHCP and DNS for the Guest WiFi network.
WiFi Network Types Enabled: Primary, Primary 6G, IoT, & Guest
Internal Orbi Network: 172.20.73.0/24
Guest Orbi Network (left at default): 192.168.2.0/24
Static Routes: I have static routes configured on the Orbi pointing to the respective Proxmox server.

SERVERS:
My Virtual Machines and Docker containers are running on a Proxmox (v8.0.4) host. The Virtual Machine is Rocky Linux 9.2 and the Docker Container is Turnkey Linux 17.1. The Physical server is an Intel NUC 13 Pro. The NUC is physically connected via Ethernet to the Orbi router.
Server Network: 172.16.77.0/24
The Intel NUC has an IP address of 172.20.73.11, and, an internal vSwitch network of 172.16.77.0/24. Example problem Virtual Machine is 172.16.77.25 and an example problem Docker container is 172.16.77.2. The MAC address for my Windows laptop is <REDACTED> and the name is <REDACTED>.

CLIENT/LAPTOP BEHAVIOR:
When the problem occurs (only when connected via WiFi so far), the WiFi connection remains online and other data continues to flow (i.e.- audio, video, web browsing); however, the SSH or RDP session just hangs. I must close the terminal program and reopen it. Upon reopening, it takes usually around 10 seconds or so before I am able to reconnect (prior I receive unreachable errors). When the connection problem is occuring, I am also unable to access other services (i.e. via HTTP/HTTPS) that are running on the Virtual Machine or Docker container; it appears as if all access to the Virtual Machine or Docker container is prevented while I am connected to WiFi (when the problem is occuring).
If I connect to the Virtual Machine or Docker Container with my laptop physically connected to Orbi via Ethernet, I never run into issues. If I am away from my house and connect to the Virtual Machine via a Tailscale VPN connection, I never run into an issue.

WIFI TROUBLESHOOTING COMPLETED:
1. Tried shutting off all the Satellites and only using the Router; issue still occurs.
2. Tried with only the Router + 1 Satellite (at a time); issue still occurs.
3. Tried connecting my laptop to the Satellite via Ethernet (the Satellites use WiFi as the backhaul); issue still occurs.
4. Tried turning off the extra SSIDs (i.e.- Guest, IoT, 6E) and accessing with only a single SSID active at a time; issue still persists.
5. Tried accessing with only one band enabled at a time (2.4, 5, & 6); issue still persists on every band.
6. Upgraded to firmware 7.2.6.21_5.0.20; issue still persists.
7. Factory reset of Orbi and reconfigure; issue still persists.
8. Decreased wireless radio power to 50%; issue still persists.
9. Checked NetSpot (screenshot uploaded) and do not see channel conflicts or other WiFi networks from neighbors. The networks I see are few and weak.
10. Wireshark packet capture ran (examples uploaded). I noticed some TCP RETRANSMISSIONS and TCP SPURIOUS RETRANSMISSIONS; however they also seem to occur even when not trying to connect to the Virtual Machines and Docker Containers.

COLLATERAL PROVIDED:
1. Orbi Debug file
2. NetSpot screenshot
3. Wireshart packet captures

OTHER ITEMS OF NOTE:
I had an RBR50 with two (2) Satellites (all sitting exactly where the new Orbi equipment is located) since 2019 and NEVER ran into this issue.

Keep us posted.

I received beta firmware and loaded it this morning. The issue persists. In reviewing the packet captures, I am still seeing a number of TCP Retransmission and RCP Dup ACK packets.

Keep in touch with NG support. I'd ask if they could send you a 2nd new system to test for comparison testing. With the understanding that if the 2nd system didn't fix anything, you'd send it back. Talk to them about this as an option. 

I ordered an ASUS ZenWiFi Pro XT12, system and it arrived today. I have it all set up, and so far, I am not experiencing the SSH and RDP connection problems. Everything is working flawlessly. I am going to continue to test it over the next few days and run some network packet captures. I can say this system is much more advanced and customizable; the software is lightyears ahead of the NetGear Orbi systems.

I think my problem with the Orbi is either a firmware bug, or I agree, possibly a hardware issue. At this point, I do not know if I feel like continuing to work the issue; especially since the ASUS system is so much better.

Thanks for letting us know. 

Good Luck.