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Orbi 960 Block Services Not Working
I have setup a Block Services rule on my Orbi 960 and it does not work.
I have reserved a specific IP address for my robot vacuum (192.168.1.251). I then went to Advanced -> Block Services turned on "Service Blocking" to "Always", and added a Block Service on only 192.168.251, with the "ALL" preset. After applying this setting, my robot still has complete internet access.
After some further troubleshooting, the setting only seems to take effect if I go to "Access Control", block my robot, and then unblock it. Once unblocked, the robot is blocked from the internet until I turn "Service Blocking" from "Always" to "Never", but when I switch it back to "Always" the robot continues to have access.
There seems to be a bug with "Service Blocking".
After going back and forth with support a few times, I received this as a response:
"Thank you for your time and patience. According to the engineering team, the block services in the Web GUI will only block HTTP sites and services. They recommend using the Smart Parental Control instead."Unfortunately, Netgear charges a monthly fee to use the “Smart Parental Controls.” In my opinion, this is a highly anti-consumer practice, especially considering that these are fairly basic router capabilities on a product that costs over $1000.
20 Replies
What Firmware version is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?Could you please share how it is demonstrated that the vacuum has internet access?
(for example, by using the vacuum smartphone app to send instructions to the vacuum?)
I suspect a timing issue. Internet of Things (IoT) devices appear to function by opening a connection to their cloud platform which (a) registers that this specific device is available (probably by serial number or MAC address), and (b) where it can be found (the connection from the customer network). This allows the customer to open the smartphone app at any location. The app connects to the cloud service and sends commands to the device through that already open connection.
Can you please try this experiment:
- Power off the vacuum at 192.168.1.151.
- Restart the Orbi router.
- Use the Orbi Block Services function to block all services to 192.168.1.251. (and "Apply")
- Power on the vacuum and see if the smartphone app can connect with it.
- See if the smartphone app can communicate with the vacuum.
The hypothesis is that once a connection has been established through the Orbi router, it is simply one of perhaps thousands of exiting connections. If this is the case, then anything that causes the existing connection to disappear would result in the vacuum not being able to reestablish it. (vacuum powered off. router restarted. etc.)
Sorry for the confusion, no don’t disregard the post, just that reply. There was no way to delete the response, so I edited and put disregard.
The vacuum connects to a cloud service, and I can then access the robot via an app on my phone. With my current testing, I have my phone wi-fi turned off to ensure there is no local access happening. I then open the mobile app and refresh the device to see if there is a connection. If the robot is connected to the internet, I am able to access the device and it appears as "Connected".
The robot vacuum is connected to my IoT wireless network setup in the Orbi.
Re: the experiment, I just tried this, yes you are correct this worked – the robot is no longer accessible via the app, but it is listed under my "Attached devices" on the Orbi UI. If I then changed the Service Blocking to "Never" the device connects and can be accessed via the app. But, if I then change Service Block back to "Always", the blocking no longer works and the Robot continues to have internet connectivity.Had this worked at all prior to updating the FW on the system?
c3polt wrote:
Sorry for the confusion, no don’t disregard the post, just that reply. There was no way to delete the response, so I edited and put disregard.
The vacuum connects to a cloud service, and I can then access the robot via an app on my phone. With my current testing, I have my phone wi-fi turned off to ensure there is no local access happening. I then open the mobile app and refresh the device to see if there is a connection. If the robot is connected to the internet, I am able to access the device and it appears as "Connected".
The robot vacuum is connected to my IoT wireless network setup in the Orbi.
Re: the experiment, I just tried this, yes you are correct this worked – the robot is no longer accessible via the app, but it is listed under my "Attached devices" on the Orbi UI. If I then changed the Service Blocking to "Never" the device connects and can be accessed via the app. But, if I then change Service Block back to "Always", the blocking no longer works and the Robot continues to have internet connectivity.
After going back and forth with support a few times, I received this as a response:
"Thank you for your time and patience. According to the engineering team, the block services in the Web GUI will only block HTTP sites and services. They recommend using the Smart Parental Control instead."Unfortunately, Netgear charges a monthly fee to use the “Smart Parental Controls.” In my opinion, this is a highly anti-consumer practice, especially considering that these are fairly basic router capabilities on a product that costs over $1000.
Try checking out external DNS services like OpenDNS and NextDNS.
