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RonRolfsen's avatar
RonRolfsen
Guide
Oct 24, 2019
Solved

Orbi Firmware update 2.5.0.38 problems

Have a 2 year old RBR50 with 2 satellites - have had no problems until recent update to 2.5.0.38.  Everything is working howerever the GUI now has issues when attempting to display devices.  The web ...
  • FURRYe38's avatar
    FURRYe38
    Nov 02, 2019

    The reset and setup from scratch on the RBR will probably fix the issues your seeing. Try then when your ready. 

    RonRolfsen wrote:

    After several reboots still have the problems (no Main page, no devices attached).  I wanted to downgrade to 2.5.0.30 but now when I go to the Advanced-Administration-Firmware Update in the web gui get the:

    400 Bad Request

    This server does not support the operation requested by your client.

     

    Mobile app does not allow a firmware downgrade as far as I can tell.

    Is there a way to telnet into the router and downgrade the firmware?

    (have not yet tried reset - saving as last resort since things are 'working')

     

RonRolfsen's avatar
RonRolfsen
Guide
Nov 11, 2019

Over the weekend reset the router (but not the satellites) - rebooted and now it seems to be working.  What was very odd was that the reset did not wipe out the settngs (password, static IP addresses) - so it seems as if it did not do a complete reset from scratch (not complaining but not what was expected, and yes, I did the reset correctly).  In any case it has now been up for 24 hrs and recognizes all the devices and satellites and no issues with the web GUI.  Thanks for the help and comments.

jtlynn23's avatar
jtlynn23
Tutor
Nov 25, 2019
 

Both the 2.5.0.38 and 2.5.0.40 firmware updates have been disasters on my RBR50 and RBS50.  

 

The problems with wireless performance and the Device List began with .38 and continue with .40.  

 

WiFi performance has been dismal: for some reason the unit randomly ratchets back WiFi speeds to a max of 40-50 Mbit/sec every few days. When this happens, a hardwired speed test between the Orbi router and my cable modem consistently shows my full bandwidth of 700 Mbit/sec.   Power-cycling the unit brings WiFi speed back to normal,  but every couple days it inexplicably kicks back down again.  Clearly, this firmware has messed with the WiFi services on the RBR50 and RBS50.

 

The "Devices" list is messed up-- devices I got rid of 2 years ago have reappeared as "active," and I can't fix a single incorrect entry on the list--  I agree that this is an "annoyance" but it serves as a blatant sign of a company that lacks pride in its work and disrepects its customers.  I have managed software development teams and the fact that this software was actually approved for release to customers is appalling.

 

Netgear should be ashamed of themselves for releasing this on their customers.

 

And before the fanboys tell me to do a factory reset-- a solution which has met with very mixed results in this forum-- I will say that I refuse to spend another minute of my energy trying to fix this vendor's lousy work.

 

If a "factory reset" really is the answer, I will gladly start out from scratch again, and here's how I will do it:

 

I just returned from Best Buy with a Linksys Velop Mesh System that I bought via a sweet Black Friday deal.  I will be going through a new setup process, and it's going to be with a competing product.

 

I have had this Orbi system for over two years and have had minimal trouble with it.  And I've been a Netgear customer since the late 1990s in their Bay Networks days.  This experience has destroyed my confidence in the Netgear brand. 

 

If anyone wants a used Orbi system with half-baked firmware on the cheap, let me know.

  • FURRYe38's avatar
    FURRYe38
    Guru
    Nov 25, 2019

    I was told today that NG pulled v30 and v40 from there Orbi update servers. So users shouldn't see this on there FW update page on the RBR. Yes there available via the download site. 

     

    They confirmed that v34 is the standing latest version that they recommend upgrading to. You can upgrade to v34 which has the web page certificate fix or downgrade to v30 or last working version of FW. A factory reset is the last resort if users can't get there systems working normally. Those of us who do resets and manual upgrades, this seems to avoid issues seen by those of you who do see issues and choose not to do a reset. It's up to you. NG said it was coming out with a new FW udpate to fix the device naming issue found in v38. For those of you who can't get there systems working, with or with out a factory reset, revert back to something that works for you and wait for the next update to arrive. No date was given when the next FW upate will be released.


