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Forum Discussion
Intermittent DNS Errors and WiFi Issues
I have had the Orbi AX6000 for a few months now. While there are many things I love about it (great wifi coverage, great speed, looks nice, software, ease of setup, etc.), there are two very frustra...
I'm curious why I'm not experiencing this issue. I have the RBK850 in router mode with 2 RBS850's all running V3.2.18.1_1.4.14 with wired backhauls. I factory reset them a few months ago and I've never experienced this issue. Is there a certain scenario that causes these DNS issues?
It's a firmware issue that affects all users running these Orbi AX in router mode.
Not to put a tinfoil hat on. But it's really strange that a user with no real posts. Post a comment regarding this issue. With an immediate thumps up from Furrye38 (who seems to be working for Netgear).
Netgear should fix the Firmware / DNS issue. They already did it for the Orbi AX pro series one year ago.
Stop this nonsense and fix the Firmware.
Not to put a tinfoil hat on. But it's really strange that a user with no real posts. Post a comment regarding this issue. With an immediate thumps up from Furrye38 (who seems to be working for Netgear).
Netgear should fix the Firmware / DNS issue. They already did it for the Orbi AX pro series one year ago.
Stop this nonsense and fix the Firmware.
You can see from my other posts I am not a fan of Netgear anymore (never buying a Netgear product again). That being said, I never experienced the DNS issue except for a couple of times that I'm not 100% sure if that what it truly was. I switched to AP mode after my Asus router because of Orbi's truly s*cky controls, QOS ability, and the fact that I'm not going to pay Netgear for services that I can get for free with my Asus (AiProtection - parental controls are free too, but I don't need that). As an aside, no DNS issues with my Asus router.
I think we would all like to know why this happens to some users and not others. I think we all care very much about the answer to that question. It's frustrating that Netgear seemingly doesn't care.
msinex I think we can all agree with that.
Retired_Member wrote:So apparently I can't ask a question in the community forums without being judged as a new user or suggesting that I'm affiliated with Netgear. I was a Ubiquiti user for years and decided to switch to Netgear and buy the AX6000 in January. I follow the forums to keep up on firmware release notes and chats. I noticed this thread and read most of it. I was simply asking why I'm not seeing this issue. I have 75 devices on my network and I would think that I would see this issue based on all of the chatter. Stating that all users running Orbi AX in router mode doesn't appear accurate as I'm not experiencing this issue. I was simply sharing my experience to see if there is any reason why a user would or wouldn't experience this issue.
I asked a similar question as well: what settings / setup does one need to have to experience this problem. Based on the amount of discussion, it seems like a few people may know, but I got no answer. The reason I asked is that if there is a way to make it happen for anyone all the time, then it might be a lot easier to get Netgear to see what the problem is and fix it. So it would really be great for the most knowlegeble person on this issue to tell us how to recreate the problem and how to recognize it beyond a doubt.
- It is not a settings problem. The firmware uses software called dnsmasq and internally that is broken. That had been proven by going in to the router using Telnet and applying fixes manually. Netgear just did a bad job on the firmware.
You should experience this issue running this router in Router mode (not AP mode - as that doesnt use the DNS) and nothing else enabled, while visiting a good number of (random) websites.
User that say they are not experiencing this issue. Are either running this router not in Router mode (see comment from other user above) or are just unaware as depending on your browser and automatic reload happens. Which in my experience always works.OK so here is my experience.
I installed peplink balance 20X router between my Orbi Router and my ISP Modem, switched the Orbi in AP mode and everything seemed to work for a while.
That was the best moment of my digital life since I bought the AX6000 Orbis.
Then after a day or two, I got the first symptoms of DNS problems : my Philips Hue Hub couldn't connect to the cloud. So my lightbulbs started working unreliably from HomeKit (that has an Homepod mini talking with Philips Cloud to work). Localy the Hue app worked fine.
