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Forum Discussion
Orbi firmware v2.1.1.16 discussion
do we need to do nvram wipe for this 2.1.1.16 Firmware just released today? noticed it downloaded automatically.
437 Replies
I've rolled back to previous stable firmware V2.0.0.74 and updated NVRAM to prevent auto upgrades. I just dont have time for an unstable network/router-sat reboots. Will check back in 3 or 4 months to see if something more stable is released.
I was really hoping that they would update the "Device Type" listing to label attached devices the choices available for selecting labels for device type is very limited and not updated for many Firmware versions. Netgear Engineering if you are reading this and while fixing devices showing all connected to main please update device type listing/selectable option as well...example no option for Echo dot, Reciever, notebook, switch, modem, camera, Ring Doorbell, VoIP phone, AmazonFireTV etc...list very outdated!
This is sorta kinda related to v2.1.1.16: the only time my satellites have been without wired backhaul was when I first set them up and updated the firmware.
#1: if I were to revert to a firmware prior to v2.1.1.12, I assume I’d lose the ability to use wired backhaul and the system would revert to the wireless backhaul.
which leads to my next question:
#2: with wired backhaul enabled and utilized, can the dedicated 5 GHz radios be used for anything else? Or is that simply an unused resource that can’t be tapped for any other purpose?
- I echo this question, as I had s separate thread open regarding this vey topic. If the 1733 Mbps band isn’t open to clients, which I believe someone said that it is not, are there plans to do so in the near future?
While the backhaul band cannot be used by clients directly it is used by clients to route all the Wireless and wired traffic thereby not taking any of client bands for back end use in normal orbi setup.
If you wire your orbi entirely and don't have a need for wireless satellites maybe you chose the wrong device for your needs.
Mixing in and allowing clients to use the backhaul bands for client use may seem more efficient but it goes against what this device was designed to do well, and can serve no purpose except to make the firmware even less stable and drain programming resources on that. Maybe netgear can look to doing that in firmware version 17.0.0.1 - just saying this would be a dumb thing for them to work on right now.
I rolled-back to 2.0.0.74 and my Orbi has not rebooted like before. Now, it only seems to reboot when I wake my Moto Z Play after a while of inactivity. My phone is still running Nougat but it has the November security patch. There are no Oreo devices in my house.
I'm going to try and see if any other devices triggers a reboot.
Has anyone else noticed something similar? I wonder if it has anything to do with the KRACK WiFi fixes applied to Android and Orbi.
Not to be too much of a newbie, but how do you tell if the router and/or sat's have rebooted, besides actually seeing an outage? The Log in the admin section?
Log in via the link below and you will be able to see your system uptime.
http://www.orbilogin.com/debug.htm
Note that you can also see your uptime by logging in to orbilogin.com (or .net), clicking the ADVANCED tab and then clicking the SHOW STATISTICS button under INTERNET PORT.
v2.1.1.16 woes,
Long story - but the auto update upgraded my RBR50/RBS50 around Xmas. Since then I have a very unreliable network. Router/Sat reboots randomly.
Lots of people scremaing in my house. Ive had my ORBI since June... and was very reliable.I basically went back to the older firmware 2.0.0.74 and updated NVRAM via telnet for the 3 auto update params. But my router still had random reboots.
I then went back to v2.1.1.16 and updated NVRAM params to auto update. I also noticed with v2.1.1.16 that my Sat/RBS50 accepts connections in the beginning after a reboot but when I look an hour later it (Sat/RBS50) has no connections - they all pile up on the router RBR50.I even tried to hardware the Sat/RBS50 since I had a Gb switch nearby. Same thing - the Sat will accept a bunch of connections in the beginning after a boot (10 or 15 connections) but hours later they are gone... piled up on the RBR50.
This morning the router rebooted and it went back to factory defaults... all my customizations were gone. I was going to load the backup file but also wondered if it would be better to start fresh and just update the essential settings that I use.
My router customs are:
- Custom SID name
- Guest Network
- 10.0.0.1 LAN addresses and for DHCP
- uncheck Enable 20/40 MHz Coexistence for wireless 2.4GHz.
- I have some reserved IP addresses but didn't define them yet.Whats unique about my network:
- About 40-45 devices on network
- 100mbps down/10up - Spectrum broadband
- 1 to 2TB data usage per month.
- 2 teenage kids that are Xbox One heavy users.
