Intermittent internet connectivity outage with Orbi?

[FouduRoi]

What was the beta version?

[Chewster]

I would like acces to this beta as well I cannot maintain a connection longer tha 10-30 min this is insane!!

[FouduRoi]

Same here, 25 min was my longest, that drives me crazy since I work from home.

[normanjd]

I have been using the beta firmware on the router (and satellite) with no drops on my outdoor nest cams over the last 48 hours. One caveat, the satellite is not actually synced with the router so all devices are attached to the router. I stumbled upon this setup accidentally because it did not seem to work well when the satellite was synced. i plan to resync the satellite and look for drops this weekend. Anyone else have a minute to try out my theory to confirm if I am just nuts or if this is legit? I am pulling my hair out with all the drops up to now and really wanna find any answer

[bsholbrook]

I had router and 2 satellites on 1.10.0.1 beta with 2.4 turned downed to 50%, Mumimo on and beamform on.... No drops in a week

[bsholbrook]

The current 1.10.2 something or other release is terrinle

[bsholbrook]

Terrible

[wchp]

The way the issue is being described by posters here leads to a bit of confusion.

I am going to outline what I have happening and then propose a theory.

1) The Orbi Router is not losing its connection to the internet. It gets a DHCP lease from the cable modem and the IP address is not changing.

2) Advanced Wireless settings all left at defaults (Implicit BEAMFORMING, MU-MIMO DISABLED)

3) WPA2-PSK [AES] ONLY (no TKIP)

4) Channels 6 and 44 set fixed (no auto)

5) RIP disabled

6) Router Mode

7) 2 Satellites and 46 devices connected ( 15 wired, 16 2.4G, 15 5G )

😎 Satellites have DHCP reservations

8 Traffic Meter enabled

Now... that being said, running version V1.10.1.2 devices that are 2.4G only don't drop once connected 

1) Devices that are 2.4G only don't drop once connected 

2) Satellites don't drop

3) Devices that are b/g/n seem not to have issues

4) Devices that are ac seem to drop

The worst of all of my devices at maintaining a connection is my Wink Hub2.

Tests:

Move Wink Hub2 at least 30' from any Orbi (Rtr or Sat) but ~ equidistant from the router and a satellite. = Still drops 2-3 times per day

Move Wink Hub2 at least 20' from any Orbi (Rtr or Sat) but NOT equidistant from the router or a satellite = Still drops 1-2 times every other day

Move Wink Hub2 at least 20' from any Orbi (Rtr or Sat) but NOT equidistant from the router or a satellite AND reduce 2.4G transmit power to 75% = No drops

Theory: Client devices that support both 2.4 and 5GHz get confused at times as to which is the strongest signal AND from which point it is originating. e.g. "do I connect to 5G on rtr or 2.4 on sat" Now I am not an engineer with Netgear or Wink and this is only a layman's (IT Professional) guess. I have tried this with other devices (Win 10 Lenovo Intel WiFi AC laptop, 2013 MBA, 2016 MBP, 2011MBP, Acer Netbook) and results are similar and support the theory but are by no means definitive as I am not being terribly thorough on setup and placement.

But, if you're having the issue, try turning down the 2.4 power a bit and if your device/hardware supports it select AC only and for me, this has resolved most of the issues. Now if Netgear can just sort this all out...

AND BRING BACK the connected devices list that shows what is connected to which satalite.

[darrylk1]

Have yoou considered connecting the Wink hub via ethernet to either the router or satellite?  Just a thought, I'm having the same issue and just happened to think of it, haven't tried it yet, have to move stuff around to do it.

[wchp]

I currently won't use Wink Hub2 with Ethernet. There is an odd bug in the firmware where if the Internet (WAN/ISP) goes down and Wink is connected by ethernet it is not able to use local control of lighting. If it is connected to WiFi it will use local control. This may have been fixed in this past week's firmware update but they don't publish a list of fixes.

Regardless... just using the Wink as the test client because it 1) is temperamental with wifi   2) has big blue flashing light I can see from across the house indicating connection status

[Netwizzerd]

Hi all - 

Ever since my Orbi router auto-updated its firmware back on 5/22/2017 to the latest version 1.10.1.2 the two Apple TV 4th gen units I have in my house are essentially non-functional.  Constant connect/re-connects, insanely slow speeds during the periods the Apple TV shows it's connected.  I also have two Apple TV 2nd gen units in my house...no issues with them at all.  I have a couple of NEST cams, a ring floodlight cam, and several other IOT devices in the house.  As far as I can tell no issues with any of them since the firmware upgrade.  

