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OrbiOS 2.1.1
The Orbi team at NETGEAR is aware that some users are experiencing higher than expected Orbi Router reboots, special characters in WiFi Passwords and WiFi / Internet disconnects. We believe these is...
Let me give you a quick update on where NETGEAR is with the OrbiOS.
Just before Christmas break, we paused the distribution of OrbiOS 2.1. Very soon, we're about to restart the distribution of a slightly updated version of the beta (2.1.2). In addition to the major new features introduced in 2.1 (e.g. Circle, Ethernet Backhaul), this firmware is expected to address the high CPU issue, as well as the special character in PSK issue as well as support for the Outdoor Orbi. Check Release Notes for complete list.
We are continuing to work on the issues with Google devices that have been documented in the press (several users have provided links here).
My recommendation is that you should either use the Orbi Mobile App (if you haven't seen it recently, check it out, we've made some major improvements) or the Web UI to check for new firmware or wait until your system gets auto-upgraded.
To answer your question, Stars_fan. When Orbi are connected over Ethernet backhaul, the 5GHz band becomes hot standby.
Orbi Product Management
can you post some links where there are reports of other routers rebooting because of Android OS? I havent seen a single one..
Heres a big one in the pixel forum
https://support.google.com/pixelphone/forum/AAAAb4-OgUsE7sQJOTnXNk/
most of the posts in the firum you linked to are complaining about the Pixel disconnecting from wifi, NOT about their router rebooting because a pixel phone is connected to it..
The fact that gear from multiple manufacturers are all suffering similar problems leads me to belive that either an upstream hardware supplier, or possibly some piece of commonly used open source software may be to blame. The question is, when the root problem is found, will it require a simple firmware update, or a recall and hardware replacement? The common denominator, however, continues to be the Android phones... focus on those if you want to identify the root cause.
guzzijason wrote:The fact that gear from multiple manufacturers are all suffering similar problems leads me to belive that either an upstream hardware supplier, or possibly some piece of commonly used open source software may be to blame. The question is, when the root problem is found, will it require a simple firmware update, or a recall and hardware replacement? The common denominator, however, continues to be the Android phones... focus on those if you want to identify the root cause.
Since I never had this problem with Android and Orbi prior to mid-December, I suspect that a software update on one or both is responsible for the issue. So, I'm hoping that another software update could correct the problem.
As for other routers rebooting, here's a sample after a very quick scan of the pixel forum. There are lots more, but I'm not going to spend the night compiling all of them:
Michael Karknee
Similar issue here. TP-Link AC750 Archer C2 router has been dropping its internet connection at least daily. Not a mesh network. Hardly ever had to reboot it for the past year of ownership.
Razrmon
I just saw this item and suspect that it may be causing a persistent problem I have been having since 8.0 upgrade. FIOS 100 router has been disconnecting Roku, Alexa, phones, and PCs. Only fix seems to be rebooting router. Is there a way to isolate. For example, shall I disable WiFi on Pixel when at home to see if problem goes away?.
Manish Kar
My modem/router reboots frequently when my Nexus 5X's wifi radio turns on. Specs and what I've tried so far below:
Modem/Router:
Bell Canada Home Hub 2000 (Manufacturer: Sagecom)
Device: Nexus 5X (32 GB) OS 8.1.0quick_nick
I have Google WiFi and 2 pixel 2 devices (one a Pixel 2 XL) and we noticed all WiFi connections have had issues the past 3 weeks. The WiFi units are randomly rebooting.
k4rtik
I have a Pixel 2 and a Google Home Mini and facing a similar issue with my wifi router. Once I move with my phone from one room to another, the wifi stops working on all devices. The only cure I have found is to reboot the router, but that's too annoying.
My router is a TP-Link Archer C1200 V2.
only 1 of those posters said they have a mesh router, so, you still havent proven your point about other mesh routers..
I don't want to pick sides on who is right or wrong. I guess the important thing is that there is obviously an issue with Android and Wifi that may, or may not, be connected to the problem we are seeing with the Orbi.
The Orbi is an awesome router that worked great until recently. I hope Netgear can make it great again.
robertcdh wrote:The Orbi is an awesome router that worked great until recently. I hope Netgear can make it great again.
