Our teams are still working through the issues, but I wanted to provide a quick update on OrbiOS 2.1. We usually wait to release our software until it's available across all Orbi product lines, but in a departure from our normal processes, we’re going to the release BETA software for our products in a staggered manner. The first wave to be released are only for the RBR50 and RBS50, which is used in the RBK50 and RBK53 (Costco) kits. If you have a kit that includes a different hardware product (including RBK52W, RBK40 series or RBK30 series) or a RBK50 or RBK53 with an add-on satellite (RBS40, RBW30), please hang tight. We’re not quite done with it yet, but will update this thread when it’s ready. Edit for clarity: This release supports both Circle & Ethernet backhaul Edit2: Updated with the 2nd wave of firmware for RBR40, RBS40, RBR20 and RBS20. This supports the following SKUs: RBK40, RBK43, RBK44, RBK20, RBK22, RBK23. Edit3: Updated for RBW30, to support RBK30, RBK33, RBK52W, and others We’re not yet going to push this release this for auto-firmware upgrade, and will let you know before we do. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Support. Rel Notes: Fixes issues where Internet access is not available on some devices, but available on others. Fixes an issue where Satellites get disconnected from Router Provides protection for the MDNS packet flood issue Addresses an issue where websites set to unmanaged are unreachable Multiple other connectivity & RF improvements BETA MR 2.1.3 software can be found here: RBR50: http://files.netgear-support.com/go/?a=d&i=rFfsb14M2q RBS50: http://files.netgear-support.com/go/?a=d&i=0UBXh9aus6 RBR40: http://files.netgear-support.com/go/?a=d&i=dnNl6nqBSj RBS40: http://files.netgear-support.com/go/?a=d&i=FEaFlGNCuW RBW30: http://files.netgear-support.com/go/?a=d&i=x990UeDEdo RBR20: http://files.netgear-support.com/go/?a=d&i=IOMUioMSLU RBS20: http://files.netgear-support.com/go/?a=d&i=S5JDrBEG2f How to do a manual firmware upgrade: https://kb.netgear.com/31573/How-do-I-manually-upgrade-firmware-on-my-Orbi-Satellite Orbi Product Team

I think it's good that they limit scope to fixes and stabilization, rather than new features for now.

ckimmelshuewrote:Indeed. I stayed patient, but in the end this firmware did me in. I rely on a stable network for daily use and Netgear just isn’t there yet. So far, with eero, I’m trouble free with more consistent throughout in pocket areas of my house. I actually switched in the other direction. From EERO to Orbi. I work at home as well and rely on ubiquitous coverage and high reliability and availability. I agree that when operational the EERO was very reliable, but for me, EERO has an Achilles heel.No internet, then no WiFi or LAN either. If Comcast decided to do maintenance at 3 AM then I had no access to my NAS's, printers, home automation functions... nothing. Without a connection to the mothership, the EERO does nothing, no wifi, no DHCP, no LAN. Just not something I could live with.I have not suffered many of the anomalies outlined here, and on the occasions I have, they were of my own making (playing in hidden pages, not hard resetting after firmware update and trying to restore backups from previous versions of firmware.) IOS devices work better if I forget the network and then set it up again after the firmware update. Win 10 clients seem to hang on to BSSID's, so same thing, I delete and then re-add the known network. This last update oddly caused High Siera to fall back to 2.4G at times for no apparent reason until I did a hard reset and configured from scratch. I have 62 clients from a myriad of manufacturers which are all working again without dropouts or connectivity issues. I don't ever use the app for setup (always the web GUI). I did need to use the sync button this time on V2.1.3.4 to get the satellites synced up and happy on 5G backhaul again.And just in case, I picked up a Tenda Nova MW6 mesh 3 pack on Amazon when it was on sale for $129. Impressively its signal strength and coverage is almost as good as the Orbi but it is bare bones on features but in the event of a hard down on the Orbi system I can light it off and keep on working (even without internet service)My suggestion for those of you that are ready to throw in the towel... if you are up to it, give it one more try.Upgrade Firmware to 2.1.3.4 (Sats first, then router)Let the system come all the way back up.Paperclip/Hard Reset Sats and RtrConfigure from scratch using Web GUI (patience on the satellite setup page is a must and may require a reload or two)Keep names, SSIDs, PWDs to alphanumeric under 15 charHard set 2.4 and 5G channelsOn IOS, MAC OS, Windows, and Android clients forget the network and then add it back in with the newly configured system. Not sure if these suggestions will help anyone, but I thought I would put it out there.

I did a factory reset after installing almost a week ago. Its been rock solid for me and no devices drop internet. Especially my iOS devices. I particularly had issues with them being connected but no internet. My satellite did reboot once but I think that might have been power related. But other than that I haven't had any connection issues with any of my devices. Family has been quiet cuz before I used to hear why is this internet not working or its so slow(it really wasn't loading anything but wifi was connected). So far I am pretty happy with this firmware.

