Orbi router solid magenta (not the satellite)

Hi, this is my first post in the community.

Yesterday i got my RBR50+RBS50 AC3000.

I have a 4G internet connection in a Huawei b315, working also as a router (and i can't put it in brigde mode, so i have to usea de orbi in AP mode), in the third plant of the house.

Before yesterday i also had a Netgear RT6400 (just working as a AP+Switch, connected with cable to the huawei), a TP-Link switch (connected to the netgear) in the second plant. Finally i had a tp-link repeater RE450 in the first plant wireless connected to the netgear.


Yesterday i put down the netgear router, the tp-link repeater, and turned off the huawei wifi. Then i connect the orbi router in the place of the netgear rt6400, and the satellite in the place of the tp-link repeater. Everything was fine! i could setup it fast and with no problem, set the router in AP mode with a fixed ip, connect all the devices to the new wifi (16 in total)... and i was very happy, just one ssid that covers all my house! Hue Lights, Netatmo camera, thermostat, weather station, smartphones, tablets, laptops, tv, xbox, mediaplayers, satbox, Nas... all working fine.


This morning: The router has the ***** magenta light... (satellite was fine) I have to go to work, so i could not check it properly, but i think that this is the only problem... i can access the nas, and lights and other stuff from my work, so inetnet is working...

Will come back when i get home and could check the web ui and other stuff, and try the "solutions" you found.

JesCR  The router will turn magenta when it senses loss of the Internet connection.  4G connections, being cellular/wireless, have a tendency to lose connection bfiefly on occasion, so it might just be that you had an Internet outage.

hopefully! i will check when i return home :)

When i returned home yesterday the magenta light was on, i tried the "recheck ap mode" trick and the light goes off, but come back after an hour or so...

I could access the web ui and all my devices an services were connected to internet without problems...

Next i upgrade the router and the satellite to the new 2.0.0.72 firmware and so far so good. No magenta light and the "connected devices" list shows a really good (and new) information...

Will keep posting if something changes...

After a couple of weeks of no Magenta light on the router (operating in AP mode) and with two satellites now in play, I thought to myself (morbid curiosity), why not reboot the router and see if the magenta light problem comes back. After I did a software reboot (using the management page of the router (still accessible on the static IP (and dhcp reserved IP))), no magenta light. Great!. But in the morning, the magenta light was on. I did a hard power off (pulled the plug) and waited a few seconds and plugged it back in. No magenta light. But hours later, the magenta light was back on. The magenta light remains on but I see no issue with connectivity, management of the device, wireless devices or satellite connectivity. All is good -- EXCEPT in the firmware update (under Advanced), the router shows "No internet" and thus can't determine if there is a firmware update. The satellites both show "No new firmware version available." So this "No internet" is the only clue that there might be a problem and the only ill effect of the magenta light (other than what is supposed to be invisible being purple).

I would guess that the router periodically tries to contact some server on the internet (as a test of internet connectivity) and if it fails, it turns on the status light to purple. And it never tries again to see if the server is reachable. So it remains purple.

Hi, 

I have exactly the same problem/behavior with one satellite in place. I have not rebooted the MESH infrastructure now for more than 2 month and I have no magenta ligt, but I'm pretty sure that I will get the light back on when I reboot the rooter or do a firware update. I also have the message "No internet" in the firmware update page and I have very old firmware in place, which is OK for me up to now because I don't have an issue with the MESH ;-) My RBR50 FW is V1.8.0.6 and the RBS50 V1.9.1.12.

From my point of view it's VERY ANNOYING that Netgear DOES NOT seem to make any changes to fix this BUG. We are not talking about a repeater system which costs 50€, we are talking about a high end solution which costs more than 400€. 

I'm very happy with the general spped of the mesh system, but the support of Netgear is unbelievable!!!

I hope someone from Netgear will read there own form entries!

Regards from an angry Netgear Orbi user

Ralf

Hi,

one question regarding the firmware update to 2.x. 

