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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...
So you have had Armor enabled on your Orbi system? Was the app disabled on the RBR or from the Armor app?
If you have lots of wifi neighbors, this can cause some problems. One thing to do is to lower the output of the RBR from 100% to say 50%. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings.
I use 25% on mine since I have a next door neghbor with a Orbi system as well. I also set manual channels as well. 1 and 40.
Tobamory wrote:
Furry thanks for detailed reply.
Orbis are 2 node setup distance is fine between them 2 floor normal semi
Connected to Virgins HUB 4 1 gig pipe Virgin in modem only mode
Channels I’ve tried loads auto mode also disabled 2.4 and 5 and various channels now WIFI I’m or too sure if it’s actually drops or the DNS is the issue. where I’m seeing it is iPhone 12 Pro and PS5, on MAC and PC I just get the dead pages for a split instance refresh and she’s back, however Mac PC are hardwired so DNS will be easier on them WiFi may be more reliant hence why I’m actually having to reboot ps5 to get connection back and turn WiFi on and off on iPhone to get the pages back
Since bobbing back in the old Zyxel setup all’s good, I may this weekend try Orbi AP mode only and suck up the fact that armour was a waste of money
WiFi yes lots of it local but never been an issue with others things I have or setups so I’d hope NETGEAR have intelligence to help detect unsaturated frequencies but not sure
I’ll report back once I’ve done it just can’t face setting up 8 CCTV cams again, I really need to match the static IPs across my systems bahhh
Don’t see any version on email nor can I check as there in their boxes
Email came Friday for RBK850
We've Enhanced Your Product's Security.
Please Update to the Latest Firmware.
I had wireless dropping regularly and stumbled onto a post from engineers stating they were working on a patch to fix the traffic meter that was conflicting with something I can't remember, but the temp fix was to disable the traffic meter. I did that and the wireless stopped dropping regularly.
What model Orbi do you have and what FW version are you using?
Yamahauler wrote:I had wireless dropping regularly and stumbled onto a post from engineers stating they were working on a patch to fix the traffic meter that was conflicting with something I can't remember, but the temp fix was to disable the traffic meter. I did that and the wireless stopped dropping regularly.
The DNS Errors issue only affects IPv4.
My ISP doesn't support IPv6, but I've found a very odd fix to the problem.
Under your router admin > advanced > advanced > IPv6
I changed the Internet Connection Type from "Disabled" to "6to4Tunnel", the rest I just left as automatic, applied and also rebooted the PC. Websites that showed the DNS Probe Finished message before no longer display that error and will load just fine. It seems to of magically fixed it and I still have a IPv4 address. Maybe someone else can explain why this works?
Netgear Armor enabled or not, not a problem. I can also use the default ISP provided DNS, no problems or delays anymore.
Validus wrote:The DNS Errors issue only affects IPv4.
My ISP doesn't support IPv6, but I've found a very odd fix to the problem.
Under your router admin > advanced > advanced > IPv6
I changed the Internet Connection Type from "Disabled" to "6to4Tunnel", the rest I just left as automatic, applied and also rebooted the PC. Websites that showed the DNS Probe Finished message before no longer display that error and will load just fine. It seems to of magically fixed it and I still have a IPv4 address. Maybe someone else can explain why this works?
Netgear Armor enabled or not, not a problem. I can also use the default ISP provided DNS, no problems or delays anymore.
That is interesting. I went ahead and returned my units yesterday. Only affecting IPv4 makes sense as it's affecting quite a few people but not everyone. If there's a firmware fix like there should be I'd happily re-buy. Have you noticed in your situation any performance/speed changes with the 6to4Tunnel option?
Validus wrote:The DNS Errors issue only affects IPv4.
My ISP doesn't support IPv6, but I've found a very odd fix to the problem.
Under your router admin > advanced > advanced > IPv6
I changed the Internet Connection Type from "Disabled" to "6to4Tunnel", the rest I just left as automatic, applied and also rebooted the PC. Websites that showed the DNS Probe Finished message before no longer display that error and will load just fine. It seems to of magically fixed it and I still have a IPv4 address. Maybe someone else can explain why this works?
