My wifi seems to go down between 6-10 times per day on average. The provider of our wireless satellite service says everything looks good on their end and they see no service interruptions. They say it may be our router. I did some digging on our router and found out that I bought it in April of '13 after asking for advice on which one to get on SigForum.

The router I am using is an Asus RT-N56U. It has worked fine for years. I assume the actual modem is in the satellite dish on our roof? Last year, in an effort to get a wifi signal that reached further, I added in an Orbi RBR-40 router + satelite unit. It worked fantastically. So my current setup is satellite dish > ASUS > Orbi. Over the past several months, the reliability has gone to crap. Constant signal drops.

My assumption was that, since the ASUS and Orbi are both routers, I could just pull the ASUS out and go Satellite dish > Orbi and live happily ever after. This does not seem to be the case, unless there I have to go back through some "initial setup" routine. Do I need to replace my ASUS with another router to make all this work again?

First step is to make sure you are running the latest firmware for your hardware.

See if an update makes a difference.

0-0

quote:

Originally posted by 0-0:
First step is to make sure you are running the latest firmware for your hardware.

See if an update makes a difference.

0-0

Orbi was updated. Updating ASUS now...

quote:

Originally posted by 0-0:
First step is to make sure you are running the latest firmware for your hardware.

See if an update makes a difference.

0-0

Plus 1. I have the same router. When the firmware needs updated, it almost always gives an intermittent signal.

I don't know anything about the Orbi product, but, if you're doing

Orbi <-> ASUS <-> ISP Equipment

and the Orbi stuff is routing, then, yes: You should eliminated the ASUS in the middle. The other thing to do is see if the Orbi stuff can be persuaded to operate as a WiFi Access Point.

The other thing is: You say "[Your] WiFi seems to go down..." Is it your actual WiFi network, the ASUS router or your Internet connection? Do you know how to tell the difference? (I'm kind of suspecting you do not.)

quote:

Originally posted by rockchalk06:
Plus 1. I have the same router. When the firmware needs updated, it almost always gives an intermittent signal.

That seems unlikely. A new firmware revision doesn't make a prior version suddenly flaky.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I don't know anything about the Orbi product, but, if you're doing

Orbi <-> ASUS <-> ISP Equipment

and the Orbi stuff is routing, then, yes: You should eliminated the ASUS in the middle. The other thing to do is see if the Orbi stuff can be persuaded to operate as a WiFi Access Point.

The other thing is: You say "[Your] WiFi seems to go down..." Is it your actual WiFi network, the ASUS router or your Internet connection? Do you know how to tell the difference? (I'm kind of suspecting you do not.)

quote:

Originally posted by rockchalk06:
Plus 1. I have the same router. When the firmware needs updated, it almost always gives an intermittent signal.

That seems unlikely. A new firmware revision doesn't make a prior version suddenly flaky.

I do not know how to tell the difference between what is actually going down when I lose my connection. I would love to take the ASUS out of the equation if possible. I’ve not been successful at upgrading the ASUS firmware and am now down to using the phone’s cellular data as my internet . In topics such as this, I prefer to have it explained to me as though I were a 5 year old. I will take no offense at this.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I don't know anything about the Orbi product, but, if you're doing

Orbi <-> ASUS <-> ISP Equipment

and the Orbi stuff is routing, then, yes: You should eliminated the ASUS in the middle. The other thing to do is see if the Orbi stuff can be persuaded to operate as a WiFi Access Point.

The other thing is: You say "[Your] WiFi seems to go down..." Is it your actual WiFi network, the ASUS router or your Internet connection? Do you know how to tell the difference? (I'm kind of suspecting you do not.)

quote:

Originally posted by rockchalk06:
Plus 1. I have the same router. When the firmware needs updated, it almost always gives an intermittent signal.

That seems unlikely. A new firmware revision doesn't make a prior version suddenly flaky.

Next time it goes down, I'll send you a video and expect an apology because your statement seems flaky.

I think you're on the right track ditching the ASUS router. I installed a TP Link DECO mesh system in my neighbor's home, and the first think I had to do was get with her internet provider to get what I needed to disable the routing portion of their modem/router combo so the main DECO unit could handle the routing on the network.

Ditch the ASUS router and see what happens with reliability. If it still fails frequently, then you'll obviously need to dig further.

So, you have an Asus Router and an Orbi Router? I wouldn't recommend two routers on the same LAN. If both are handing out IP addresses via DHCP, there are going to be intermittent drops and re-assigns, plus other potential conflicts.

quote:

Originally posted by rockchalk06:
Next time it goes down, I'll send you a video and expect an apology because your statement seems flaky.

I can see how you might come to that conclusion. I'll forgo explaining why, as it would do nothing to assist the OP.

