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Forum Discussion
RBW30 satellite: Manual update fails
The instructions to manually update the firmware of an Orbi satellite fail at step 5:
"If the browser asks you for the admin password, enter the same password you entered for the Orbi router."
Clicking on the update button opens a small browser window at the URL .../fwUpdate.htm with a sign-in prompt. The page doesn't accept the input. This is clearly a malfunction and I cannot determine the cause. I reset the RBW30 satellite to no avail.
Has anyone figured this out? I'd like to update to firmware 2.6.2.6.
15 Replies
The RBW30 came in its own box. It is not part of a kit.
Isn't it strange that RBW30 added itself back, without me initiating a sync?
Not necessarily. I believe when Netgear created packages consisting of one router and one or more satellites (identified by the letter "K" in the product name - for "Kit") they might have linked them into a system that would sync automatically, which allowed customers to use them "out of the box" without doing any configuration at all.
From looking at WiFi system names (SSIDs) in my neighborhood, it is pretty obvious that many of them have never made any configuration changes to their WiFi routers.
I turned the RBW30 satellite off, then clicked "Remove" in the LBR20 admin "Attached Devices" page. After a while I turned the RBW30 back on and it added itself back to the LBR20. Its password is still "password". Isn't it strange that RBW30 added itself back, without me initiating a sync?
When a satellite connects to the router, the router tells it what the administrative password is.
I read your last reply only after performing the third reset. I performed it by holding the reset button until the LED ring started pulsing yellow. I have also updated the firmware for both the LBR20 and RBW30 to their latest versions.
After the reset, the administrative password is now "password". This is still not the expected outcome, because I am using a custom password for the LBR20, which – as you've explained, the sync is supposed to tell the satellite.
This means that the reset might perform okay, but the sync doesn't.
So, I have been waiting over night to see if that missing sync would complete by itself, but the password for the RBW30 is still "password".
I will now try to add the satellite not via the app but via the LBR20 web page.
Could you tell me how to tell whether a reset completed successfully?
Thanks CrimpOn, for assisting! I found the cause of the problem. I contacted the previous owner, who gave me the password he used, which is accepted in the sign-in prompt. This means that the real problem is the reset, which did not actually reset the device. I am going to try a reset for the third time...
I am going to try a reset for the third time...
Please note that resetting a satellite does not affect the administrative password. Only resetting the router erases all user configuration. When a satellite connects to the router, the router tells it what the administrative password is.
Try a 30-30-30 reset instead of the normal reset, this should really clear out any prior creds.
Many Orbi WiFi5 satellites have their own web page with an option to manually update firmware. When I open a web browser to the IP address of my RBS50 satellite this web page appears:
Selecting Firmware Update allows me to manually upload the firmware that I have downloaded from Netgear and extracted from the zip file.
Does the RBW30 have a similar web page?
Yes, the RBW30 does have its own webpage, but the sign-in prompt denies the default "admin" and "password". After I reset the device, I noticed that it continued to identify itself with the custom name I had given it. Do you think this might indicate that the reset did not complete?
What is the RBW connecting too? and RBR or something different?
By the way, sign-in prompts on any other item in the orbilogin.com interface accept the user and password input without issue.
Combine this with the fact that online update doesn't work either, this looks like an intentional limitation by Netgear to annoy customers using older products.
Highly doubt that.
Thought all Orbi AC series is EoL. There still usable.
Try using admin and password and the log in. Sometimes if the RBW hasn't been fully sync, may use default log in.
Is the RBW connected already to a RBR unit?
The RBW30 is connected to an Orbi LBR20. The connection was established using the Orbi app. I have to say though that feedback from the app was odd. The process finished with the info that a satellite could not be found. But once I returned to the main screen, the satellite was shown, in the network map as well. The exact same experience I had when repeating the sync after the reset of the RBW30.
Also, contrary to the Quick Start Guide, the LED ring pulses white and never ceases to pulse white. Nevertheless, the sync completes.
So try resetting the RBW and add the RBW using the LBRs web page Add Satellite web ui feature in a web browser.
Wondering if the RBW is syncing but not syncing fully and not getting the log in creds from the LBR like it should be.
