RBK40 Download Speed Slows Down After 5 Days

[Ryan1919]

I have the RBK40 Router with two RBS20 satellites connected to my home wifi. I'm using it in router mode and not AP mode..Every 5 days my Internet speed drops from around 200mbps to around 40mbps..The satellites are not affected and I still get over 200mbps on each satellite. My satellites are connected through wireless backhaul. I can reboot the the system and every thing will go back to normal for another 5 days..What could be causing this? Memory leak of some sort) I have not changed any of the default settings except for disabling the daisy chain option. I am running the latest firmware (2.1.4.16) 

[michaelkenward]

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@Ryan1919 wrote:

Every 5 days my Internet speed drops from around 200mbps to around 40mbps.

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Internet speed or wifi speed?

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I can reboot the the system and every thing will go back to normal for another 5 days..What could be causing this? Memory leak of some sort) I have not changed any of the default settings except for disabling the daisy chain option.

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Here's an off the wall suggestion, the next time this happens, don't reboot, go into the GUI and clear out the logs.

There is a manual for the Orbi WiFi System somewhere at the end of this link:

>>>> Orbi RBK50 | WiFi System | NETGEAR Support <<<<

Check the bit  View and Manage Logs of Router Activity.

I mention this because someone else had some some experiments with a different router that showed wifi issues growing over time and found that full logs were behind it.

This may have nothing to do with what you see, but the experiment would be useful. If it works then you know what to do, turn off the logs or find a logging regime that works without causing a slowdown.

[Ryan1919]

Thanks for the reply. When I said "Internet speed" I meant the speed I'm seeing while connected to wifi. All of my devices are connected via wifi and I don't have anything hardwired as of now.

I will give your suggestion a shot when i see my speeds start to drop again and will update this tread when I do. I was reading that the logs hold a maximum of 250 entries so maybe when they get full is when I see the speed drops. In the log section of GUI there are total of 8 different options I can log. If clearing them fixes the issue which ones would you suggest that I leave checked afterwards. Do I need any of them checked? I'm not very technical, so when I look at the logs it means nothing to me. Would I need them for anything other than me looking at them?

[michaelkenward]

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@Ryan1919 wrote:

Do I need any of them checked? I'm not very technical, so when I look at the logs it means nothing to me. Would I need them for anything other than me looking at them?

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Your call really. The logs are there to help you to diagnose problems.

You could consult them to see if they show anything related to your wifi issues.

I have my logs set up to email them to me daily. This seems to empty out the log.

Another thing you could try would be to factory reset the Orbi router.

[Ryan1919]

Ok I will try your first suggestion first to see if that is the problem. So your saying if I set the logs to email out to myself that it will clear the logs that you see when logged into the admin section?

[michaelkenward]

Not sure how it works. I'm just saying that my logs are empty. Nothing after the [email sent to: entry.

Then again, I have no idea if logs have anything to do with your slowdown. It is just a guess based on comments I have seen elsewhere in this community.

[Ryan1919]

Ok great..Thanks for your help and suggestions! I will update this thread if I see an improvement after clearing the logs after my speed drops. 

[FURRYe38]

What FW is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the IP modem the Orbi is connected too?
What is the Mfr and model# of the ethernet switch if one is in the configuration.
What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials.

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
Try disabling the following and see:
MIMO, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).

Are your speeds tested wireless or wired?

Was a reset performed after the FW update?

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@Ryan1919 wrote:

I have the RBK40 Router with two RBS20 satellites connected to my home wifi. I'm using it in router mode and not AP mode..Every 5 days my Internet speed drops from around 200mbps to around 40mbps..The satellites are not affected and I still get over 200mbps on each satellite. My satellites are connected through wireless backhaul. I can reboot the the system and every thing will go back to normal for another 5 days..What could be causing this? Memory leak of some sort) I have not changed any of the default settings except for disabling the daisy chain option. I am running the latest firmware (2.1.4.16) 

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[Ryan1919]

1.) FW version (2.1.4.16)

2.) Arris Surfboard SB6183 Modem-If I hook up directly to the modem I get my full download speed. After I saw my speed slow down on the router I hooked my computer directly to the modem to see if the problem was coming from my isp. 

3.) Home Square Feet= 2107

4.) Both satellites are almost exactly 30 feet from the router. My satellites are not affected..I'm only seeing the speeds slow down on the router on the 5th day after I reboot everything. It happens on the 5th day every time..If I reboot the system the speeds go back to over 200mbps for another 5 days.

5.) My channels are set to auto. I downloaded Netspot and none of my neighbors are on the same channel as me. I have 2 houses nearby.

6.) I've already tried disabling those options but it did not affect anything. 

7.) My speeds are tested wireless.I get over 200mbps wirelessly until the fifth day and then anything connected to the router will drop to about 40mbps..Anything connected to the satillites after the fifth day will continue to see speeds over 200mbps wirelessly. After I reboot the speeds on the router will go back to over 200mbps wirelessly.

