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Forum Discussion
OrbiOS 2.1.4 availability
A quick update. We're about to release an updated version of OrbiOS 2.1.4 in the next few days through our auto-update mechanism for all Orbi models. When it goes live, you should see a prompt in t...
Yes netgear please turn off autoupdate,and make this and option to turn off and on autoupdate.
so if there is problem in the future we can use older firmware thats working.
The problem with turning off the auto-update is you are now sitting on the sidelines. Then you have to figure when to jump back in and upgrade your FW and how will you determine that? By reading the posts in here...? Really?
Many of the problems the Orbi has been having can be traced to product diversity. Trying to be all things to all consumers. If FW updates scare you, then perhaps you should try a lower cost basic wifi router.
- I would gladly like a refund for this rubbish but alas I stuck with it for 16 months. If the firmware was stable and actually worked and didn’t end up making things worse or consistently require resetting everything to then find it still doesn’t work as it should then would be happy with the forced auto updates and the forced single SSID (early firmware allowed a split of 2.4/5G SSID) which was so much better but Netgear removes this and added forced firmware updates which are not stable and do not work (yes yes some people don’t have issues, lucky them). Still not a week yet with Google Wifi but not a single drop or issue with anything. After 2 days or less with Orbi after resets etc etc the issues start again. Just the RBR on its own works well (especially with split SSID’s) but add satellites and boom, total trash at a premium price.
Retired_Member wrote:
The problem with turning off the auto-update is you are now sitting on the sidelines. Then you have to figure when to jump back in and upgrade your FW and how will you determine that? By reading the posts in here...? Really?
Many of the problems the Orbi has been having can be traced to product diversity. Trying to be all things to all consumers. If FW updates scare you, then perhaps you should try a lower cost basic wifi router.
Firmware updates shouldn't scare you at any price...that's kinda the point of the frustration here.
I have products that auto-update themselves and don't then immediately ruin the sheets. If Netgear showed that level of discipline, I'd be inclined to agree that it's better to keep a complicated (security sensitive) device as up-to-date as possible, but they aren't that careful. 2.1.4.10 apparently has known issues with HomeKit and ethernet backhaul, but they sent it to my setup anyway and screwed it all up. Again.
Until Netgear gets their QA processes in order, automatic updates are irresponsible. And I agree, I don't think the customer should have to weed through a sea of other angry customers, trying to intuit how broken multicast is this release, but that's the position Netgear has put them in.
And I'll never understand the willingness of some in this forum to give Netgear a pass for the current state of things. Even compared to other products, it's not deserved.
Amazon let us return it after having had it for 8 months, i've had enough of crashing firmware. Going to buy a google wifi pair and see if that can run for 4 hours without crashing. I would give Netgear the benefit of the doubt on this one but this is probably the 4th firmware update this year that has caused problems regarding flaky crashes and so on.
Dare I even talk about the disabled features that this router was meant to have unlocked in a future firmware update?
I will admit, during these 8 months there have been occasions when the router / satellite worked without fault... for a while anyway. However they NEVER worked 100% as intended. I can't remember one auto-firmware update that I didnt have to apply manually. The light ring on the top never truly gave a clear indication of the status of the satellite and if or not it was coming up (had to press the hard reset over and over again around about during the firmware issues with Android smartphones and chromecasts sending the spam)
Either way, i'm out. Really annoyed I trusted any of the "PC" sites that reccomend routers without a long term usability test. I guess this is too hard to offer.
Oh, and I remember when I was within the 3 months complimentary Netgear support period for full support... you know, apple style... I tried to use it.. utter garbage. I dont even remember being able to get through to a customer representive who knew what Orbi was.
After 183 posts on this firmware, where is the "we are aware that some of you are having issues with this... we are doing, a, b, c to remedy" just silence :(
I am sure Netgear are brewing up "the next" Orbi 2... now with extended range! for £500+ ... and all of us whom bought in to their Mk1 Mesh router will be forgotten as the beta test pilots that we are. :(
Retired_Member wrote:
The problem with turning off the auto-update is you are now sitting on the sidelines. Then you have to figure when to jump back in and upgrade your FW and how will you determine that? By reading the posts in here...? Really?
