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Forum Discussion
OrbiOS 2.1.4 + Homekit
We’ve been monitoring issues that some users have experienced on OrbiOS 2.1.4 with Apple Homekit. In response, to those customers, we’re releasing firmware that provides a temporary work around to c...
My upgrade finaly worked after deleting the download files and trying again. So far it shows to be more stable in Homekit.
I have only had an ORBI for a month now, I have to say overall I am very happy with it. I am dismayed at the level of negativity here, first of all the verison of firmware is obviously not a full release so those complainng about auto update your device will not auto update to this verison. I understand people want the option to disable auto update, and I am quite sure Netgear has heard you on that. I am not trying to be a troller or personally attack anyone but the level of whinning and complaing does no one any good for many reasons.
With that said I came over from a LINKSYS device their top end model to be exact (EA9500), and it has many bugs and we get about one Firmware update a year on it and it was terrible. I for one am thankful Netgear updates so awesome because that means they are fixing problems and making the product better in a reasonable time frame. Yes there are problems and isuses, and this is the place to post them allowing Netgear to know about them makes sure they can get addressed quickly which it seems they are doing.
I Also think it is great they are giving people here and oppurtunity do download the beta builds, if you don't want to, don't downlaod it as simple as that, they place them here in the forum because you will NOT GET AN AUTO UPDATE to these builds until they are in full release.
So again all these updates and beta firmwares are a good thing making this product better, so please try to give constructive feedback, and stop the non-constructive whinning.
Also I FOUND A FIX for some of my devices geting stuck on 2.4 GHZ wireless I had 2 devices doing this a new iPad Pro and soemtimes my Samsung phone. I only have one legacy 2.4 GHZ device a nest thermostat, so I realized that these devices that were switching to the 2.4 GHZ band were doing so becuase they were seeing a higher recieved signal level, all I did is change the power level on the 2.4 GHZ band down to 50% the thermostat still connects fine and all the other devices stopped getting stuck there and are now switching to the 5 GHZ band with no issues, I left the 5 GHZ at 100% power.
This actually makes sense becuas the 2.4 GHZ band will normally travel further than the 5 GHZ, so by cutting the power level down to 50% it makes it just a little bit weaker so devices see it but stil connect to the stronger 5 GHZ band now.
I don't even think it is a Netgear issue as I have 2 iPad Pros, a 2017 model and a 2016 model the 2016 model had not had this issue at all the 2017 did have it all the time until I turned the power down to 50%, this tells me it is something specfic to some Apple models or other wireless devices but not all.
Anyway I hope you find my comments helpful, and I hope to see more bug fixes and more firmware updates being posted in this forum by Netgear, as this means more bug fixes faster, not like Linksys realising one update a year. : )
Everyone thinks the grass is greener on the other hill but when they get over there they realize how good they had it, waiting a year for bug fixes or any word from Linksys was horrible, thank you Netgear!
I basically agree with your comment. When things go wrong it can be horribly frustrating and that has a tendency to manifest itself in some pretty pointed and nasty posts. I’ve been lucky that other than some HomeKit problems i’ve had a very good experience with Orbi. And HomeKit now seems absolutely fine. My good experience certainly doesn’t negate the fact that many people have had problems, but I too would urge some balance in tone and a recognition that the fixes are coming relatively quickly in consumer electronics terms.
On one hand i’m Inclined to agree with you about less whining, but you are relatively new to the Orbi system, whereas others have been using Netgear Orbi hardware for some time now, and have experiences with firmware auto-updates that have fixed one problem, but inadvertently created another. It seems to me that an option to disable auto-updates is not unreasonable. My Samsung smart TVs, my Apple TV, Yamaha receiver, desktop Macs, IOS devices, etc all have a user-configurable default setting of auto update or manual. Netgear, unfortunately has a policy of rolling out auto updates with no prospect of user intervention. (I have an email from Netgear confirming this).
I think that if these and other issues are conveyed to Netgear in reasonable language, setting out the facts, it is not whinging, it’s called customer service, to which we are entitled, having paid for goods for a particular purpose in good faith that they will work.
Sorry, I do NOT agree with your criticism for the complaints here. As you said, "you have only been using ORBI for a month". Saying that one product from one manufacturer is worse than this manufacturer, therefore we should be satisfied with what we have, expecially when paying for a premium product, is certainly not a excuse and shows your lack of understanding for what has happened here.
I have been using ORBI for about 5 months now, and was extremely pleased with this router up until recently when an automatic update suddenly destroyed most of my(30+) homekit devices for which I had paid several thousands and they suddenly stopped working. After many hours and days of frustration, and back and forth with these accessory manufacturers, it finally became apparent that it was the router that was the problem. And the fact that they did an automatic update without my knowledge and did not give us the ablility to roll back(as so many other products do) became a major problem for me and many others. Products that control your lights, security, heating, locks, and other information, suddenly stopped working.
It is like other technology that we all have become so used to, like the cell phone. It is hard to imagine how people got along 20 years ago without one. Take it away and WATCH what happens. Geesh...I actually had to manually flip on all my light switches, lock my doors manually, set my heating manually, and I no longer could watch the occassional rabbit or deer set off my security cameras. What's a poor fella to do?? I used to have a full head of hair...now, not so much!
Anyway, I am thankful that Netgear FINALLY did put out a fix, and all is well, again. However, if they are unable to test these updates more thoroughly, the very least they could do, is to give us the ability to roll back, if something like this happens again.