New RBR750 / RBS750 Firmware Version 4.6.3.16 Released

[tak1313]

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@Wizec wrote:
I just tried and returned an Asus XT8 AiMesh 2 node setup.

Range was pretty awful.

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That's why I kept the Orbi as AP because it does do the mesh dance well, assuming working firmware, but Asus is better at routing with more control - it's especailly good/stable (compared to OEM) if you stick with Merlin.  The control plus there was a forced Orbi update (luckily still a usable 3 version) that really pushed me to throw it in AP and block all updates with the Asus.  The Orbi interface is REALLY dumbed down compared to every other router I've had, which is odd considering how advanced it's touted to be. Like give the features/controls and .let the user decide whether they have the need or wherewithall to use them.

I was debating about dumping the Orbi and switching to AiMesh.  I was planning to go that route anyway (I needed mesh to smooth my wife's work from home needs at the time).  AiMesh works REALLY well too if you use the right router combos.  At the time, though, I was reading so much positives about Orbi, and I HAD good experiences with NG products in the past...sometimes in life we make bad decisions.

[tak1313]

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@LucGov wrote:

I don't have a Facebook account, but a negative response would help I presume.

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If you have an Amazon account (is there anyone who doesn't?), tag the negative reviews as "helpful."  The more "helpful" tags given to a review, the higher it gets in others' default sort when they read reviews.

[jayeshm]

It's not cloud only. The UDM makes it easy to control locally without jumping through hoops without being connected to the internet.

[Kevin923846]

Agreed. The Asus was totally unstable.

[Dd852]

I had a back and forth with Netgear support and all her questions were around power - have I changed plugs, changed power supplies etc. I have not - and my observation told me this was all due to the firmware but I have tried to plug into different outlets, checked all connections right etc. Let’s see. I have a hard time believing that all of us suddenly had power issues simultaneously but maybe this firmware is particularly sensitive to variations?? Or maybe this is just voodoo

[LucGov]

To be honuest. This is a very typical example of a helpdesk who has't have a clue how to handle and solve this. Look at this forum, plenty of examples that this happend after the latest firmware release. You would do us all a favor of going back to the helpdesk. My period of 6 months helpdesk services has expired. So I only can compliane here.

[FURRYe38]

Try downgrading your system back to v3 then.

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@Dd852 wrote:
I had a back and forth with Netgear support and all her questions were around power - have I changed plugs, changed power supplies etc. I have not - and my observation told me this was all due to the firmware but I have tried to plug into different outlets, checked all connections right etc. Let’s see. I have a hard time believing that all of us suddenly had power issues simultaneously but maybe this firmware is particularly sensitive to variations?? Or maybe this is just voodoo

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[AniDutta]

Besides reaching out here, hit them up on social media- Twitter and FB. Will get them hopefully engaged once they get the negative reviews.

[Zultan]

This may sound crazy but it worked for me.  I am not a router guru so I won't even try to explain this.

I have Orbi RBR850 and 5 RBS850 satellites.  I noticed that the 3 closest to the router (about 30 feet)  were not having the constant reboot issue and were accepting clients while remaining stable with good transmission rates.  The two I have in the extreme corners of my home (60 feet away from router) were experiencing a constant reboot, low speeds, and not accepting connections.  I reset, re-synced both of them and repositioned both of those satellites closer to the router and it resolved the issue.  Now all 5 satellites are functional. (At least for the past 24 hours).  I have not yet moved them back to their original positions because my coverage is good.

Hope this helps someone else.

[FURRYe38]

Be sure to save off a back up configuration to file for safe keeping. Saves time if a reset is needed.
https://kb.netgear.com/000062080/How-do-I-back-up-the-configuration-settings-on-my-Orbi-WiFi-System
Enjoy.

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@Zultan wrote:

This may sound crazy but it worked for me.  I am not a router guru so I won't even try to explain this.

I have Orbi RBR850 and 5 RBS850 satellites.  I noticed that the 3 closest to the router (about 30 feet)  were not having the constant reboot issue and were accepting clients while remaining stable with good transmission rates.  The two I have in the extreme corners of my home (60 feet away from router) were experiencing a constant reboot, low speeds, and not accepting connections.  I reset, re-synced both of them and repositioned both of those satellites closer to the router and it resolved the issue.  Now all 5 satellites are functional. (At least for the past 24 hours).  I have not yet moved them back to their original positions because my coverage is good.

Hope this helps someone else.

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[raven_au]

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@Kevin923846 wrote:

Agreed. The Asus was totally unstable.

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Yes, that's frequently the case with ASUS units.

However, you can work out what the stable firmwares are from reading the forums and you can downgrade them and keep that firmware until another stable one evntually comes out.

[ANoid67]

The issue with Orbi is firmware related. End of story.

Sending information to NG support requires opening a ticket. If you have paid for the support already then please contact NG and let them know that they should pay attention to the FORUMS used by their CUSTOMERS. There is zero free support from NG (which is despicable). I am not funding the company through their support system when they have made a mistake. Anyone who does is an idiot. Anyone who suggests that we do, is just a jerk. As the Guru's have stated, they have already reached out to NG support with these issues. If that is so, then why is NG ignoring the problem. The latest firmware release idicated that it has fixed security vulnerabilities and fixed the issue of the incorrect internal spped test results. I do not care if the speed test results are not correct. We all care about the stability of the network we are using.

Maybe it is time to address this through other channels, like Twitter, Facebook, etc. as to how poor the support is for home networking with Netgear products and that the support is expensive after 90 days from date of purchase. I will add that using customers to pay for support issues that were created by poor quality control and engineering should be illegal.

