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Goose66_2's avatar
Goose66_2
Aspirant
Nov 17, 2022

Expiring Parental Controls Leaves Orbi RBR850 in Inconsistent State

I was on a one-month free trial of Parental Controls and had setup Bedtime and Time Limits for my son's devices. Everything seemed to be working fine. Evidently in the last couple of days, the free trial expired and the expiration seemed to have left my router in a weird state. I am assuming that the Parental Control feature is just using the basic IP blocking feature (Access Control) of the RBR850 router in the background and adjusting it periodically. When the feature expired, it appears it didn't just leave the Access Control settings as last set - it basically through a grenade into the Access Control, blocking random devices. Took me an hour to figure out why "the Wifi" wasn't working this morning. Thanks Netgear. 

4 Replies

  • Goose66_2's avatar
    Goose66_2
    Aspirant
    Nov 17, 2022

    Can't find way to tie this to Orbi RBR850 device. Updated title to try and link it. Moderator moved it to "NETGEAR Smart Home Parental Controls" forum where it will never be found by someone trying to figure out why their Orbi RBR850 router all of a sudden stopped working. Thanks again, Netgear.

  • FURRYe38's avatar
    FURRYe38
    Guru - Experienced User
    Nov 17, 2022

    What Firmware version is currently loaded?
    What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?

     

    To clear this up you may need to factory reset the RBR and setup from scratch. Turn OFF any RBS. I would also disconnect the RBR from the ISP modem temporarily while you walk thru the setup wizard with a wired PC and web browser pointed at 192.168.1.1. Don't enable any SPC features or Armor. Once your at the home screen connect the RBR to the ISP modem. Might reboot the modem as well. Check your PC and internet services here. 

    • Goose66_2's avatar
      Goose66_2
      Aspirant
      Nov 17, 2022
      Firmware v4.6.9.11. Could connect to Orbi router via Ethernet and Internet showed “Good” and Wifi showed as working. Wired devices could surf through router. Affected random wireless devices could connect to WiFi and access local LAN resources (e.g., PiHole DHCP server) but could not access Internet.
      I went through all normal rebooting and power-cycling trouble shooting steps. It wasn’t until exhaustive searching through settings that I found the list of blocked devices. Simply turning off “Access Control” cleared it up. Hopefully if someone else has the weird symptoms in the future, they will find this post.