iPhone 12 Pro loses WiFi connection with RBR850

[Rogelio1]

For what it's worth, I do have a Netgear 8 port switch (GS108T) / not a "green" switch, but it's not plugged between any routers and satellites... I have it plugged into the router directly to provide/expand wired ethernet to 7 additional devices near the router.  The LAN ports of my router are occupied by one connected to this switch, one connected to Sat1, and the other two are just single LAN devices (computer, etc.).  I have no switches plugged into Sat1 (just LAN devices -- computer, printer) nor do I have switches or anything for that matter plugged into Sat2 via LAN.

So far with disabling Sat2 I haven't noticed the wifi disconnects on my iPhone walking between Router and Sat1 (ethernet connected)... still needing to test for a handful more days to confirm this resolved it.

[Rogelio1]

Also worth noting, I tested using a 5-port Netgear switch both plugged into Sat1 and in-between Router and Sat1 (with the hardwired ethernet coming into the switch and/or Sat1).  In both instances, the wifi disconnects occurred when Sat2 was on regardless of the introduction of the 5-port switch plugged into Sat1 or between router and Sat1 (or with no switch at all here)... so I'm leaning towards the theory it's an issue with mixed ethernet + wifi backhaul combos with 2+ satellites.

[FURRYe38]

Thanks for the additional info. I'll disconnect one of my RBS and see what happens for mixed mode connected RBS. 

[FURRYe38]

OK disconnected the RBS from ethernet while it's ON. 

I'll see how this goes...

[Rogelio1]

Looks like your setup has both satellites bonded to the router — curious to see if the issue presents itself here (mine is in a daisy chain with Ethernet to sat1 and Wi-Fi from sat1 to sat2).

Still haven’t seen the issue so far with just the one satellite Wired to to router — I suspect this is a common / basic test scenario and wouldn’t have issues (will give it another few days). No sooner than I turn on sat2 though, I’m sure the disconnects will reappear

[Garwoofoo]

I’ve definitely seen the issue with one wired, one wireless satellite both connected to the router (no daisy chain).

[FURRYe38]

Yes my RBS are in star formation. My house is configured where I can't practically test in Daisy Chain configuration with the RBS. 

Possible there is a problem with having 1 RBS wired to the router and one RBS wirelessly connected to the wired RBS. And also placement of the RBS and distances could add to that as well. 

Seems like yours works with out the extra RBS and the 1 RBS ethernet connected. 

Not sure if having one RBS ethernet connected and one RBS wirelessly connected to the 1st RBS has been tested has a normal configuration. Seems like it hasn't or may not be supported. I see if I can dig up some info on this.

Do you have a layout picture of your home layout and where the RBR and RBS are located with in the home? 

[Rogelio1]

VERY interesting. Today the iPhone wifi disconnect issue happened with just sat1 Ethernet bonded to my router as soon as I got home and walked past the router to the back bedroom where sat1 is (Sat2 has been unplugged for days).

I have a gs108t switch plugged into the router — that’s the only other networking device plugged into the router aside from sat1.

[FURRYe38]

And the RBS is not connected to this GS108t switch right? 

And the phone was connected to the wifi then disconnected and went back to cell service? 

Do you have Private WiFi Address enabled or disabled on the iphone? 

What are the current transmit power settings at on the RBR?

[Rogelio1]

Correct — router is connected to gs108t (but not between router and satellite).

I didn’t specifically see my phone before I woke it up in the bedroom, but yes, typically what happens is it is connected closer to the router, then goes off Wi-Fi (it did show 4g) then it takes 2-4 minutes before it connects back again after sitting closer to the Sat.

Private Wi-Fi address is currently off. I have tried with it both on and off and it doesn’t matter — both have the disconnect issue.

Power is at 100%. I’ve tried at 50% and 25% before (but when sat2 was bonded to sat1) and the disconnects appeared still. I have not tried turning down the power now that sat2 is off, but given the disconnect just happened with sat2 off, I’d wager the power doesn’t matter.

[FURRYe38]

I would try 50% and see. 

And status of the RBS shows wired and GOOD on the RBRs web page?

Something else to try, swap out the SAT1 for SAT2 unit to see if anything changes. 

Running out of ideas here. Seems like this is a problem with the iPhone and the system. I'm still testing mine though I haven't seen any problems as of yet since yesterday after taking one RBS off ethernet. Ill remember to check this when I get home from work and to check when I get up in the morning. 

