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RBE971 reboots
RBE971 randomly rebooting daily. Sometimes it will reboot and come back on line after 2-3 minutes of disruption - other times the wireless for router & 2 satellites completely shuts off and must be rebooted to restore service.
Looking for suggestions to troubleshoot & fix. Logs do not appear to be capturing whatever is triggering the problem. Is there a way to improve logging to capture what's causing the issue?
And hows your system doing?
jdharrisonsouth wrote:
All quiet here - no reboots - still monitoring...
47 Replies
Firmware version: V9.12.4.16_1.3.21
Firmware v9.12.5.3 was released Dec 26. Might try manually updating to that version and see what happens.
https://kb.netgear.com/000066513/RBE970-RBE971-Firmware-Version-9-12-5-3-for-NA-Region-Only
It is essential to update satellites first and the router last.
Upgraded to v9.12.5.3 this morning - will watch & see how this version does - thank you!
Does the front LED on the RBR turn PINK or RED when this happens?
What does the WAN port uptime connection show along with the LAN and Wireless backhaul show on the RBRs web page under the Advanced tab/Show Stats, then compare to the system uptime seen on the RBRs debug page at router IP address/debug.htm? Checking to see if the RBR is fully rebooting here or something on the WAN port is causing a problem.
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?
Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6A STP is recommended.
jdharrisonsouth wrote:
RBE971 randomly rebooting daily. Sometimes it will reboot and come back on line after 2-3 minutes of disruption - other times the wireless for router & 2 satellites completely shuts off and must be rebooted to restore service.
Looking for suggestions to troubleshoot & fix. Logs do not appear to be capturing whatever is triggering the problem. Is there a way to improve logging to capture what's causing the issue?
LED on RBE971 flashes white when this happens - boot cycle.
WAN port uptime stats show as if the router had been hard-booted - counters have been reset. logs showing INIT messages. System uptime is only a few seconds or minute when you can get in to check logs.
The fiber bodem is Spectrum - SONUV1H.
Cables have been replaced with new "Cat 8" cables recently purchased.
Curious - on the question for the fiber modem - are there situations where that would cause the ORBI to reboot? I would not have expected that. I could see the ORBI going to the purple color status if the fiber modem freaks out or reboots. But should we expect the ORBI to stay running through an event like that?
Anything is possible when connected to any modem or ONT from what we've seen.
Possible some memory leak issue or CPU could be getting over usage as well that may cause this.
What all is connected to the system?
Does this happen if you turn OFF the RBS?
UPDATE:
Netgear had me reset to factory defaults – which I did.
System had an unexpected restart a few hours later.
Netgear came back and asked me to turn on debugging on router & both satellites, then send them more information – and the logs after the next unexpected reboot.
I am using a desktop browser to access the debug interface on the router/satellites, download the logs, etc.
I noticed no performance degradation – memory, CPU, bandwidth – while the debug logging was enabled. Same speeds & performance we’re used to.
Unexpected reboot happened this morning – Logs have been sent into the case.
File size limit of 5MB on upload to the web access to the case. The 2 satellites were fine – but the router log was almost 6MB.
They asked me to use Google Drive to post & allow them to retrieve the logs.
For my configuration – I am using wireless back-haul between both satellites & router.
I have not tried to turn off any satellites yet – want to follow through with the engineer at Netgear and not change something while he’s investigating.
It’s with Netgar now to tell us if they see anything in the logs that can tell us what’s causing this unexpected reboot pattern.
Thanks for the update. Keep on with NG support on this.
Yes. Thank you for keeping us posted.
I just checked my logs since the installation of 9.12.5.3_1.3.24 firmware yesterday and I did have an uninitiated reboot at 04:07:13 am CT this morning.
Any progress on this?
jdharrisonsouth wrote:
UPDATE:
Netgear had me reset to factory defaults – which I did.
System had an unexpected restart a few hours later.
Netgear came back and asked me to turn on debugging on router & both satellites, then send them more information – and the logs after the next unexpected reboot.
