NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
Orbi rebooting itself daily
Hi all,
Ever since getting my Netgear Orbi I have been experiencing regular reboots. When the WiFi connection drops on whatever device I am using, I immediately go to check the Orbi and sure enough the satellite is flashing with the magenta ring trying to reconnect and the router is flashing with the white ring because it is rebooting. Once it restarts and the satellite reconnects it shows the blue ring which I believe indicates it has a good connection. After this it is fine usually for at least a day or more. The satellite is connected to the router via WiFi backhaul. The router is connected to the wall power socket and not any extension power board, so at least I know it can't be a dodgy power supply issue.
Because the logs get cleared whenever it reboots I can't really anlayse what is happening to the router at the time of the reboot. Because of this I enabled the logging from the router's debug.htm page in the hope that these would be persistent after the reboot. I had the "WAN Port mirror to LAN port1" option checked. Only problem is I don't know how to read these logs and am not sure if they have also cleared after it rebooted. I've uploaded the debug-log here in case anyone can help decipher these.The rough time that the router restarted was on 1 Dec at about 4:25pm. I also captured the LAN/WAN packet logs to USB stick, but these are about 280MB, so I haven't uploaded these. If you think these are going to be useful then I can try uploading these as well.
I previously used the Netgear Nighthawk R7000 router and it was perfectly stable and never reset once in the many years that I was using it. The only reason I replaced it was to get better coverage all the way to the front of my house. There are other WiFi networks around my house but I am on different channels to those. Also, the Nighthawk never was troubled by these so I don't see why the Orbi should be.
I am on the latest V2.5.0.38 firmware on both the router and the sattellite. Although I've been experiencing this issue on all versions of firmware since I got the Orbi (I think I've had the Orbi since the last 3 versions). I've tried playing around with the settings as described below but the router continues to reboot itself. I am completely at a loss as to what to do from here.
So far this is what I have tried across the last 3 versions of firmware updates with no success yet:
- NetGear Armour - disabled
- Parental Controls - disabled
- Manually changing the WiFi channels:
- 2.4Ghz channel: 11 (manually set)
- 5Ghz channel: 40
- I've experiement with the following settings disabled and enabled and it has made no difference to the rebooting issue. At the moment these are set as follows:
- Implicit BEAMFORMING - enabled
- MU-MIMO - enabled
- Fast Roaming - disabled
- Enable WMM (Wi-Fi multimedia) settings
- I've done a full factory reset on both the router and the satellite whilst on the latest V2.5.0.38 firmware (using the pin reset mothod)
Someone please help!
FURRYe38 , CrimpOn Well I've gone through the process of the RMA and whilst Netgear explicitly asked me to only return the router and not the satellite, they have sent me a replacement kit containing both! It is an RBK50, but I believe the reason why they've sent the whole kit is because there is an RBR50v2 and RBS50v2 inside. Could be likely that the RBS50 is not compatible or they don't want to take that risk?
Can confirm as others have mentioned that the power adapters on the V2 revision are lower output and look smaller, yellower and cheaper. I haven't looked into whethere there are any other differences on the actual router or satellite hardware yet. But, to be honest, if that's what comes in the new kit I don't really care as long as it is all stable and works.
I've just set it up and done a firmware update in the app to V2.5.1.8. It says there is no newer firmware version available in the app. On the Netgear support page, however, for the RBR50v2 it says the latest current version is the same as the original RBR50 - which is the 2.3.5.34 Hot Fix! I'm now very cautious about applying firmware updates from the support page on this router as they seem to be on a completely different branch (2.3.x.x instead of 2.5.x.x) and there is absolutely no mention of a 2.5.x.x even in the previous versions! Weird!!!??
So, I will refrain from doing a manual firware update at this point and just see how it all goes from here!
68 Replies
Is there a pattern to the reboots? A regular interval between them?
Just a note: many people have been disappointed with the 2.5.0.38 firmware and have manually "gone back" to 2.3.5.30. This obviously has nothing to do with your situation, but should you notice other issues, you might keep it in mind.
When WAN traffic is mirrored to Port 1, there has to be a computer connected to Port 1 which collects all the packets for later analysis. Since the log file is clear upon reboot, those packets are exactly what might be used to diagnose the situation.
