RB50 Intermittent, but frequent WifI Drops

[gzeigler]

I have an RB50 connected to a Verison Gateway Router. Orbi is setup in bridge mode. Orbi will intermittently drop internet connection. In general - the network itself has been stable, but internet will drop off 2-3 times daily. Most times it seems that the Orbi router is still connected to the satellite units. Occasionally they lose connection too. Generally the system seems to reset itself within a few minutes. Sometimes it does not come back up and I power down the entire system (including the gateway) and power it back up to achieve reset. Can anyone help?

[Mstrbig]

Who is your ISP and what equipment did they provide?
What is the current firmware on your Orbi device?
What device is your Orbi router connected to?

Did you reboot your ISP modem/router, before starting the Orbi router install?
Have you changed the network cable connected from the ISP device to your Orbi router?
Are your satellites wired or wireless?
Disable Circle, Armor, Daisy Chaining, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and uncheck 20/40Mhz Coexistence.
Set Short preamble mode. Save settings, reboot Orbi.

[gzeigler]

@Mstrbig Thank you so much for your reply.  I believe this was extremely helpful - although I suppose time will tell if these adjustments did the trick.

Firstly - some more information.  I'm not sure I noted - I set my Orbi to AP mode.  I belive that's correct?

Next - an answer to your questions:

• Who is your ISP and what equipment did they provide?  Verizon FiOS
• What is the current firmware on your Orbi device?  V2.5.1.16
• What device is your Orbi router connected to?  FiOS G1100
• Did you reboot your ISP modem/router, before starting the Orbi router install?  I think so, but not entirely sure.
• Have you changed the network cable connected from the ISP device to your Orbi router?  No – although I believe it is working properly.
• Are your satellites wired or wireless?  Wireless – with two satellites.  The 2nd of which is showing “Blackhaul Status: Poor”.
• Disable Circle, Armor, Daisy Chaining, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and uncheck 20/40Mhz Coexistence.  All done!

Set Short preamble mode. Save settings, reboot Orbi.  All done!

I greatly appreciaet your assistance with this.  If you think that there's anything else that I'm not doing quite right, please let me know.  With the Wife and me workign from home full time and the kids in school virtually full-time, it's imperative that I get this right and stabalize the network TODAY!! 😉

Thanks once more.

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[Mstrbig]

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@gzeigler wrote:

Next - an answer to your questions:

• Who is your ISP and what equipment did they provide?  Verizon FiOS
• What is the current firmware on your Orbi device?  V2.5.1.16
• What device is your Orbi router connected to?  FiOS G1100
• Did you reboot your ISP modem/router, before starting the Orbi router install?  I think so, but not entirely sure.
• Have you changed the network cable connected from the ISP device to your Orbi router?  No – although I believe it is working properly.
• Are your satellites wired or wireless?  Wireless – with two satellites.  The 2nd of which is showing “Blackhaul Status: Poor”.
• Disable Circle, Armor, Daisy Chaining, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and uncheck 20/40Mhz Coexistence.  All done!

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If your G1100 is connected to the ONT via network cable and not COAX, try bypassing the G100 router and connect the cable from the ONT directly to the Orbi router and set the Orbi router to router mode. 

The reason why your satellite may be showing poor is because it is too far from the router and/or satellite. If your satellites are in a straight line where you have router to satellite and satellite to satellite, check Enable Daisy-Chain Topology.

[gzeigler]

Thanks very much @Mstrbig.  I have both a Coax and an Ethernet (WAN) coming from my ONT into my G1100.  Unfortunately I had (2) drops today - one at at 10am and one at aroun 1:30 - both times - the Wifi signal dropped off and the Orbi app showed no signal.   The system re-initiated on it's own (without forced reboot) within about 3 minutes.

I'll work on the connection issue with the one sattelite, however - even with the signal "poor" it seems OK.  The bigger issue is definitley the intermittant drops.  Very frustrating.

When I contacted Netgear support last time around - the adjustments (turn off Armor, etc.) helped (I used to have to do a hard reboot everytime it went down to get it to come up and now it comes back on it's own) but the lack of reliable connection is really becoming an issue.

Thanks again for your help.  Hoping you have a few more suggestions.

[Mstrbig]

Check your cable connected from g100 to orbi and make sure it is at least cat5e

[gzeigler]

Thanks again @Mstrbig.  Yep. Cat 5 all around.  Went in and double checked my gateway settings - all set up to in bridge mode - WiFi off.  Orbi all set in AP mode - all just as Verizon notes on their website.  Do you know if there is a way to force test the system rather than simply waiting for it to fail again?  Everytime I think I've made a change that will stabalize it I'm frustrated a day later when it drops off at a random time.  

[Mstrbig]

If your cable is cat5, you need to change to cat5e. Your all around speed will increase as cat5 is limited.

[gzeigler]

Thanks @Mstrbig..  Clarification - sorry...  I didn't make the distinction earlier.  It actually is Cat5e.  My speeds are very good - generally around 100 Up/Down - which is what I expect / am happy with.  It's just the intermittency that I'm struggling with.  Please let me know if you have any other suggestions. Appreciated.

[Mstrbig]

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@gzeigler wrote:

Thanks @Mstrbig..  Clarification - sorry...  I didn't make the distinction earlier.  It actually is Cat5e.  My speeds are very good - generally around 100 Up/Down - which is what I expect / am happy with.  It's just the intermittency that I'm struggling with.  Please let me know if you have any other suggestions. Appreciated.

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intermittency is usually cause by satellites too far apart, device too far from satellite or router, channel interference, wiring, walls, cordless phones and the list goes on. You could try different WIFI channels to see if one is better than the other. For me channel 1 was the best for 2.4Ghz and 48 for 5Ghz. And the WIFI speed will degrade the further awy you are from a node.

[gzeigler]

Thanks very much @Mstrbig...

I've changed the frequencies on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz.  We'll see if there is any improvement.  I'll also work to move the sattelite with the weaker signal closer to the base.  That said - just thinking this through a bit more - it seems that when the network goes down - all of it goes down including devices connected via WiFi, but alos hardwired devices (my work computer for example).  Wondering if this presents more of a clue as to what the issue could be?

Thanks agian for your guidance.  You have been tremendously helpful.

[Mstrbig]

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@gzeigler wrote:

Thanks very much @Mstrbig...

I've changed the frequencies on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz.  We'll see if there is any improvement.  I'll also work to move the sattelite with the weaker signal closer to the base.  That said - just thinking this through a bit more - it seems that when the network goes down - all of it goes down including devices connected via WiFi, but alos hardwired devices (my work computer for example).  Wondering if this presents more of a clue as to what the issue could be?

Thanks agian for your guidance.  You have been tremendously helpful.

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Since you have both a Coax and an Ethernet (WAN) coming from my ONT into the G1100, I'm assuming you have TV with set top boxes as well? If so where are your set top boxes connected?

You could try this setup:

Reset the G1100 and Orbi router.

Plug the WAN ethernet cable, going to the WAN port of the G1100, into the WAN port of the Orbi router

Run the setup for the Orbi router and it should configure itself to router mode and pull an IP address from your ISP.

Test if you have Internet access through the Orbi router.

Reset and configure your Orbi satellites.

Test if you have Internet access through the Orbi satellites.

Once your Orbi router and satellites have Internet, plug an Ethernet cable from a LAN port of the Orbi router to the WAN port of the G1100.

I would disable WiFi on the G1100.

Reboot your TV set top boxes.

Everything should now be working, including your TV boxes, using your Orbi router as the main router.