I am using a desktop browser to access the debug interface on the router/satellites, download the logs, etc.
I noticed no performance degradation – memory, CPU, bandwidth – while the debug logging was enabled. Same speeds & performance we’re used to.
Unexpected reboot happened this morning – Logs have been sent into the case.
File size limit of 5MB on upload to the web access to the case. The 2 satellites were fine – but the router log was almost 6MB.
They asked me to use Google Drive to post & allow them to retrieve the logs.
For my configuration – I am using wireless back-haul between both satellites & router.
I have not tried to turn off any satellites yet – want to follow through with the engineer at Netgear and not change something while he’s investigating.
It’s with Netgar now to tell us if they see anything in the logs that can tell us what’s causing this unexpected reboot pattern.
We really need this update, As I just change to the black version and I am having the same reboots but it seems its happening at a certain time every evening...
I have moderate confidence I figured out the cause of my random reboots.
There was a failing dehumidifier on the same AC circuit. That was likely causing an excessive amp draw and corresponding voltage drop that the router power supply could not deal with. Since taking the dehumidifier offline on Monday I’ve had no uninitiated reboots.To the rest of you, consider monitoring your available AC voltage. I was trying to figure out how to best do this. Search Amazon for "AC WiFi Watt Meter, Plug-in US Socket Power Meter, Backlit Large Color Display, Overload Protection, Kilowatt Wattage Voltage AMP Tester, Electrical Energy Monitor,Delay to restore power supply, Timer". A device like this should allow for low voltage to be confirmed or ruled out.Good find. Glad you figured it out.
Something you might consider installing a UPS or some form of power cleaner unit to help keep the power at the power brick to the RBR in good working order.
Thanks for letting us know.
CharCast wrote:
I have moderate confidence I figured out the cause of my random reboots.
There was a failing dehumidifier on the same AC circuit. That was likely causing an excessive amp draw and corresponding voltage drop that the router power supply could not deal with. Since taking the dehumidifier offline on Monday I’ve had no uninitiated reboots.To the rest of you, consider monitoring your available AC voltage. I was trying to figure out how to best do this. Search Amazon for "AC WiFi Watt Meter, Plug-in US Socket Power Meter, Backlit Large Color Display, Overload Protection, Kilowatt Wattage Voltage AMP Tester, Electrical Energy Monitor,Delay to restore power supply, Timer". A device like this should allow for low voltage to be confirmed or ruled out.You are spot on. It was the actually the logs from my UPS that help me pinpoint what was happening.
I set my log to only log DoS and port scans (1 check box) 21 days ago, and I am now on 31 1/2 days of the router and 2 970s being up with no restarts! I have never gone longer than say ~14 days give or take between phantom restarts.
I've got all logging options enabled - but the only data I see in the log are the DHCP entries and admin login... very little other messages...
jdharrisonsouth can you try de-selecting all the message types to be logged, reboot your Orbis, and see if you get any phantom reboots/crashes? Leave the DoS checkbox selected, but you won’t have any/many of them..
Update - as it were:
My reboots still happening somewhat randomly. Still updating Netgear support every time. Logs uploaded after each reboot.
I have periodically gotten a response from support that always reads the same:
Thank you for the logs and update. We just forwarded it to our Eng Team, once we got an update coming from them, we will inform you as soon as possible."
Case was opened 24 January 2025. We're coming up on 2 months. Not sure if they have any timeline when there will be any progress.
The only thing I can do is keep collecting logs after each reboot & sending them to support.... Frustrating response for such an EXPENSIVE product.
jdharrisonsouth Did you disable ALL the logging options, per the prior posts from Furry and me? I have gone about 70 days now with no reboots/crashes since doing so. This could solve the problem for now, and would be important if it did not.
I had been trying to stick with Netgear Support if their recommendations (keep logging on) were conflicting with the recommendations in the community....
I need to revisit that approach - especially with the lack of progress on the support case
I too worked with support and arrived at a replacement unit and RMA of the faulty (randomly rebooting) unit. I'm a week on the replacement and have seen no further issues.
