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Forum Discussion
padeadhead
Apr 07, 2021Aspirant
Orbi RBR50 Factory Reset Question
How does a factory reset of an Orbi RBR50 affect the registration of the device? I am asking because the mobile app shows that a router owned by someone else is mistakenly registered to my email add...
- Apr 07, 2021
padeadhead wrote:So my specific questions are:
1. Is the device's registered email address stored in the router?
My guess is "no". When I dump Orbi parameters, my Netgear logon email does not appear. The emails that do appear are part of the "email Orbi log" function. (sender, receiver)
2. Is the device's registered email address saved in the backup of the router config?
Again, I think not.
3. If I backup the router config, then perform a factory reset, and then restore the config backup I just exported, will it restore the previously incorrect registered email address along with all the other router config settings?
Again, I think not.
4. Why does the Orbi app show a different registered email address than the "My Product" page on the MyNetgear website?
I believe this is because the user does not have to use the Netgear account login to set up an Orbi the first time.
(Once an Orbi has been tied to the "app" with an email account, I believe the actual lookup in the app "Cloud" is by serial number. "oh, that Orbi is controlled by this email address.)I see the "app" as the root of the problem. For example, I have a spare Orbi router that I use for experiments. When I do a Factory Reset and configure it using the web interface, my email address is never a factor until the setup drops me out to the Netgear registration page. (Which is annoying because (1) I do not want to register it, and (2) I still have "things to configure") So, I close that window and sign back into the Orbi web interface to get back to what I was doing. And..... I am never asked to Register again!
It is wanting (or needing) to use the "app" that is the issue.
Netgear has moved some features to the app (which I think should not have been done), such as Orbi Voice Amazon account info. (cannot be done on the web interface, only with the "app") My primary Orbi web interface has no link to Parental Controls. Does not appear on any menu. Which makes sense because I have never (not ever) tried to activate Parental Controls. Not Disney Circle. Not the "New" Netgear controls. BUT... the brain-dead "app" says I am "part way done" configuring Parental Controls and wants me to finish. And, there is NO WAY to tell the "app", FORGET THE DAMN PARENTAL CONTROLS. LEAVE ME ALONE.
Sorry about the Rant. I think you are correct that there is an entry in the Netgear database linking her Orbi to your email in terms of the Orbi app and only Netgear can correct it.
CrimpOn
Apr 07, 2021Guru - Experienced User
padeadhead wrote:So my specific questions are:
1. Is the device's registered email address stored in the router?
My guess is "no". When I dump Orbi parameters, my Netgear logon email does not appear. The emails that do appear are part of the "email Orbi log" function. (sender, receiver)
2. Is the device's registered email address saved in the backup of the router config?
Again, I think not.
3. If I backup the router config, then perform a factory reset, and then restore the config backup I just exported, will it restore the previously incorrect registered email address along with all the other router config settings?
Again, I think not.
4. Why does the Orbi app show a different registered email address than the "My Product" page on the MyNetgear website?
I believe this is because the user does not have to use the Netgear account login to set up an Orbi the first time.
(Once an Orbi has been tied to the "app" with an email account, I believe the actual lookup in the app "Cloud" is by serial number. "oh, that Orbi is controlled by this email address.)
I see the "app" as the root of the problem. For example, I have a spare Orbi router that I use for experiments. When I do a Factory Reset and configure it using the web interface, my email address is never a factor until the setup drops me out to the Netgear registration page. (Which is annoying because (1) I do not want to register it, and (2) I still have "things to configure") So, I close that window and sign back into the Orbi web interface to get back to what I was doing. And..... I am never asked to Register again!
It is wanting (or needing) to use the "app" that is the issue.
Netgear has moved some features to the app (which I think should not have been done), such as Orbi Voice Amazon account info. (cannot be done on the web interface, only with the "app") My primary Orbi web interface has no link to Parental Controls. Does not appear on any menu. Which makes sense because I have never (not ever) tried to activate Parental Controls. Not Disney Circle. Not the "New" Netgear controls. BUT... the brain-dead "app" says I am "part way done" configuring Parental Controls and wants me to finish. And, there is NO WAY to tell the "app", FORGET THE DAMN PARENTAL CONTROLS. LEAVE ME ALONE.
Sorry about the Rant. I think you are correct that there is an entry in the Netgear database linking her Orbi to your email in terms of the Orbi app and only Netgear can correct it.
- padeadheadJun 04, 2021Aspirant
CrimpOn: You are correct in that using the web interface and skipping the registration step instead of using the Orbi mobile app is the proper way to perform a new setup or a setup following a factory reset when doing so on a device you do not want to re-register to yourself. The Orbi mobile app is apparently too primitive, too restrictive, and too poorly designed to handle such a situation in that the app just ASSUMES the person performing the setup is the registered owner--and goes so far as to modify the Netgear systems to reflect a different registered owner. *Thank you so much for your assistance.*
Here are the specific answers to the questions I posed in my original post:
1. Is the device's registered email address stored in the router?
>> The device's registered email address is NOT stored in the router.
2. Is the device's registered email address saved in the backup of the router config?>> The device's registered email address is NOT saved in the backup of the router config.
3. If I backup the router config, then perform a factory reset, and then restore the config backup I just exported, will it restore the previously incorrect registered email address along with all the other router config settings?>> Restoring a router config backup does NOT affect the registered email address.
4. Why does the Orbi app show a different registered email address than the "My Product" page on the MyNetgear website?>> The answer to this is still unclear, however, if you use the mobile app to setup either a new device or a device that has been factory reset, it will register (or re-register) it to the person logged into the mobile app. This will also change the registered owner which is displayed on the Netgear website My Products pages. But for some odd, unknown reason, the Orbi app will always remember the registered owner as the person logged into the app when it was setup--regardless of who the Netgear systems say is the registered owner.