Orbi App Anywhere Access not working

There is a pretty clear progression of steps that people take to solve "computer problems" when no one seems to have a clear idea what is the matter.  The theory is that "something is corrupted, and once the corruption is gone, everything will work".

• First, turn everything off and back on again.  router, iPhone, iPad.  Everything.
• If that doesn't work, completely erase the program that isn't working.  Get rid of it completely.  Data, Cache, everything.
  Then restart the iPhone, reload the app and try again.
• Still no joy, do a "quick factory reset" on the router. i.e.
  • Using the web browser interface,
  • Save a copy of the configuration to a computer (or tablet)
  • Get out the paperclip and do a Factory Reset.
  • When the router comes back up broadcasting the credentials on the product label,
  • Go through the setup using the web browser interface but
    • Do NOT change the WiFi credentials.
    • Plow through the config pages, ignoring offers to sign up for things or register the router, until...
    • You get to a page that offers a choice of (a) continue the setup manually, or (b) load a previously saved configuration.
    • Take the reload option and reload that saved configuration file.
  • This entire process can be done in under 15 minutes.
  • When the reload finishes, the router will boot up with the saved WiFi credentials and everything in the house will begin to connect.
• Still not successful, "next to last resort" is to do a for real Factory Reset and type  everything in from scratch. (In my case this takes about two hours.)
• Even this fails???  "Last Resort" is to manually load previous firmware on the router.

Since I am an Android Deviant, I also have the option to find previous versions of the Orbi app and replace the current one with an older version.  I doubt that Apple folk have this option.

 

Is this acceptable?  Of course not.  It sucks, big time.  A lot of customers might think, "Meh. I don't need Anywhere Access enough to go through all this.  Maybe a future release of the app will work correctly."

 

 

I used an older iPhone that would not download the new version of the Orbi app, BUT it would let me download an older version of the app. I have 2.13.1.4 app version and v2.7.4.24 firmware version. I tried to enable the access anywhere option on the older version of Orbi app and still unable to access.
For reference, the new version of the app is 2.20.1.9
Seems to me the common denominator for the anywhere access option not working is the firmware version of the actual Orbi router itself.
Is there an option to revert back to an older version of the firmware to test that theory?
Or when will the new firmware be updated to work with enabling the access anywhere option?
This is a problem for many people and needs to be addressed by Orbi.

Factory reset won’t do squat if the problem is in the Orbi app or it’s design