Orbi 750, 500 Internal Server Error, on all Security setting pages

[Sp33drasr]

I recently turned on the option to auto-block all new devices on my network so that I'd have to manually grant them access. Just a couple of days later, now I see "500 Internal Server Error" whenever I try to reach any of the ADVANCED>>Security settings pages.

What can I do??? This is for an RBR750.

[plemans]

Have you tried a different web browser?

[Sp33drasr]

Good question - yes, I've tried Chrome, Edge and Opera. I've also rebooted (including full power off for a minute) and flashing to the latest firmware manually. No luck!

I found a reddit post where someone solved a similar issue by accessing the router via Telnet. I gather that they restored a missing entry in the device access list, or something like that. The RBR750 admin portal lacks the option to enable Telnet though.

[Blanca_O]

Hi @Sp33drasr

Kindly clear out all browser cache then access again the Web UI (Security Settings).

How did you update the firmware? Auto update or Manual update?  

Please reapply/reload the same firmware v4.6.11.1 and see how it goes.

Regards,
Blanca
Community Team

[Sp33drasr]

Hi @Blanca_O I tried clearing the cache just now but it didn't fix the issue. The firmware update was done manually. Any other ideas?

[FURRYe38]

Did you see this on prior FW version v4.6.9.11? 

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@Sp33drasr wrote:

Hi @Blanca_O I tried clearing the cache just now but it didn't fix the issue. The firmware update was done manually. Any other ideas?

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[Sp33drasr]

Yes, the problem was happening on the previous version which is what prompted me to flash the latest.

[FURRYe38]

Ok, I'll check my 7 series this evening. I don't remember which version of FW that was on it last. LOL. 

[FURRYe38]

I just check my 7 series. Both v4.6.9x and v4.6.11x are accessible for me using MS Edge in Windows 10x64:

[Sp33drasr]

Anyone have advice on getting Telnet access working on an RBR750? I really don't want to destroy all my hours of config work by doing a factory reset and it seems like Telnet might be the only option right now. Has anyone successfully managed to enable it on a recent firmware for the RBR750? Recent meaning one of the FW versions where the option is not listed on the debug page.

On a side note - lesson learned for me. If I've going to make anything other than a minor config change on this router, then apparently it's critical to export the config file for backup 🤦‍♂️🙁

[FURRYe38]

NG took out Telnet long ago on the 8 series. I don't think it was even available when the 7 series launched. I believe telnet was removed for security reasons.

You'll need to factory reset and setup from scratch. You can first take a back up configuration. Then do the reset. First check to see if you can access these pages correctly. If you can, try then to restore from back up. Then check again on these pages. If you can't access them correctly after the restore, then a reset will be needed then setup from scratch and reconfigure, then generate a NEW backup configuration to file. 

[Sp33drasr]

Has anyone gotten Telnet access working on an RBR 750 with a recent firmware version (ie, in late 2022 as I write this)?

For instance, this script - https://github.com/insanid/netgear-telenetenable

If you've figured it out, how did you do it??? 🙏🙏🙏

[Sp33drasr]

That's frustrating to hear about Telnet access. I wish I had researched this router better before buying it. It has so many Software limitations that are making it such a pain to live with. ie,

• advanced settings are buried deep which makes config work slow. The overall UI and poor UX are extremely poor.
• can't define an extra SSID for iOT devices
• the Admin UI time-out wayyyyyyy too fast. I can't count how many times I've been contemplating a setting only to have to go through login again. The UI isn't even compatible with password fillers. Why the heck won't they let users define a timeout?!?
• I have to see an advertisement every time I log in 🙁
• App-access takes a few minutes to load up. It's painful to use.

@FURRYe38 would it make sense to pay for Netgear's support plan? Do they have specialized tools to offer or are they just going to tell me to reset to factory config?

[FURRYe38]

Telnet has been a security risk for a while now. I believe other router mfrs are going to SSH, if they are supporting that. NG has mentioned this as well, though no idea if or when that will happen. 

Your not the first user to express concerns about there system. We've seen this as well. Something we have brought to NGs attention. 

I haven't seen the log out issue on mine however maybe I'm just quicker on the mouse clicks or I don't notice it. I use MS Edge for FW updates and most main setup configurations. Any slight adjustments or web page review I use Opera GX or Opera. 

I won't recommend NG support. 

Just need to take the dive and do the reset. Get the process going. I highly recommend making staged backups to file. One a basic back up that has just the wifi configuration set and maybe if you like to set a different IP address subnet or pool size. I always use .100 to .150 on my system. .200 works too. Since most average home users won't generally have more than 100 devices. I only have 30 and the range I use is perfect. No other configurations here. Save off a basic config to file here. Then graduate enabling other features or configurations. Save off another version of the backup config to file. If you have any further changes, make them and do one final back up configuration to a different file. That way you have some level of backups and depending upon your condition or trouble, IF and when a reset is needed you can be back up and running with any of the backups you feel that you need to use.