I've just set up an RBK30 (RBR40 & RBW30)...just blown away by the speed improvement over my older Nighthawk R7000. DId not know I was living in the dark ages. :) I'd like to update the FW. I currently have very old 1.8.0.4. However, given the number of posts about problems w/connection dropping I'm hesitant to udpate to the very latest. I know FW updates bring security fixes for real issues, but the last thing my family wants is flaky connections. Appreciate advice regarding what newer FW versions are considered stable/reliable. Thanks!

And just had a complete (whole house) internet drop (wi-fi stayed connected) for about 20 seconds or so. Cleared up fairly quickly, didn't have to do anything but curse and wait while I was unable to work from home. Not something I would see w/my previous (albeit slower) router, R7000 Nighthawk. Netgear, please skip the features for now and focus on stability/reliability alone. That is PARAMOUNT. Also, forgot to mention above that I can see my RBW30 statelite and connected devices in both the mobile app and in the router management pages from browser on my laptop. So that display of information is working for me.

I had more problems - lost the entire wirless network at one point, and lost internet again while keeping wi-fi, so I rolled back the RBW30 statelite to 2.0... We'll see if that helps, but I'm not optimistic, and don't really like running older FW and not having the security updates and hopefully bug fixes they contain.

My suggestion is if you can return it, do it while you can. Otherwise you will be stuck like us, wasting time (a lot of time) troubleshooting. It's extremely frustrating that netgear cannot get this straighten out. I was in the middle of doing something very important and my internet disconnected yesterday. This happens constantly throughout the day and I cannot get a stable connection.

Per Netgear Level 2 support request on my case, I've set up my Orbi RBK30 system again. Also per request from support I've made the following changes to defaults: Reset both router and satellite (two times on each) Left all defaults in place, except: Turned off Daisy Chain Topology (one satellite, don't need it)Set 2.4 GHz to channel 11 (least congested) rather than leaving at "Auto"Set 5.0 Ghz to channel 48 (least congested) rather than leaving at "Auto"Both devices are on the most current FW releases available: Router (RBR40) is on: 12.1.1.16Sat (RBW30) is on: 12.1.1.18 I have the router sitting three feet away, and an iPhone attached to the network streaming audio so that I am aware when a network interruption occurs and I can see what the router is doing (rebooting or simply dropping/reconnecting). I have only a few devices on the network. If it remains stable as-is for the next four or five hours, I will add all of my devices to it later today and see if it remains stable. Hopefully this will be interesting and productive test.

Odd...I posted a reply just a few minutes ago and it has completely disappeared. Second try... Based on all the feedback :) I have updated to the following FW versions: RBR40: V2.0.0.56RBW30: V2.1.0.18 I had some disconnects last night and rebooted a couple of devices to clear out any cobwebs This AM my wife had problems streaming a radio station from her phone, I was able to use the same app on the same station on my phone now issues. She turned wi-fi off/on and was OK the rest of the morning Overall things have been good, will monitor stablity and decide if I'm keeping or returning over the next few weeks. It does seem like Netgear rushed the release on 2.1 to get it out before the holidays, and may have shot their customers and themselves in the foot as a result. If stability isn't excellent I'll have to return the Orbi and (for the first time in a very long time) look to a networking solution from another vendor. Oh, and BTW the Netgear, I can't even select my product (RBK30) in the "Model selection" field when composing a message - the only available option is the RBK50.

New RBK30 - what is the safest newer FW version?

41 Replies

netgearguy
Apprentice
Dec 13, 2017
Odd...I posted a reply just a few minutes ago and it has completely disappeared. Second try...

Based on all the feedback :) I have updated to the following FW versions:

RBR40: V2.0.0.56
RBW30: V2.1.0.18

I had some disconnects last night and rebooted a couple of devices to clear out any cobwebs
This AM my wife had problems streaming a radio station from her phone, I was able to use the same app on the same station on my phone now issues. She turned wi-fi off/on and was OK the rest of the morning
Overall things have been good, will monitor stablity and decide if I'm keeping or returning over the next few weeks.

It does seem like Netgear rushed the release on 2.1 to get it out before the holidays, and may have shot their customers and themselves in the foot as a result. If stability isn't excellent I'll have to return the Orbi and (for the first time in a very long time) look to a networking solution from another vendor.

Oh, and BTW the Netgear, I can't even select my product (RBK30) in the "Model selection" field when composing a message - the only available option is the RBK50.
- netgearguy
  Apprentice
  Dec 13, 2017
  And just had a complete (whole house) internet drop (wi-fi stayed connected) for about 20 seconds or so.
  
  Cleared up fairly quickly, didn't have to do anything but curse and wait while I was unable to work from home. Not something I would see w/my previous (albeit slower) router, R7000 Nighthawk.
  
  Netgear, please skip the features for now and focus on stability/reliability alone. That is PARAMOUNT.
  
  Also, forgot to mention above that I can see my RBW30 statelite and connected devices in both the mobile app and in the router management pages from browser on my laptop. So that display of information is working for me.
  - netgearguy
    Apprentice
    Dec 13, 2017
    I had more problems - lost the entire wirless network at one point, and lost internet again while keeping wi-fi, so I rolled back the RBW30 statelite to 2.0...
    
    We'll see if that helps, but I'm not optimistic, and don't really like running older FW and not having the security updates and hopefully bug fixes they contain.

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New RBK30 - what is the safest newer FW version?