Updated my devices, 1 RBR50 and 3 RBS50, a few days ago. Didn’t do a factory reset or anything and the system has been working great since!My garage door opener with camera is lightning fast compared to before and never fails (so far). Nice to finally see a light in the Orbi tunnel...

I know you mean well Furry but I agree here that there are too many posts from you about resets and disabling the same three features. If people need help here they should read through and figure out what they need.I'm subscribed to this thread and get emails every time there is a response and I'm at the point I feel about half or a third are from you saying the same thing over and over. The noise created by that means I don't read them sometimes and that means I may miss something important. There are now 454 messages on this thread and things are lost in that.Again I know you mean well but please consider the feedback.

Orbi MR 2.1 Update 3/23/18 | NETGEAR Communities

761 Replies

mastervisa30
Luminary
May 02, 2018
Yes netgear please turn off autoupdate,and make this and option to turn off and on autoupdate.

so if there is problem in the future we can use older firmware thats working.
- Retired_Member
  May 02, 2018
  mastervisa30 wrote:
  
  Yes netgear please turn off autoupdate,and make this and option to turn off and on autoupdate.
  
  so if there is problem in the future we can use older firmware thats working.
  
  Fix what?
  
  If you turn off auto update then you're happy. No problems. So what are you fixing? Older FW would fall under roll-back which I beleive is already available. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
  - bent_wookie
    Star
    May 02, 2018
    Retired_Member wrote:
    
    mastervisa30 wrote:
    
    Yes netgear please turn off autoupdate,and make this and option to turn off and on autoupdate.
    
    so if there is problem in the future we can use older firmware thats working.
    
    Fix what?
    
    If you turn off auto update then you're happy. No problems. So what are you fixing? Older FW would fall under roll-back which I beleive is already available. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
    
    I believe what they're saying is they'd like to turn off auto-update such that they can install older firmware...and have it stay that way until a time of their choosing.
    
    Short of cutting off access to Netgear's firmware servers, you can roll back to older firmware, but you can't prevent it rolling forward ten minutes later.
khudsn7
Star
May 02, 2018
This upgrade is a disaster for me. I have about 30 home automation items connected to Apple homekit, and some cameras from Ring. All were working fine, before this auto update. Suddenly the Ring camera will not connect at all, at least several of my Lifx lights have trouble connecting and the homekit app is constantly saying many of my items have "no response" verious times throughout the day. This did not happen before this update. The homekit problem was suppose to be one of the fixes but it broke what was working before. This use to be the best router system I ever had, now it is the worst. PLEASE at the very least....give us a way to roll back to the working version.
andreajr
Aspirant
May 09, 2018
The latest update is deplorable, several times a day I have NO INTERNET on orbi, yet, if I hop onto SKY everything works. I have the main RBR50 & 2 satellites, which worked MOST of the time until a few weeks ago. All on firmware v.2.1.4.10.
Losing faith in Netgear, by the second !!!!!!!!
- steve8411
  Apprentice
  May 09, 2018
  Yep ... the "engineers" need to be reassigned to a proper position. Maybe janitorial staff.
  - mpf541
    Apprentice
    May 09, 2018
    
    steve8411 wrote:
    
    Yep ... the "engineers" need to be reassigned to a proper position. Maybe janitorial staff.
    
    pretty sure the toilets would back up then.
- globespy
  Apprentice
  May 09, 2018
  I'm just noticing that the beta FW that worked so great was automatically updated to this new version that some seem to be having trouble with.
  I think I can recall when all this happened as it was an evening and my connection went down and the satellites were purple/red color indicating a problem. I powered down everything, unplugged the ethernet backhaul from the satellites, then powered up only the router and allowed it to come online (checked the webpage login) and then one by one turned on the satellites, waiting for them to be connected before moving to the next. After that I plugged back in my ethernet.
  
  Online for 10 days 9 hours and counting with great WiFi and ethernet speeds.
  
  Perhaps it's device specific?
  My RKKB53 (Costco) which is the RBR50 and 2x RBS50 devices have been working without a single problem.
  - wegunterjr
    Guide
    May 10, 2018
    I saw that I had tmr update after having some issues with connections and then noticing I couldn't connect to anything that was connected with an ethernet cable to the satellite. I did what the previous post suggested, powered everything off, then just turned on the router. Then connected one satellite at a time... wifi seems okay, but still nothing can connect to the ethernet ports of my satellites.... my router is connected to a modem and my satellites are wireless... but connect devices to the satellites with what a cable. Any help is appreciated
chuahyenhua
Apprentice
Jun 21, 2018
Hi

I just bought the RBK53 set and updated all the units to the firmware version 2.1.4.16 last night

However, there are lots of problems with it.

Attach the router to the internet (without any satelites attached), the router is able to give me speed up to 500 MB/s using speedtest app on my iphone.

When i attach 1 of the 2 satelites via ethernet backhaul and place the satelite about 50 metres away from the router, the speed reported dropped to 90MB/s. Why?

When i powered off the satelite, the network speed went back to 500 MB/s again.

