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Forum Discussion
RBR850 (RBK850) not showing that there are updates when there are on the website
Hi my RBR850 router and one satellite does not show any firmware updates available but when i checked the download site there are. Does anyone know why updates are not being shown?
My impression is that there are four types of firmware update for Netgear routers:
- Automatic Update. This is when Netgear pushes a firmware update to the router with no user action of any kind.
The user does not open the smartphone app or the web interface. does nothing. - Informed Update. This is when the user opens the smartphone app or the web interface and a notice appears stating that "New Firmware Available".
The user can then take action or ignore the notice. - Search. The user opens the web interface and deliberately navigates to the Firmware Update page, which causes the router to actively search for new firmware and report.
(This feature does not appear to be available on the smartphone app.) Users are frustrated and annoyed when they have deliberately looked for new firmware and have been told that no new firmware is available when there IS new firmware on the web site.) - Manual Update. In this case, the user deliberately downloads firmware from the support site, navigates to Firmware Update in the web interface, and chooses the Manual Update feature.
Without documentation, users on the Community Forum have proposed (speculated) explanations for how a particular firmware update moves from one category to another.
- When new firmware is released, it sort of "makes sense" to allow Early Adopters (i.e. risk takers) to discover and install new firmware. If their reports are positive, that would argue for making the firmware more widely available. If there are negative reviews (and some have been HORRIBLE), then the firmware can be quietly removed and worked on.
- Sometimes new firmware stays in this limbo category (Manual Update) for weeks. In some instances, however, new firmware has remained "not found" for up to a year.
- There also seems to be no definite pattern for firmware moving from "if you search, it will be found" to "if you open the app or the web interface, we'll tell you about it."
- There also seems to be no clear pattern for when Netgear will just install new firmware. If there is a security vulnerability SO SEVERE that customers are in DANGER, then someone at Netgear might say, "There will be hell to pay if we don't fix this!" No one knows.
It is pretty clear that some customers never manage their routers. They open the box. Plug it in, and use the WiFi credentials on the label to access it. Done. No configuration. No setup. No management.