[Niko78]

@ANoid67 

For your information, before 4.6.3.16 release, as I had no technical solution from support team, I wrote an email to the Netgear CEO to inform him about the new firmware issues many people were facing.

I also sent him links to Netgear forum were many customers were complaining since the automatic 4.6.3.7 upgrade.

The next day expert support team contacted me to to try Beta 4.6.3.16 firmware.

So Netgear is aware of the Orbi firmware problems at the higher management level.

Hopefully the new firmware solved all my stability issues even if maybe sometimes I still have some disconnection of the RBS because one day I saw the RBS resynchronizing with the RBR. Maybe it happened other times but I did not noticed it.

We are 2 working at home and evrything is stable since now, so for me the new firmware is much better than 4.6.3.7 even if I lost confidence in Orbi system and am stressed about upcoming automatic upgrades.

[Dd852]

Sorry if I’ve missed something similar in all the many messages but I just got this from Netgear support - and for the moment I’m stable :

If I may suggest, please try to perform a 30-30-30 reset on the affected units and then re-sync them together again.

If the problem persists, we encourage you to perform a 30-30-30 reset on your Orbi. It is highly recommended that you use a timer or make sure to count exact 30 seconds for each process.
For your reference, to do the 30-30-30 reset, please follow the steps below:
1. With the Orbi is plugged in and powered on, depress the reset button for 30 seconds. This button is usually a tiny dot recessed into the back of the Orbi. You may need a jeweler's screwdriver or a bent paperclip to access it.
2. While still holding down the button, unplug the Orbi from its power source for another 30 seconds.
3. With the reset button still held down, turn the power back on and hold for another 30 seconds.

[FURRYe38]

Thanks for letting us know. Be sure to save off a back up configuration to file for safe keeping. Saves time if a reset is needed.
https://kb.netgear.com/000062080/How-do-I-back-up-the-configuration-settings-on-my-Orbi-WiFi-System
Enjoy.

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@Dd852 wrote:
Sorry if I’ve missed something similar in all the many messages but I just got this from Netgear support - and for the moment I’m stable :

If I may suggest, please try to perform a 30-30-30 reset on the affected units and then re-sync them together again.

If the problem persists, we encourage you to perform a 30-30-30 reset on your Orbi. It is highly recommended that you use a timer or make sure to count exact 30 seconds for each process.
For your reference, to do the 30-30-30 reset, please follow the steps below:
1. With the Orbi is plugged in and powered on, depress the reset button for 30 seconds. This button is usually a tiny dot recessed into the back of the Orbi. You may need a jeweler's screwdriver or a bent paperclip to access it.
2. While still holding down the button, unplug the Orbi from its power source for another 30 seconds.
3. With the reset button still held down, turn the power back on and hold for another 30 seconds.

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[COMountainGoat]

Like that's going to repair poorly coded and QA'd firmware.....

The new routers arrive today.  With wired backhaul, I expect it'll work out just fine.  At the very least I can control when the firmware gets pushed.

That's really the thing that pushed me to dump netgear across the board.  I had a perfectly stable network, but wasn't asked, notified, or allowed to control when/how the upgrade happened.  That's not acceptable.  Full Stop.

[FURRYe38]

Good Luck then. 

[COMountainGoat]

Exactly - you have control over upgrades.  That's my minimum-must-have for a network.  The worst part is that we used to have that option, and netgear took it away.

Look, I get that there are security patches that might need to be applied quickly.  Fine.  If there's a true emergency patch, then notify the customers, and we can apply it.  But just general releases, especially when there's a long history of poor code?  NFW.

[jayeshm]

What did you get?

[vadimdr123]

So in order to see what my RBR750 router communicates with, I have installed a pi-hole DNS server and configured the router to use this server for all DNS related needs

This is the log from the pi-hole:

and the amount of requests is huge

the only two sites I have seen being accessed by the router are

• devcom.up.netgear.com
• www.netgear.com

Next thing will be to downgrade the firmware on the router / satellites and see if the router is able to perform the automatic upgrade. If not, at least there is a good way to prevent the upgrades

[FURRYe38]

If you can block the following:

Add the following key words:
http.fw.updates1.netgear.com

updates1.netgear.com

Or try this:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/RBK750-Series-Firmware-Update-v4-6-3-7/m-p/2131307/highligh...

Was told this is working fine. 

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@vadimdr123 wrote:

So in order to see what my RBR750 router communicates with, I have installed a pi-hole DNS server and configured the router to use this server for all DNS related needs

This is the log from the pi-hole:

and the amount of requests is huge

the only two sites I have seen being accessed by the router are

• devcom.up.netgear.com
• www.netgear.com

Next thing will be to downgrade the firmware on the router / satellites and see if the router is able to perform the automatic upgrade. If not, at least there is a good way to prevent the upgrades

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[vadimdr123]

Added these as well, but have never seen the router accessing these sites. The only two being access from the statistics of the last 7 days are the ones I listed

[FURRYe38]

If you block those, go to the FW update check under Advanced tab/Admin and select Check for updates. The status should return Service Unreachable if it's blocked correctly upstream.

[vadimdr123]

Just did it.

The router was trying to access 

• devcom.up.netgear.com
• a1599er83nvyl8.iot.us-west-2.amazonaws.com

The second one was reachable, but the router still says that 

[FURRYe38]

Please use the Choose File button to attach pictures to a post. We have to wait for inline pictures to be approved.