I decided to reboot the peplink, rebooted the RBR850 then the 3 RBS850 an went to bed, hoping that the glitche was solved. The next morning all my Google Nest Hubs (I have 4 around the building) could connect to wifi but not to their server ... My Samsung TV Tizen based apps (Prime, Disney, NetFlix ...) could launch but none of them could stream a video. I could browse the web but not access the Samsung Store. My Philips Nest Hub could not connect to the Cloud. My PlayStation could download an update, browse the web but counldn't connect to the PlayStore. All my Apple TV, iMacs, MacBooks, HomePods worked fine however (more on this later).
I need to specify that most of my devices are using DNS servers assigned by DHCP at the exception of iPads and Macs that use nextDNS custom setup.
So it was a strange DNS related problem. Obvioulsy ome records were cached and some weren't. Some request went through, some did not get an answer. It seemed that the devices connected to the RBR850 worked fine but those connected to the RBS850 Satellites (by Ethernet) had partial resolution of DNS request (only those in the cache of the satellite ??). AND ALL THIS WITH THE ORBIS IN AP MODE !
I switched back the Orbi Router in Router mode, with the peplink also in router mode (double NAT) and after rebooting all my devices... everything seemed to work fine. Not a single problem with around 75 devices actives on the network.
I use nextDNS in the LAN settings of the peplink and it authenticate using the WAN IP. So I tought it maybe the point of failure. I switched everything (peplink and Orbi in router mode) to use my ISP automatically assigned DNS and I switched back the Orbi in AP mode. All the routing started to happen in the peplink and everything was working like magic. All the devices connected fine after waiting for the expiration of their DHCP settings or rebooting them, with their online services thanks to all DNS requests being solved by the peplink router.
I tought I had nailed the problem down to nextDNS.
The next morning all IoT devices (Google Nest Hub, Nanoleaf lights, Philips Hue Hub, online services on Samsung TV, PlayStations, etc.) were down again. And now I realized that some games/services couldn't connect on iMac (League of Legends, Discord, ...).
I have two teenager in the building, so you can imagine the trouble.
I switched back the Orbi in Router mode and I am still in this setup. Everything works and I have not experienced a single DNS related problem since. The Orbi Router is setup to receive its DNS server by DHCP. So DNS resolution are actually done by the peplink, not by my ISP. That may explain the reliability and fast response speed.
My diagnostic is that when the Orbis are in AP mode, they forward outgoing DNS requests to a Local DNS Proxy that screw up either in the Satellite or the Router, even if DHCP settings in the peplink assigns different DNS servers to the devices. For some reasons it interfere on request from most IoT devices but not from MacOS, iOS, tvOS, ...
Just a quick update from my side. About 10 days into shifting the Orbi into AP mode and running a TP Link Archer as a wired router and it has worked flawlessly. The obvious DNS issues that plagued many of my devices and my work laptop have been completely eliminated. It has also eliminated some freezing issues I was having with both apps on my AppleTV (HBO Max and other streaming services would sometimes time out and cause me to have to reboot) and errors I was getting in how my WHDVR was working via DirectTV. I hadn't attributed this before to the Orbi DNS issue, but it apparently was assuming these errors leave. While still completely flabbergasted that such an expensive mesh system could have such a fundamentally and unaddressed flaw, I'm much happeir with it in AP mode (especially since I couldn't return the damn thing!)
Any progress on this?
There is a Beta FW that this DNS issue. Have you tried it yet?
msinex wrote:Just a quick update from my side. About 10 days into shifting the Orbi into AP mode and running a TP Link Archer as a wired router and it has worked flawlessly. The obvious DNS issues that plagued many of my devices and my work laptop have been completely eliminated. It has also eliminated some freezing issues I was having with both apps on my AppleTV (HBO Max and other streaming services would sometimes time out and cause me to have to reboot) and errors I was getting in how my WHDVR was working via DirectTV. I hadn't attributed this before to the Orbi DNS issue, but it apparently was assuming these errors leave. While still completely flabbergasted that such an expensive mesh system could have such a fundamentally and unaddressed flaw, I'm much happeir with it in AP mode (especially since I couldn't return the damn thing!)
- I’m still having zero dns issues since I have put it in AP mode. I’ve seen the posts on the beta firmware, and I’ve been hesitant to shift over to it because I’ve finally gotten to a stable solution. I likely will try again once I see it has shifted out of beta.
