I've had our for about 2 months and have been a bit disappointed. I had to set up in access point mode due to AT&T fiber NVG not allowing a true bridge mode. In doing this I lost the ability to control each individual device. Also, I can't assign individual devices to satellites, causing some devices to 'jump over' the nearest satellite and connecting to one further away with lesser signal. I think my back haul connection may be suspect, intermittent connection. I may need to test that cat5. What's the best way to test a connection quality? I have a toner but it doesn't tell me if there's too much noise, too long of a run or some other signal issue. Anyone have similar issues?

To confirm, you aren't using the wireless backhaul between Orbi's, but have them connected via Cat5e? And suspect that backhaul may be contributing to the bad connections?

I just have an 8 pin rj45 continuity tester to confirm the pinout is good (that you can borrow if you want). I don't have a fancy cable tester, so I just connect two mac's/PCs to either end of the cable, and test a file transfer between them. Can use the self assigned 169.x.x.x IP addresses to connect to each other. Usually get > 900 Mbps with a good cable.

I enjoy troubleshooting this kind of stuff so would by happy to help if you need it.

That's correct. Even though the backhaul status is good, I do drop out a lot. Since I've last posted, I've discovered the problem is with the 2.4Ghz connection. I'll be at 2-8 Mbps all of a sudden down from 150-200. On 5mbps it'll run up to 600. It nearly kills multiplayer on PS4 (1st gen). Might have to get a power line or a new PS4. Been meaning to get one to play war zone with my teen. I appreciate the offer to help. I have one of those devices that checks wiring and continuity. I have to find it. I really think this is a 2.4Ghz issue with the Orbi.

Could be some 2.4 interference, since it is typically a noisier space than 5.8 GHz.

Guess your PS4 isn't close enough to plug Ethernet directly to a satellite Orbi?

Nope. Too far to hardwire. That's why I'm thinking of of a power line. The PS4 is 10' line of sight from the router itself. For some reason it chooses to connect to a satellite 20' away on a different floor.

PS4 gen1 Wi-Fi has tons of known issues. I had to hardwire mine in and cleared up all of my issues.

Whelp sorry to derail but my Orbi router is bricked...

I've had it for two months and the the weirdest thing happened. Everything was working great when the wife and I went on a walk. Got back and wifi was up, but no internet. Couldn't login to the wfi and I noticed the ethernet light on my ATT gateway wasn't lit up. Confirmed the gateway had internet and also plugged laptio directly into gateway which caused the ethernet light to turn on.

At this point, I decided to just do a factory reset of the orbi as I couldn't even connect to the orbi wifi (so I could access the settings). Multiple tries of holding down the reset button with a paperclip longer than a minute at times isn't doing anything.

$400 product for two months and now I am effed b/c netgear isn't responding to my ticket.

That's messed up. Can you return it?

You may have credit card purchase protection.

Also, it should have a 1 year warranty. Call and get an RMA.

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-RBR50-Warranty-Period/td-p/1805984

Do we have to use the wired backhaul? I have a tough time getting a certain satellite to give me internet. The WiFi strength is fine but it seems every time I get on a certain unit, I'm basically offline even though it shows I have 4 WiFi bars and connected successfully.

Thanks! I'll disconnect the CAT5 one I think is problematic and see if it fixes it.

V8Aggie said:

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Whelp sorry to derail but my Orbi router is bricked...

I've had it for two months and the the weirdest thing happened. Everything was working great when the wife and I went on a walk. Got back and wifi was up, but no internet. Couldn't login to the wfi and I noticed the ethernet light on my ATT gateway wasn't lit up. Confirmed the gateway had internet and also plugged laptio directly into gateway which caused the ethernet light to turn on.

At this point, I decided to just do a factory reset of the orbi as I couldn't even connect to the orbi wifi (so I could access the settings). Multiple tries of holding down the reset button with a paperclip longer than a minute at times isn't doing anything.

$400 product for two months and now I am effed b/c netgear isn't responding to my ticket.

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Update on above - after going back and forth with Netgear for a month they finally sent me a new unit. Initially, they reviewed my detailed complaint and troubleshooting and tried to feed me a line of BS about the manufacturer's date vs purchase date regarding warranty.

Long story short I raised hell and got a new one.

Good deal. Mine seems to be working. I do see issues hopping from satellite to satellite and my outdoor coverage is worthless. We did hard wire the PS4 and have not had any problems since.

Comeby! said:

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Good deal. Mine seems to be working. I do see issues hopping from satellite to satellite and my outdoor coverage is worthless. We did hard wire the PS4 and have not had any problems since.

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Yeah they need to allow you to manually select which satellite you want to connect to (if you wish).

Mine are in bridge mode too. If I move my laptop to an areA covered better by another satellite I have to enable airplane mode briefly so it connects to the stronger signal upon return.

I wish it would just transfer but it's not a big deal.