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Forum Discussion
BenjaminNYC
May 22, 2022Apprentice
To use Access Control, please use the Orbi App
This is what I see when trying to access Access Control. I strongly suspect it's because accidentally activated the trial of Smart Parental Controls. Even though I've turned it "off" in the app, it's...
TSNosredna
Nov 29, 2022Tutor
I just ran into this issue today in my efforts to "block new devices" and I have the RBK763S (RBR760) setup.
I find this all horrifying (though not at all unusual from my experiences with Netgear home devices over the years), but I just barely fell for the carrot of $29 for a year subscription and thought I'd give it a try (no, I never would have done that if I knew about this ahead of time).
So, here I am now, and I do love the amount of detailed info I can get from the parental controls.
So, I may have figured out a kludgy work-around and wanted to see what you all thought. I have 100s of devices and I KNOW this is a crappy option, BUT, if you're kinda stuck and don't want to switch brands...
In the Orbi App's Parental Access, what if you create a new profile (call it "MyHome" or whatever), and move all of the devices currently in the "Home" profile to that, then pause the "Home" profile's internet access?
My thought is that any new device will continue to get assigned to the default "Home" profile (and thus be "blocked"). Once you approve the device, you can move it to your new "MyHome" profile (or wherever they "should" be) and life will continue on. At least until the day you let your subscription expire and Netgear has either fixed this or you are stuck doing the whole "setup a new Netgear account, backup current config, downgrade firmware, factory reset, upgrade firmware, restore saved config" thing.
Just a thought...
BenjaminNYC
Nov 29, 2022Apprentice
This doesn’t resolve the issue of removing SPC from our Netgear account and the disabled Access Control and DNS settings.
- TSNosrednaNov 29, 2022Tutor
No, but it may provide you with, maybe good enough, interim functionality that's essentially equivalent to the access control.
And I don't know what you mean, about the DNS settings, as mine are still there (unless you are referring to other DNS settings that I can no longer see 😣😞
- radesix78Nov 30, 2022Guide
Just a quick update to this thread... My case is still in L3 support with the engineering team... and I did have a good conversation with Bernard from L2 support the week before last so I'm confident they finally understand the real issue and are working on it. The problem for me is I have no idea how long it will take them to issue a fix.
That being said, I'm not a typical end user of computing products. I'm more of a prosumer than a regular consumer. I've been a Netgear customer for a really long time and I own mulitple Netgear products include a ReadyNAS 314 which I have always loved. But this issue (the horrible implementation of SPC/Access Control) and the length of time it has taken to 1) get Netgear to understand the problem 2) get to a legitimate fix (which hasn't happened yet) caused me to start looking for better options.
I have felt the firmware in the Netgear routers has been lacking for quite some time. Over the holiday break I spent some time looking for "prosumer" routers and ran across Firewalla Gold. This thing seems to have a LOT of features that I have been craving in a router for a long time. I'm probably not going to get rid of the Orbi because I do have good WiFi coverage in the house with the satellites; however, I feel at this time I'm just going to put this turd into bridge mode and only use it for WiFi while I delegate all other features of a router to Firewalla. I paid $660 for the Orbi 750 with 2 satellites and I think that is extremely expensive for just WiFi 6 and no real use of any of the normal firmware features and capabilities for a router. There are cheaper options out there that probably provide comparable coverage in my house but I don't have the inclination to start buying and experimenting with other vendors. I just want my network to work properly.
There are so many cool features in the Firewalla for a prosumer like myself - including out of the box "new device quarantine", parental controls, better traffic monitoring, quality of service controls, and even being able to run Docker containers directly on the router - which makes it an open platform.
I will continue to work with Netgear engineers to troubleshoot and resolve this issue until hopefully a fix is provided and others in the community don't have to experience this or take the approach I'm taking by stepping the router down into bridge mode and buying another piece of equipment but I think I'm done with Netgear router features and functions.
For those of you wanting more advanced network monitoring, security, and control... I'd recommend checking out Firewalla. My device is in the mail!
To Netgear.. the Orbi line is good but way too expensive for what it is. If you would work toward including all of the capabilities that Firewalla Gold has into your Orbi line.. then maybe $700, $1000, or $1500 (the latest Orbi 960) might be justified... but not as it exists today. The value just isn't there especially when experiencing the issues I and others have experienced with SPC/Access Control. If this were to happen in Enterprise grade equipment you would be out of business.
- TSNosrednaNov 30, 2022Tutor
So, my little work-around just failed to block devices and word on the street is that you have to factory reset to "resolve" it for a couple of days. I've had an Orbi for the last 10 years and after all the struggle and difficulty with Netgear Support, I've finally had enough.
I've just ordered a Deco mesh to replace my Orbi and the Firewalla Gold.
- radesix78Nov 30, 2022Guide
Factory reset doesn't work. Even returning the Orbi to the store and getting a whole new Orbi doesn't work. Its something tied to your Netgear account that is persistent across devices once SPC has been activated. It's ruthless.
So, do I read correctly that you just ordered a Firewalla Gold?
- TSNosrednaNov 30, 2022Tutor
Yep. That and a TP-Link Deco XE5300 to go behind it.
Overall, it should all be just a little more than the Orbi RBK763S originally cost me.
Who knows if the TP-Link will be as good coverage, but it looks good on paper and is much cheaper.
I’m so fed up that I just want the Orbi gone.
- radesix78Nov 30, 2022Guide
I hear you. Glad to see you pick up the Firewalla. I'm pretty excited about the unit.
- Clintdawg24Dec 08, 2022TutorJust an FYI. I waited for my premium parental controls 30 trial to expire. Once it did, I was able to use Access Control again via the web client. I'm not sure why it's been so much trouble for everyone else. I hope resolution is coming soon.
- radesix78Dec 08, 2022GuideYou can see it. But it doesn’t actually work. It does not block new devices from joining and using the network. They will show up as blocked… but still be able to access the internet freely. The mere display of the access control page isnt the final resolution. It needs to actually work
- BenjaminNYCDec 16, 2022Apprentice
radesix78 how's it going with L3 support on this issue? I noticed a new firmware 6.3.7.5, wondering if that fixes it.
- radesix78Dec 16, 2022GuideStill haven’t heard back from L3 😕
Yesterday I explained the situation to Best Buy and they took the Orbi back.
Unfortunately I had to move on to other equipment. - BenjaminNYCDec 16, 2022ApprenticeMakes sense. What a shame their software and support is so bad. Hardware is so good.