I appear to have lost my previous reply... maybe because Orbi dropped my connection. This time I'll be more brief. :(
It is none of your business if and when I update my firmware and when I want to "jump back in". I can decide on my own what is good for me and if I need the firmware through the change logs and forums. Cutting off my connection while I'm working to update my wireless is not acceptable. You want to notify me? Put it in the APP. Make the Orbi LED flash a color/sequence depending on the severity of the fixes you want to push. I never update immediately any firmware until I've had a chance to view the change log and review the forums. If I want to be a beta tester (which I frequently do), I'll download the beta firmware on purpose like I did with 2.1.3.4. At least by then I know what I'm getting into and looking for. I'm now trying to explain to my boss that I was dropped off an important remote meeting because Netgear knew better than me and decided to update my firmware without my knowledge or approval.
Retired_Member wrote:
The problem with turning off the auto-update is you are now sitting on the sidelines. Then you have to figure when to jump back in and upgrade your FW and how will you determine that? By reading the posts in here...? Really?
Many of the problems the Orbi has been having can be traced to product diversity. Trying to be all things to all consumers. If FW updates scare you, then perhaps you should try a lower cost basic wifi router.
Sitting on the sidelines is a good thing when your network is working fine. If it ain’t broke...
The biggest potential problem with auto-updates is when a power glitch occurs. Then you get bricks instead of Orbis. I choose to update firmware in the wee hours, when power demand is low.
Today I had a 10-second outage around 10:30 am, which killed my entire network even though I wasn’t updating firmware. My RBR50 router is on a UPS, but my 2 RBS50 sats are not. It took me 4 HOURS, many reboots, & finally a firmware change from 2.2.0 to 2.1.4.10 to get my system working again with wired backhaul.
So I shudder to think of an uninvited update coming through without permission.
Retired_Member wrote:
The problem with turning off the auto-update is you are now sitting on the sidelines. Then you have to figure when to jump back in and upgrade your FW and how will you determine that? By reading the posts in here...? Really?
Many of the problems the Orbi has been having can be traced to product diversity. Trying to be all things to all consumers. If FW updates scare you, then perhaps you should try a lower cost basic wifi router.
Upgrading as soon as a new version comes out it is not the approach most of the organization follow and one that can be replicated at home if you want a stable environment. Nowadays WiFi service at many homes is as demanding as it is at small companies.
If you have a stable release that works for you and you are OK with potential security risks the ultimate decision to upgrade is the user's not the manufacturer. Most of the organizations in the World are not running Windows 10, or replace all their corporate phones to have the same version of Android/iOS, actually, neither set their routers to the latest version. The majority wait until a new release is considered stable before upgrading if they upgrade at all, many just skip versions or stay at an older version for years.
Not upgrading does not sit anyone on the sidelines, worst that can happen when you call support is that you are asked to upgrade to the latest before starting troubleshooting, this has nothing to do with a product diversity, it is not like Netgear is developing several firmware branches.
The ability to disable auto-update and being able to do manual upgrades is a basic customer choice, at personal and corporate level.
Retired_Member wrote:
The problem with turning off the auto-update is you are now sitting on the sidelines. Then you have to figure when to jump back in and upgrade your FW and how will you determine that?
Personally, I would make that determination based simply upon my needs, which would be whether the upgrade contained a new feature I absolutely had to have or if the upgrade fixed a security vulnerability. Other than that, I would not upgrade unless and until I began to experience an issue or issues.
- In this day & age automatic updates are necessary. There are too many network threats to leave the possibility of a vulnerability being unpatched.
HOWEVER, NG MUST PERFORM VERY THOROUGH & VIGOROUS REGRESSION TESTS TO ENSURE ANY FW CHANGES DON’T IMPACT OR DEGRADE COMMON SERVICES THAT USERS RELY ON!
It does not look like NG does regression testing, when something like mDNS/Bonjour/AirPrint fails so spectacularly.
ZoneMaster wrote:
In this day & age automatic updates are necessary. There are too many network threats to leave the possibility of a vulnerability being unpatched.I respectfully disagree, for instance, I use the Orbi as an AP, all security protection is handled by my router + pfSense. I definitely do not want an auto-upgrade. I rather do it when I feel confident that will not break my network.
Even working as a router, for a particular security update, with the correct knowledge the owner/admin can make the informed call that it does not apply to your particular configuration. I am not saying that there it should not be an auto-upgrade option, I am saying it should be optional. The decision is up to the user,
I agree that an auto-update option should/must be enabled by default but with an option of turning it off.
