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Forum Discussion
Orbi satellite dropping connection
Right to the point: my Orbi system has 2 satellites and 1 main tower. The internet drops/slows down (to the point where internet browsing is not possible) 2-3 times per day randomly without warning o...
St_shaw,
Thanks for your explanation of how the WiFi analyzers work and the explanation of packet loss on the graph screen shots. I would absolutely agree with you if my basis for coming to dropout conclusion was based solely on this tool. Please read this in the way it was written: I am not angry nor being defensive - just describing the scenario and how I came to my conclusions. Feel free to pick apart my methodology. I really wanted the ORBI to work.
I have a cell phone carrier with crappy service in my area. That’s not saying much because all of the carriers have crappy service in my area for an abundance of reasons. As a result, I switch to WiFi calling almost exclusively while in my house, where I work from. Calls completely dropped out and were lost and often in sync with the 5GHz router dropouts. And it wasn’t just my device, but every other mobile phone or iPad experienced the loss of connectivity simultaneously within the house.
LAN connections trucked forward with no issues, so calls made on the VOIP lines didn’t have any dis connectivity issues like the mobile devices.
I actually went to eero Pro and not ORBI Pro. Yes there are packet losses being seen on the analyzer, but there have been no dropped calls or disconnects on the other devices. Eero locations are in the same locations as the ORBI satellites.
So given that the disconnects have disappeared with a different product with locations of “satellites” (eero doesn’t like this term) and the acknowledgment by Netgear that something funky was happening on this latest firmware release (thus rolling it back) I am fairly confident in stating that the ORBI wasn’t doing its job. Perhaps the ORBI Pro would be better, as some have argued, but I chose not to take the chance.
And should the eero perform in like fashion over the next three weeks (the amount of time I owned the ORBI) I will eat crow and jump in this thread to let folks know. :)
Thanks for your explanation of how the WiFi analyzers work and the explanation of packet loss on the graph screen shots. I would absolutely agree with you if my basis for coming to dropout conclusion was based solely on this tool. Please read this in the way it was written: I am not angry nor being defensive - just describing the scenario and how I came to my conclusions. Feel free to pick apart my methodology. I really wanted the ORBI to work.
I have a cell phone carrier with crappy service in my area. That’s not saying much because all of the carriers have crappy service in my area for an abundance of reasons. As a result, I switch to WiFi calling almost exclusively while in my house, where I work from. Calls completely dropped out and were lost and often in sync with the 5GHz router dropouts. And it wasn’t just my device, but every other mobile phone or iPad experienced the loss of connectivity simultaneously within the house.
LAN connections trucked forward with no issues, so calls made on the VOIP lines didn’t have any dis connectivity issues like the mobile devices.
I actually went to eero Pro and not ORBI Pro. Yes there are packet losses being seen on the analyzer, but there have been no dropped calls or disconnects on the other devices. Eero locations are in the same locations as the ORBI satellites.
So given that the disconnects have disappeared with a different product with locations of “satellites” (eero doesn’t like this term) and the acknowledgment by Netgear that something funky was happening on this latest firmware release (thus rolling it back) I am fairly confident in stating that the ORBI wasn’t doing its job. Perhaps the ORBI Pro would be better, as some have argued, but I chose not to take the chance.
And should the eero perform in like fashion over the next three weeks (the amount of time I owned the ORBI) I will eat crow and jump in this thread to let folks know. :)
Jvreeman No problem. Yes, I see you said EERO Pro. I read that too quickly.
My point was just that drops in the WiFi analyzer graphs are to be expected, and don't indicate a problem with your WiFi. The fact that you see the same drops with your perfectly functioning EERO Pro should further illustrate that point.
I did understand that you might have a legitimate issue with your Orbi, and that you were probably using other problems to conclude that. I just wanted to make sure that you, and others who read this thread, know they shouldn't use the WIFi analyzer graphs to conclude their WiFi signal is "dropping." A lot of people got spun up over this misinformation once before, and it caused a lot of unecessary grief.
Good luck with the EERO. Please do let us know how it works for you.
St_shaw,
I can see how the inclusion of the screenshot without discussing other ways that I was experiencing drop outs would lead to a questionable troubleshooting process. Thanks for calling it out, if nothing else to encourage other users to try and be thorough in their process.
I will say that there are things about the eero that I DO not like, that were not the case with ORBI. The fact that there is a web interface with ORBI where you can get in and change settings to fine tune your system is huge; eero constrains you to the phone app and has a "we handle all the hard work" and "our system learns your usage patterns" messaging that I am not entirely comfortable with - but mostly because I like to get my hands dirty. They also state that web access opens the units up to other ulnerabilities - which may be the case - but then give the user an app for OSX or Windows similar to what Apple has with AirPort Utility. I am far from a super user expert - but at this point have a fairly decent understanding of the technology and how to not entirely mess it up. :)
I liked ORBI's approach, and like I said I wanted it to work. It was extremely accessible to those of us who aren't afraid to get under the hood. And while other's on the forum may have a different experience, Netgear's support was fantastic once I could get them on the phone. I spent (what felt like) hours with them on the line as we looked to figure out the issues.
st_shawwrote:Jvreeman No problem. Yes, I see you said EERO Pro. I read that too quickly.
My point was just that drops in the WiFi analyzer graphs are to be expected, and don't indicate a problem with your WiFi. The fact that you see the same drops with your perfectly functioning EERO Pro should further illustrate that point.
I did understand that you might have a legitimate issue with your Orbi, and that you were probably using other problems to conclude that. I just wanted to make sure that you, and others who read this thread, know they shouldn't use the WIFi analyzer graphs to conclude their WiFi signal is "dropping." A lot of people got spun up over this misinformation once before, and it caused a lot of unecessary grief.
Good luck with the EERO. Please do let us know how it works for you.
I've been using the eero for two weeks now, no problems at all. I'm using the eero in bridge mode, as an AP, and it is functioning perfectly, strong wireless all over the house, no disconnects, pauses, or loss of sync, etc. Very happy with it. I'm debating whether I'll sell the Orbi or not at this point.
when I tested the EERO pro system, it worked well for me too; the only thing I did not like was the internet speeds were no where near what they are with the Orbi, so eventually, I returned the EERO and went with Orbi Pro, and that has been trouble free for over a month for me.
But, the EERO would definately be my second choice at this point
wase4711wrote:when I tested the EERO pro system, it worked well for me too; the only thing I did not like was the internet speeds were no where near what they are with the Orbi, so eventually, I returned the EERO and went with Orbi Pro, and that has been trouble free for over a month for me.
But, the EERO would definately be my second choice at this point
Not an issue for me with the eero...I see close to my ISP's download speed just about everywhere in my house. But it's only 150Mbps nominal, provisioned at 180Mbps. If we ever get internet speeds over 500Mbps, I suspect I'll be rethinking our wireless. Comcast has not seen fit to give us that opportunity, though, and they have no competition here at this point.
