Orbi router is blocking me from accessing my personal website only?

[Soulburnxl]

Same issue. I admin a website and was uploading FTP.

After all done, I went back to look at the website and it showed me a blank page. (ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT). I thought I made a mistake somewhere. Check the with hosting company, server is up and running. Checked outside my orbi network, website works fine.

Check directly from ISP modem, website works fine. Ask collegues outside our office , website works fine.

Contacted Netgear support and went thru the usual items.

change DNS 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.

change channels both 2.4 and 5.

check access control and blocked services.

Did try a factory reset through paperclip and through webadmin > administration > backup settings > erase.

it kept the old SSID info and configurations settings.

After this point they told me my warranty expired and I needed to buy support.

Tried to buy support but their billing site didn't work showed only a loading icon.

Side note: about 2 months ago we turned on the Armor trial but didn't buy it and never turned it on.

Also for some reason Smart Parent Control keeps popping up in the Orbi app, asking to turn it on. It created its own 'Home' profile. Can't get rid of it.

Orbi RB50 V2, V2.7.4.24, Satelitte V2.7.4.24

ISP Optimum, Arris modem, 200 Mbps 

We are now working in and on our website through our phone's hotspot but thats not really the solution. 

Any help is appriciated.

[Soulburnxl · Accepted solution]

Thank you, I paid the $50

Netgear Support called me and they resolved it pretty quick. Spoofing the MAC address did the trick.

Router MAC Address > uncheck Use Default Address  > Use This MAC Address (ethernet)

Thank you again for responding. I hope this trick will help other people.

[CrimpOn]

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@Soulburnxl wrote:

Did try a factory reset through paperclip and through webadmin > administration > backup settings > erase.

it kept the old SSID info and configurations settings.

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Do I read this correctly that a Factory Reset did not rest the WiFi credentials to match the product label ("ORBIxx" and some crazy combination of words) and the admin credentials to "admin" and "password"?

Or, did the router credentials get reset and then you changed them back to match the previous settings?

A perhaps silly question: does FTP access to the web site still work?

[CrimpOn]

You have tried

• Multiple browsers on the primary computer, and
• Different devices

and the result is always "timed out"?

What sort of SSH testing was involved?

[Soulburnxl]

Thank you for responding. Sorry I was unclear.

After the initial reset and a 30-30-30 reset, the Orbi app prompted to connect to ORBIXX, but was unable to connect to ORBIXX.

With the erase function in the WebGUI was able to finally connect to ORBIXX. Went through the ORBI setup, new SSID, and password. Added FTP and HTTPS to blocked services (never) everything else default.

The ORBI app prompts me to activate ARMOR and SMART PARENTAL CONTROLS which I ignore.

Everything seems to work fine, cameras connects, TVs connect, laptops, and phones connect. speed is good.

Open browser, open our website and ...

Little loading circle and then blank page with the error message. FTP not connecting. 

Tested other sites and FTP seems to all work just fine.

[Soulburnxl]

I'm on a Mac, iPhone, and Windows laptop. tried Chrome, Safari, and Chrome and Edge in windows. None connect to our website.

Netgear support or I didn't do any SSH testing. I'm not that tech-savvy but if you can show me an article I'm more then willing to try.

Thanks.

[CrimpOn]

@Soulburnxl wrote:

Added FTP and HTTPS to blocked services (never) everything else default.

Little loading circle and then blank page with the error message. FTP not connecting. 

Tested other sites and FTP seems to all work just fine.

Thanks.  Very clear.

I see no reason to put anything in the Block Services page if it is set to Never.  Never means "do not enable the Block Services feature."

How about different browsers and different computers?

What the heck was that "testing" with SSH?

[CrimpOn]

Sorry, "My Bad" for responding without checking for new messages.

This simply sucks!

[Soulburnxl]

Reading some posts on this forum and Reddit It seems that it might be something with Armor (Bitdefender blocking the website) or SPC but both are stuck behind a paywall. I don't feel we need to pay for a subscription or gearhead subscription to get our website back enabled if we haven't had any other issues with the product. I wish the original poster would respond and let us know if they ever got a solution from Netgear.

[CrimpOn]

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@Soulburnxl wrote:

The ORBI app prompts me to activate ARMOR and SMART PARENTAL CONTROLS which I ignore.

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f Armor and SPC are not enabled, then they are not part of the problem. Yes, they are both paid services (after a "free trial" which is why I have never enabled either one.)  Some customers appear to find either or both services worth the cost. People have paid for Windows anti-virus products for decades while Windows Defender is bundled with the system at no cost.

As a customer, I find two aspects of this situation very disappointing:

• The customer has an open case which has not been resolve when that "90 days" expires and Netgear's system claims, "time's up. Time to pay."
• As far as I can tell, Gear Head makes to promise to actually do anything.  I rather imagine it would be worth $49.99 to get this crazy episode behind you.  (I've spent more than $50 going out to dinner.)  But... what happens when they charge your credit card and then ...... (problem not solved)????

[CrimpOn]

Just as a crazy thought, what happens if you attempt to 'ping' the website URL?

(i.e. open a Command window, or run some application that can do ICMP requests [ping])

[Soulburnxl]

Not sure where you saw $50 these are the options i see, lowest is $90 for six months.

[CrimpOn]

https://www.netgear.com/home/services/gearhead/ 

I did not find a footnote on the page explaining what the "*" indicates.

[Soulburnxl · Accepted solution]

Thank you, I paid the $50

Netgear Support called me and they resolved it pretty quick. Spoofing the MAC address did the trick.

Router MAC Address > uncheck Use Default Address  > Use This MAC Address (ethernet)

Thank you again for responding. I hope this trick will help other people.

[CrimpOn]

At least the agony is over.  It is great to hear a Netgear success story.

[schumaku]

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@Soulburnxl wrote:

Added FTP and HTTPS to blocked services (never) everything else default.

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@Soulburnxl wrote:

Reading some posts on this forum and Reddit It seems that it might be something with Armor (Bitdefender blocking the website) or SPC but both are stuck behind a paywall.

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Considering 99,95 of the Web and other Internet services require using https - I don't wonder a second when you have massive issues using your Internet. 

Why on earth the https service is blocked?

Yes, the big world of the internet is blocked, must be blocked therefore. Wonder where such brilliant ideas are sourced 8-)

Sure, it must be Armor or Bitdefender 8-/ 

[CrimpOn]

I believe the Original Poster (OP) was attempting to say "Never block https."  As I pointed out in post #6, In the context of Service Blocking, "Never" means "Do not enable this feature at any time."

I am stunned that spoofing the router MAC address could have been the solution, because it worked before."

[schumaku]

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@CrimpOn wrote:

I am stunned that spoofing the router MAC address could have been the solution, because it worked before."

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Fully with you, does not make much sense - especially as the "magic 50USD solution" for me, too.

[Soulburnxl]

We went through fairly simple steps over the phone. Laptop to ISP modem, lookup MAC address, copy that MAC address into the Orbi, Did a full restart of both modem and router. And that was really it. I’m I happy that I paid $50, no but it resolved the issue.