    Good Luck. 

    • chrissnv's avatar
      chrissnv
      Guide
      Dec 10, 2019
      FURRYe38 wrote:

      I was told today that NG pulled v30 and v40 from there Orbi update servers. So users shouldn't see this on there FW update page on the RBR. Yes there available via the download site. 

       

      They confirmed that v34 is the standing latest version that they recommend upgrading to. You can upgrade to v34 which has the web page certificate fix or downgrade to v30 or last working version of FW. A factory reset is the last resort if users can't get there systems working normally. Those of us who do resets and manual upgrades, this seems to avoid issues seen by those of you who do see issues and choose not to do a reset. It's up to you. NG said it was coming out with a new FW udpate to fix the device naming issue found in v38. For those of you who can't get there systems working, with or with out a factory reset, revert back to something that works for you and wait for the next update to arrive. No date was given when the next FW upate will be released.


      Good Luck. 

      Hey FURRYe38 

      First of all thanks for all your help and support it is greatly appreciated.
      Even though a lot of us don’t agree on factory resets as a normal process when troubleshooting (it should be a rare occasion if at all necessary and not with nearly every FW release), in my experience a revert of Firmware is the first resort to get things back to normal.
       
      I am not sure in which post but I saw somewhere that some of the Gurus have a test device, so I would like to suggest something that would help all of us probably a lot.
      I would like to suggest you try to not do the factory resets and then send Netgear some feedback and then do the reset. I would hope that they listen to you more closely to avoid any future disasters.
       
      Why am I suggesting this: 
      In my experience in large scale hosting operations a factory reset is the last thing you want to do with any upgrade, and I treat my home the same way. Either the settings transfer over and work or they don't. If they don't I revert and figure out what I either have to unconfigure or get a fix from the vendor.
      If that doesn’t help to convince anyone - I would assume you don’t want to do a factory reset (loose all your data) on your personal computer every time a patch comes out either. 
       
      Thanks again. 
       
      Also tagging Blanca_O for visibility to give maybe some of you Gurus a channel into Netgear.
      • FURRYe38's avatar
        FURRYe38
        Guru
        Dec 10, 2019

        We see a lot of different user configurations. Along with new FW udpates, these new FW updates and some of all the varied configurations or possibly corrupt configurations that maybe become incompatible with new FW updates. Yes I agree, resets shouldn't be first thing to do after a FW update, however in some cases, it's needed. There are good reasons for doing a reset. Yes in most cases as a last resort to give the new FW update a chance to be fully installed, seated and configured from scratch. In some cases even after a reset, a backup configuration maybe applied and this gets the system back online with the new FW update as well. Backup configurations are recommended after each FW update to ensure good system backup is maintained. 

         

        I presume NG wants there units working well after FW updates. However it is problematic to know how or what users have configured with there systems that may or seem to effect how new FW operates after installation. From a testing stand point, I would think NG may be testing on clean slated systems with resets to endure the base FW is installed with out any issues. I would also hope that NG also tests out what I call, "dirty" systems with varied configurations to tests real world configurations as well. No idea what NG does. For my testing, it's mostly clean slated FW configurations. How I know most of these FW versions DO work. Save some of the odd ball problems thats are hard bugs. However I do some real world FW upgrade configurations as well. 

         

        My friends systems I setup a while back has not seen a reset on my account since day one. Gone thru several auto updates. My friend has never asked me or told me of any problems since it went online. 

        https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-firmware-update-v2-1-4-16-availability/m-p/1592753/highlight/true#M34020

        So we know there are some cases where the systems are working as expected. 

         

        Overall, resets are a last resort and have a good reason for them. FW just can't be left to upgrade and in these cases where systems stop failing, yes it's the FW that was the initial cause, however we have to find out where the problem actually is. Is it a configuration incompatibility or an actual bug in FW. Factory resets helps to narrow this down. 

         

        I think users are rightly hesitent to reset as we all know Orbi systems are not the easiest to setup. However users can avoid most of this hassle when doing a reset if they have a good solid backup configuration that was saved to file. Saves time in most cases.