Orbi was great for me during the first 3 months of ownership. Then all hell started breaking loose last summer after some forced software updates.
And I don't think it's been proven that the reboots have anything to do with Android. Correlation isn't causation. Until the root cause is really known, I don't think we can say. That will be when Netgear figures out why their routers are rebooting. Which is something they should have figured out before pushing updates.
- Are people more interested in blaming Orbi for all their problems or getting down to the issue?
- Okay, it just looks like despite what everyone is saying, that you are shouting at net gear when it's a larger issue at hand.
spinkick wrote:
Okay, it just looks like despite what everyone is saying, that you are shouting at net gear when it's a larger issue at hand.Not sure that any router should panic and reboot regardless of a what a client device tries to do. If that were the case, then a bad actor could maliciously crash netgear routers....
Seems like security vulnerabilty if a rogue device can crash the router!
spinkick wrote:
Okay, it just looks like despite what everyone is saying, that you are shouting at net gear when it's a larger issue at hand.We are shouting at Netgear because they sold us buggy products and keep introducing regressions. Even if the bug is in some firmware they consume from a third party, ultimately they are the only ones who can integrate fixes into a working firmware fix for Orbi.
If there was a DD-WRT or Tomato firmware for Orbi, I bet those guys could do a far better job than Netgear is doing right now.
People are frustrated because ORBI is not just some cheap stuff you buy and forget. It's not an average good sub $100 router ( in-fact its performance is even worst than these cheaper routers e.g asus mid range). Some people, like me, bought multiple kits because of ORBI's coverage and speed claim. I spent approx. $700 for my kits (RBK43 and RBK50).
I have had Luma with 6 nodes and was having a lot of trouble getting full speed on all corners in my 4500 sq ft home, front and backyard. I read amazing reviews on Amazon about ORBI and settled on it instead of going with EERO PRO. I agree ORBI looks much cooler than Luma or EERO PRO and have more LAN ports.
Recent updates to firmware made it worst. As a customer, I humbly demand Netgear fix these issues ASAP. If their ignorance continues, a major lawsuit might be coming their way for selling expensive lemons. If its a hardware issue, Netgear must acknowledge it and notify customers immediately and issue a recall for all defective units (which I think would end up being all ORBIs).
aani75aani75
>> I read amazing reviews on Amazon about ORBI and settled on it instead of going with EERO PRO. I agree ORBI looks much cooler than Luma or EERO PRO and have more LAN ports. Recent updates to firmware made it worst. As a customer, I humbly demand Netgear fix
This is exactly my thoughts. My wifi was adequate mostly through the house.. some dead zones but for the most part ok. I cut the coard thsi year, added a bunch of Alexa's, camera's autolocking doors & security system, etc... I wanted a reliable fast wifi that covered all of my house. So, I purchased the 7000sqft setup from Amazon. RBR50, RBS50 & RBS40.
its been about 6 weeks, and to date, I am so very disapointed. the RBS40 actually works the best. devcies right next to the RBS50 will connect to the RBS40.
I have been monitoring the wifi signal from the router and both statallites, and I can see that one drops the 2.4 ghz band all the time. Single strength drops to just about nothing, when its normally the highest.
Devices that should be connected to the 5ghz band will switch back and forth for no reason that I can disern, as I can see NO change in that specific signal strength when it happens. And there is no way to force it.
It was an expensive solution, but a mesh-wifi was what I wanted to simplify things for my wife and kids.
But all I get now is complaints about "Dropped" "slow" "can't connect" etc.
The RBS50 is a boat anchor. NOTHING connects to it. and I can tell this because I am running 2.0.0.74 on all devices and the device list on all the devices work. almost everything downstairs connects to the RBS40, regardless of whether its far closer to the RBS50.
Afriad to upgrade to the beta, since I also work from home and can't afford issues.
And its too late to return. I should have gotten a powerful nighthawk router and put in an AP or 2, but didn't want my kids trying to figure out what to connect to as they rome around the house.
They better fix it soon, or I will just have to accept I am out $600 and have to change out my system. But I doubt I will be going netgear.
