Just downloaded the latest release V1.9.1.12 and noticed in the official release notes from Netgear it states as fix 'Continious Improvement in wireless connection stability'..Dosent spefically makre reference to discconections but that sounds like a promising fix. Wonder if and when people update if they post if they have had discconnections (ios or Andriod) since installing V1.9.1.12 then we may know if its been fixed permanently

Netgear Moderators, I would like to attempt one last method to fix these multiple problems with the Orbi product. Rather than complaining, and throwing away my $600 investment, perhaps the Netgear engineers and developers would be perceptive to suggestions which I am sure can resolve some (if not all) of these problems. First, let me say Thank You! Thank you for your attempts to create an appealing looking product. It doesn’t look like a science project gone wrong with 6 antennas and 10 LED lights. It doesn’t cause my guest to ask me, “What is that weird looking thing”. Thank you for your attempts to innovate and solve the large home WIFI coverage problem. Thank you for the speed. Yes, its fast! With all that you made right, some portions of the Orbi product are missing the mark. I believe I may know what you are overlooking. You tried to create an EASY, SIMPLE, and high tech product that could be used by anyone, especially non-technical consumers. Unfortunately, what you “may” be missing is the reality that no one solution for WIFI exist for everyone. Therefore, other WIFI OEMs allow access to advance settings enabling consumer to tweak and tune the product to their specific use case and environment. Homes, buildings come in a large variety of sizes, floor plans, building materials and other variables which can cause interference from other locations. Possibly home appliances and other devices which may not “play friendly” with Orbi, despite your best attempts to find the one configuration that works for everyone. It’s just not possible! Hence, I ask of you. I plead with you. Beg of you! Stop trying to make Orbi work for everyone using your locked-in configurations. Allow some flexibility! Here are my suggestions which have proven to be affective for all of you competitors. Many of these suggestions have been posted in your” ideas” area forum. We must assume you are too busy, or have somehow over looked these suggestions. Allow the 2.4G and 5G radio SSIDs to be separated. All other OEMs which use any type of “smartconnect” ability allow that feature to be disabled. Because it doesn’t always work for EVERYONE. There are too many client devices in this world. 2 devices may work, and 2 may not. Allow this separation and it further removes the burden of band-steering. I can lock in my devices to a specific 2.4G or 5G band, and Orbi doesn’t need to worry about moving my devices to the other 2.4G radio. This should help with disconnects. It also allows Netgear to sell more Orbi Satellites. I would be inclined to buy an additional satellite so I have large 5G coverage, rather than moving to 2.4G. Let the user decide, as all your competition allows. Allow Orbi node/device-steering to be completely disabled. The Orbi is Fast. VERY FAST! It should not be required to force client devices back to the main Orbi router. If my client device has a good connection to the satellite, then let it stay there, or move on its own if the RSSI drops beyond 75. Most modern devices handle roaming VERY WELL, and do not need your help. Don’t risk a client disconnect by forcing the device to move to the router. Please provide the option to disable all band-steering. Please expose the client device, and Orbi Satellite device, RSSI, MCS Data Rate, connected radio, and which Orbi node its connected to. This will allow your users to have troubleshooting ability…AND it will allow better placements of the Satellites if you can show the “REAL” RSSI and MCS of the satellite connections. When a Satellite powers up and gives that white light showing a good connection. What it doesn’t tell you is how stable that connection is. I have two locations in my home that can cause random fluctuations in my signal strength. It will be good one moment, and not good 60 seconds later. I have been FORCED to use a Samsung Android Smartphone with WIFI Analyzer to determine the TRUE quality of a Satellite location because your product refuses to show any detailed information. Please allow automatic updates to be DISABLED. Netgear suffers the same problem all manufactures experience. Sometimes you get it WRONG. Sometimes a code update causes more problems. Your customers should be allowed to choose if they want to update, or NOT. This can be resolved via Orbi light illuminations telling the user something needs to be performed. It can also be notified via the Orbi App. But it should be “notify first, then allow the user to accept or decline the update”. Your recent 1.9.x update has caused more problems than it solved. Further making the Orbi NOT SIMPLE. And there are other “nice to have” features such as vLAN support for guest network. And others…But I would be happy see the above changes made. These requests are ALREADY part of the command line, but using them is difficult, requires research, and should the user make any changes in the Web GUI, the command line changes are lost. Please read this, and please make Orbi work. These changes should take no more than 2-4 weeks. Thank You