- 1 spare Xbox One is a game server.
- It's a streaming world nowadays.
- Critical for my job as I remote access/VPN into work allot. In IT for 30 years.
Unsure what support is available as it appears that I only have 90 days of real support from June when it was purchased.... after that you have to pay. Very disappointed in this new firmware. Wondering if I need to look for a different brand of router. It "ORBI" was very reliable for first 7 months.The random reboots - don't happen to have any Pixel (or late-model Android with the November security patch) devices in the house, do you?
If so, try taking them off your home wifi for a day and see if things settle down (on 2.0 - 2.1 reboots randomly for entirely different reasons).
robertcdh wrote:I rolled-back to 2.0.0.74 and my Orbi has not rebooted like before. Now, it only seems to reboot when I wake my Moto Z Play after a while of inactivity. My phone is still running Nougat but it has the November security patch. There are no Oreo devices in my house.
I'm going to try and see if any other devices triggers a reboot.
Has anyone else noticed something similar? I wonder if it has anything to do with the KRACK WiFi fixes applied to Android and Orbi.
I'm thinking of rolling back too as a stable WiFi is very important for us. Leisure, work plus home security like ring doorbell. How much Krack risk is there rolling back until there's new firmware?
Blcklab wrote:
robertcdh wrote:I rolled-back to 2.0.0.74 and my Orbi has not rebooted like before. Now, it only seems to reboot when I wake my Moto Z Play after a while of inactivity. My phone is still running Nougat but it has the November security patch. There are no Oreo devices in my house.
I'm going to try and see if any other devices triggers a reboot.
Has anyone else noticed something similar? I wonder if it has anything to do with the KRACK WiFi fixes applied to Android and Orbi.
I'm thinking of rolling back too as a stable WiFi is very important for us. Leisure, work plus home security like ring doorbell. How much Krack risk is there rolling back until there's new firmware?
I don't think that KRACK is much of a risk at this point. The person attacking you has to be very close to play with your wireless. Chances of that, with so many wireless networks around is very low. Unless you're a celebrity or have a ton of money, or have some really determined people that don't like you :-).
The thing is, though, I don't believe that auto-flash is in place on the Netgear side at this moment...I'm not seeing any signs of it, and someone else remarked that it's "off" on the Netgear side until after the first of the year. So you can expect that your roll-back of firmware versions will be auto-flashed back to the latest once they turn back on auto-flash on their end. Or maybe they won't turn auto-flash back on? That would be my vote.
Here's a look at my stats after a few days of operations. I belive the reason LAN1 shows a day short of the others is because I had to unplug it when I installed a Chromecast Ultra on a nearby TV and needed to redo the power setup.
The system hasn't given me a reason to return it. Yet. ;)
OTOH, I can't think of a reason LAN1 would be nearly 24 hours short of the others in operation either. I only had it unplugged momentarily while I rerouted the power bricks and cords.
OMFG. Netgear, you screwed up this update massively.
I just returned from an extended business trip. Halfway through, I started noticing messages in my daily Orbi log reading:
[WLAN access rejected: incorrect security] from MAC address [some MAC address]
At first it was just a couple of messages from one MAC address. I figured that someone was trying to login to my WiFi network - and failing, since I also have a separate network monitor that diligently watches the network for unknown devices, and it wasn't finding any.
The messages turned into a flood. My log for today has LITERALLY HUNDREDS of these messages. And upon further investigation - I found that all of the MAC addresses are for *my own devices*. Something had happened that started arbitrarily excluding devices from my WiFi network. And I'm not just talking about iPads: I mean devices like SMOKE DETECTORS and SECURITY CAMERAS.
I just got home, and immediately noticed that my phone would not connect to the WiFi network - bad password. So here I am, at 1:30 in the morning after a business trip, trying to figure out WTF is happening with my WiFi network. And now I have the answer:
The latest Orbi firmware altered my WiFi password.
When I left home, my WiFi password was a combination of numbers, symbols, and one specific dictionary password. I now see that it is ONLY THE DICTIONARY WORD. All of the numbers and symbols have been stripped out.
I have tried updating it to the intended password. No dice: the Orbi firmware will no longer accept numbers or symbols.
I cannot describe how absurdly bad this is. First, the update kicked mission-critical security devices off of my network. Second, it spontaneously changed my WiFi password from a secure password to a password THAT COULD EASILY HAVE BEEN BRUTE-FORCED.