[Rogelio1]

I’ve also seen the disconnect issue happen on a MacBook Pro M1pro 14”. Though I move less frequently back and forth before the device is powered on / off.

I’ll try 50% and swapping the two sats.
Showing wired and good.

[FURRYe38]

Ok. I have a MBP 2018 and haven't seen any issues on mine to date. I had seen some odd issues a few FW revs back but it has been solid since. Been running both Mojave and Monterey Beta, I've since put Monterey over Mojave and installed Ventura Beta over Monterey Beta. On my MBP most evenings. 

[Rogelio1]

Wonder if it’s some sort of ARM SoC to Orbi DHCP interface issue with how those devices are leased an IP address / having the orbi unit negotiate which to latch onto.

[Rogelio1]

Curious if anybody has confirmed this issue on non-ARM or non-iOS devices.

[Garwoofoo]

Also curious if anyone has seen this problem on a system with no Ethernet-connected satellites at all.

[FURRYe38]

Just to update this with having Mixed connected RBS on my 8 series. I had not seen any iPhone issues or any other wifi device issues with having two RBS mixed connected to the RBR in star format. 

Possible that having the RBR wireless to RBS to ethernet connected RBS could be a configuration that could be causing problems. I would try to avoid this configuration if possible. I can't test this configuration with the layout and networking infrastructure I have here. 

I've since removed my 8 series and put in it's place a RBK752 with one RBS thats ethernet connected. No iPhone issues here. 

[Garwoofoo]

I've observed this issue multiple times with one Ethernet satellite and one wireless satellite connected in star formation (not daisy chained). It's intermittent and seemingly not as frequent as others have reported but it definitely happens.

Since moving to an all-wireless configuration I've not seen the issue once.

[FURRYe38]

I recommend that users avoid the mixed connection configuration on the RBS.

I'll pass this on to NG for review is all I can do.

[Rogelio1]

Going on about day 5 of having turned off Sat 2 (was wifi chained to Sat1 ethernet chained) and dropping power to 50%.  Even with just Sat1 ethernet bonded and 100% power, I had seen the disconnect issue happen, albeit less frequently than with Sat2 on.  I've seen the disconnect issue happen maybe once in the last handful of days, so I do think that it's probably happening regardless of the setup (mix of ethernet + wifi backhaul) but I do think that it's exacerbated / happens more when there is a mix and also when there is overlapping coverage (100% power) between router and satellite.

I can't drop down reliably to 50% or lower because the radius of reach is needed for Sat1 to be at 100% power on that side of the house.  I'll keep testing with just 1 sat ethernet bonded and 50% to confirm the issue is happening less frequently.

[FURRYe38]

👍

[Rogelio1]

Spoke too soon — just did it a minute ago

Dropped off Wi-Fi. Showed ip address of 169.254.152.15 and subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 for two minutes … then eventually latched back onto Wi-Fi auto dhcp (correct subnet / mask / router) — phone moved back and forth between router and sat1 and disconnected as usual once planted/sitting 15 feet from sat1 (50% power)

[KevinLiT]

Hello Rogelio1,

Welcome to the NETGEAR Community!

I understand that you are having network stability issues between your Orbi system and your iPhone12. This can happen when the "private IP address" feature is enabled. 

Please turn off your private IP address if you are using an iOS device. 

To turn off the Private IP address please follow the directions listed below:

Open "Settings"
"Wi-Fi"
Select the "i" icon next to your connected network
Toggle off "Private Wi-Fi Address"

Best,
Kevin
Community Team

[Rogelio1]

Private IP address / mac has been off.  I've tried every iteration of iPhone settings -- even tried manual assignment in iPhone settings as opposed to router-negotiated DHCP... when the disconnect occurs, it doesn't matter what the settings are.  The only thing that can more immediately allow the phone to connect to the router is forgetting the wifi connection entirely and re-adding it, or rebooting the device.  I've reset all network configurations on the phone, reset the phone to factory settings, etc.  The issue seems to be the router not properly negotiating the device to the satellite when within an overlapping region with another satellite and/or router.  I installed the latest firmware posted last week, and this also didn't resolve anything.

[KevinLiT]

Hello Rogelio1,

Thank you for providing that information!

Please PM the following information so I can endorse you to our support team:

Name:
Email:
Phone Number:
Device Model:
Firmware:
Serial Number:
Preferred time to be contacted:
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Please provide this information as soon as possible!
I look forward to hearing from you!

Best,
Kevin
Community Team