Orbi RBK753S changes the Passkey after some config changes

[jeffer72]

I think I have found a serious bug in the firmware after setting up a new RBK75S system...

I had the system fully configured, and then made a minor change to a setting - I don't recall which one - and when it came back online, ALL of my devices claimed I was using the wrong passkey.  (WPA2-PSK)

I ended up resetting the router to defaults and starting over, and after getting everything configured again (including about 20 static IP assignments), I went into the wireless settings and turned off the AX functions to see if it improved stability with one of the PCs on my network (which keeps complaining about no internet being available or it ends up with a 6 Mbps link speed (or lower)).

This time, I was angry about the system "forgetting" my password - I even tried the default password on the bottom of the router to no avail...

Finally, it occurred to me to connect a PC to one of the ethernet ports (I actually did it on a satellite successfully), and when I looked at the password, it had replaced all of the spaces in my passkey with what I assume are the ascii codes for a space (with # and semicolons in there too).  What is going on here?  This is not a good experience out of the box.  I have been using spaces in my passkey for probably 10 years now, on Linksys and Asus routers and never experienced this before.  

Netgear - PLEASE look into this.  I am on the verge of giving up on this system after about 8 hours of frustration and troubleshooting on the rogue PC with a poor connection (it is located between the router and one of the satellites).  If anyone has suggestions on how to fix this issue, I am all ears.  I plan to reposition the satellite tomorrow, as it is way past my bedtime here!

Thanks!

[FURRYe38]

What Firmware version is currently loaded?

So the wireless password had changed? 

Can you try not using spaces in the wifi password? Just use simple characters and maybe a one or two special characters. #, ! &,$ would suffice. Not sure if spaces are a valid use in the wifi PW. 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/What-Administration-Password-Special-Characters-can-I-have/m-p...

Please future post over in the Orbi AX forum as well for our model Orbi:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/bd-p/en-home-orbi-ax

[jeffer72]

Sorry about posting in the wrong area - it was late and I was tired...

The password did change - when I viewed it after connecting with ethernet all the spaces were replaced with a sequence like #32; or maybe #&32; (I don't remember the actual sequence, but it definitely included semicolons and the 32 (ascii code for space).  So something like "lazy dog" would change to lazy#&32;dog 

My firmware version is V3.2.15.25_1.3.15 (updated automatically when I did initial setup).

I have been using a "complete sentence" passphrase (with spaces, punctuation, and proper capitalization) for a long time, and if I had to change this, it would be a painful process - I have many IoT devices on my network that need the network info hard coded - so I would have to completely reprogram all of those devices.

Thanks

[FURRYe38]

Has a factory reset and setup from scratch on the RBR been performed? I would try this first and see if it happens again with the current PW configuration. 

It's not really recommended to use spaces in PWs. Various mfrs may not fully support that kind of use in PWs thus can cause odd problems like this. Hopefully a reset may clear this up for you. If no, please try a PW with out spaces and see what happens. You may need to change from using passwords with spaces. I understand that it would be a pain to reconfigure devices. Once you do, then things would be better. I've never used spaced in any password. Seem to be too many variables that can cause the use of it to be problematic. You can contact NG support and see if they do support the space though. 

[jeffer72]

I have given up...

I changed the password to remove spaces, and it was working ok for a while, but I went through some other issues (some Insignia branded Google smart speakers that I use all the time refused to pair no matter what I did).  I even changed the SSID of the wifi to a new name and was still unable to connect them (i have 4 of them around the house).  The last straw was the router going offline (no internet) even though the modem showed it was connected.

I did do a factory reset after the first instance of the spontaneous password change.

It is now boxed up to go back to Costco.  For $500 I expected better - I spent basically the entire day trying to make this stable and was unsuccessful.  When it was connected, I did get fantastic speeds on some of my devices - especially those connected with ethernet cables to the satellite, but just seems to buggy at this point and not worth the frustation.  I might have to stick with Asus at this point and see what they have to offer in mesh systems (my current router is an Asus RT-AX58U).

[FURRYe38]

Possible you might have a bad unit out of the box.

Good Luck.