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Orbi RBK753 (the forum pulldown doesn't have the correct model)
Last week, the firmware update was forced onto my RBK753 overnight when all of my systems were doing backups. All PCs to servers and all servers to cloud backups were interrupted due to this unplanned interruption. If any devices needed the backups from that night, a lot of manual data re-creation would have been required. While some might be ok with forced, unscheduled interruptions, I find that unacceptable and NG needs to provide opt-out or scheduling capability for firmware updates.
I started using Nighthawk 5 years ago after decades of Linksys use. I chose Orbi for my mesh upgrade because the Nighthawk performed so well. Nighthawk never forced automatic, unscheduled updates and I could schedule network downtime as needed (and could also revert if testing failed).
Netgear, please give us the option to schedule updates and opt-out from unplanned updates.
Last week, the firmware update was forced onto my RBK753 overnight when all of my systems were doing backups. All PCs to servers and all servers to cloud backups were interrupted due to this unplanned interruption. If any devices needed the backups from that night, a lot of manual data re-creation would have been required. While some might be ok with forced, unscheduled interruptions, I find that unacceptable and NG needs to provide opt-out or scheduling capability for firmware updates.
I started using Nighthawk 5 years ago after decades of Linksys use. I chose Orbi for my mesh upgrade because the Nighthawk performed so well. Nighthawk never forced automatic, unscheduled updates and I could schedule network downtime as needed (and could also revert if testing failed).
Netgear, please give us the option to schedule updates and opt-out from unplanned updates.
23 Comments
Having the same problem here, Wifi keep getting disconnected after upgrade to V4.6.3.7. manged to downgrade to V3 firmware but it worked for a few hours and auto update to V4 firmware again, and this caused interrupt to my work. And I have spend hours trying to fix this.
Yes, opt-out of automatic updating is absolutely essential.
I also see the frequent disconnection problem with my RBK853 and the v4 firmware.
I purshased this because I wanted to try out the Bitdefender security and the new Parental Controls which I'm not able to do. In fact it's even worse than that, the system is unusable because I can't downgrade the firmware and even if I could the automatic update makes absolutely certain I will end up with an unusable system.
Ditto. Please give us an option to NOT to autoupgrade. Some of us want to do them manually.
No WARRANTY needs to equal NO FORCED UPDATES
General Motors is not allowed to replace parts on my car without my permission and without responsibility or liability!
I'd like to add - we need opt out for ALL models of routers. The recent update to 4.6.3.16_2_0_51 caused great heartache while trying to work today. I would have prefered two things - Notification the udpate was coming & the ability to choose when to update - like on a weekend when it woudln[t interfere with work or school.
Once again, a forced firmware update has f'd up my Orbi RB853 mesh network. This is the second forced firmware update that was not tested and was unstable. My WiFi speed is dismal and I have constant drop outs. This is an unacceptable practice that must be stopped.
Netgear, you need to make auto firmware updates configurable as disabled and default to disabled.
Both bread winners in this household are working from home, and 3 kids that are online for school.
I have no other option then to go back to my mesh network using 3 Asus RT-AX88U's which is more configurable and much more stable.
I will not buy another Netgear branded device from this point on.
Good luck keeping customers!
Here are links to the latest debacle that you have caused as a company and should be liable for:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-WiFi-6/New-Online-Update-4-6-3-16-RBR850-RBS850/td-p/2140736
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-WiFi-6/RBK750-Series-Firmware-Update-v4-6-3-7/td-p/2117202
Yes please. Give us the control over updates!
This has historically been on going since 2017:
Good Luck though.
Here's my experience on the v4.6.3.16 firmware.
I thought I was safe from the v4 firmware update being pushed down to my Orbi (as I had blocked the two websites mentioned on the router itself) for the last few weeks but I guess that wasn't enough. Late last night (probably around 1:30 am?), I got notification that my Wi-Fi was offline on my phone and when I checked, sure enough it was disconnected. Minutes later, the Wi-Fi came back on and I thought it was just a blip. Logged into the Orbi app and I was shocked to see it said my Orbi 853 had updated to V4.6.3.16_2.0.51. I did a quick check and noticed that two of my 850S satellites which are on wired backhaul, were showing no clients connected and every client was on the RBR itself. As it was late, I decided to just put it off until the morning to look at it.
This morning, when I checked the satellites on the Orbi app (Android), I noticed the two RBS satellites were still showing no clients attached. I power cycled everything - starting with the satellites and then the main router - and after a few minutes when all the units were online, the app was still reporting no clients on the satellites from the app. But when I login to the satellites via a PC on the browser, it did show me me the clients on each satellite. A bug on the app? However, about 10-15 minutes later, I checked the the app again and now all the clients were showing connected on the two satellites. Strange, but at least it's now working.
I did a quick triage of all the settings on the router via the browser from a computer and everything seemed to be OK. No issues with speed tests (506.35 Mbps + 564.48 Mbps per the app) and the new parental control functionality was enabled so I proceeded to disable my Circle Plus unit so that I can set it up. So far, the new Parental Control features seems to be working but it's limited in functionality compared to Circle Plus (is Netgear's new Parental Control based on Circle Plus, as I see some similarity?) but I'll post my comments and query on the appropriate forum about it.
Will keep an eye on this new firmware as it progresses. Thankfully I didn't have to factory reset anything and my remote access ("Anywhere Access") is working fine outside of Wi-Fi. Am I on the lucky ones so far not having any issues? I hope so. Keeping fingers crossed. :)
Absolutely stop forced downloads. You don't force it on the pro models stop on the consumer models.
