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Forum Discussion
New Orbi firmware 2.1.2.18 update issues?
I noticed that there was a new firmware version 2.1.2.18 for Orbi RBK50. Has anyone installed this version, and has there been any issues after the installation. Please provide any details that you may have.
Thanks,
Dave
334 Replies
This blows! System with 1 satellite was rock solid for months. Then 2.1.* came out. Getting tons of disconnects, not sure if it's just satellite or main router but have had to unplug main and satellite a few times to get it to work again. Cannot even connect via app or desktop that is plugged in with a hard line. This is crazy...
Basically, missing out on Olympics because we have no internet. Just nuts....Try going back to firmware
wrote:This blows! System with 1 satellite was rock solid for months. Then 2.1.* came out. Getting tons of disconnects, not sure if it's just satellite or main router but have had to unplug main and satellite a few times to get it to work again. Cannot even connect via app or desktop that is plugged in with a hard line. This is crazy...
Basically, missing out on Olympics because we have no internet. Just nuts....
V2.0.0.74How do I disable auto firmware update after going back to 2.0.0.74?
Hi,
I wanted to wait a couple of weeks before posting about my upgrade to 2.1.18.
I have a Linksys WRT1200AC running OpenWRT as the router (wifi disabled) and the Orbit and 2x Satellites as AP.
- Daisy Chain Enabled
- Beamforming, MU-MIMO & Fast Roaming Disabled
As I mentioned in a prior post I have a raspberrypi (stationary, not roaming across the system) monitoring that the three Orbi devices are up and running. Monitoring among other things is pinging the 3 Orbis, checking that the 6 SSIDs are broadcasting (3x 2.4 Ghz + 3x 5Ghz), that different stationary wireless and wired devices on my LAN respond to ping, that DNS is working and that pinging 3 different internet hosts is successful.
I have had no issues for 2 weeks in a row, no reboots, no SSIDs drops, or lack of connectivity to my LAN or the Internet. WiFi speed and coverage are outstanding.
I briefly tried to enable fast roaming and the reboots and disconnection started happening again, so in order to keep peace at my home, I have not touched the configuration anymore.
Roaming does not work well, when moving around the house I find myself turning off/on my cellphone wifi so it picks the closest Orbi.
Though the Orbi system can be considered by many a configure-and-forget device, not being able to enable key features due to its instability¸ which I expected and paid to work, like fast roaming or beamforming it is disappointing.
Bought this ac3000 rbr50 plus 2rbs50 last weekend from costco. I have no android phones/boxes. Last night Computers lost connectivity and iphones and ipads crwaled. Found this pos autoupdated to 21218. Already feeling that this is garbage. I have 80 more days to decide if I should return it. Already considering Google mesh to replace this junk.
KU1234wrote:Bought this ac3000 rbr50 plus 2rbs50 last weekend from costco. I have no android phones/boxes. Last night Computers lost connectivity and iphones and ipads crwaled. Found this pos autoupdated to 21218. Already feeling that this is garbage. I have 80 more days to decide if I should return it. Already considering Google mesh to replace this junk.
Have you tried the new firmware, v2.0.1.4:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/OrbiOS-MR-2-1-issues/m-p/1506307#M23649
Apparently the new 2.1.* features have been reverted, and auto-update from this latest firmware version is turned off. So if it works for you, it will stay until "further notice".
Thanks Roger.
With this revert, I hear the ethernet backhaul is also reverted.
The distance between the router/satellites may cripple the 5G bands, making it monoband system, unworthy of $500 pricetag.
Netgear is not doing a good job of making most of a capabe-scalable-product.
Quality of the software and lack of enough testing before release are to blame.
- Was going strong for about 17 days the came home today to no internet. Cant ping the router, reboot but can only have contact for about 15 sec then its gone! Tried over a direct wired connection and rebooting several times. Seems like the firmware is stuck in a loop and crashes!!
Now i need to factory reset. :(
What happened Netgear???
I really wish i can return this. - Spoke to Netgear support confirmed this firmware has been pulled from Netgears site. They did advise me there is a new update coming out soon... beta version going on now... but will address a lot of problems people have been having.
I just spoke to them 2 days ago and they had me waste a lot of time doing factory reset and making all kinds of setting changes after I told them I had done every thing they were sugesting already. I think these guys look at a script and don't really know how to fix this.