At the moment, I'm inclined to rip the network cables out of the back of the Orbi, smash all three of them with a hammer, and go buy new WiFi hardware from a company that has the faintest clue about security. Please explain to me why I shouldn't do that.
Did another factor reset, nvram clear and fresh install of v2.1.1.16 for both base and satellite and manually entered settings and fresh reboot and about 2 hrs later all devices show connected to the base and none of the satellite!!
JMU1998 wrote:Did another factor reset, nvram clear and fresh install of v2.1.1.16 for both base and satellite and manually entered settings and fresh reboot and about 2 hrs later all devices show connected to the base and none of the satellite!!
That is a known issue in this and the previous firmware - the devices will show as connected to the router even when they are connecting through the satellite. They are working on putting out a fix for that soon.
I'm not sure what happened with your network - but I am using numbers and letters in my password without issue. No symbols because I have other security on my network devices so I don't worry too much about LAN intrusions going undetected.
I have also heard that the $ symbol was rejected from firmware 2.1.1.12 but I thought .16 fixed that, and I tested it with my guest on 2.1.1.16 and that works. So not really sure what issue you are having but it's unlikely that the cause of it is the firmware stripping out all your numbers and symbols from your password. Something else has to be at play here.
If there is any good side to latest update, my NEST CAMS seems to be stable and don’t disconnect. This is only a few hours in but we’ll see. On the Nest website, Orbi is indicated as incompatible.
This firmware is total junk. Both of my satellites no longer connect. WTF.
System has become horribly unreliable with multiple reboots daily. I tried complete pin-in resets and setup the router and Sats again, but the crashes continue. We don't have any Oreo devices on our network,
Sadly, I'm out of the return period on this device and Netgear support has been of no help.
I've been setting up corporate and home networks since the late 80s and the Orbi is the most unreliable router I've ever owned.
Update: Well, it appears that the Orbi can now spawn its own satellites. I took a look at the Attached Devices screen and somehow my son's Dell laptop is now considered a satellite. I've never seen that before.
- My OnePlus 3 has been on Oreo since OnePlus released it for my device. I've not seen any issues with my Orbi system when my phone wakes.
Today I updated to the December security patch and still don't see any issues with my Orbi system. I'm baffled by the reports of Oreo devices causing WiFi instability.Just curious if Eero or Velope have similar issue not able to accurately potray what devices are connected to which unit correctly
I’ve tested the Velop and can’t remember having problems identifying which devices connected where. 2.1.1.16 in Orbi does not identify what speed nor node devices are connected to.
Wish list for Orbi:
1. Identify to which satellite devices ware connecting
2. signal strength for each device
3. Device map redesigned ... prefer table format because with about 50 devices, info is spread across multiple screens in no particular order.
4. ability to sort ALL device lists by name, IP, MAC, etc.
5 ....
My Moto Z Play is not running Oreo. I'm still on Nougat. I suspect it may have something to do with the fixes for the KRACK vulnerability. Of course, I could be completely wrong. 😁
robertcdh wrote:My Moto Z Play is not running Oreo. I'm still on Nougat. I suspect it may have something to do with the fixes for the KRACK vulnerability. Of course, I could be completely wrong. 😁
I wondered about that and was a bit nervous about installing the December patch (I believe I was on the September patch prior to this update). But I've seen no evidence of any issues caused by the December security patch with my Orbi system. So far. ;)
According to the debug page, my router has been up for over 6 days straight since I installed it. Now my connected devices all show connected to the Orbi router. Connection type is a mixed bag with some clients showing as connected by wire and some by 5G. A number of the wired connections are wrong as they are things like iPhones and laptops, etc. My iPad Pro shows as a wired connection, for example.
7+ days of uptime since I installed the RBK53 system and online updated from 1.12.0.18 to 2.0.0.74, then manually updated to 2.1.1.16.
I do not use the Disney Circle option, and telnet is disabled so far. All satellites are wired.
I sure wish I had some idea what distinguishes my system from those with issues. NG would do themselves a huge favor by figuring this out sooner rather than later.
It sure keeps my interest hearing of systems that ran for months, then mysteriously began having issues after an auto update to 2.x. Makes me glad I bought at Costco in the event I find I need to return it.
Sorta kinda remaining in trust but verify mode with this wifi system.
