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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 wrote: "But there is a way to disable automatic updates."
Really? I've tried two suggested methods and neither have worked, do you have any pointers to documentation on this? I think there are many people watching this thread that would be keen to review this information. I'm not a network engineer, but I was involved in the design of the debug and trace subsystem around the chipset inside this Orbi so I'm hoping any solution wouldn't be beyond me.
I understand your viewpoint - usually the system designers have a better handle on what's going to be the best firmware to have installed on that system - indeed, we always encourage our partners to update to the latest software whenever possible. My contention is that the vast majority of people that do encounter any problems with their Orbi system won't even make it as far as this community page. Those that have made it here will not find any "official" guidance - which I think is a poor show, and encourages suggestions such as blacklisting outbound access to the Netgear update pages from one's network (an ugly solution I was reluctant to try until now but I'm getting that desperate...).
We might be at loggerheads: Question: "What's my rationale for opting out of a firmware push that's *guaranteed* to be a superset of the previous firmware in terms of functionality and stability"? - Answer: none.
Question: "What's your rationale for expecting me to accept pushed firmware updates from a company that has a very poor track record when it comes to delivering consistent reliability and quality in its firmware?" - I have no control over the quality and testing of their firmware, sadly it looks like that they don't have the best handle on it either - it seems that the _least_ they could do would be to allow me to opt out of the "gamble" the end users currently have to take when getting this firmware pushed. I can contrive multiple scenarios where it would be reasonable not to have firmware updates pushed but I'm not currently one of those use cases - I just want a simple home network system to work reliably. Currently Netgear are failing me badly and seem to have no interest in my feedback - this doesn't motivate me to help improve the quality of their firmware by doing testing in the field on software that hasn't been adequately QA'd at the engineering stage. :-(