I will be really suprised if this fixes the issues i have. Every firware upgrade just seems to break it evem more.
I found the best solution so far to keep my internet going was to use my ATT router and leave the orbi disconnected.
How soon?
"....For those interested in OrbiOS 2.1 features, We will post OrbiOS 2.1 available on the web server for customers who want to manual upgrade...."
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/OrbiOS-MR-2-1-issues/m-p/1506307#M23649
Well I had decided to give Netgear another try when they released the ORBI in 2017(had switched to Asus routers), at first worked fine great internet all over the house, and when Daisychain was enabled WOW was it working good, was running with 4 satellites. Then came the last two firmware updates...HORRIBLE....problems after problems, activate IPV6 devices would not connect, and with the latest update iPhones would drop wifi non stop and some other devices.
Well I finally gave up and you guys will never see me come back, releasing firmware updates that crashes 1000$+ system is just ridiculous, so i made the switch back to ASUS picked up Lyra and let me tell you it was a breeze to setup and every satellite connected with not even one hickup, i was even able to bypass their system and from a maximum of 5 im at 7 Lyras total been running for 3days 24hrs 40min
NO disconnects
NO wifi problems
NO nothing
and even upgraded to their latest firmware and still runs like it did 4days ago
Guys if you want no more headaches make the switchBut your Orbi worked for more than 4 days at first as well....I hope your new system's updates go well. I've had my Orbi system since December and have had no issues through the updates. Good luck.
- DudeDad
Ive had mine been almost a year, if u have no problems after 4days then could it be the new ones have new hardware inside?
As for Lyra my parents have been running it for 1yr now no hicups at all, and why every router ive had from Netgear they would always let me down after a few months but none of my Asus had these problems
As i said i gave them a chance since they released Orbi before Lyra and at the end it gave up
I received my system 2 weeks ago and it was running perfect on the fw it came with (2.0.0.74). I have U-verse with a 2-Wire modem/router that I put in bridge mode (worked fine with a TP-Link router before). Because of limited parental controls I decided to give the 2.1.2.18 a try and expected to run into issues. So far the system has been running perfectly fine still and my 5GHz devices switch without a problem between router and satellite when roaming through the house. Not a single drop or disconnect so far and the log confirms that. I really like it because of the coverage in my 2 story house with basement.
Based on other peoples input I suspect that I'm just lucky that I don't have a certain setting that breaks it. My router login is admin and a pw that consistes of lower character letters and numbers and a WiFi key that is only numbers. The parental control functions with circle meets my needs and I hope it stays that way. Knock on wood. Sorry to hear so many have issues with the router. Hope it gets fixed soon.
- DerAusgewandert
Like i said before i think they must of changed something in the hardware cause all the peoole buying now and reporting here are runnning flawlesspossessed007 wrote:
Like i said before i think they must of changed something in the hardware cause all the peoole buying now and reporting here are runnning flawlessThe specs have not changed one bit so that would be highly unlikely. Further, over the last ~6 months, there have been plenty of reports from users whose systems were running without issue. I bought my system (RBK53) back in August, it came with v1.4.xx firmware (which has been updated several times), and, fortunately, I have experienced no serious issues.
Hello Netgear Community, Ive owned My RBR50 and RBS50 for 6 months now no issues. Just yesterday for the first time the RBR50 was disconnecting and went offline; however, all my devices still recognized it as a device to connect to. This happened 3 times in one afternoon. First time lasted 5 mins, but eventually I was able to reboot it or it, or it just simply started working again after my phone was able to detect the the RBR50. As soon as it connected, imediatly it disconnected and went back offline again. Once again I managed to reboot and get it back online after several minutes but it was takingf a while becasue my computer and phone wouldn't detect the RBR50. Third time happned several hours later while I was working late. lasted a little longer this time after several minutes passed I used the orbi phone app to reboot the router. Today I noticed it appeared offline on the app but almost instantly updated its status to online with satelite connected.