Gentlemen, and ladies, if there are some, Orbi needs to work as designed. That means any “fix” that requires; a. Disabling MU-MINO, b. Disable Beamforming, c. Reduce your power, d. Unplug you Satellites, etc, etc. This is NOT a “fix”. If my car is not operating properly and the dealer or manufacture instructs me to disable half my cylinders, never use my AC, radio, or cruise control, etc, keep your RPMs under 3K and never drive faster than 40MPH. Well, I think you would all agree that I would be “complaining”. And asking for a refund. What “I believe” is happening is the Orbi Algorithm is not working for “SOME”. Of course, it will work for some, and not others. WHY? Because there is no single magic Algorithm that works for every environment and client device. Cisco, and many other commercial grade wireless systems usually have a central control station that manages all APs in a multiple AP environment. This control station monitors all connections and status of all APs. It will change channels of some APs depending on the APs location and nearby interference, it will steer clients to other APs based on that devices capability and the overall status of the APs grid. And it will do MANY other things to insure a proper, healthy, functional and stable WIFI experience. It does this dynamically because WIFI conditions are never the same though the day, week, month, etc. One minute it has 10 clients, and one hour later it has 40. One hour the client is close to AP node 1, then it shows its closer to AP node 2. If the device does not move itself to the better AP node, the control station will move it. If I have an Algorithm that instructs; “If” client connects to Orbi Sat using 5G radio, “and” its RSSI is -65 or better, “then” DO NOT STEER to 2G, or Orbi Router. “If” client RSSI drops below -65 using 5G radio, “then” steer to Sat 2G radio. “If” client RSSI is -65 or lower using Sat 2G radio, “then” steer to Orbi Router 2G radio, “only” if RSSI is -65 or greater using Router 2G radio. If client RSSI is -40 or greater using router 2G radio, “then” steer to router 5G radio. The above is a VERY simple Algorithm for example purposes. I think Netgears’ Algorithm is broken, and they are “trying” to find the one Algorithm that works for EVERYONE. I think Netgear is trying to prevent the Sat backhaul from becoming too congested. Hence, the Algorithm is bias to the router and attempts to steer clients to the router as much as possible. The problem with any “bias” to the router, is modern devices that are not STUPID and can see the Sat having a much greater signal (-50 or better, compared to the current -70 it may have), and it switches to the Sat. But then, the Orbi Algorithm runs again and kicks the client back to the router. And the circle starts again. The client devices will “argue” and switch back to the Sat and Orbi will repeat this process again. But, after a few bounces between the router and Sat. the client drops its connection. And this can be due to several reasons. Example; 1. The client MAC is now showing on both Sat and Router and the L2 switching doesn’t know what path to reach the device. 2. The Apple client code realizes it cannot maintain a consistent connection to the WIFI network and hence it gives up and DROPS because its tired of being kicked several times to different AP nodes. It wants to choose the AP node itself, so it says screw you Orbi. Some devices are STUPID, and once they lock onto a BSSID AP Node, they stay. And if steering moves that device to another AP node, then it stays there. Some devices with bad and lazy code are perfect candidates for steering because they lack the intelligence to move to a better AP node. But newer devices with good code DO NOT like steering. They will go to WAR with it. But, the WIFI gods know this, so they created flags that APs can send to clients with “suggestions”. “Hey iPhone, I have this wonderful AP node with a much better signal, so why not try that.” The iPhone can choose to ignore it. If the iPhone has an existing data connection that must be maintained, it may choose to stay on the AP node it is using, and perhaps switch AP nodes once it goes back to idle. Example, Flash is on a WIFI Call. So, NO. I want to stay where I am at because switching may break the connection. I will move later. But if Orbi forces the move and STP and other network features are not used...Guess what...DROP... Again, this is what I believe could be causing the problem, but it’s hard to prove because unlike EVERYONE else who makes Multi-AP platforms with steering and other advanced features. They let you see the Algorithm and change it. They let you disable and enable features that may, or may not, work for YOU. WHY? Because they know there is no one size, no single Algorithm, that WORKS FOR EVERYONE.