Why is there a drop in network speed when the satelite is attached?
Cmo1
Apprentice
Jul 01, 2018
Any new betas in the works? 2.1.4.16 is more stable thaqn previous releases, but my wireless performance has really taken a hit since changing
- chuahyenhua
  Apprentice
  Jul 02, 2018
  The last unit of RBK53 had a problem with drop of network speed. My office network is 200 Mbps. however, it dropped to 40 Mbps. Dont know why. Running on 2.1.4.16 firmware
  
  It was changed with a new one with a smaller packaging.
  
  I thought the new one (also upgraded to 2.1.4.16) would be better but it could not handle alot of ARP messages from my CCTV. The last one could handle and the web page did not hang. This new one hang the web page and it became unresponsive. All the CCTV images could not be shown on my CCTV recorder
  
  The Netgear 6300v2 was able to handle the same number of CCTV cameras. Why?
  
  Another bug from Netgear?
  - martyfp
    Luminary
    Jul 02, 2018
    I am currently running 2.1.4.10 (with no real issues) and when I log into the orbi, it's telling me that the 2.1.4.16 upgrade is available.
    
    It's been like that for a couple of weeks (maybe more, I have not noticed). I've ignored it.
    
    What is strange is that it has not auto-updated. I've not done any of the hacks to try to prevent the auto-update from happening so I am curious as-to why it didn't update.
    
    I'm not complaining - my system runs fine and I don't particularly want to risk upgrading.
woofdriver
Initiate
Aug 21, 2018
I have been fighting an extremely unrilaiable Orbi system for a couple months, most of which it was just turned off in discust.

- Once the Router (RBR50) is configured and working, after a couple hours it just stops responding. no responce to setup, or router

- Once a satellite (RBS50) is up and running, blue, and fast speed- it will just stop. I have tried both wired and wireless backhaul. Both unreliable.

- AP mode was useless, never did work correctly, many problems

- Many other little problems.

o Sats that don't show on router config, yet show blue after sync,

o wired backhaul sats varies in speed from fast to slow, though wifi device is 10ft away.

and other wired devices on same switch show constant speed results

- Firmware upgrades (V2.1.4.16) create more issues than they solve.

This is all in a stable enrionment, that other wifi equipment worked well in for years on end. And when Orbi frustration hit a head, old equipment brough back online. It worked without problems-- other than coverage issues that Orbi was brough on to fix.

Afterr reading this forum and others, I am EXTREMELY disappointed in Netgear. I have used Netgear equipment for 20 years. I currently have a over dozen netgear devices at this location alone. I am frustrated with the release and support of the Orbi system. I will never trust Netgear again for anything other than switches. There is NO reason that issues like this should drag on as LONG as they have for a high-end product from a company like Netgear. We have all gave Netgear a premium amount of money for a high end system and we were let down.
- FURRYe38
  Guru - Experienced User
  Aug 22, 2018
  What FW is currently loaded?
  What is the Mfr and model# of the IP modem the Orbi is connected too?
  What is the Mfr and model# of the ethernet switch if one is in the configuration.
  
  What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
  What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials.
  
  What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
  Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
  Try disabling the following and see:
  MIMO, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).
  
  Can try my friends setup process that I got going for him:
  
  https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-firmware-update-v2-1-4-16-availability/m-p/1592753/highlight/true#M34020
  Another initial setup process: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Backhaul-breaks-the-whole-network/m-p/1615770/highlight/true#M38393
  
  Been stable since installing it.
  
  Also there is a new beta available if you'd like to take part:
  
  https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Looking-for-a-select-group-of-Orbi-Community-members-that-are/td-p/1624103/jump-to/first-unread-message
  
  I would ask for this and get it loaded...
  
  woofdriver wrote:
  
  I have been fighting an extremely unrilaiable Orbi system for a couple months, most of which it was just turned off in discust.
  
  - Once the Router (RBR50) is configured and working, after a couple hours it just stops responding. no responce to setup, or router
  
  - Once a satellite (RBS50) is up and running, blue, and fast speed- it will just stop. I have tried both wired and wireless backhaul. Both unreliable.
  
  - AP mode was useless, never did work correctly, many problems
  
  - Many other little problems.
  
  o Sats that don't show on router config, yet show blue after sync,
  
  o wired backhaul sats varies in speed from fast to slow, though wifi device is 10ft away.
  
  and other wired devices on same switch show constant speed results
  
  - Firmware upgrades (V2.1.4.16) create more issues than they solve.
  
  This is all in a stable enrionment, that other wifi equipment worked well in for years on end. And when Orbi frustration hit a head, old equipment brough back online. It worked without problems-- other than coverage issues that Orbi was brough on to fix.
  
  Afterr reading this forum and others, I am EXTREMELY disappointed in Netgear. I have used Netgear equipment for 20 years. I currently have a over dozen netgear devices at this location alone. I am frustrated with the release and support of the Orbi system. I will never trust Netgear again for anything other than switches. There is NO reason that issues like this should drag on as LONG as they have for a high-end product from a company like Netgear. We have all gave Netgear a premium amount of money for a high end system and we were let down.

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Orbi MR 2.1 Update 3/23/18