Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

You might not see the client side problems, but if you are set into AP mode and read the logs from your firewall; then you may notice that every hour there are still IP conflicts when the sats go through their ip release renewal process(which should be daily as set by the dhcp server).
If you have that setup and still have client drop outs, then you should see DHCP Problems in your firewall/dhcp server log around the same time as the IP conflicts.
When the Orbis are in Router mode. This information is masked by the Orbi router so it is much harder to find. After logging into the orbi, you can change the page to debug.htm and pull some useful information from there. But it isn't very readable.

This is insane. We have asked nicely for a simple auto update choice selection key. On or Off.

What we get is if you would Flasu the router, got back to software 10000, reset the modem, go into the service menu and type a bunch of info, who the hell are they making these things for the general public or your local IT branch. I for one get no pleasure , not any,  messing with my router after work. I want to buy one, set it up and go on about my day. The Apple routers I had were just like that, set"em and forget em". They were no as good at coverage but they worked fine from Day one. Thats what I thought I bought here. I was never more wrong in my life. Hey Netgear you want to give me a refund for this thing, I will take it. I will even show the reciept, box it up, ship it back, I will do everything in my power to make this right. You are not going to respond to our concerns or you would have. Don't try to compete in todays world, you just are not up to the real game.

Just take what we get, and when we say you get it. That's all you will get from Netgear.

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Traz_13 wrote:

You might not see the client side problems, but if you are set into AP mode and read the logs from your firewall; then you may notice that every hour there are still IP conflicts when the sats go through their ip release renewal process(which should be daily as set by the dhcp server).
If you have that setup and still have client drop outs, then you should see DHCP Problems in your firewall/dhcp server log around the same time as the IP conflicts.
When the Orbis are in Router mode. This information is masked by the Orbi router so it is much harder to find. After logging into the orbi, you can change the page to debug.htm and pull some useful information from there. But it isn't very readable.

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Thank you for the heads up.  I went ahead and assigned static IPs to my RBR and both RBSes.  Hopefully this mitigates the issue.

That was my first step. My sats still fall out of the DHCP server and go off to do their own thing during thier hourly DHCP release renew process. Which you can not change. My DHCP server assigns for 1 day.

Read my other post here.

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-satellite-dropping-connection/td-p/1338235

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Traz_13 wrote:

That was my first step. My sats still fall out of the DHCP server and go off to do their own thing during thier hourly DHCP release renew process. Which you can not change. My DHCP server assigns for 1 day.

Read my other post here.

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-satellite-dropping-connection/td-p/1338235

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Then try changing your DHCP server lease time to less than 1 hour--maybe 30 minutes.

This might work for some, but I don' think that undermining the rules of your network for your AP devices is a very good approach. For this to be a required solution, it shows a major flaw in the sattelite firmware behaviour. This has potential to cause disconnections from applications to games and does not really make sense for most personal or small networks.

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Traz_13 wrote:

This might work for some, but I don' think that undermining the rules of your network for your AP devices is a very good approach. For this to be a required solution, it shows a major flaw in the sattelite firmware behaviour. This has potential to cause disconnections from applications to games and does not really make sense for most personal or small networks.

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The question is whether this would solve your problem. Trying it would be informative.

I've not yet seen anyone else describe the behavior you describe, and my Orbi has worked fine in AP mode with three different routers, so this would not be a "required solution" for all users. Plus you can always change it back.

IP conflicts are not ok behaviour no matter how you look at it. But here is the basic debug log from the Orbi router showing that it is storing conflicting IP/mac addresses for an Orbi Sat after the factory reset.

192.168.128.251 0x1 0x2 b0:b9:8a:64:f7:08 * br0
192.168.128.1 0x1 0x0 00:00:00:00:00:00 * eth0
192.168.128.18 0x1 0x2 08:66:98:ef:bc:27 * br0
192.168.128.67 0x1 0x2 38:aa:3c:d8:ce:42 * br0
192.168.128.37 0x1 0x2 dc:a9:04:88:45:18 * br0
192.168.128.83 0x1 0x2 70:f0:87:a8:54:63 * br0
192.168.128.53 0x1 0x2 34:d2:70:c4:43:e0 * br0
192.168.128.8 0x1 0x2 14:b3:1f:0a:50:d2 * br0
192.168.128.76 0x1 0x2 a0:99:9b:2f:a2:7d * br0
192.168.128.31 0x1 0x2 20:ab:37:57:80:72 * br0
192.168.128.5 0x1 0x2 14:b3:1f:0a:40:da * br0
192.168.128.24 0x1 0x2 8c:f5:a3:2d:83:b2 * br0
192.168.128.73 0x1 0x2 00:3e:e1:bd:fa:90 * br0
192.168.128.43 0x1 0x2 d4:61:9d:00:93:70 * br0
192.168.128.21 0x1 0x2 00:04:4b:79:71:59 * br0
192.168.128.14 0x1 0x2 ac:1f:6b:05:56:7e * br0
192.168.128.33 0x1 0x2 08:66:98:d9:0b:ed * br0
192.168.128.82 0x1 0x2 74:c6:3b:ed:9f:7f * br0
192.168.128.52 0x1 0x2 34:d2:70:a8:90:35 * br0
192.168.128.11 0x1 0x2 14:b3:1f:10:76:2f * br0
192.168.128.30 0x1 0x2 a0:8c:fd:53:98:ab * br0
192.168.128.79 0x1 0x2 d0:e1:40:92:22:b6 * br0
192.168.1.250 0x1 0x2 b0:b9:8a:64:f7:08 * br0

