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Forum Discussion
Updated to V1.12.0.18, now Satellite will not sync, "Wireless AP: Off"
I just updated to V1.12.0.18, and now my Satellite will not sync. Everything was working fine on the previous version.
I have power cycled both the router and satellite.
Following this suggestion: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Satellites-not-putting-out-wifi-signal-after-upgrade-to-v1-12-0/m-p/1321569#M9975
I manually re-updated the firmware on both the satellite and router. It made no difference.
When the satellite boots up, I get a solid blue light.
The satellite shows in the attached devices list of the router, but not as a connected satellite, just as a connected device.
Logging into the Satellite shows it has the appropriate firmware, but it says both 2.4 and 5Ghz radios are disabled. They both say "Wireless AP: Off". Yet it says "Your Orbi satellite connection is up and running."
I have tried syncing by pushing the sync button on the router and running downstairs and pushing the sync button on the satellite. I have not noticed any color change, but the router stops blinking pretty quickly, but the satellite just continues to happily blink white. I mean, 25 minutes later, it is still blinking.
I then tried the "Add Orbi Satellite" menu item in the router page. After several minutes, it reported that the " Satellite setup failed".
I know, I made a rookie mistake -updating firmware when I didn't have any serious problems. Not sure what I can do now - should I try to roll back to a previous version of firmware (unfortunately I trusted the process and didn't write down the previous version)? Should I factory reset both units and try this version again?
Any suggestions will be appreciated. If I don't figure this out in a day I'll contact support.
36 Replies
If you have not done a "Factory reset" you should try that. I always move the satellite closer to the router to be able to watch both unit during setup.
Thanks nukie! A factory reset of both satellite and router did the trick. I had assumed that it would reset the firmware back to what it shipped with, but it kept the current firmware and now it seems to be working.
And that's a good tip of moving the satellite closer while setting up - I got quite a workout last night running up and down the stairs trying to get this working again (and so did my dog who kept following me, I could see her thinking "again?" every time I made another trip). In this case I didn't have to bother, the router setup wizard resolved everything without my having to do anything to the satellite after having presset factory reset.
Thanks again!
And Netgear, you need to figure out why a firmware update can do this. I'm not inclined to update again if it can make me waste an evening trying to get it to work, despite following both the built in update, and then repeating it manually, and following all the troubleshooting in your knowledge base.
- Now I have to go look up factory reset
Mike734, it's the little hole on the back near the power plug on mine. Need a paper clip and hold it for like ten seconds, the power light started blinking amber. I don't know if order matters, but I did satellite first then router.
It didn't wipe out the firmware version, but when I logged in I had to go through the whole first time setup thing again. But it did work.
- Thanks. I guess I knew that. I ended up going through the Orbi app and the "new setup" method and it worked. Cheers.
I ran into similar issue using firmware v.1.12.0.18. After resetting the Satellite and Router to factory default it worked fine. But if I restart either of my two Satellites (RBS50), they revert back to connected devices for my Router (RBK50). This seems like a bug on this firmware. Is there a way to downgrade the firmware to an earlier version where this issue does not exist? It is time consuming to go through these steps everytime.
Update to my previous post. I ended up resolving my issue by downgrading the firmware to v 1.8.0.6. I chose this version because it was the last version of firmware on my Orbi router (RBK50) and satellite (RBS50) before upgrading to firmware v 1.12.0.18.
I encountered the same issue as PhysicalEd in this post. Following steps listed by nukie, I was able to resolve the issue for a moment. By doing a factory reset on both my satellites and router, I was able to see the two satellites show up as satellite instead of attached devices. The issue, I had was the satellites were in the same floor close to the router. When I powered off both satellites to move them to different floors they showed up as attached devices again.
This is when I decided to rollback to firmware v 1.8.0.6. Here are the steps I took to resolve my issue:1. Brought all the satellite on the same floor as my router. Once I got the IP address for both the satellite under attached devices. I logged into each satellite by IP address. Updated the firmware of each satellite to v.1.8.0.6.
2. Then I updated the firmware of my router to v.1.8.0.6.
3. After downgrading the router both satellites now showed up as satellite instead of attached devices.
4. I powered off both the satellites and moved them to different floors and powered them on. This worked as both the satellites were still showing up as satellite instead of attached devices.
I am also able to see devices connecting to one of the satellites by logging into that satellite. I think there is an issue with firmware v 1.12.0.18 and I will hold off on upgrading until they fix this issue.
Same issue here - regarding reverting firmware, won't the auto-update render that a temporary workaround at best?
Update: indeed, after reverting firmware my RBR40 auto-updates within 15 minutes. At this point the only way I can get my RBS40 to sync is to force a factory reset. It then syncs until either RBR40 or RBS40 are rebooted. Have three days in my return window, am strongly considering going with a different system.
Still experiencing the same behavior with V1.12.0.20.
Just an update for all the folks that are following this thread. I have RMA my Router and two Satellites to Netgear. Hopefully, they are able to isolate the issue down and provide necessary fix in the next release.
Just adding a "me too" to this thread. Since the V1.12.0.18 upgrade, both satellites are no longer satellites, but just connected devices with 2.4GHz and 5GHz both disabled. I really would prefer not to do the factory reset again, but if push comes to shove I will, along with a downgrade to V1.8 or something similar.
One question. Are the config settings (when saved) backwards compatible? I have saved my settings while on V1.12, and was wondering if I can restore them onto V1.8?
Thanks in advance....
Me too. Same behavior as others have noted -- Satellite shows up as a Connected Device instead of a Connected Satellite. Logging into at that IP address shows the WiFi radios are off, and no devices are connected to the satellite. Devices connected to the ethernet ports of the satellite also don't work. Downgrading just the Satellite to 1.11.0.20 fixed it, but was quickly broken again by auto update.
I started seeing speed issues with v.1.8.0.6, mostly related to drop in speed. I did not notice auto updater update my firmware to the latest version v 1.12.0.18. The latest version definitely has this major bug. Seeing that so many people are facing this issue, Netgear should release a fix on this major issue. I ended up moving to v 1.9.1.12, so far it is holding up on terms of speed.
As PhysicalEd pointed out the process to reset and going through the whole setup process is time consuming. I had to go through this process over 4 times before I decided to downgrade the firmware and I has worked for me. I just hope the auto updater does not kick in.
Has anyone reported this as a bug to Netgear? I will check with Netgear and see if this can be reported as a bug so they can fix the issue.
5 weeks now...
My "Orbi satellite connection is up and running." LOL
Adding another me too for this issue. downgraded to previous firmware and blocked download.netgear.com
Had two power outages in the last 4 weeks, and the satellite does not reconnect. Had one again yesterday (lots of storms) and it worked fine when they came back up under the previous release. PLEASE FIX.
Netgear level 2 had me RMA my system and when I got the new one it worked well for a little while. I even tested power cycling it after the firmware update BEFORE setting my SSID and password.
Once I made those changes I made and then it stopped working after a power cycle. I'm going to try some different passwords and see if there is some character that may be breaking it.
Well, looks like I'm just in the "me too" side of this... satellite won't sync up as a satellite. I'm really hoping this new firmware release comes out soon!
I am in the same situation. Can't connect the new extra satelite unit I just bought - guess it goes back to Amazon/Netgear now.
Pretty dissapointed with netgear here. I had big issues with Eero and thought Orbi was the answer.
Apparently not... :-(
Add me to the list of people having this problem. Everything worked fine until the update. Now the satellite doesn't show up. Ironically, when it is syncing, everything seems normal. Just never shows up as an attached device. Sad because it was working great.
