New - RBE970 / RBE971 Firmware Version 9.12.5.3 (All Regions!)

Apologies for the delay in a response regarding the situation you and I were previously discussing ​ 

A lot has been done since the last time we chatted, so I’ll bring you up to speed. I ended up replacing all cabling within the network and ensured proper bend radius because my ISP I am finding is highly incompetent when it comes to equipment installations. I also replaced the Ubiquiti Nanostations that were servicing as my PTP to Ubiquitui Wave Picos (much more suitable for the speeds and to eliminate so much 5ghz bands running that were most likely adding interference). After doing so, I do have speeds solidly at 300DL, 50UP (my plan). 

However, there seems to be a universal bug in this firmware that applies to all Apple devices or at least the Apple Devices I possess. It doesn’t matter what WiFi channel I choose, also doesn’t matter if I turn off private address and turn off limit up address tracking, but I’ll get the 300mbps for a good duration, and after I leave my house and come back from work, the devices seem to have a partial failure establishing a connection to the Orbi and when it then does, it caps the DL at half, with upload still maxed. However, if I spam turning on and off the Wi-Fi of the device, the device begins to then get 300DL again, 70up. I do want to mention if I reboot the router, it fixes it, but only for a breif moment where apple devices and the Orbi misbehave. I do notice the Orbi app keeps notifying me every so often when an Apple device attempts to reestablish a connection. I don’t know if that’s intentional since it says it’s a “new device”, but if memory serves right, once a device connects and is offline, it should stay in the device list but just display the status as “offline” in the app?

Apple Devices experiencing intermittent caps include (in which the temporary and annoying workaround applies to), but are not limited to:

• Apple TV 4K (2 total, both affected)
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPad Pro (11-inch) (2nd generation)
• 2020 MacBook Pro 13″ w/ Touchbar

Now, one HUGE issue I see with this firmware is that anytime I add in a satellite that is to be on wireless backhaul, THE ENTIRE network gets capped at 100-150DL. This firmware is buggy as hell. Hard resets of Orbi satellites and the router itself do not fix that issue and I’ve even tried hard resetting and starting from scratch. 

Netgear has gone long enough with Apple woes and to a point, a lot of it was Apple’s fault, but Apple has since corrected a majority of those problems and for being a $2K Wi-Fi Mesh system, all owners of it should have zero issues with Apple devices moving forward.

As far as my system being compatible with the Tarana, it appears it’s completely fine, but could be worth Netgear taking a look. I am not running a port switch between my ISP’s Tarana and the Orbi Router and speeds have been consistent since I fixed cabling and interference issues, but I do think Netgear may want to examine and confirm complete compatibility by working with Tarana on this. Also, it does output gigabit full, but it’s auto negotiation. To clarify, it’s auto negotiation at gigabit full only. It’s not a hardcode to gigabit full. If one does that, the link will fail. I only know this as I also tried the Orbi in AP mode with a MikroTik Hex as the router and while the router was amazing, the damn Orbi kept dropping the network almost every day, so I went back to router mode. I need a Netgear engineer in here and we need to start working on a firmware fix or a beta firmware at least for me.

Anyway I can get into beta firmware tests and test things out. I do IT for a living and love to troubleshoot and works towards a solution. Let me know if you need any clarification or have some things for me to try.

PS: That RMA was green lighted and I am running the replacement system currently.

Best,

Jaryn