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Forum Discussion

AmitR's avatar
AmitR
NETGEAR Employee Retired
Apr 23, 2018

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...
Installation
Troubleshooting
bent_wookie's avatar
bent_wookie
Star
May 04, 2018
Retired_Member wrote:
setham wrote:
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 rather do it when I feel confident that will not break my network.

 

 

when you figure this out be sure to let us all know.

It was pretty obvious that 2.1.4 had multicast problems within hours of its release. I did whatever I could to avoid updating, and was screwed over anyway. I agree that customers shouldn't be expected to make those kinds of judgements, but until Netgear has a better track record with firmware, the reward of always-up-to-date-firmware isn't worth the risk.

ZoneMaster's avatar
ZoneMaster
Apprentice
May 04, 2018

You miss my main point: NONE OF THESE ISSUES WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF NG DID THOROUGH REGRESSION TESTING! 

 

I am not defending NG. Just saying that NG needs to put more emphasis on RELIABLE upgrades. I have worked for decades in the software industry, & have seen how solid, reliable changes get made & rolled out:

  1. Programmers change & test their code
  2. An independant quality control group performs tests:
    1. Test that the changes work & meet specifications
    2. Regression testing
  3. The tested code is pushed to the end users

Regression Testing is vitally important. It validates that any new changes don't break existing functionality. NG's failure to properly test their FW is the main problem.

 

Also, NG's "90 day & then you pay" support is terrible! Heck, Apple (which so many love to compain about) still lets you contact them after 90 days & has a knowledge base for questions & error reports. NH has a paywall & community support!

 

I have a love/hate relationship with my ORBI. I bought it when Costco first offered them at a discount, & when my AirPort Express died. The thoroughput and coverage were beyond my highest expectations, but repeated FW mistakes have been vexing:

  1. 1.?.?.?? Initial FW = Great performance!!!
  2. 2.0.0.74 Nice new administrative features, but TRASHY performance (drop outes etc)
  3. 2.?.?.?? They fixed the issues with 2.0.0.74
  4. 2.1.4.10 Lost mDNS/Bonjour/AirPrint
  5. 2.1.?.?? TBD. Waiting for the next working version

However, I want automatic updates, because I want fixes ASAP. I don't want to spend half my life scanning for the "perfect" FW version. The only way to get NG to improve their FW process is NOT to complain here... Let's all start sending copies of these complaints to Consumer Reports & the tech media (PC & Mac magazines).

 

That being said, I will never recommend any NG product to anyone.