I would love some help troubleshooting my Orbi Mesh. I think I have figured out that it is not transmitting 2.4 GHz, but I could be totally wrong. It started acting up about a month ago, which was also about the same time we moved and shortly after Spectrum came out and upgraded our modem and hooked up Gig service. Maybe connected, maybe not.
1 ) Our televisions continue to stream, only our computers and phones, etc (and of course my Glowforge) are affected.
2) Some days it works fine, some days it will go offline a few times, days like today, despite rebooting the modem and router/mesh numerous times, my computer/phones have been offline 90% of the time.
3) When it is acting up I can not login to the Orbi App via my phone or the Netgear Router on my computer.
4) Occasionally on the Orbi App it will show that the router is âofflineâ, but most of the time it will not login at all.
5) At one point in some random place in the Orbi App I thought I saw that it was only transmitting 5 GHz⌠maybe that explains why my TVs are working and only my computers and phones are affected???
The Orbi I have is the Netgear Orbi RBK14 which includes an RBR10 router and three RBS10 satellites. My modem just says Spectrum on the side (no other brand name), and says model #ET2251.
My Orbi is about 16 months old. Possible to troubleshoot or give up and buy a new mesh?
The 2.4GHz band is very congested. A lot of stuff uses it besides WiFi routers. You moved to a new location where the band maybe much more congested than before you moved.
Iâve got a program on my cell phone (Android) called âWiFi Analyzerâ that provides a pissload of information about what the phone is seeing on 2.4 and 5.8. Using this tool, you can identify channels on the 2.4G band that are less congested, and your Orbi Mesh should include a feature that lets you tell it which channel to use.
I donât have the problem youâre describing, but I did this same thing myself. Everyoneâs WiFi access points tend to default to the same channel. All my neighborâs access points were bunched up on top of each other. I told my mesh system (Linksys) to use the highest channel on 2.4G and my 2.4G device performance improvedâŚ
Will try that⌠My computer is online but my phone is not right now. Arghhhh. Iâm not super congested here, I have a 60 acre nature conservatory behind me But yes, I will try this as soon as Iâm able.
Found similar app on my Mac. Sending the results to you and @PrintToLaser just so you can see how little is in the area (acre lots with much farmland around including the 60 acres right behind me) . Switched my channel to 11. Computer still online. Restarted my phone. It is online as of right now. Will keep you posted.
Little to zero cell service out here and I have to keep cell service through my internet for more reasons then just safety.
Thanks. Fingers crossed this will do it although Iâm not convinced yet due to the lack of homes in the area.
Just replied to your PM where I suggested you move up to channel 11, before I saw this. Yeah, you donât have a lot of WiFi traffic in your area, but the analyzer isnât going to see non-WiFi traffic on the band. And lots of stuff uses 2.4G in non-WiFi ways - baby monitors, some CCTV systems, etc.
For cell service through your internet, are you using a âmicrocellâ interface (the cell phone sees a valid cellular service vs. the phone running VOIP through its WiFi?)
Weâve been having a similar issue with ours, it has been reset numerous times and now seems to have stopped going off, so annoying though. Following here and will add anything that might be of use.
If I were @Pearl Iâd turn off the 5Ghz network and only enable the 2.4 to troubleshoot. Turn the phones to airplane mode and turn wifi on. They should connect 2.4 easily enough. That will eliminate devices auto-switching to the 5Ghz signal or the phones using wireless when you want to check the wifi. Probably a good idea to kill all DNS registrations so the devices have to re-establish connectivity at the lowest level to get a new IP assigned.
I had similar issues with my Orbi, this link tells what I did.
A few months ago I got my Starlink satellite connection and did away with the Orbi. I went with a TP Link network with two access points in my home and P2P to 3 buildings on my property (200+ feet from house) and now have absolutely no issues. I have 10 wifi based video cameras, several smart TVâs, 2 Apple TVâs, 4 Macs, 4 iPads , 2 iPhones, 1 Dell Laptop and the âForgeâ all connected 24-7 and could not be happier.
BTW- the GF is still on a dedicated channel too.
Shortly after I responded last night my phones and computers lost connection again for the rest of the night. I am online again now. Iâm trying to decide if I want to troubleshoot now or wait and see as I have something crucial we have to do online this afternoon.
@ovm.steve I am the other user that has always had issues with my Apple TV and my glowforge. My Glowforge is the only thing on my guest network, everything else is on my main network. Unfortunately this is now a new issue. I canât even keep my computer online so if I canât keep my computer online there is no way to even send projects to my GF.
Thanks so much. I will try this, just deciding if I want to try now or after this afternoon when we have to have internet connection since it is working right this second. Iâll touch base later.
Iâd wait on the troubleshooting. If itâs working now youâre likely to dive into a time-suck and potentially end up breaking something. If it keeps working youâre good. If it stops then youâre no worse off than if you started down the troubleshooting hole now.
Yep, Iâm still online. There really isnât a rhyme or reason as to why I might go a few days with zero issues and then a day fighting to have a couple of hours of uninterrupted use.
It would be great if I could get at least to Saturday with no major issues so we can get these last minute time sensitive things uploaded.
Iâm on the list for Starlink, canât wait to get it but I think it will be a while for us. For the moment we are having to manage with download speed of about 6-9Mbps and upload of about 0.5Mbps. Stressful.
Our downloads were at .5 or less. It was a nightmare⌠and the were charging us $175 a month. We are in a tiny little area that is not covered by cellular or wireless bb so Viasat was our only choice until Starlink
Wow that must have driven you absolutely crazy - Iâm very happy for you. We have an option of one provider, itâs âwifi internetâ. We have very little cell service as someone in a house close by apparently moved here to escape all the electromagnetic radiation in the city and successfully blocked construction of a cell tower⌠not sure why they didnât block the wifi internet tower but maybe they needed the internetâŚ
Wow! That is insane. Ok, I wonât complain about my service or cost again. It is frustrating for our cellular to really not work here and need to rely on connecting our phones to the internet but we knew that going in and we do have great internet speed and for a reasonable cost.
When we built our house 10 years ago, ATT wouldnât even put in a land line telling us they were going to be phased out and cellular would be all we needed. Since then our cell coverage has degraded until many times we canât get a signal inside the house. At the end of my driveway just 1500 feet away I can connect at 5G.
Wow. ATT is screwing you. Had marginal ATT cell service for a few years until it also degraded. So now I donât get cell service at the house either. But we have a Non Profit Telecom Coop that serves the entire county with land lines. Only 13 thousand people in a county larger than the city of Los Angeles. Years ago they installed fiber directly to my house in the middle of nowhere. (Pic taken from my home)
All of the county residents can get at least 6Mbps DSL over copper phone lines and most of it can connect to 100Mbps fiber. Never heard of a residence unable to get a land line or DSL. Even in the deepest darkest hollows, of which there are many. Of course the cost is slightly more than folks pay in cities but much, much less than satellite internet. My next door neighbor is in another county and has to deal with what is basically dial-up internet through for-profit Frontier though they purchased hi-speed internet. No other providers other than satellite.
But yes, I will try this as soon as Iâm able.