I would like to know if anyone esle has experieced this with the 2.1.2.18 firmware or if its hardware. Like I stated before, this is the first time in 6 months I've had any trouble with the Orbi RBR50 and RBS50 but 3 disconnects in one day is entirely way too many especially since I work form home a lot too, so any help would be nice.
side note: My NAT type was set to strict for the a little while after reconnecting on the the third time not sure if this helps pin point the issue
Pandorumwrote:Hello Netgear Community, Ive owned My RBR50 and RBS50 for 6 months now no issues. Just yesterday for the first time the RBR50 was disconnecting and went offline; however, all my devices still recognized it as a device to connect to. This happened 3 times in one afternoon. First time lasted 5 mins, but eventually I was able to reboot it or it, or it just simply started working again after my phone was able to detect the the RBR50. As soon as it connected, imediatly it disconnected and went back offline again. Once again I managed to reboot and get it back online after several minutes but it was takingf a while becasue my computer and phone wouldn't detect the RBR50. Third time happned several hours later while I was working late. lasted a little longer this time after several minutes passed I used the orbi phone app to reboot the router. Today I noticed it appeared offline on the app but almost instantly updated its status to online with satelite connected.
I would like to know if anyone esle has experieced this with the 2.1.2.18 firmware or if its hardware. Like I stated before, this is the first time in 6 months I've had any trouble with the Orbi RBR50 and RBS50 but 3 disconnects in one day is entirely way too many especially since I work form home a lot too, so any help would be nice.
side note: My NAT type was set to strict for the a little while after reconnecting on the the third time not sure if this helps pin point the issue
Yes, I experienced these problems as more isolated loss of sync between the router and satellite units, first time with the Orbi, yes, only with 2.1.2.18. Since I was using the Orbi as an AP, though, the internet continued to work for wired devices except my desktop that was plugged into the Orbi router unit that sat next to my router. First time that happened, lights on the router unit and satellite both magenta, I pressed the "sync" button on the back of the router unit, and that got the router and satellite units back in touch with each other. Next time it happened, a day later, I had to power cycle. Then it happened again the next day, so I figured out how to block auto-update and went back to a previous release and used that for a while. That worked fine, but I wanted to be on the latest firmware, and didn't care for having to fiddle around turning ftp on and off.
When I got tired of not being able to trust the latest Orbi firmware update, I got the eero (3 eero pro's, 2nd generation) and have been happy using them. No problems at all, works great. Haven't decided what I'm doing with the Orbi yet. Really too bad, the Orbi, that I got back in October, 2016 had performed really well for me until 2.1.2.18, but there's still nothing on the horizon from Netgear to fix the problem I was seeing. I'm waiting for Netgear to put out stable firmware that will restore the lost functionality from reverting to version 2.0.1.4. At that point, I'll probably sell the Orbi, since I already have the R7800 for backup.
Through the last couple of weeks, I experienced reliability issues that are comparable to your description.
In my case, the WiFi stayed up and available but I lost connection to my router (The Orbi is AP mode), my wired devices kept working but any wireless device did not have Internet access for a couple of minutes. Initially, this happened every few hours, then every couple until today was happening every 15 minutes or so, to the point that WiFi was useless; connection for 15 minutes, no internet access for 1/2 minutes, back again 15 more minutes.
I rebooted the router, the Orbis ... nothing helped.
A few hours ago I recalled that daisy-chain was enabled, I disabled daisy-chain and am running without issues for about 3/4 hours now (sad that Orbi's reliability is measured in hours).
My return window passed, so I will wait a couple of months before jumping ship and getting an eero or google wifi.
Orbi has been a waste of time and money, first and last Netgear equipment for me.
Pandorumwrote:
Hello Netgear Community, Ive owned My RBR50 and RBS50 for 6 months now no issues. Just yesterday for the first time the RBR50 was disconnecting and went offline; however, all my devices still recognized it as a device to connect to. This happened 3 times in one afternoon. First time lasted 5 mins, but eventually I was able to reboot it or it, or it just simply started working again after my phone was able to detect the the RBR50. As soon as it connected, imediatly it disconnected and went back offline again. Once again I managed to reboot and get it back online after several minutes but it was takingf a while becasue my computer and phone wouldn't detect the RBR50. Third time happned several hours later while I was working late. lasted a little longer this time after several minutes passed I used the orbi phone app to reboot the router. Today I noticed it appeared offline on the app but almost instantly updated its status to online with satelite connected.
