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Although automatic firmware updates should probably be the default, there should be a method (easily accessible in the firmware settings) to disable firmware auto-updates. The foregoing would all...
randomousity
May 12, 2018Luminary
After more consideration, I think disabling automatic firmware updates should be (remain) possible, but should only be available through like the debug page, as it should be the exception, not the rule. Normal users shouldn't even really have the option of doing it, at least not easily, because this is a consumer-grade device meant to be set-it-and-forget-it style, which is how most consumers use most networking equipment. Configure it once, and then never mess with it again until either something breaks, or their needs change. The average consumer should have automatic firmware updates.
For more advanced users, using many/all of the features, where updates may break some features, disabling, at least temporarily, automatic updates would be beneficial (I'd suggest a downgrade-and-skip-a-version setting, or something like that). But, really, the solution is for Netgear to do a better job testing the firmware before pushing it. Disabling auto-updates is just a stopgap measure. Nobody (or at least very few) would complain about automatic updates if they didn't break features, so the real problem is breaking features, and the real solution is sufficient testing to prevent broken features. If there are too many hardware variants in the Orbi line, then give better support to fewer models, or make them more uniform, so that one update works on multiple models.