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Forum Discussion
RBR20 Orbi guest network doesn't allow special characters?
I'm on firmware V2.7.4.24. I'm using WPA2-PSK security for the wireless network and have been using a password with special characters since I first set it up. I just tried to enable the guest netwo...
SomebodyInGNV wrote:
Concerning your tests of other passwords, can we assume an RBR50 works the same as an RBR20, if both are on the same software version?
That is a really good question. My first impression is, "Of course. Why not?" It would be more definitive if one could examine the actual files and confirm that they are identical. (At this point, one wants to ask, "why the h**l did Netgear not explain exactly what was wrong with the proposed password rather than print that message about what was expected?)
Part of this discussion has taken place "off-line". My latest observation is that the exact same guest password is sometimes (a) accepted and implemented, and (b) rejected because it does not meet the requirement. The same characters!!!!
This is not a happy situation.
- CrimpOn was the first to describe it as intermittent. My experience (I'm the OP) is that it consistently fails, but I didn't try variations.
ekhalil wrote:
CrimpOn, so you could reproduce the same intermittent issue in your Orbi?
Yes, and not happy to have done so.
In addition to Ingrid Nancy Foster-Smith, I had the most variation with, "My Dog Has Fleas", with variations of substituting a hyphen for one of the spaces:
Able Baker Charlie Delta - OK
Ingrid Nancy Foster-Smith - OK (which I swear failed before!)
My Dog Has-Fleas - OK
My Dog Has Fleas - NOT ACCEPTED
My-Dog Has Fleas - NOT ACCEPTED
My Dog-Has Fleas - OK
Ingrid Nancy Foster-Smith - OK
My Dog Has Fleas - OK (but it failed once before)
My-Dog Has Fleas - NOT ACCEPTED
My Dog Has Fleas - NOT ACCEPTED
My Dog Has-Fleas - OK
My Dog Has Fleas - NOT ACCEPTED
My Dog Has-Fleas - NOT ACCEPTED
Very frustrating. I did this on a test RBR50 because APPLY brings up that spinning icon that takes about two full minutes to finish and I believe restarts the entire WiFi radio stack. Did not want to do that with the primary WiFi network.
This has turned into an episode of mindless busywork that is actually stress-reducing.
There appears to be a relationship between how a password is created and whether it is accepted or not. Today I have alternated between "My Dog Has Fleas" and "How Now, Brown Cow". Once a password is accepted, I would backspace over a space and replace it with a hyphen. Those passwords are always rejected. Replacing the hyphen with a space (to return the password to the accepted version) is also rejected. Such as...
My Dog Has Fleas - OK
My Dog Has-Fleas - Rejected
My Dog Has Fleas - Rejected
So far, typing in a password has always been accepted, no matter what pattern of spaces and hyphens it has. Cut and Paste from Notebook also appears to work. However, Cut, Paste, then Edit fails. i.e.
Paste in "My Dog Has Fleas", then change a space to a hyphen is rejected.
Paste in "My Dog Has-Fleas" and not edit it is accepted.
Special characters appear to be "no problem". This was accepted:
"Dog~!@#$%^&*()_+`-=:";'<>?,./" (almost every special character on the English keyboard)
Change Dog to Cat and it is rejected.
It appears to be the act of editing the entry that triggers rejection.
- While not printable, perhaps the Orbi is storing the navigation keystrokes as part of the password. Not being in the set of allowed characters, it feels it.
I'll be away from the router awhile. I'll report my results when I try to recreate the password when I return.