Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

You know with all the problems everyone is having I wish Netgear would at least acknowledge the issues. Some type of update as to what they are doing to fix the problems or when we can expect a new firmware to be released.

I upgraded to 1.12.0.18 over the weekend. It went 3 days then I lost my internet connection twice today.  It is back to the way it was where it WIFI will be up but I don't have an internet connection.  I tried disabling DOS protection with no affect. Come guys, Netgear has been in the business long enough to have a better quality product than this.  Is this a true Netgear product or have you licensed it from someone else?  Not up to my quality expectations.  Are you paying off the Orbi reviewers?

My experience so far with 12.0.18 has been great - no disconnects, and all devices are connecting well on 5ghz whenever they should (none getting stuck on 2.4), and the satellitle is picking up the devices I expect it should (versus those getting stuck on the router or something like that).

As with previous versions of the firmware, I continue to get ~120% of my provisioned internet speed everywhere in my house (and front/back yards) on 5Ghz.

The only nagging problem I was having prior to this latest firmware was disconnects on iOS wifi-calling, and those issues now seem to be resolved - no dropped calls with this latest f/w.

I manually loaded the firmware when it came out and did a factory reset as part of that update process - I do that with every major firmware release.

I'm not a Netgear fanboi or paid reviewer - I'm a happy Orbi user overall, but I'm not without some gripes too...  The app is a worthless joke, and I'm diappointed that the ability to control Tx power for the 2.4 network was taken away.  That needs to come back.  

But for basic reliable internet coverage that just plain works, my Orbi is rockin' it these days.

Yeah, I'm pretty much the same - Everything is working very well. interesting, especially in light of reading all of the comments about everything going south on this FW update for so many other users out there.  I'm not going to say that the update was without headaches.  For some reason, i had trouble updating the firmware on the satellites - could not get it done wirelessly, as the app just would not take the update file.  I've read that one should update the satellites before updating the router, so I tried to do so several times, without success - the satellites just would not take the firmware file (I tried using the app and then tried updating by connecting to the IP addresses).  So, I went against what I had read, and just had did the update through the router page - updated the router, but lost the satellites.  After resetting the satellites, tried again to update through the app and then IP addresses - no dice.  Finally, I decided to connect directly to the satellites with an Ethernet cable and guess what? - the satellites firmware update went through without any hassle.  Still, the satellites were showing up as "connected", but not as "satellites".  So, I manually reset everything (yep, a paperclip in the little hole by the power inlet, until the amber light was flashing) , and then low and behold, everything connected.  Since then, everything has been working perfectly.  I'll count myself as being blessed by whatever network god there is out there.  As a side note, I have now enabled beam-forming and MU-MIMO.  Through-put is excellent on everything, and I have about 30 devices.  I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that possibly, others may mine some sort of gem from my experience.  No - I'm not an IT expert by any means, so don't try to slay me with whatever criticism.  I'm just a regular guy trying to get things working in my home.

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Hydro130 wrote:

My experience so far with 12.0.18 has been great - no disconnects, and all devices are connecting well on 5ghz whenever they should (none getting stuck on 2.4), and the satellitle is picking up the devices I expect it should (versus those getting stuck on the router or something like that).

 

As with previous versions of the firmware, I continue to get ~120% of my provisioned internet speed everywhere in my house (and front/back yards) on 5Ghz.

 

The only nagging problem I was having prior to this latest firmware was disconnects on iOS wifi-calling, and those issues now seem to be resolved - no dropped calls with this latest f/w.

 

I manually loaded the firmware when it came out and did a factory reset as part of that update process - I do that with every major firmware release.

 

I'm not a Netgear fanboi or paid reviewer - I'm a happy Orbi user overall, but I'm not without some gripes too...  The app is a worthless joke, and I'm diappointed that the ability to control Tx power for the 2.4 network was taken away.  That needs to come back.  

 

But for basic reliable internet coverage that just plain works, my Orbi is rockin' it these days.

 

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That's great, but what is your provisioned speed?

There's no denying the firware is buggy as hell, just take a look at the broken QOS page. The Orbi may cover a couple of dead spots, but it's nowhere near as reliable as my three year old Asus RT-N66U at a fifth of the price. 

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scornwell wrote:

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Hydro130 wrote:
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That's great, but what is your provisioned speed?

 

There's no denying the firware is buggy as hell, just take a look at the broken QOS page. The Orbi may cover a couple of dead spots, but it's nowhere near as reliable as my three year old Asus RT-N66U at a fifth of the price. 

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I just have 100/10 service form Comcast, and I consistently get ~120/12 .  With single-unit routers I've used in the past (incl Asus 88 and 5300), that same broad level of coverage I now get at max speeds was not possbile.

I'm sorry to hear you are having issues - it's certainly not my position that frustrating connection-inhibiting issues don't exist for some people, but I am saying that those issues definitely aren't affect ALL Orbi users.

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Hydro130 wrote: 

I just have 100/10 service form Comcast, and I consistently get ~120/12 .  With single-unit routers I've used in the past (incl Asus 88 and 5300), that same broad level of coverage I now get at max speeds was not possbile.

 

I'm sorry to hear you are having issues - it's certainly not my position that frustrating connection-inhibiting issues don't exist for some people, but I am saying that those issues definitely aren't affect ALL Orbi users.

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I didn't mean to imply you were denying other's issues, just treying to get some context. If the throughput issue is a limit to 400Mbps, it's  not going to affect anyone who doesn't test at that speed. You may well be having the same issue as me, but not know it.

My WiFi speed has now dropped to 30Mbps from any connected device, for seemingly no reason. The Orbi hardware seems fine and when it's working it's great, but the software is crap and we're being used as beta testers because Netgear are doing a poor job of internal testing. This is unacceptible for a premium priced router.

I haven't had any issues with my Orbi on 1.12.0.18 RBK53 from costco (2 RBS50+RBR50) - I'm a little leary purchasing a second system for family.  I wonder if there's actually more than one version of the RBK50.   (I tried RBK40 recently and the amount of dropouts and restarts was insane I returned it - wonder if it was on 1.12.0.18?). 

Another issue I am having besides the constant disconnect is that I can't connect to the 5Ghz band with the satellite anymore. I used to have 5Ghz turned off because I was having with the August doorbell cam but once I updated to the latest firmware and factory reset, 5Ghz is back on but I can't get on it.