We've been putting in significant work on these disconnect issues and wireless stability and every new release typically has improvements in it. The challenge is that there are literally thousands of devices running multiple versions of software that a router or WiFi System needs to work with, and occassionally interoperability issues arise as the two systems try to talk to each other. When that happens, rest assured that we're working very hard to stay on top of these issues and solve them. When we come up with a proposed fix, we always want to test out our fixes in a real-world environment, before rolling it out for everyone and we use the beta program for that. At this stage, we think we have a solution for some of them but we want to test it out in a smaller environment. If you're interested in helping us, please feel free to contact Support. Thanks, Orbi Product Management

Good luck to you all. I have given up and sold my orbi at a substantial financial loss, but with a net gain. I gain back my time and lack of frustration in purchasing another product that just works. Unfortunately, Netgear has a great idea but only a half baked product, hoping that we/you will stick it out until it is fully baked. My fear in that is that with a 1.OMG release, there will be a condition in which the hardware will not be able to support the necessary changes in code to run properly, hence making an Orbi 2.(0H.. this is what it should have been from the start). I am personally not willing to beta any further. Too many issues for something that should just work. Good luck all. Tom

Flash008 wrote:LOL It's called denial, brother. Let me enjoy my denial a little while longer. :smileysad: I want them to work really bad too but I had to cut the ties. Even if I don't stick with the Ubiquiti setup I will not go back to the Orbi's. I will find something else.

Update V1.9.1.12 Netgear officially announcing 'Improvement in wireless connection Stability'

265 Replies

Retired_Member
May 22, 2017
I haven't received a support case update in a couple of days, I'll write and ask for guidance.
- Flash008
  Luminary
  May 22, 2017
  Support has responded.
  
  Stay on beta. Contact support for new beta. Public 10.1.2 release is NOT the public beta release. I am not sure where the NDA applies, as I now have access to a new beta. I will continue to restrict information I share concerning unreleased beta version.
  
  I think Netgear could at least respond on this forum and instruct (which they have, telling you to contact support).
  
  We are "trying" to respect Netgear Beta NDA policy, but I am sure Netgear can understand the confusion caused by the version numbers.
  
  Beta users need to contact support. The response is a "little" surprising.
  - AmitR
    NETGEAR Employee Retired
    May 22, 2017
    Apologize if there's any confusion here -- let me try to clear this up:
    
    If you're on the beta firmware, and you like it, you should stay on the beta firmware -- do not upgrade. The new 1.10 release that went out is NOT for you, it was for the non-beta customers (ie. general public). Generally, we've had some positive feedback to the beta firmware, but we're not ready to push it out to everybody yet, but we needed to get some other fixes to the general public.
    
    We're in the process of pushing out a newer version of the beta firmware. Again, apologies.
    
    NETGEAR Product Team.
Hsc1102
Apprentice
May 23, 2017
This update is NOT an improvement. In fact after I updated the firmware, my connection is even worse. Whereas before it would disconnect every 10 minutes, now it disconnects every 5 minutes.

Netgear, we paid good money for this wireless router, YOU NEED TO FIX THIS ISSUE!!!
- Ts937km
  Apprentice
  May 23, 2017
  I updated from a no issue 1.9 firmware. Still working great no issues after about 4 hours. . I would love to know the difference.
  
  I assume everybody has the 3000 units. Not the 2200.
Hsc1102
Apprentice
May 23, 2017
Let me clarify... I updated from 1.9 to 1.10 which was released today. As far as I noticed, internet disconnects every 5 minutes vs 10 mins. 1.9 was not good for me and 1.10 seems worse. Wondering if I have a bad unit. I've had mine for 6 months, first 4 months no issues. These last 2 months have been very frustrating.
fbraz50
Apprentice
May 23, 2017
1.10 has been relatively stable for me thus far. My average ping times to my firewall have been a litle higher but at least I'm not dropping every 15 minutes. I still bouncer between the Orbi's and my ubiquiti access point. The Ubiquiti is more stable but the range and speed at range isn't as good as the Orbi.
marshymallow
Apprentice
May 24, 2017
For the benefit of everyone who is facing major WIFI disconnect issues (Whether on iOS or Android Devices).
I've been facing this issue from the beginning with much frustrations.