8.) There has not been a firmware update since I bought the system that I'm aware of.

I'm going to try clearing the logs next time my speeds slow down again per a suggestion from another person on this thread. 

[Ryan1919]

On #4 I meant to say the speeds slow down on the 5th day every time and after i reboot the speeds will resume to over 200 mbps second again. 

[FURRYe38]

"5.) My channels are set to auto. I downloaded Netspot and none of my neighbors are on the same channel as me. I have 2 houses nearby." Can't be on same channel as this will cause interferences. Lets try manual channels, 1, 6 or 11, which ever one is less used by nieghbors. Try any channel on 5Ghz.

[Ryan1919]

Currently none of my neighbors are on the same channel as me..I will check again and see if anything has changed and if they are I will change the channel. Thanks for your help!!

[FURRYe38]

Try a factory reset as a last resort as well and set up from scratch. Disable MIMO, Daisy Chain and Fast Roaming as well...use manual channels...Hope something makes it better for you..

[Blanca_O]

Hi Ryan1919, 

We’d greatly appreciate hearing your feedback letting us know if the information michaelkenward and FURRYe38 provided has helped resolve your issue or if you need further assistance.

Regards, 
Blanca 
Community Team
 

[Ryan1919]

Hey guys just wanted to give a quick update on my situation. Today was the six day and my speeds dropped to around 40mbps again on the router only. I went in and cleared the logs but that did not help so I guess it's back to the drawing board. As of right now the only thing that will make my speeds go back to 200mbps is rebooting the system. The weird thing is that the satellites are not affected and anything attached to them continue to see speeds over 200mbps. I'm going to set the system up to email me the logs everyday so the logs will clear out each day and will never really get full and hopefully this will help. 

[FURRYe38]

Has the ethernet cable been swapped out between the modem and Orbi router?

When you are testing speeds, are you wired or wireless connected with a PC and testing with a browser at speedtest.net?

[Ryan1919]

Yes the cable has been replaced twice but still no change. When I test I am testing wirelessly. I just rebooted the system and I'm now getting 217mbps wirelessly which is where it should be. Next time it slows down I will hardwire to the router to see if the speed is slow while hardwired in. I am testing on my PC using the speed test my internet provider uses, which is powered by Ookla. 

[FURRYe38]

[Ryan1919]

Today was the 5th day and my router speeds dropped to around 40mbps again while connected wirelessly. My devices connected to the satellites were still seeing full download speeds at around 212mbps connected wirelessly. I went ahead and wired my computer in via Ethernet cord to the back of the router and I got the full download speed of 217mbps. So basically something is happening every 5 days that causes my download speeds to drop to around 40mbps for any device that is connected to the router wirelessly. My satellites are not affected and when I’m hardwired into the router it is not affected. Only devices connected to the router wirelessly are affected. I’ve done all the normal troubleshooting: Disabled mu-MIMO, daisy chain, and beam forwarding. I’ve also cleared my logs daily. I haven’t tried a factory reset yet but will that really help anything? The only thing that will reliably fix it is doing a reboot. Any ideas on what this could be? It’s really frustrating that I spent this much money and have to baby sit the router and reboot it every five days for it to work right. Could I possibly have a bad router, or do you think this something that a firmware update could fix?

[FURRYe38]

Yes, lets do a factory reset on the router and set up from scratch. IF the problem continues after than then the router needs to be RMAd and replaced.

[Ryan1919]

I did a factory reset today so we will see if the problem persist after the 5th or 6th day. I will update on the 6th day. Thanks for your help!!

[FURRYe38]

[Ryan1919]

Just wanted to make a quick update on my situation ..I'm on the seventh day and my speeds are staying constant at 217mbps on the router and satellites. This is after I did a factory reset 7 days ago. I will keep watching it and checking the speeds everyday to see if it does it again. I didn't notice my speeds going down until the 20th day the first time it happened, but I wasn't testing it everyday so I don't know when it happened the first time..I will keep this thread updated.

[FURRYe38]

Thanks for letting us know. Hope it keeps working well for you. Enjoy.

[Ryan1919]

Ok I made it to the 15 days and when I checked my speeds last night they were at 40mbps again. 15 days ago I did  factory reset and everything has been good until yesterday. Before I did the factory reset it would drop speeds to 40mbps every 5 days or so, but after a factory reset it lasted 15 days before my speeds slowed down again. I did a reboot and my speeds went back up to 217mbps again. The weird thing is that my satellites aren't affected and if I hard wire into the router after my speeds drop I don't see a speed drop. It seems to only be affecting speeds for devices connected wirelessly to the router. I don't know what to do at this point. I don't understand why this happening. I've done all the normal trouble shooting by disabling MU-Mimo, daisy chain, fast roaming, etc..I have my logs sent to me every morning so my logs clear out each day. I see that there is a firmware update, but I'm hesitant to update in case there are bugs worse than what I already have.