Hi and thanks for the reply. I wasn't aware that this firmware wasn't rated highly. But, funny thing is immediately after posting this issue, I was searching the RBK50 Support Page and noticed that the most recent firmwares listed only start with 2.3.x.xx. I am on 2.5.x.xx!. So I found this very surpirising that they don't list any of the 2.5.0.xx versions within their firmware downloads section. Also, I had checked for updates to firmware via the admin console for the Orbi and it told me I was up to date, but the same page above has a "Top Support Article" link to a 2.5.0.40 Hot Fix. So, I figured it couldn't hurt and I downloaded and installed this version. I did a full reset on both the satellite and the router (just for what it was worth). To be honest, I'm not hopeful this will fix anything as the release notes only mention it "Updates the https certificate."
With regard to the way to collect logs correctly are you able to explain more about what I need to do to collect these even after the router reboots? I downloaded Wireshark, so is it just a matter of leaving that running on my PC connected to LAN Port 1? Then what do I need to do to see the relevant logs when the issue recurs?
Appreciate your assistance. Thanks.
sAmiZZle wrote:With regard to the way to collect logs correctly are you able to explain more about what I need to do to collect these even after the router reboots? I downloaded Wireshark, so is it just a matter of leaving that running on my PC connected to LAN Port 1? Then what do I need to do to see the relevant logs when the issue recurs?
This is a "work in progress" for me. I changed my Orbi cables around to free up Port 1 and connected it to a Raspberry Pi. (I think I could have just wired my PC to Port 1 and run Wireshark on it. Oh, well.) Then, I went to the Orbi "debug" page http://<ip of Orbi>/debug.htm and checked the box "Wan Port Mirror to LAN Port 1". I opened Wireshark and told it to monitor the ethernet port and use this Capture Filter:
udp port 67 or 68
DHCP is UDP packets where port 67 is the DHCP server and port 68 is the DHCP client. So far, it is collecting every DHCP packet that appears on Port 1. (And nothing else. I have memory for days and days at this rate.) My DHCP lease is for one day and has 22 hours to run. So, I expect to see packets from Orbi to my ISP in about 10 hours.
Will this work? Will it show anything useful? I have no idea.
My guess is you are frustrated enough to try almost anything. And, this is "free" (in a sense). I will check back in tomorrow.
What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router
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?Usually Mirror WAN to LAN 1 is disabled when used in router mode. Are you using the RBR in AP Mode?
sAmiZZle wrote:Hi all,
Ever since getting my Netgear Orbi I have been experiencing regular reboots. When the WiFi connection drops on whatever device I am using, I immediately go to check the Orbi and sure enough the satellite is flashing with the magenta ring trying to reconnect and the router is flashing with the white ring because it is rebooting. Once it restarts and the satellite reconnects it shows the blue ring which I believe indicates it has a good connection. After this it is fine usually for at least a day or more. The satellite is connected to the router via WiFi backhaul. The router is connected to the wall power socket and not any extension power board, so at least I know it can't be a dodgy power supply issue.
Because the logs get cleared whenever it reboots I can't really anlayse what is happening to the router at the time of the reboot. Because of this I enabled the logging from the router's debug.htm page in the hope that these would be persistent after the reboot. I had the "WAN Port mirror to LAN port1" option checked. Only problem is I don't know how to read these logs and am not sure if they have also cleared after it rebooted. I've uploaded the debug-log here in case anyone can help decipher these.The rough time that the router restarted was on 1 Dec at about 4:25pm. I also captured the LAN/WAN packet logs to USB stick, but these are about 280MB, so I haven't uploaded these. If you think these are going to be useful then I can try uploading these as well.
I previously used the Netgear Nighthawk R7000 router and it was perfectly stable and never reset once in the many years that I was using it. The only reason I replaced it was to get better coverage all the way to the front of my house. There are other WiFi networks around my house but I am on different channels to those. Also, the Nighthawk never was troubled by these so I don't see why the Orbi should be.
I am on the latest V2.5.0.38 firmware on both the router and the sattellite. Although I've been experiencing this issue on all versions of firmware since I got the Orbi (I think I've had the Orbi since the last 3 versions). I've tried playing around with the settings as described below but the router continues to reboot itself. I am completely at a loss as to what to do from here.