Pulled this from a debug log on one of the sats

1173 root 244 S /usr/bin/detcable 2 RBS50
1393 root 256 S udhcpc -b -i br0 -h RBS50 -r 192.168.1.250 -N 0.0.0.0
1438 root 296 S /usr/sbin/net-scan
1452 root 268 S /usr/sbin/lld2d br0
1575 root 376 S /usr/sbin/uhttpd -h /www.satellite -r RBS50 -x /cgi-bin -t 60 -p 0.0.0.0:80 -C /etc/uhttpd.crt -K /etc/uhttpd.key -s 0.0.0.0:443

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Traz_13 wrote:

IP conflicts are not ok behaviour no matter how you look at it. But here is the basic debug log from the Orbi router showing that it is storing conflicting IP/mac addresses for an Orbi Sat after the factory reset.

192.168.128.251 0x1 0x2 b0:b9:8a:64:f7:08 * br0
192.168.128.1 0x1 0x0 00:00:00:00:00:00 * eth0
192.168.128.18 0x1 0x2 08:66:98:ef:bc:27 * br0
192.168.128.67 0x1 0x2 38:aa:3c:d8:ce:42 * br0
192.168.128.37 0x1 0x2 dc:a9:04:88:45:18 * br0
192.168.128.83 0x1 0x2 70:f0:87:a8:54:63 * br0
192.168.128.53 0x1 0x2 34:d2:70:c4:43:e0 * br0
192.168.128.8 0x1 0x2 14:b3:1f:0a:50:d2 * br0
192.168.128.76 0x1 0x2 a0:99:9b:2f:a2:7d * br0
192.168.128.31 0x1 0x2 20:ab:37:57:80:72 * br0
192.168.128.5 0x1 0x2 14:b3:1f:0a:40:da * br0
192.168.128.24 0x1 0x2 8c:f5:a3:2d:83:b2 * br0
192.168.128.73 0x1 0x2 00:3e:e1:bd:fa:90 * br0
192.168.128.43 0x1 0x2 d4:61:9d:00:93:70 * br0
192.168.128.21 0x1 0x2 00:04:4b:79:71:59 * br0
192.168.128.14 0x1 0x2 ac:1f:6b:05:56:7e * br0
192.168.128.33 0x1 0x2 08:66:98:d9:0b:ed * br0
192.168.128.82 0x1 0x2 74:c6:3b:ed:9f:7f * br0
192.168.128.52 0x1 0x2 34:d2:70:a8:90:35 * br0
192.168.128.11 0x1 0x2 14:b3:1f:10:76:2f * br0
192.168.128.30 0x1 0x2 a0:8c:fd:53:98:ab * br0
192.168.128.79 0x1 0x2 d0:e1:40:92:22:b6 * br0
192.168.1.250 0x1 0x2 b0:b9:8a:64:f7:08 * br0

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What conflict do you see here? I see two IP addresses listed for one MAC address. That is perfectly valid. What you cannot have is one IP address used by two MACS, but I don't see that here. 

Check my first post here for the IP conflicts... IP Conflicts are the default 192.168.1.250 even though the sats are statically assigned from the DHCP server to 192.168.128.251 to 192.168.128.253
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Firmware-V1-12-0-18-Discussion/m-p/1338289#M11452

Hello hobbnet

Have you tried to enable beamforming and mumimo? Also have you tried to factory reset your device since the latest update?

DarrenM

Yes, DarrenM.  I called netgear customer support last night and they instructed me to do both of those things.  I'm still having frequent disconnects today however.

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hobbnet wrote:

Yes, DarrenM.  I call netgear customer support last night and they instructed me to do both of those things.  I'm still having frequent disconnects today however.

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Wow, widely varying results being reported here! After I gave up on getting the Orbi going in AP mode on the v1.11.x firmware, it is working fine in AP mode with the v1.12.x firmware. Nice and stable.

However, one thing that makes me unhappy is that not only can I not turn off 2.4GHz. wireless, it insists on operating with a 40MHz. wide channel on 2.4GHz. in my crowded neighborhood. So my unused 2.4GHz. signal is taking up more than half of the available 2.4GHz. band. That isn't a big problem since the signal isn't being used, but makes me unhappy that I'm forced to do that at all. And yes, "20/40 MHz. Coexistence" is enabled *smile*.