Netgear Armor enabled or not, not a problem. I can also use the default ISP provided DNS, no problems or delays anymore.
it could be because of the pc re-boot. Change it all back and see your result.
With the 6to4Tunnel enabled on the Netgear Orbi Router.
Ping is still low and the same. Performance is also the same, with same download and upload rates.
The internet still uses an IPv4 Address. My ISP doesn't support IPv6.
The wifi device all still use IPv4 Addresses as well.
The network now shows the router to have a IPv6 Address available, can still use the IPv4 one. DNS has changed to IPv6 Addresses as well, but still using IPv4 ones.
The DNS errors from before have not shown at all anymore from testing and daily usage.
Validus wrote:The DNS Errors issue only affects IPv4.
My ISP doesn't support IPv6, but I've found a very odd fix to the problem.
Under your router admin > advanced > advanced > IPv6
I changed the Internet Connection Type from "Disabled" to "6to4Tunnel", the rest I just left as automatic, applied and also rebooted the PC. Websites that showed the DNS Probe Finished message before no longer display that error and will load just fine. It seems to of magically fixed it and I still have a IPv4 address. Maybe someone else can explain why this works?
Netgear Armor enabled or not, not a problem. I can also use the default ISP provided DNS, no problems or delays anymore.
The 6to4Tunnel workaround was also presented earlier in this thread: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/Intermittent-DNS-Errors-and-WiFi-Issues/m-p/2017202/highlight/true#M9999. Some guesses and hypothesis of why this helps follow.
Just a small update from my end considering Netgear still can't be bothered replying (besides FurryE38 - who seems to be a Netgear employee).
The fix I applied: Switch to the Asus XT8 and stop using the Netgear Orbi AX 6 system fixed the Netgear DNS / firmware issue. It really is great being able to browse the internet without getting hit with DNS timeout errors on a daily base. Performance has been rock solid with no timeouts or Wifi drops.
I think this use case clearly shows that Netgear does not care for its users. If you read replies from other users from 1 year ago regarding this same issue, same statements can be read. I think the best advice to new users now is:
- Do not buy a Netgear Orbi 6 AX router (all models)
- If you have already made the purchase and find yourself here troubleshooting (don't get your hopes up): return the product.
- If you can't return the product anymore: your only option is to use a workaround. Which is: switch to another brand and/or stop using the Orbi AX 6 in router mode (which still requires a third party router). Or if this is not an option for you, configure on each individual client device the DNS settings manually, or use IPv6 on the router.
There is no good fix only workarounds which are aimed at not using the DNS server/firmware of the Orbi AX 6 system.
energie wrote:Just a small update from my end considering Netgear still can't be bothered replying (besides FurryE38 - who seems to be a Netgear employee).
The fix I applied: Switch to the Asus XT8 and stop using the Netgear Orbi AX 6 system fixed the Netgear DNS / firmware issue. It really is great being able to browse the internet without getting hit with DNS timeout errors on a daily base. Performance has been rock solid with no timeouts or Wifi drops.
I think this use case clearly shows that Netgear does not care for its users. If you read replies from other users from 1 year ago regarding this same issue, same statements can be read. I think the best advice to new users now is:
- Do not buy a Netgear Orbi 6 AX router (all models)
- If you have already made the purchase and find yourself here troubleshooting (don't get your hopes up): return the product.
- If you can't return the product anymore: your only option is to use a workaround. Which is: switch to another brand and/or stop using the Orbi AX 6 in router mode (which still requires a third party router). Or if this is not an option for you, configure on each individual client device the DNS settings manually, or use IPv6 on the router.
There is no good fix only workarounds which are aimed at not using the DNS server/firmware of the Orbi AX 6 system.
Thanks
I'm glad Costco has a very liberal retun policy. You're right, Asus makes a great router.
