OrbiOS 2.1.1

People are frustrated because ORBI is not just some cheap stuff you buy and forget. It's not an average good sub $100 router ( in-fact its performance is even worst than these cheaper routers e.g asus mid range). Some people, like me, bought multiple kits because of ORBI's coverage and speed claim. I spent approx. $700 for my kits (RBK43 and RBK50). 

I have had Luma with 6 nodes and was having a lot of trouble getting full speed on all corners in my 4500 sq ft home, front  and backyard. I read amazing reviews on Amazon about ORBI and settled on it instead of going with EERO PRO. I agree ORBI looks much cooler than Luma or EERO PRO and have more LAN ports.

Recent updates to firmware made it worst. As a customer, I humbly demand Netgear fix these issues ASAP. If their ignorance continues, a major lawsuit might be coming their way for selling expensive lemons. If its a hardware issue, Netgear must acknowledge it and notify customers immediately and issue a recall for all defective units (which I think would end up being all ORBIs).

aani75aani75

>> I read amazing reviews on Amazon about ORBI and settled on it instead of going with EERO PRO. I agree ORBI looks much cooler than Luma or EERO PRO and have more LAN ports.   Recent updates to firmware made it worst. As a customer, I humbly demand Netgear fix

This is exactly my thoughts.  My wifi was adequate mostly through the house.. some dead zones but for the most part ok.  I cut the coard thsi year, added a bunch of Alexa's, camera's autolocking doors & security system, etc... I wanted a reliable fast wifi that covered all of my house.   So, I purchased the 7000sqft setup from Amazon.  RBR50, RBS50 & RBS40.  

its been about 6 weeks, and to date, I am so very disapointed.  the RBS40 actually works the best.  devcies right next to the RBS50 will connect to the RBS40.  

I have been monitoring the wifi signal from the router and both statallites, and I can see that one drops the 2.4 ghz band all the time.  Single strength drops to just about nothing, when its normally the highest.

Devices that should be connected to the 5ghz band will switch back and forth for no reason that I can disern, as I can see NO change in that specific signal strength when it happens.  And there is no way to force it.

It was an expensive solution, but a mesh-wifi was what I wanted to simplify things for my wife and kids.

But all I get now is complaints about "Dropped" "slow" "can't connect" etc.  

The RBS50 is a boat anchor.  NOTHING connects to it.   and I can tell this because I am running 2.0.0.74 on all devices and the device list on all the devices work.  almost everything downstairs connects to the RBS40, regardless of whether its far closer to the RBS50.

Afriad to upgrade to the beta, since I also work from home and can't afford issues.

And its too late to return.  I should have gotten a powerful nighthawk router and put in an AP or 2, but didn't want my kids trying to figure out what to connect to as they rome around the house.

They better fix it soon, or I will just have to accept I am out $600 and have to change out my system.  But I doubt I will be going netgear.

Just an FYI, I had a Netgear support engineer call me last night and remote into my system to try and help diagnose my random rebooting issues (which increased dramatically with 2.1.2.10).  They basically had no answers as I had no devices known to cause issues (ie: Android 8.0+) , and had no newer firmware with any possible fixes to try.  They asked me to enable Debug Log Capture and LAN/WAN Packet Capture on both the router and satellite (both running 2.1.1.16) and send in logs after random reboots occur.  Not sure if that will actually crash a kernel panic crash dump or not (the potentially most helpful log) but it seems to me like they are in need of user data to help find the issues.

If anyone is experiencing random reboots (without Android 8.0+ devices) like myself, perhaps you can also enable the Debug Logs and send them in as well.  Hopefully more data being seen will result in an actual fix.

they should just push the Orbi Pro firmware to these home units; the orbi pro has no reports at all of these weird issues happenning, and I have ordered a set of them to try and see for myself..check the pro forum and you'll see what I mean..

There are likely one of two scenarios at play here:

1.  They have already tried just that, and it hasn't fixed existing issues (and/or even introduced new issues), or

2.  The hardware is different enough (haven't really researched specs of Home or Pro) that the firmware for the Pro wouldn't run on the Home models without significant refactoring, in which case you're probably better off with trying to solve the issues in the existing codebase.

I just got off the phone with Google, and Google DID confirm that there is a known issue with both Android 7.x and 8.x  (doesn't matter which Android device is in use) which causes kernel panics on routers made by Netgear, Linksys, Asus, TP-Link, Eero, Amplifi, Luma, and many others.  The kernel panics then result in either clients being disconnected from the router or the router rebooting.  The issue has existed for more than a year now, and they still don't know the cause or the fix, but that it is caused by the Android operating system itself.  

yeah, you are probably right; from my research,  I learned they only put stable, working, proven features on the pro, so as to not screw up enterprise customers, and they use the home versions to try out new and experimental things, long before they put them on the enterprise units.

thats why I thought I would try the pro versions and see if its more stable than the erratic home versions have been

richard, sorry, I dont believe anything that Google person told you; I tested the Amplify hd with ZERO issues, and am currently using the Eero Pro setup with ZERO issues...and, if you read the forums for both of those products, NO ONE has reported any sort of reboot issue with any Android phone or tablet..

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wase4711 wrote:

richard, sorry, I dont believe anything that Google person told you; I tested the Amplify hd with ZERO issues, and am currently using the Eero Pro setup with ZERO issues...and, if you read the forums for both of those products, NO ONE has reported any sort of reboot issue with any Android phone or tablet..

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http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/12/24/android-8-oreo-may-causing-wi-fi-connection-problems-mesh-routers-like-netgears-orbi/

https://support.google.com/pixelphone/forum/AAAAb4-OgUsE7sQJOTnXNk/

Multiple stories of EERO, Luma and Orbi uders having problems directly linked to these devices.