RogerSCOrbi will switch to 20 MHz if 20/40 coexistence is enabled and interference is detected. I tested it by putting another AP in the same room on overlapping channels.  I don't know what the threshold is though, or whether it continuously checks or only checks at start-up.

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st_shaw wrote:

RogerSCOrbi will switch to 20 MHz if 20/40 coexistence is enabled and interference is detected. I tested it by putting another AP in the same room on overlapping channels.  I don't know what the threshold is though, or whether it continuously checks or only checks at start-up.

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Yes, I agree that it's supposed to work that way *smile*. Unless it's checking like once a week for band crowding, that's not working for me. It was working in router mode, though. Interesting.

I tested it a couple days ago, AP mode, latest firmware. I'm using a set channel, not Auto, and that could make a difference. If that's not it, try disabling the feature, then re-enabling the feature after Orbi reboots.  Perhaps your neighboring APs are not strong enough to trigger the switch. Orbi is probably hammering your neighbors though!

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st_shaw wrote:

I tested it a couple days ago, AP mode, latest firmware. I'm using a set channel, not Auto, and that could make a difference. If that's not it, try disabling the feature, then re-enabling the feature after Orbi reboots.  Perhaps your neighboring APs are not strong enough to trigger the switch. Orbi is probably hammering your neighbors though!

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Thanks, I always use a set channel, learned early on not to use "Auto". And I did mention that it was working in router mode, so yes, my neighbor's networks are strong enough to cause 20MHz. channel width to be triggered if it was working.

Not about to reboot the Orbi at this point, I'm still establishing basic stability in AP mode, want to get a little uptime on it...Anyways, I can't remember the "turn if off and turn it back on" dodge ever working for me. I did try that when I first got the Orbi and had the same problem in router mode. Then Netgear fixed it for router mode after a few firmware releases. I don't know why it works for you and not for me in AP mode...one of those "wildly varying results" I was talking about before. I can live with it for a while, since I'm not using 2.4GHz. But I'm glad that it works for you.

Just for the record, I did try the "disable 20/40MHz. Coexistence, and re-enable" thing without rebooting, though, and no effect. Still have 40MHz. channel width.

So it goes.

On the plus side, have a about a day of stability of AP mode with the latest firmware release for the Orbi. A hopeful start. A long way to a month of uptime *smile*. That's my acid test for stability. A week is nice, a month is conclusive for me.

Just to be completely clear, I was suggesting changing the setting, then hitting Apply which restarts the radio and makes the change take effect.  Not just clicking the box.

In my experience, Orbi has been operating with complete stablity in AP mode since I bought it in January, through all software updates. The only time I have had issues is when I created the isssues.  Like when I moved the Orbis to a bad location (a basement corner underground) or when I have had other RF devices too close or operating on conflicting channels (Sonos speakers and ISP routers with WiFi).  Any issues I've had were explainable and fixable with proper channel management, and a little thought and consideration of how Orbi works and how nearby radio systems work.

I have experienced random disconnects with another manufacturer's WiFi router which was 2X more expensive than Orbi, so I understand the frustration of people who do have issues.

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st_shaw wrote:

Just to be completely clear, I was suggesting changing the setting, then hitting Apply which restarts the radio and makes the change take effect.  Not just clicking the box.

 

In my experience, Orbi has been operating with complete stablity in AP mode since I bought it in January, through all software updates. The only time I have had issues is when I created the isssues.  Like when I moved the Orbis to a bad location (a basement corner underground) or when I have had other RF devices too close or operating on conflicting channels (Sonos speakers and ISP routers with WiFi).  Any issues I've had were explainable and fixable with proper channel management, and a little thought and consideration of how Orbi works and how nearby radio systems work.

 

I have experienced random disconnects with another manufacturer's WiFi router which was 2X more expensive than Orbi, so I understand the frustration of people who do have issues.

 

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Not sure why you would assume that I don't know about or use "Apply" to commit changes, so here's what I did:

1. Deselected 20/40 MHz Coexistence.

2. Clicked on "Apply".

3. Selected 20/40 MHz Coexistence.

4. Clicked "Apply" again.

See, I know that I need to "Apply"...

Did not help, as I expected. But I'm willing to try things, and often do. Sometimes changes help, sometimes they don't.

Just to to help you out, I've been playing with routers and firmware including dd-wrt, tomato, OpenWRT, LEDE, asuswrt, not to mention Linksys, Netgear, Asus, D-Link, etc. for about 10-15 years. I don't pretend to know everything, but I'm thorough and usually get things to work if they can work. While I'm happy to hear about your experiences, I also know what I'm seeing here.

Thanks for your help, I appreciate it. Right at the moment the only issues I'm having aren't major but are still issues. They apparently differ from your issues. That happens.

I didn't assume anything about what you did.  I only clarified what I was suggesting so there was no ambiguity about what I meant.