[Shop-talk] orbi mesh network system

Wed Sep 23 21:24:10 MDT 2026

Glad to hear it's working! Happy to help.

________________
Sent from my phone
Best Regards,
Al Fuller

On Wed, Sep 23, 2026, 10:50 AM john niolon <jniolon at att.net> wrote:

> well Al,    show you how dumb I am.....
> I did some extra reading and found a forum about how critical placement
> can be.  I( played around with modem and satellite placement
> and found a place where the two would connect... been two days and
> everything is still connected... although speed is not optimal.  You
> mentioned ORBIs
> problem with overhead traffic so I'm satisfied with shop performance for
> now
>
> I really appreciate your time and attention... trying to help an old tech
> challenged guy get connected.
>
> john
>
>
> *----- Original Message -----*
> *From:* Al Fuller <alfuller194 at gmail.com>
> *To:* john niolon <jniolon at att.net>, Shop Talk <Shop-talk at autox.team.net>
> *Sent:* 09/20/2026 7:23:44 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [Shop-talk] orbi mesh network system
> ------------------------------
> Ok, no Ethernet jack on the remote mesh node, so no way to narrow it down
> that way.
>
> Next suggestion is to look up the procedures for (1) resetting it, and (2)
> factory resetting it in case (1) didn't work.
>
> You may be able to get it working again by resetting or factory resetting.
>
> BTW, maybe I missed it but can you tell us whether anything was changed
> before it quit working? Or anything happened, like electrical short nearby,
> lightning storm, power outage, brownout, etc.
>
> Last year I had security cameras that quit and it turned out a power surge
> had killed 2 power supplies AND several individual cameras - so I'm
> reminded to ask about the environment before it quit.
>
>
> ________________
> Sent from my phone
> Best Regards,
> Al Fuller
>
> On Sun, Sep 20, 2026, 1:47 PM john niolon <jniolon at att.net> wrote:
>
>> First Al, thanks for all your time and energy doing this... it might be
>> all futile.
>>
>> The satellite unit has no Ethernet port.   The modem has both Ethernet
>> and internet
>> ports and the only one used is the internet port that plugs into the ATT
>> fiber box.
>>
>>
>> *----- Original Message -----*
>> *From:* Al Fuller <alfuller194 at gmail.com>
>> *To:* john niolon <jniolon at att.net>, Shop Talk <Shop-talk at autox.team.net>
>> *Sent:* 09/19/2026 9:45:57 PM
>> *Subject:* Re: [Shop-talk] orbi mesh network system
>> ------------------------------
>> Ok, this is progress.
>>
>> On the failing unit, is there an Ethernet jack you could temporarily plug
>> into? If so, you might be able to reboot it or at least troubleshoot.
>>
>> If not, there is likely still some process to reset it.
>>
>> If all else fails, you might still be able to add an access point from
>> another vendor that would connect wirelessly.
>>
>> Do keep in mind that all mesh systems have upsides and down. The upside
>> is you can get coverage in places where there's no Ethernet cable, but the
>> downside is that the mesh node has to wirelessly 'backhaul' to the base
>> station in addition to the usual transmission between itself and the client
>> devices like phones tablets TVs, etc.   As such, the speed and quality are
>> very poor. But if that's the only way to get the signal, it's better than
>> nothing. Often people find it's preferable to bite the bullet and run a
>> cable.
>>
>> Let us know what you find in the troubleshooting.
>>
>> ________________
>> Sent from my phone
>> Best Regards,
>> Al Fuller
>>
>> On Sat, Sep 19, 2026, 10:41 AM john niolon <jniolon at att.net> wrote:
>>
>>> both satellites connect to the modem wirelessly... one works
>>> perfectly... the other is dead... I even brought the dead one and sat it
>>> next
>>> to the modem and rebooted everything... the dead one still dead, the
>>> other is fine...  afaik nothing has changed in equipment or software
>>> unless ORBI did a firmware dump that I didn't know about BUT that should
>>> have killed both of them, right ??
>>>
>>>
>>> *----- Original Message -----*
>>> *From:* Al Fuller <alfuller194 at gmail.com>
>>> *To:* john niolon <jniolon at att.net>, Shop Talk <Shop-talk at autox.team.net
>>> >
>>> *Sent:* 09/19/2026 10:08:03 AM
>>> *Subject:* Re: [Shop-talk] orbi mesh network system
>>> ------------------------------
>>> Ok, let's all do some basic troubleshooting...
>>>
>>> Are all satellites failing to connect? Or just one or some? If it's all
>>> the issue is likely at the base station, while if 1 or more still work the
>>> issue is likely localized.
>>>
>>> Are the satellites connected with Wi-Fi or wired?
>>>
>>> Finally (and possibly most important) was anything changed or anything
>>> happened to the system between when it worked and didn't?
>>>
>>> ________________
>>> Sent from my phone
>>> Best Regards,
>>> Al Fuller
>>>
>>> On Fri, Sep 18, 2026, 4:01 AM john niolon <jniolon at att.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> This system has one main wifi router and two satellite 'extenders'.
>>>> Maybe I used the wrong term.  The two satellite boxes should connect
>>>> ( 'sync')
>>>> with the router to give you a total mesh system.  One works fine … the
>>>> other (in the detached shop has stopped connecting.  Net gear
>>>> says they don't support the system and only fix is a 400 buck
>>>> replacement... I'm just flailing here hoping someone might have come up
>>>> with some troubleshooting that might fix this... Netgear's customer
>>>> service sucks and they advertise "Have your credit card ready when you call"
>>>>
>>>> thanks
>>>> john
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> *----- Original Message -----*
>>>> *From:* Al Fuller <alfuller194 at gmail.com>
>>>> *To:* john niolon <jniolon at att.net>
>>>> *Cc:* shop-talk <shop-talk at autox.team.net>
>>>> *Sent:* 09/17/2026 9:41:08 PM
>>>> *Subject:* Re: [Shop-talk] orbi mesh network system
>>>> ------------------------------
>>>> I'm not exactly clear on what you mean by a box won't sync.
>>>>
>>>> Do you mean the system clock won't sync to a local ntp server? Remote
>>>> service? Rsync service fails to move files? Other?
>>>>
>>>> ________________
>>>> Sent from my phone
>>>> Best Regards,
>>>> Al Fuller
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Sep 17, 2026, 6:17 AM john niolon <jniolon at att.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Anyone using an ORBI network mesh system... I have a satellite box
>>>>> that will not sync and Netgear's solution is to
>>>>> upgrade to a new system for 400 bucks
>>>>>
>>>>> anyone got any trouble shooting suggestions
>>>>>
>>>>> thanks
>>>>> john
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
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