I just bought an AX6000/RBK852. When I go to debug mode and enable telnet, I can log in fine. But the "config" command that was there on my old Orbi is missing. I need to be able to split my wifi into 2.4 and 5ghz ssid's or a lot of my home automation devices refuse to connect. What am I missing?

No, it is a Netgear problem, but it's not a technology problem, it's a philosophical one. They choose to design a device in a way that does not meet the current market realities. I understand that if IoT device designers were smart they wouldn't design their devices the way they do. But the fact is that they do. And dreaming that you live in a world where things are as perfect as you'd like them to be is, rather than the world that you live in, is a huge mistake. I have no doubt that the Orbi is technically the best mesh router on the market. But a lot of the people interested in paying $700 for a pair of routers are the same people who are buying a lot of IoT and home automation devices. Some people may be willing to put up with the giant hassle of disconnecting from 5ghz (if that were even an option on Orbi, which it currently isn't) and turning off the broadcast for it and then messing around with your devices. But I'm not one of those people, and looking at the comments on the Netgear forums, it appears that there are thousands of people who are not those people. So while Velop is technically slightly inferior to the Orbi, from a philosophy and market reality perspective they are miles ahead.

Well you would be incorrect. This is a IoT Mfr problem alone. Again, 2.4 and 5Ghz are on the same network. Dual band devices support both frequencies, phones and pads. 2.4 Ghz only IoT devices will not care or ever see 5Ghz. This boils down to the IoT Mfrs setup software being limited to 2.4Ghz on the setup phone or pad. Nothing philosophical about it. Just technical. Other router mfrs letting users split the SSID is just covering up the real cause of the problem. Smart Connect works and has worked for years. These IoT Mfrs need to step up and better there users experience with there products. Should be that hard, however most IoT mfrs are based on build it as cheaply as possible with maximum return so there you have it. Philosophically speaking.Glad you found something that works for your needs. Orbi works for others including me. Technically speaking. We do hope that NG will help Orbi AX users out with the implenation of letting users disable either SSID name though for IoT setup. Good luck.

I have been trying to reply to your post with a statement that the telnet interface is not automatically enabled after a reboot and with instructions on how to enable it. Because otherwise, wow.

ERock9er wrote:Yes, it would be nice if it all just worked and other device manufacturers did their part, but they don't, so NG needs to allow their router to function in the real world, not the one they wish existed.In brief, there are about three issues: You facing an IoT discovery/installation App insisting to connect or use a 2.4GHz wireless SSID. Nothing Netgear can do. Solution: Talk to the IoJ/App maker to remove this check or allow to continue the installation regardless.You are facing problems where wireless clients like IoJ, printers, household equipment, ... are known to be configured for the correct SSID and password. There are wireless drivers on this equipment, which can be picky or fail due the additional information related to WiFi 5, to seamless roaming, ... Nothing Netgear can do. Solution: Talk to the IoJ/App maker to remove this check or allow to continue the installation regardless.You are facing the issue your Windows 10 system can't see the new Orbi system. Some system vendors and even Windows Update supplied drivers are hopelessly outdated. Nothing Netgear can do. Solution: Update the wireless adapter driver.You are facing issues no IoJ and few older phones/tablets fail to connect to your Orbi AX system. Well possible you are security aware, and have configured the wireless security to WPA3-Personal [SAE] (thinking I was reading it's compatible with older security settings). If configured to WPA3, only WPA3-compatible wireless clients can connect, WPA(TKIP) only or WPA2(AES) devices can't.You find Netgear (or another router/Mesh/AP vendor) has allowed a WPA3-SAE/WPA2-Personal mixed mode, but IoJ or other wireless clients dont connect. One one hand, this does deny using WPA(TKIP) on old wireless clients. On the other hand many wireless clients (or probably also the wireless radio firmware makers) have problems connecting, regardless if these wireless clients are supposed to work with WPA3-SAE or WPA2-Personal. This is something the industry has to work on ... Netgear might have - for this very reason - not released this mixed mode variant to the customers.You find that following a power loss and recovery, all IoJ connect to the router instead of the nearer satellite, and don't change the sticky connection even after hours to a satellite. One factor here is that the wireless device is not making use of the standardized Mesh capabilities (which would tell the client about alternate ESSID (radio MAC) for the wireless network name it's connected to. solution: Talk to the IoJ maker. If there are no Mesh friendly code is available, the wireless client will remain sticky. Here Netgear should deassign the sticky client, triggering a new evaluation for possible better connection. This is an area where Netgear (and other Mesh makers) could improve. I understand a heavy IoT user might have had a dumb router enforcing dedicated SSIDs by radio band. Renaming resp. reconfiguring the IoT does take reasonable effort. Possible approach would be looking into an Orbi Pro WiFi 6 AX system, where Entgear has support for multiple SSIDs configured. So you see: It's by far not every problem on a modern Mesh system related to the Mesh system maker. ERock9er wrote:I've had problems for 6 months with mine, and now I need to find something else, which really frustrates me, because I thought was buying the best.Would you mind to let us know what problem you are facing?

