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Forum Discussion
New RBK30 - what is the safest newer FW version?
I've just set up an RBK30 (RBR40 & RBW30)...just blown away by the speed improvement over my older Nighthawk R7000. DId not know I was living in the dark ages. :) I'd like to update the FW. I cu...
netgearguy wrote:$349
Two ports on the router, none on the satellites (called beacons by Eero) which was fine for me as I didn't need/use the ports on the Orbi satellites. So you have one port for the WAN connection, and one port out to a single wired device, or to a switch to connect more wired devices.
A multi-port switch by the router is a must with Eero if you have multiple wired devices. I already happened to have an 8 port switch in my system right next to the router, so the lack of ports on the router was a non-issue. You can pick up a switch for a few dollars if you don't have one, obviously.
You can also get what they call a Eero Pro system, which essentially is just three routers, rather than one router and two beacons, or one router w/one beacon (which is $249). Almost $500 for the Eero Pro system seems way over-priced IMHO.
The Orbi HW definitely provides more bang for the buck w/four ports on the router and one each on the satellites that the RBK30 system provides, for $249 (and on sale recently at $199). Orbi support was also much easier to get to than Netgear support where I waited on hold for over 30 minutes when I called them. Eero support wait was a few minutes. Once connected the support experience was very good w/Eero, but it was almost as good with Netgear. But the long wait w/Netgear was really annoying.
But disconnect/reliability issues (and unclear if that's entirely a FW issue, or a combined FW/HW issue) made the superior HW features on the Orbi a moot point for me.
Thanks...that's a fair price. I'm currently not having any issues (other than the constant blue light on one of the sats this morning). I do use 2 of the ethernet ports on the router and 3 on one of the sats.
Per Netgear Level 2 support request on my case, I've set up my Orbi RBK30 system again.
Also per request from support I've made the following changes to defaults:
- Reset both router and satellite (two times on each)
- Left all defaults in place, except:
- Turned off Daisy Chain Topology (one satellite, don't need it)
- Set 2.4 GHz to channel 11 (least congested) rather than leaving at "Auto"
- Set 5.0 Ghz to channel 48 (least congested) rather than leaving at "Auto"
Both devices are on the most current FW releases available:
- Router (RBR40) is on: 12.1.1.16
- Sat (RBW30) is on: 12.1.1.18
I have the router sitting three feet away, and an iPhone attached to the network streaming audio so that I am aware when a network interruption occurs and I can see what the router is doing (rebooting or simply dropping/reconnecting).
I have only a few devices on the network. If it remains stable as-is for the next four or five hours, I will add all of my devices to it later today and see if it remains stable.
Hopefully this will be interesting and productive test.
Two hours later and there have been no disconnects or reboots.
Going to wait until after lunch, and if it is still stable, I'll connect all of my devices to it and see if stability remains.
Four hours later with no reboots or network drops
I've now enabled all my devices (total ~30) to connect to the Orbi network.
Monitoring to see if the surprising network stability continues...
netgearguy wrote:
Both devices are on the most current FW releases available:
- Router (RBR40) is on: 12.1.1.16
- Sat (RBW30) is on: 12.1.1.18
18? Is that a typo, or did they give you an unadvertised new version?
That's the most current firmware for the RBW30 (wall plug satellite) that netgear guy owns.
webminster wrote:netgearguy wrote:
Both devices are on the most current FW releases available:
- Router (RBR40) is on: 12.1.1.16
- Sat (RBW30) is on: 12.1.1.18
18? Is that a typo, or did they give you an unadvertised new version?
Major typos - OOPS! Aside from providing the wrong version number I also put "12.1.1.xx" - adding a "1" in front of each version as well. DOH! Wish I could update old posts to fix stuff like that!
Actual FW versions:
Model Name Device Name Current Version Status Router RBR40 RBR40 V2.1.1.16 Satellite RBW30 Orbi Satellite-1 V2.1.0.18 Thanks for asking/pointing that out! :)
A little over two hours later an no drops.
I know - two hours is pretty insignificant amount of time, but previously I would have been expecting something to have happened by now.
Could the simple change of setting the channel manually to 11 be the key? Nothing else has changed as far as I know. Same FW as before, same HW, same settings except for manual channel selection vs. Auto.
Thar she blows...dammit.
Same as before:
- Notice losing connection on devices
- Check router - white flashing LED
- Check sat - purple LED
- All devices lose connectivity, wired and wireless
- Back online again after router finishes reboot and satellite reconnects
So looks like no improvement w/stability, at least none when a normal load is on the router.
I never saw CPU load go above 20% when I was checking it.