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wase4711 wrote:

richard, sorry, I dont believe anything that Google person told you; I tested the Amplify hd with ZERO issues, and am currently using the Eero Pro setup with ZERO issues...and, if you read the forums for both of those products, NO ONE has reported any sort of reboot issue with any Android phone or tablet..

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The point is, Google knows they have an android problem, and they are working on trying to resolve it. The fact that your particular environment isn't affected, while fantastic for you, is sort of irellevant in the grand scheme of things.

not irrelevant to me, as I know that things get MEGA OVER EXXAGERATED on the internet...

the one common thread to many of these  reported issues in the Orbi Home Routers...

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wase4711 wrote:

not irrelevant to me, as I know that things get MEGA OVER EXXAGERATED on the internet...

the one common thread to many of these  reported issues in the Orbi Home Routers...

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Except that's patently false. It's been shown time and time again that it affects other routers than the Orbi. The common thread is, and has been, Android. FWIW, I don't have androind devices... and the only unexpected Orbi reboot I've ever seen is when I accidentally pulled the power cord out. Beyond that, I've been 100% solid.

And if you want to be pedantic about it, the Orbi (despite marketing claims) IS NOT a mesh system - it uses a star topology, which is a very different method of solving the same problem. So, claiming that Orbi is the only mesh sytem affected isn't accurate either... because... not a mesh.

Unless you turn on Daisychaining, in which case it *IS* a mesh system.

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dsegel wrote:

Unless you turn on Daisychaining, in which case it *IS* a mesh system.

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Good point. I don't think that's been identified as contributing factor, though (i.e. reboots happen whether daisychain is enabled or not).

I don't have Android in my eco-system at all, and I was still getting tons of router/satellite reboots and disconnects, so while Android does contribute, Orbi still crashes without that in the mix.

That said, I've been up without a reboot or disconnect since Saturday morning on the new beta.

The changes in my environ were the beta software and not hardwiring much to the the Orbi's themselves, where before every port was full.

So right now:

AP Mode

Beta Software

1 printer plugged into the router

1 Hue bridge plugged into the satellite

Beamforming and MU-MIMO left on

Fastroaming off

Everything has been solid, which it hadn't been for months.  Today is my last day to return the eero pro (which was flawless) so I think I will in order to get $500 back.

Here's hoping it stays solid.

First, Eero's forum isn't a very active one, so that doesnt make it a really good reference point.  Second, I HAVE gotten my Eero 2nd generations to reboot with a Pixel XL 2.  Third, Eero's techsupport, if you were to actually CONTYACT them, would confirm what Google said, as did the Linksys Velop Team and the Amplifi tech support team.  I have all three systems plus Orbi, and ALL reboot randomly when my Pixel is connected.  The reboots vanish when the Pixel is NOT conneted, which means Pixel and Android are at least contributing factors.

Two things I did on my Orbi which appear to have greatly reduced the random reboots was disabling daisy chain in the firmware and then going into the debug menu and enabling Jumbo Frame support for traffic between LAN ports.  Then I rebooted my Orbi.  CPU load has since held steady BELOW 10% and memory usage below 200 MB for more than 16 hours now, with NO random reboots or kernel panics by  Orbi.  Connected Pixel, and the Orbi rebooted within 15 moinutes of Pixel connecting.  No Pixel, no reboots.  

the eero forum isnt active because there arent as many issues as there are with the Orbi; people only post to complain, not compliment

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wase4711 wrote:

the eero forum isnt active because there arent as many issues as there are with the Orbi; people only post to complain, not compliment

 

 

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No, most don't use the Eero forum because most Eero users DON'T KNOW IT EXISTS!  It also isn't monitored by their tech support team; if you read the posts there, you'd see that mentioned many times by their SINGLE employee who moderates the page.  Eero also never really answers any questions posed there by customers either.  Anyone with issues is told to CALL THEIR TECHICAL SUPPORT.  I've used Eero since it first came out, and it is not perfect, nor is any networking device.  I've been on their forum since that was launched too, and I would not recommend it to anyone looking for help.  

Oh, and you can' just go by post titles on Eero's forum to tell if Android issues are there or not, you have to actually read them; thee are more than 300 posts under various titles about users having issues with Android and Eero, and none mention Android in the post titles.  

An article mentioning Android 8 causing wifi issues, and mentioning that Google is working on the issue.  Samsung, LG, Motorola, and LG all have have similar complaints on their forums.  

The issue seems to be quite widespread, with reports on Google's Pixel Phone Help forum , reddit , and Netgear's forums . Most accounts of problems seem to be coming from people using Netgear's Orbi routers, but other reports are trickling in from those with other mesh systems, including routers by Cisco and eero, with a small number people using non-mesh access points affected as well.

https://hk.saowen.com/a/3850999a52d59ad1b0ac031e5e28204a04a70287a131c8f909e370643bb2a674

Here is the original article link without the dodgy saowen.com links:

http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/12/24/android-8-oreo-may-causing-wi-fi-connection-problems-mesh-routers-like-netgears-orbi/

That said, I've had 0 reboot issues on my RBK50 kit and my Pixel XL running 8.0 or 8.1

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robertcdh wrote:
I'll try capturing the logs after work. Where do we send the log files?

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I was told to use the Attach Files to Support Case link on the MyNETGEAR page.

It's worth pointing out again that Orbi's 1.x line of firmware does not seem to exhibit this behavior, which strongly suggests that a) the kernel version is different between 1.x and 2.x and b) there was a change introduced between those kernels that causes the panic.