I would like to know if anyone esle has experieced this with the 2.1.2.18 firmware or if its hardware. Like I stated before, this is the first time in 6 months I've had any trouble with the Orbi RBR50 and RBS50 but 3 disconnects in one day is entirely way too many especially since I work form home a lot too, so any help would be nice.
side note: My NAT type was set to strict for the a little while after reconnecting on the the third time not sure if this helps pin point the issue
After months of happy operation, I have had significant latency problems the last two weeks. For example, Instagram (a request-heavy app) would seem to stall loading Stories and the Search tab.
I noticed in the Orbi logs that it had been updated. I tried rebooting the modem and Orbi devices. I tried resetting the modem. Nothing seemed to work until I did a "factory reset" of the Orbi system (putting the paper clip in the reset hole until it blinked amber). Once I resetup Orbi, the latency problems went away. Doing the factory reset only reset to the defaults of version 2.1.2.18, not the version of firmware that came with the device. That said, the problems went away once I resetup Orbi after resetting its defaults. Not a good upgrade experience, Netgear.
Sadly enough I have taken my Orbi back after trying desperately for 2 months to get it working.
I had constant problems with wifi not working right on various apple devices.
My PS4 constantly disconnected and dropped out even though it was hard wired to a satellite.
I picked up a new Linksys Velop andafter a 10 min setup I was up and running and now no more issues.
Range and everything in my 3000SQ home is fine. Even reaches an external garage 300 feet away.
There are a few orbi features I miss like the 4 network jacks and USB port, but I have work arounds.
I have had netgear equipment for year, but this just did me in.
Best of luck everyone. It’s a shame netgear doesn’t monitor these forums and reach out to help people.
Don
The issue for me now extends beyond just inconveniences or lost work, and now also it has hit my wallet another way. Because of the constant disconnects, sometimes I wouldn't notice if I'm streaming something to my phone via home internet and it suddently disconnects and switches over to using mobile data. I've now been charged for overages on mobile data! I work from home, and almost always have access to wi-fi so hardly ever use mobile data. These overages are without a doubt because of the constant disconnects from my Orbi and my phone automatically switching to mobile data.
NETGEAR: While I appreciate that you are at least working to resolve the issues, this experience has left a very sour taste in my mouth for Netgear software (if indeed that is the issue here and this is not a hardware issue). What happened to testing code before releasing to the public? It seems like this issue is widespread enough that it should have been caught by your quality team. Can we please get a clear and thorough explanation of what is happening to cause these dropouts? Are these instabilities caused by a software bug, or is this indicative of unstable software and could resurface in a future --FORCED-- firmware update? I'm keeping my Orbi and will work with you until these issues are resolved, quite frankly because I have no option at this point. You will win me back as a customer if you are honest and direct about these issues and reach a resolution quickly.
Ocassionally, buggy software does get released and I understand that. But how many firmware revisions have we gone through now and the issue persists? We pay full price for a fully working product; we are not here to test your equipment for you. My wallet is now a little lighter thanks to your buggy equipment. A shame really, because the hardware *seems* fantastic.
I couldn't find a way to edit my previous reply, but this turned out to not be an issue with the Orbi firmware update. My latency problems were caused by my ISP (Com Hem Sweden) temporarily disabling its native IPv6 support. This caused Orbi to start using 6to4 tunneling and the latency introduced was from my ISP's 6to4 tunnel, not from the Orbi update. I disabled IPv6 support in Orbi's settings for now and the latency went away.
Glad you figured it out. Thanks for letting us know how you resolved it.
Enjoy.
jeremiahlee wrote:I couldn't find a way to edit my previous reply, but this turned out to not be an issue with the Orbi firmware update. My latency problems were caused by my ISP (Com Hem Sweden) temporarily disabling its native IPv6 support. This caused Orbi to start using 6to4 tunneling and the latency introduced was from my ISP's 6to4 tunnel, not from the Orbi update. I disabled IPv6 support in Orbi's settings for now and the latency went away.
https://twitter.com/JeremiahLee/status/978618914782498816
Took my Orbi back to the store 3 days ago. My patience ran out.
I have now a (at first sight, latest firmware) ultra stable, incredibly configurable Ubuiqiti USG + 2 AP's (with Devolo Powerline). Wifi range kills the Orbi. For 3,99 EUR less than my Orbi setup.