Me too, I have decided to sell the Orbi system. Unfortunately I am outside of the return policy and have no other recourse. I opened a case with Netgear and there was no acknowledgement that this is an ongoing problem. I just received the standard "reboot the device" and "factory reset the device" nonsense which is a complete waste of time.
The thought of them charging me money for this dismal support after 90 days is an insult, as is the fact that this is such an expensive mesh system and it doesn't perform as it should.
I will NEVER be buying another Netgear product again.
- So I’m confused. I thought that Netgear have acknowledged the issue occurs when Traffic metering is enabled?
I simply disabled traffic meter and have zero DNS issues ever since! You're lucky. My traffic meter has never been enabled.
I tried everything in this thread and the issue still persists.
- I remember checking that DST was already set and disabled Traffic meter which resolved my DNS issues.
Must be one of the lucky ones I suppose. - This is what I was referring to below.
We have identified that the traffic meter will cause problem while auto daylight saving time enabled. Since you turn off auto daylight saving time, the issue should be go away. Turn off traffic meter would also avoid the issue. We are working on a trial fix firmware. Will provide to you once it’s ready. Thanks. The day light savings time etc. is a complete different issue, which caused similar problems. Due to the internal timings getting messed up. The long running DNS issue/firmware that started this thread has still not been fixed.
energie wrote:The day light savings time etc. is a complete different issue, which caused similar problems. Due to the internal timings getting messed up. The long running DNS issue/firmware that started this thread has still not been fixed.
ok....I for one never had the problem for I didn't grab their flaky firmware.
there are others on here that claim they have the answer
Yeah, well the matter of the fact is that the DNS server/firmware is broken. There has been no fix whatsoever. Nor is there an actual solution. Only workarounds. And the users posting here that they are not facing this issue are simpy not using this router in router mode or with ipv4 (which basically is the default set-up) etc. Next to this, there is a reason why Netgear actually fixed this issue for the Orbi AX pro line-up. The reason simply being: there is an issue with the DNS server/firmware.
There seems to be a couple of ongoing and unrelated DNS issues. The one mentioned in this thread that appears on the Orbi AX was the one I too experienced and caused me to return the system. I could not fix it with any troubleshooting steps including a full reset, and support claimed they were "unaware". For an issue that has been reported last summer I found that utterly ridiculous. A basic reliability issue such as this in my opinion should have been at least noted and fixed long ago and there was just no reassurance in the slightest from Netgear support, and the fact that I would be charged for that kind of support after 90 days was just a joke to me.
The "workarounds" that have been listed so far have included manually setting the DNS on each and every device so that you would circumvent the Orbi's DNS which is just not a solution in my opinion. There was something involving using 6to4 but I didn't get a chance to test that, and for the average user that is likely to be outside of their understanding. Others appear unnaffected potentially depending on ISP setups etc but the simple matter of fact is that there are multiple customers experiencing this and it should have been fixed. It's just not acceptable. I switched to the Asus XT8 and found that too had different reliability issues, devices switching to the 2.4GHz band would just lose connection, and on the 2nd day of testing it, the system rebooted completely on its own twice so off that went back too. The Orbi RBK753 was the best performing system I have tested in terms of speeds and coverage, better too than 3 of the Asus XT8 from my expeirence. I hate to be somebody just complaining on a forum post but the reality is that regardless of what I did with the Orbi AX my experience would have been unreliable with these DNS issues. In any system that would be cause for me to return, let alone one costing between £400-1000
A new firmware just showed up 3.2.18.1 in my 750. Let me install and see if this issue is fixed.
- I solved my issues by buying two Eero Pro 6’s and setting them up in a wired backhaul configuration. Will not be buying Netgear again.
Good luck to the rest of you still on the Orbi AX. I installed 3.2.18.1 and seem to be stable so far. Can anyone share a specific site that consistently show DNS errors. I get random errors and not able to test with 3.2.18.1 unless I wait for couple of days.
- There is no specific website that will cause the DNS error. What you can try to do is visit a lot of different websites (URLs). That should trigger it at some point. I even got it when visiting this forum.
Sorry to report that DNS error is still there with 3.2.18.1.