Orbirick, are you using your Orbi as a router and access point or just an access point? Do you have any advanced features enabled? Do you have devices plugged into the Ethernet ports on the Orbi or your satellite?
I use mine as an access point only and have multiple devices plugged into the Ethernet ports on the Orbi. Everything else is stock (no advanced features are enabled). I didn't manually upgrade to 2.1.1.16. As soon as my Orbi auto-updated to the new firmware, I had the random reboots.
robertcdh wrote:Orbirick, are you using your Orbi as a router and access point or just an access point? Do you have any advanced features enabled? Do you have devices plugged into the Ethernet ports on the Orbi or your satellite?
I use mine as an access point only and have multiple devices plugged into the Ethernet ports on the Orbi. Everything else is stock (no advanced features are enabled). I didn't manually upgrade to 2.1.1.16. As soon as my Orbi auto-updated to the new firmware, I had the random reboots.
I replaced my old router (RT-AC56U) and AP (RT-N66U) with the Orbi system. I have cat 5e and cat 6 cables run to the satellites. The router is on one side of the house where the internet (fiber to the house) enters to the modem. I have a cable from the modem to the wan port of the RBR50. Then I have a cable from the RBR50 to an 8 port Gb switch (office switch).
From the office switch, I have cables running to my PC and printer, and then 2 cables mentioned above. One goes to a satellite near the center of the house from which I have a cable going to a 4k TV and another cable going to a Chromecast Ultra.
The other cable from the office switch goes to another Gb switch on the other side of the house from which I have cables running to a 1080p TV, Amazon Fire TV, PS3 and PS4 gaming systems, and the other satellite.
I've done very little customization thus far: just opened up the DCHP pool to: 150-254 so I have plenty of IP addresses available.
Under Setup:
-Internet Setup is stock.
-Wireless setup: changed the SSID name to Orbi (how original!), 2.4 GHz channel manually set to channel 1 (did my own site survey using Wifi Analyzer), 5 GHz channel auto set to 48, WPA2-PSK (AES) is checked, and my security password is entered.
-Guest network has not been enabled, all settings stock.
-WAN setup is stock
-LAN setup modified as above.
-QoS setup left alone.
-Telnet is not (yet) enabled.
Under Security:
-No parental controls are utilized.
-Everything is stock.
Under Advanced Setup:
Wireless settings: the only changes are to enable Implicit Beamforming, MU-MIMO, and Fast Roaming. WMM is also enabled if it was off in the stock settings. I should probably disable daisy chain topology as with my wired satellite setup, I don't think DC is useful. Although it probably doesn't hurt anything either by leaving it alone.
-Router is in router mode.
-No static routes assigned yet, but that is something I eventually plan to get around to doing (outside the DHCP pool) for:
main PC, printer, both satellites, and probably a number of mobile clients. No reason to do so, except that I can. ;)
-UPnP is disabled.
Everything else is stock.
Was having no problems with the Router + Sat combo. Seems the Nest cams are more stable under 2.1.1.16.
Did the unthinkable and router a 2nd sat today. Had issues adding it... Once settled, would not identify correctly where things were connected. .... Redownloaded 2.1.1.16 to redo the satellites just in case things were corrupted initially.
Magically, Administration/Attached Devices now works, although might still be a bit fishy. Devices don't seem to stay with the satellite with they're connected to - generally shows more the main Router as connection.
Will monitor stability. Nest Cams seems very stable. Earlier versions of Orbi firmware determined by Nest as incompatible with their cams. Maybe this one is better.
While looking at my connections to answer a question above, I decided to pull the cable running from the RBR50 to my PC, and run the cable from the office Gb switch to the PC. Somehow in the process, I managed to dislodge the patch cable running from the RBR50 to the Gb switch which obviously killed my interenet.
No big deal, I simply replugged the patch cable back into the switch, and for good measure, decided that 7 days up time was good enough and rebooted the router.
Before I rebooted the router, I noticed a slight change in the Show statistics page. Earlier looks at this page showed LAN 1 and LAN3 up, but LAN2 down. After the cable mishap, I noticed LAN1 and LA2 were down. The reboot didn't change anything.
What exactly does LAN1, LAN2, and LAN3 indicate? Is that the wireless backhaul LAN?
For good measure, I hit resync on the router, then hit the resync buttons on both satellites within 2 minutes. The top lights appeared to cycle normally and are now back off.
What does this tell me?