So far this is what I have tried across the last 3 versions of firmware updates with no success yet:
- NetGear Armour - disabled
- Parental Controls - disabled
- Manually changing the WiFi channels:
- 2.4Ghz channel: 11 (manually set)
- 5Ghz channel: 40
- I've experiement with the following settings disabled and enabled and it has made no difference to the rebooting issue. At the moment these are set as follows:
- Implicit BEAMFORMING - enabled
- MU-MIMO - enabled
- Fast Roaming - disabled
- Enable WMM (Wi-Fi multimedia) settings
- I've done a full factory reset on both the router and the satellite whilst on the latest V2.5.0.38 firmware (using the pin reset mothod)
Someone please help!
FURRYe38 wrote:Usually Mirror WAN to LAN 1 is disabled when used in router mode. Are you using the RBR in AP Mode?
Not necessarily. My RBR50 is in router mode and the option to mirror WAN to Port 1 is clearly available.
There have been a number of these posts about ISP connection dropping regularly, and in several cases they match exactly with the expiration of the DHCP lease. The way DHCP is supposed to work is the device will request to renew the lease when about half of the time remains. The device will continue to request until the time expires, when it will stop using the IP and begin the discover process again. This is described in the Wikipedia article under "Reliability". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol
DHCP packets are UDP, which does not have the same acknowledgement protocol as TCP.
A trace of the WAN port would show the exchange between the Orbi and ISP. i.e. did the Orbi actually send the request? Did the ISP answer? Did the Orbi eventually "give up"?
My DHCP lease from Spectrum is for 24 hours (and it always gets renewed). If this were happening to me, I would set up a Wireshark capture of all WAN traffic and capture 24 hours (Yuck). There was one post where the DHCP lease was something like one hour, and the ISP said, "Yep. That's the way we do it." That would require a lot less traffic to document what is going on.
I know the feature is available, however for most configurations in router mode, Mirror WAN to LAN shouldn't be needed or used when using the RBR in router mode with a ISP modem in front of it. A WAN LAN capture in the debug logs also doesn't need this feature to be enabled.
ISP modem is a Telstra Gateway Max, which I believe are made by Netgear as well. I don't have the model number on me, but it worked fine in bridged mode with my Nighthawk R7000.
The Orbi is in Router mode and I've tried 2 positions with the satellite, Started at about 8metres away from the router. Now at about 15 metres away. backhaul still says I have a "Good" connection between the two.
Hmmm... I'd happily rollback to a more stable version, but my Orbi was never stable since I got it. But, tbh I can't remember what version firmware I was on when I got it, because it updated automatically when I did the first setup in Aug 2019. I've never had stability across any version of firmware that I've been on unfortunately. Perhaps I will try doing a manuall rollback to the stable firmware mentioned above if I still have issues, just to rule out that being the problem.
I'm having the same rebooting issue, I recevied my RBK50 yesterday (bought through Amazon USA) and it's been rebooting ever since I set it up. I tried everything but to no avail, I hope this won't be a hardware issue since it might cost me a lot to send back the unit to Amazon US cause I live in the Middle East.
I'm on firmware V2.5.1.8.
Possible that your system you got from US is not compatible in your region. You'll need to get a regional Orbi from or near your region.
Pro2000 wrote:I'm having the same rebooting issue, I recevied my RBK50 yesterday (bought through Amazon USA) and it's been rebooting ever since I set it up. I tried everything but to no avail, I hope this won't be a hardware issue since it might cost me a lot to send back the unit to Amazon US cause I live in the Middle East.
I'm on firmware V2.5.1.8.
The power adapter is rated for 110-240volts so that's not the issue. Also, I highly doubt this issue has anything to do with the router region being set to North America, i'm using the standard 2.4GHz channels and 36 for 5GHz.
Pro2000 wrote:I'm having the same rebooting issue, I recevied my RBK50 yesterday (bought through Amazon USA) and it's been rebooting ever since I set it up. I tried everything but to no avail, I hope this won't be a hardware issue since it might cost me a lot to send back the unit to Amazon US cause I live in the Middle East.
Try to change the Orbi region from US to Middle East and see if it makes a difference.
I'll give that a try and let you know. Although I doubt it has anything to do with that, but you never know. :)
