Streaming problems with Orbi Firmware versions v1.12.0.18 and v2.0.0.72

Hi, guys ... This community has been a great help to me, and I thought I'd pay it back now. :smileyhappy:

I have had a random media streaming issue that started about a month ago. Netflix, Amazon, and HBO Go all started having momentary buffering issues, and the longer I would stream, the more frequent the buffering would occur. It was all very random, though. Casting through Chromecast (via WiFi) was the worst, but my Amazon FireTV box (hardwired, 100BaseT) also had the problem but to a lesser extent. Sometimes, my Chromecast would even drop the connection during streaming.

I have a 150 Mbps down / 12 Mbps up internet connection, with 20 msec of latency. My internet connection reads that pretty consistently. I should have plenty of bandwidth.

I spent a lot of time blaming my cable company. They have usually been the culprit in the past. But they have said that they see a perfect connection, and no bit errors are being reported by my cable modem.

So, today I tried diagnosing every piece of the data chain. At one point, I tried hard-wiring my Amazon FireTV box to my cable modem instead of going through the Orbi router ... and, I didn't see the buffering issue anymore!

Sure enough, when I reconected my Orbi (loaded with v2.0.0.72 at the time), the buffering issue reappeared on my FireTV. I tried erasing all the Orbi settings and reconfiguring my Orbi from scratch, and it didn't help - The buffering still occurred.

I realized that the buffering issue probably started after I received the v1.12.0.18 firmware around a month or so ago. I definitely was having this problem before the v2.0.0.72 update from a few days ago. So, I went to the previous load before that (v.1.11.0.20).

And, with v1.11.0.20 reinstalled, my streaming buffering issues have disappeared! :smileyvery-happy:

Firmware v1.11.0.20 Downgrade Instructions: 

1. Download the Orbi Base Firmware: Here. Download the Orbi Satellite Firmware: Here. Unzip these and save the .IMG files to a local hard drive - You don't want to save to a network drive, since you'll be messing with your network during this process.
2. In order to go back to v1.11.0.20, you will first need to disable all Netgear updates on your Orbi. The instructions to disable Orbi updates are located here. (Note: Regardless of what the rest of that post says, blocking downloads.netgear.com on the router didn't work for me. Neither did the manual update process.). This is important. If you don't disable updates before downgrading your Orbi, your Orbi will automatically update back to v.1.12.0.18 within a minute or two after you go through the initial Orbi setup, and you'll have to start over again. Note: You may need to enable the Telnet Client Windows Feature in your Windows "Programs and Features" control panel to get a working telnet command in your command window.
3. Once the Orbi updates are disabled, install the v1.11.0.20 firmware onto your Orbi satellites first (Advanced >> Administration >> Firmware Update >> Manual Update). Loading the satellites first is important, since you may lose connection to the satellites if you load your Orbi base first. You'll get a warning about the downgrade, but that's OK.
4. After all your Orbi satellites have been loaded, load your Orbi base unit with the v1.11.0.20 firmware. Again, You'll get a warning about the downgrade, but that's OK.
5. Once the Orbi base was loaded and came back up, I erased all my configuration settings to be on the safe side (Advanced >> Administration >> Backup Settings >> Erase). It's your option whether you should clear your settings - they may be incompatible, so don't get upset if your Orbi starts acting weird if you don't.
   
6. Go through the Orbi initial setup. Note: I had to power off / on my satellite before going through the Orbi setup, and retry by going back a few pages before my satellite was properly recognized by the base.

Hopefully this works for you, too!

I don't know what Netgear implemented in v1.12.0.18 that causes this streaming buffering issue. It could be difficult for them to diagnose, since normal speed tests work just fine. The problem must be at a very low level though, since it affects both wired and WiFi connections.

I guess I won't be upgrading my Orbi again untill I see a fix for the streaming issue in a future firmware upgrade release note.

Cheers!

AzJazz