Btw: Your expectations are probably unrealistic

quote:

Originally posted by MikeV:
I do not know how to tell the difference between what is actually going down when I lose my connection.

Well, the thing to do it identify other things on your home network, how they're connected (if WiFi, which WiFi network: ASUS or Orbi), get their IP addresses, and see if they're ping-able. Then, when you experience trouble, see what's still reachable and what's not.

The easiest thing to do this with would be a desktop or laptop. Preferably hard-wired to the ASUS router, but...

quote:

Originally posted by MikeV:
I would love to take the ASUS out of the equation if possible. I’ve not been successful at upgrading the ASUS firmware and am now down to using the phone’s cellular data as my internet .

Do you mean that, in attempting to update the ASUS device it morphed into a doorstop?

quote:

Originally posted by MikeV:
In topics such as this, I prefer to have it explained to me as though I were a 5 year old. I will take no offense at this.

Yeah... This could take a while

quote:

Originally posted by italia:
So, you have an Asus Router and an Orbi Router? I wouldn't recommend two routers on the same LAN. If both are handing out IP addresses via DHCP, there are going to be intermittent drops and re-assigns, plus other potential conflicts.

Good catch, italia. I hadn't thought of DHCP conflicts. (Should have, though.)

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
I think you're on the right track ditching the ASUS router. I installed a TP Link DECO mesh system in my neighbor's home, and the first think I had to do was get with her internet provider to get what I needed to disable the routing portion of their modem/router combo so the main DECO unit could handle the routing on the network.

Ditch the ASUS router and see what happens with reliability. If it still fails frequently, then you'll obviously need to dig further.

I’m wondering if I need to call the internet provider to get the stuff you said after, “get with her internet provider”. I pulled the ASUS out and can connect to the ORBI system, but it’s not connected to the internet. Under the ORBI advanced setup, it says I can alternatively connect via Static IP or PPPoE, both of which require infor from my ISP.

The failed attempt at updating the ASUS firmware was attempted via a hardwire connection between my wife’s MAC and the router. It just kept saying it failed. The modem was plugged into the main input line and her computer was plugged into one of the other 5 open inputs. I’ve pulled the ASUS out completely and am wondering if I should call the ISP and ask them to provide me with something and hope they don’t ask any questions that I likely can’t answer.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeV:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
I think you're on the right track ditching the ASUS router. I installed a TP Link DECO mesh system in my neighbor's home, and the first think I had to do was get with her internet provider to get what I needed to disable the routing portion of their modem/router combo so the main DECO unit could handle the routing on the network.

Ditch the ASUS router and see what happens with reliability. If it still fails frequently, then you'll obviously need to dig further.

I’m wondering if I need to call the internet provider to get the stuff you said after, “get with her internet provider”. I pulled the ASUS out and can connect to the ORBI system, but it’s not connected to the internet. Under the ORBI advanced setup, it says I can alternatively connect via Static IP or PPPoE, both of which require infor from my ISP.

The failed attempt at updating the ASUS firmware was attempted via a hardwire connection between my wife’s MAC and the router. It just kept saying it failed. The modem was plugged into the main input line and her computer was plugged into one of the other 5 open inputs. I’ve pulled the ASUS out completely and am wondering if I should call the ISP and ask them to provide me with something and hope they don’t ask any questions that I likely can’t answer.

Call you ISP and perform the following...

1 - Take your ASUS router and put it away in a closet somewhere.
2 - Have your ISP check the connection to your modem to insure the modem is functioning properly on their network.
3 - Verify that your ISP installed a modem only (i.e. not a modem/router combo) when your service was setup. If a modem/router combo was installed, they'll have to help you disable the routing side of the unit. When it works as it should, you should be able to connect a laptop directly to the modem and have an internet connection. If you take your cellphone and scan for WiFi networks, you should see none in your home (maybe neighbors networks, but not yours).
4 - Turn off or unplug the Orbi unit(s) for five minutes, plug the modem into the Orbi base unit, and power it on. Once up and running, then power on the other Orbi unit. Wait for both to finish their startup and connection procedure and then test your WiFi. First connect to your WiFi network, then test to insure your have internet access. If it doesn't work, go to step 5.
5 - Read your Orbi doc and figure out how to reset the units to their default (out of box) settings, and then reinstall the Orbi units, closely following the instructions.

If after all that it still doesn't work, you may need to invite someone into your home to further trouble shoot it for you.

OK! Turns out the dish we have doesn't need a modem, so now I can quit wondering if it is a modem. I talked through my issue with the ISP and they gave me a username and password to use with the PPPoE option. Everything seems to be working now and the ASUS is safely in the closet.

Thank you for all the help guys!