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RBR20/RBS20 2.5.1.16 firmware observations
Hi all,
I upgraded my RBR20 and RBS20 to 2.5.1.16 firmware last week. Previously they were running 2.3.5.38 firmware.
A couple of observations:
The release notes say "Enhances the device recognition mechanism of the attached devices list" which is certainly the case. There are presentation improvements and the list seems to keep itself sorted out in a timely fashion and at boot time compared with the 2.5.1.x firmware.
The big (undocumented) change for me has been much improved reliability of satellite wireless backhaul syncing. Previously the satellite might take some time to resync if the router was rebooted or a configuration change was made that dropped sync. Sometimes the sync would fail, or the satellite would sync over 2.4G instead of 5G. The physical location relative to the router made no difference. Now the satellite syncs faster and so far 100% reliably on 5G. The physical location and distance between devices made no difference to these behaviours.
Just my observations. Your mileage may vary but 2.5.1.16 looks the goods so far.
11 Replies
One thing to try when you encounter problems, pre or post FW updates, factory reset the system and setup from scratch. Sometimes this helps resolve odd RBS sync problems.
Also try some of these suggestions as well:
30 feet is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected. https://kb.netgear.com/000036466/How-far-should-I-place-my-Orbi-satellite-from-my-Orbi-router
What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many? Having wifi neighbors near by can be problematic as well.Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or maynot be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
Try disabling the following and see:
Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Set Short preamble instead of Long preamble modes. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).Glad the system is working better. Thank you for letting us know.
Besure to make a backup configuration to file as well now. Helps save time if a reset is needed later on down the road.
Enjoy. :smileywink:
I have a long background in wireless networking and tried every setting and combination of settings imaginable, including clean installs.
No dice until the firmware upgrade and bingo - all good. So far it's only a dirty install but everything is fine. I don't use any of the content management or filtering features for what it's worth.
Betting there are improvements in the code base that won't be mentioned in the release notes.
Good to hear though. Hope this will be helpful for 20 series users.
Rlease Notes for v16:
New Features and Enhancements:
- Enhances the device recognition mechanism of the attached devices list
Bug Fixes:
- Fixes the compatibility issue with Sonos devices
Enjoy. :smileywink:
Hello, how did you guys update the firmware version 2.5.1.16
I went to netgear support to download the file and it is 2 files.
First file type is "Chrome HTML document" with 1kb
Second file type is "Disc image file" with 32570KB
According to the user manual, I should manually update the firmware for the satellite device before the router.
The fireware file name should either end in .img or .chk.
Is it the "Disc image file" with 32750KB?
When I clicked on that file, I got the disc image file is corrupted.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
First manually download the RBS and RBR FW files from here.
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/RBK20.aspx#download
Just click on the download button for each file. Your browser will download this to your PC.
Find and Unpack the FW from the .zip files.
Use a wired PC for this process. Safari(Mac), IE11(Windows), Firefox or Opera browsers are recommended.
Log into the RBSs web page and send the FW file there first.
Then send the RBR FW file lastly.
Factory reset the RBS and RBR and setup from scratch. After makeing sure the system works after setting up, be sure to make a backup configuration to file for safe keeping. This saves time if a reset is needed again.
daivinhchi wrote:Hello, how did you guys update the firmware version 2.5.1.16
I went to netgear support to download the file and it is 2 files.
First file type is "Chrome HTML document" with 1kb
Second file type is "Disc image file" with 32570KB
According to the user manual, I should manually update the firmware for the satellite device before the router.
The fireware file name should either end in .img or .chk.
Is it the "Disc image file" with 32750KB?
When I clicked on that file, I got the disc image file is corrupted.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