For the record I've tried setting it with the "uci" command, but it doesn't survive a reboot. I type: uci set wireless.FhAp2.ssid="networknamegoeshere"uci commmitreboot And before the reboot if I type "uci get wireless.FhAp2.ssid" it does return the network name that I set.

Orbi Wifi 6 missing config command

21 Replies

plainblackguy
Tutor
Mar 03, 2020
For the record I've tried setting it with the "uci" command, but it doesn't survive a reboot. I type:

uci set wireless.FhAp2.ssid="networknamegoeshere"
uci commmit
reboot

And before the reboot if I type "uci get wireless.FhAp2.ssid" it does return the network name that I set.
FURRYe38
Guru
Mar 03, 2020
Separation of SSIDs is not supported by NG or Orbi AX nor Orbi AC offically. Not sure if Orbi AX will ever support backend telnet commands. Something to post about there though:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Idea-Exchange-For-Home/idb-p/idea-exchange-for-home

We are hoping that NG will implement the disabling of SSID names on either frequency like they did on Orbi AC. This help users get there 2.4Ghz devices connected to Orbi AC with out having to separate SSID name...not sure when that will happen. We hope for it though on Orbi AX.

If this doesn't work for you then you may need to return to the Orbi AC system until such time as the Orbi AX FW has matured more and has some added features.

Good Luck.
ekhalil
Master
Mar 03, 2020
plainblackguy wrote:
I just bought an AX6000/RBK852. When I go to debug mode and enable telnet, I can log in fine. But the "config" command that was there on my old Orbi is missing. I need to be able to split my wifi into 2.4 and 5ghz ssid's or a lot of my home automation devices refuse to connect. What am I missing?
You can use the nvram set command instead of config set so:
nvram set ....
nvram commit
- plainblackguy
  Tutor
  Mar 03, 2020
  Thank you so much for your reply. I've already sent the unit back to Amazon after reading a bunch of threads and realizing that Netgear doesn't seem to think this is a problem. I get that mesh networks are supposed to all be seamless between 5 and 2.4, but the reality in the smarthome market is very different right now and for the forseeable future. So I have returned my Orbi and bought the new Velop.
  - FURRYe38
    Guru
    Mar 03, 2020
    It's not a NG problem. Its how NG intends to use and design there systems. It works for the most part.
    
    The main problem is that the client or IoT device mfrs limit there setup software to only the 2.4Ghz frequency. However they fail to realized that dual band devices like phone and pads can connect to either frequency and both frequencies are ON the same side of the network. So the phone or connecting devices or Orbi doesn't care which frequency for the setup device, it's the Mfrs setup software that seems to require the setup device, ie. phone or pad, to be connected to only the 2.4Ghz radio. Orbi AC helps with this with giving users the ability to disable the 5G SSID broadcast. We are hoping the NG will do the same for Orbi AX. If the IoT Mfrs put in 5Ghz support in there setup software for the setup phone or pad, users would be happy for this and we not be talking about this.
    
    Good Luck.
ZOOShen
Star
Mar 14, 2020
plainblackguy wrote:
I just bought an AX6000/RBK852. When I go to debug mode and enable telnet, I can log in fine. But the "config" command that was there on my old Orbi is missing. I need to be able to split my wifi into 2.4 and 5ghz ssid's or a lot of my home automation devices refuse to connect. What am I missing?

Anyone here want to do some experiment?
go to http : // router IP/debug.htm
enable telnet
and then
telnet to your router IP,
cd /etc/config
and then edit the "wireless" file for the 2.4ghz SSID (may be using vi). Reboot. to see if that will work...
I can't play with that, because many ppl in my house is using the router..
- gb777
  Apprentice
  Jun 21, 2020
  How do you enable telnet on the debug page?
  
  Mine shows:
  
  Basic Information
  Firmware Version: V3.2.15.25_1.3.15
  CPU Load: 13.79%
  Memory Usage(Used/Total): 438 MB/866 MB
  System Uptime: 0 days 01:35:13
  Debug Log Capture
  
  Start Debug Log Capture when boot up
  
  Enable LAN/WAN Packet Capture
  - ekhalil
    Master
    Jun 21, 2020
    In the latest firmware, telnet is always enabled, so there is no checkbox for that any longer.

Forum Discussion

Orbi Wifi 6 missing config command