Have you done this update manually by downloading the files? Because of the "No Internet" I don't see a new firmware on the GUI Firmware Update page.

Can you please also share the location from where you have downloaded the V2.x firmware for RBR50/RBS50?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Regards,

Ralf

Of course!

I downloaded the firmware from this forum, official post:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/OrbiOS-2-0-availability/td-p/1368730

And updated the router and satelite manually

https://kb.netgear.com/000037217/How-do-I-check-and-manually-upgrade-the-firmware-on-my-Orbi-satellite

The attached devices list now looks better and also shows more info (satellite/router conected).

This firmware also allows a "chain" setup like Ruter<->Satellite<->Satellite and other fixes... (maibe magenta lights?)

I'm working with it for three days now, and so far so good. Ap mode with fixed ip and 12/14 devices attached...

Hi,

Thanks a lot for the infos. I will give it a try and will share my expiriences here in the forum.

Regards,

Ralf

Hi,

I have just updated my RBR50/RBS50 systems to the latest available firmware 2.0.0.72. The good news - everything seems to work fine, I can access the GUI, the spped ist as it was before and in the Firmware Update tab I can check for available firmware also for the RBR50 - no longer the message: No Internet. No good news with bad news :-( As expected, the RBR50 Router shows the magenta light :-( :-( 

From my point of view this bug is still available, and as I mentioned before Netgear seems to be NOT INTERESTED in fixing the problem.

Regards,

Ralf

Sorry to hear that...

So i can expect to get the magenta light back at any moment... :(

If i get it back before the "90 days of live support" i will open a ticket...

ralfboernemeier  There is a newer .74 firmware available on the download site.  I don't know if this will fix your issue, but it's worth a try.

https://www.netgear.com/support/product/RBK50.aspx#download

Hi,

Thanks for the hint - I have just done the update to V2.0.0.74 - but still the same problem - magenta ring solid on :-( GUI and Internet works as I can say until now without problems.

Still an open issue. I will wait a few days and post my findings here.

Have a nice weekend.

Regards,

Ralf

Looks like 2.0.0.74 is being released to the wider public. I did a check for updates on the router, and saw:

A new firmware upgrade is available. Click here to get it.

Release Notes:

[New Feature and Enhancements] Supports daisy-chain topology, which allows Orbi satellites to connect to other satellites or to the router.

[New Feature and Enhancements] Updates the Speedtest API to provide in-progress data.

[New Feature and Enhancements] Updates the Attached Device page in the UI with the following changes:1. Shows device type. 2. Shows connected Orbi and band. 3. Allows connected device and Orbi satellite renaming.

[New Feature and Enhancements] Supports radio transmit power control.

[Bug Fix] Fixes a bug when the main SSID contains a space.

[Bug Fix] Fixes a bug where the genie remote reboot command might trigger a system factory reset.

[Bug Fix] Fixes a bug where genie remote access fails when the Orbi system is in AP mode.

[Bug Fix] Fixes security vulnerabilities.

Lucky for me, I do not see any auto-update occuring. Perhaps the router being solid magenta (and not seeing the internet supposedly) is preventing the auto-update from occuring. 

Perhaps I will follow Butch1326 advice and disable auto-update to be sure as seen in forum post: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Firmware-V1-12-0-18-Discussion/td-p/1320421/page/5

I see the firmware update message this morning. will update when i get back home after work.

BTW, second week without issues...

Skimmed through this thread as I have been going through similiar issues as well. Orbi is in AP mode and have just experienced a flurry of issues and frustration.

I've been fighting both scenario's of the orbi router or orbi sat's having a magenta light. After using the WAN port on the router and rebooting all the devices (several times), they are all normal. This is after an insanly horrible experience of getting .74 firmware installed.

The problem I'm having in this scenario now (curious if you all are?) is that my satellites are getting an IP from my Asus router, and I can access them, but they keep falling off the attached dervices on the Orbi router and all wireless devices are being sent to the Orbi router.

This systems feel far too flakey to warrant the price tag.