My first thought to get the 4th Gen Apple TV's working again was to downgrade the firmware, until I noticed that the Orbi will just auto-update itself back to the current version.  There is no setting to disable auto-updating of firmware...crazy!  

Just curious if anyone else has experienced issues since 1.10.1.2 release?  

As most of you already know, both beamforming and MU-MIMO are disabled by default. 

I tried lowering the power level on the 2.4Ghz radio to 50% and down to 25%, but no change.  Also tried scheduling the 2.4Ghz radio to go OFF according to a time schedule where it was basically off 24/7, but no luck there either.

I agree with others who have posted....every minute I have to spend trolling forums and tweaking with my advanced settings is one more minute I'm regretting my decision to buy the Orbi system.  If I'd purchased a $95 D-Link I'd be more understanding, but given the Orbi's price point these types of issues shouldn't exist.

Would appreciate any insight......

[marshymallow]

I propose you try and get hold of the latest Beta FW which I have have personally experienced much improvements. Not perfect as yet but alot less hair tearing situation. Plus I can still at least have MU-MIMO activated with very reasonable performance. With many devices connected, MU-MIMO is a must have. Bean Forwarding is not crucial.

[DrCal]

I hear you Netwizzerd! Same here. I am so naive thinking spending more $ would get a quality and more robust product. Wrong! Since I bought this junk, nothing but trouble, tech support is a joke. All Macs are not working properly, some (e.g. MBP) simply not working at all.

[Hsc1102]

ORBI!!!!! Get your stuff together!!!!! ICANT STAND THIS ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DISCONNECT DISCONNECT DISCONNECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guytech]

Frustration after frustration! I am not very pleased with this product... What can we do about it???

[peteytesting]

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@Guytech wrote:

Frustration after frustration! I am not very pleased with this product... What can we do about it???

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return it and get something else , do you really need the coverage

[Guytech]

That was why I bought the product. It does claim to be able to do the job, but looking at all the comments I am clearly not the only person having problems.

[Netwizzerd]

I've been watching every day since last weekend to see if Netgear publishes a new firmware release that addresses these connectivity issues. Nothing. So this weekend I think I'm going to take the Orbi back to Best Buy and grab the Linksys Velop and give it a shot. Too bad, as the performance of the Orbi seems to be superior vs. Velop, Eero, and Luma in all reviews. Nonetheless, all the performance in the world doesn't mean squat when you can't get basic, reliable connectivity for some of your most frequently-used devices.

[wchp]

The linksys system will leave you disheartened. The Eero actually works as long as your willing to accept no wifi if your isp goes down. Not good in a smart home with 30+ devices counting on wifi for control but Eero coverage is stable and ubiquitous. If you have the luxury of waiting another week I would sit tight or add a R6900 to the mix for the clients that drop. I've tried them all and unless you need two hops for coverage nothing beats the Orbi ( other than orbi sucks at the moment) I would not return yet unless you nearing the end of your return policy
Granted I bought mine at Costco with the return for any reason policy. I just piggybacked an R6900 onto the Orbi router for the problematic clients. I'm holding out hope they get this sorted

[Retired_Member]

What can we do if we are past the return period and are getting nowhere with support?

[wchp]

Buy a R6900 till they sort this out...

While we wait for Netgear to sort this out I have put my backup router into service.

Below is the signal graph for the Orbi RBR/S50 (L8-Holyoke) and the R6900 (TwoAchers) behind it.

[Retired_Member]

@wchp, I can't see your image for some reason but I am very curious. Unfortunately I'm not going to buy anything Netgear again until they prove they can sort this out. My previous Asus AC87U works great, it just couldn't cover the whole house at full speed. 

[Silver0066]

I would never buy another Netgear product either.  They need new management.  Their reputation is going to pot with these constant excuses for their buggy hardware.  Why can't they get this fixed?  Are they too greedy to hire competent engineers?  They must have their heads in the sand if they don't recognize the damage they are causing their company.

[cpaz7801]

Sorry, no insights here... Just another user with the exact same situation. 

Since I've installed the ORBI I have good coverage and great speeds on all my devices... except the Apple TVs 4th generations that connect extremely slow and constantly drop the signal. This happens every 20 minutes or so and takes up to 5-10 minutes to reconnect... try watching a TV show like that!

ATV 4th gen only device with issues. I've measured speed on my iPad Pro positioned right next to the ATV: iPad Pro = 100Mb/s, ATV: 1-2 Mb/s.

Any help will be appreciated,

[Netwizzerd]

Noticed there is a new firmware version available now. Has anyone tried installing? If so, does it address this issue we're all having?