Currently I'm on the new Beta FW test and it's been looking good the whole of last night.
Not a single WIFI drop. I even asked the missus to observe this WIFI disconnect/connect situation.
She affirmed that it hasn't occured since the latest Beta FW.

It's a good sign so far.
- Flash008
  Luminary
  May 24, 2017
  This is good news. I too have been provided the "newer" FW, but my attempt to install left me with a non-working Orbi, forcing me to role-back to the earlier beta FW. Perhaps something flaky with the older config, or something, left the 2.4G radio in a disabled state with the Satellite node and clients unable to connect.
  
  None-the-less, I am going to try again tonight (if time permits) and perform a full factory reset and try to load it again.
  
  I am very happy to hear your positive report.
  - marshymallow
    Apprentice
    May 24, 2017
    Flash008 wrote:
    This is good news. I too have been provided the "newer" FW, but my attempt to install left me with a non-working Orbi, forcing me to role-back to the earlier beta FW. Perhaps something flaky with the older config, or something, left the 2.4G radio in a disabled state with the Satellite node and clients unable to connect.
    
    None-the-less, I am going to try again tonight (if time permits) and perform a full factory reset and try to load it again.
    
    I am very happy to hear your positive report.
    
    Initiallu I encoutnered same issues as you.
    The 2.4G somehow was offline but after a reboot it recovered somehow.
    The satellite also have trouble accepting the new beta firmware. Just try using a different browser.
- Chewster
  Tutor
  May 24, 2017
  How does one gain access to beta firmware?
Retired_Member
May 24, 2017
Thanks and good luck to you Tom, enjoy all your new free time and less stress! Please let us know if you find a good alternative.
OrbiMan
Luminary
May 24, 2017
Can moderator close this thread? So we can have an UpToDate discussion of the new firmware
- Chewster
  Tutor
  May 24, 2017
  Is there a newer thread?
dmorrone
Tutor
May 24, 2017
Didn't you get a BMW to show off? A lot of cars offer the same by the way.
AMarket42
Star
May 26, 2017
Can anyone decipher what this means please?
Yesterday evening was by far the worst the Orbi has performed and that's saying a lot considering all the buffering I generally get Day to day.

[DoS Attack: SYN/ACK Scan] from source: 61.160.224.176, port 80, Thursday, May 25, 2017 22:12:28
[DoS Attack: SYN/ACK Scan] from source: 98.219.110.150, port 80, Thursday, May 25, 2017 21:43:20
[DoS Attack: SYN/ACK Scan] from source: 61.160.224.201, port 80, Thursday, May 25, 2017 21:39:38
[DoS Attack: TCP/UDP Chargen] from source: 184.105.139.113, port 31430, Thursday, May 25, 2017 21:32:45
[DoS Attack: SYN/ACK Scan] from source: 221.230.143.12, port 1935, Thursday, May 25, 2017 21:22:39
[DoS Attack: SYN/ACK Scan] from source: 149.56.65.119, port 80, Thursday, May 25, 2017 21:16:20
[DHCP IP: 192.168.1.9] to MAC address 40:b4:cd:e7:27:cd, Thursday, May 25, 2017 21:14:16
[DoS Attack: SYN/ACK Scan] from source: 176.31.110.167, port 80, Thursday, May 25, 2017 21:11:40
[DoS Attack: SYN/ACK Scan] from source: 149.56.65.119, port 80, Thursday, May 25, 2017 21:11:40
[DoS Attack: SYN/ACK Scan] from source: 142.4.207.45, port 80, Thursday, May 25, 2017 21:11:40
- Ts937km
  Apprentice
  May 26, 2017
  It's just a stupid script kiddy (not a hacker) looking for vulnerabilities on people's routers. Your router is doing its job.
  
  Sorry to to hear you are still having problems.
  
  My 3 are still solid.
AMarket42
Star
May 26, 2017
Thanks!! I've had buffering with many apps like Sling and ESPN but never Netflix. Last night, Netflix was buffering on and off; it's been frustrating considering the amount of time and money I've spent trying to make it work for me. Thanks for your help!

Forum Discussion

Update V1.9.1.12 Netgear officially announcing 'Improvement in wireless connection Stability'