Just an FYI, I had a Netgear support engineer call me last night and remote into my system to try and help diagnose my random rebooting issues (which increased dramatically with 2.1.2.10). They basically had no answers as I had no devices known to cause issues (ie: Android 8.0+) , and had no newer firmware with any possible fixes to try. They asked me to enable Debug Log Capture and LAN/WAN Packet Capture on both the router and satellite (both running 2.1.1.16) and send in logs after random reboots occur. Not sure if that will actually crash a kernel panic crash dump or not (the potentially most helpful log) but it seems to me like they are in need of user data to help find the issues.
If anyone is experiencing random reboots (without Android 8.0+ devices) like myself, perhaps you can also enable the Debug Logs and send them in as well. Hopefully more data being seen will result in an actual fix.
they should just push the Orbi Pro firmware to these home units; the orbi pro has no reports at all of these weird issues happenning, and I have ordered a set of them to try and see for myself..check the pro forum and you'll see what I mean..
There are likely one of two scenarios at play here:
1. They have already tried just that, and it hasn't fixed existing issues (and/or even introduced new issues), or
2. The hardware is different enough (haven't really researched specs of Home or Pro) that the firmware for the Pro wouldn't run on the Home models without significant refactoring, in which case you're probably better off with trying to solve the issues in the existing codebase.
I just got off the phone with Google, and Google DID confirm that there is a known issue with both Android 7.x and 8.x (doesn't matter which Android device is in use) which causes kernel panics on routers made by Netgear, Linksys, Asus, TP-Link, Eero, Amplifi, Luma, and many others. The kernel panics then result in either clients being disconnected from the router or the router rebooting. The issue has existed for more than a year now, and they still don't know the cause or the fix, but that it is caused by the Android operating system itself.
yeah, you are probably right; from my research, I learned they only put stable, working, proven features on the pro, so as to not screw up enterprise customers, and they use the home versions to try out new and experimental things, long before they put them on the enterprise units.
thats why I thought I would try the pro versions and see if its more stable than the erratic home versions have been
richard, sorry, I dont believe anything that Google person told you; I tested the Amplify hd with ZERO issues, and am currently using the Eero Pro setup with ZERO issues...and, if you read the forums for both of those products, NO ONE has reported any sort of reboot issue with any Android phone or tablet..
wase4711 wrote:richard, sorry, I dont believe anything that Google person told you; I tested the Amplify hd with ZERO issues, and am currently using the Eero Pro setup with ZERO issues...and, if you read the forums for both of those products, NO ONE has reported any sort of reboot issue with any Android phone or tablet..
https://support.google.com/pixelphone/forum/AAAAb4-OgUsE7sQJOTnXNk/
Multiple stories of EERO, Luma and Orbi uders having problems directly linked to these devices.
wase4711 wrote:richard, sorry, I dont believe anything that Google person told you; I tested the Amplify hd with ZERO issues, and am currently using the Eero Pro setup with ZERO issues...and, if you read the forums for both of those products, NO ONE has reported any sort of reboot issue with any Android phone or tablet..
The point is, Google knows they have an android problem, and they are working on trying to resolve it. The fact that your particular environment isn't affected, while fantastic for you, is sort of irellevant in the grand scheme of things.
not irrelevant to me, as I know that things get MEGA OVER EXXAGERATED on the internet...
the one common thread to many of these reported issues in the Orbi Home Routers...
- He's just going to jump up and down in here, no matter what evidence we give him. He'd lose his mind if he did IT for a living. You just don't fix things in an integrated world any more by not considering the interactions with other manufacturers. EVERYONE is working on this, including net gear. We all want the same thing.
If you happen to know more than us, please fix it.
My environment also does not reboot with Android 8 but I've had to work around it.
For my environment, I have daisy chain turned off, no wired satellites. The router is in AP mode with a firewall and cable modem for the gateway. I have a local windows server handling dns that towards to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 (Google dns)
I have several Google chromes that randomly stop working, and I stream from my 8.1 pixel 2 which I believe is causing the issue. I can stream to Bluetooth no problem so it's gotta be something g with how android is crowding the wifi network or not giving other devices their turn to communicate.
My network is stable besides that, Hopefully this helps somebody
