My additional $0.02 while using a Pixel 2 on the December patch:
1. When the satellite is online every time my phone connects, or every time it wakes from sleep, the Orbi router reboots. The satellite stays active and responsive. However, I'm always connected to the router, not the satellite.
2. When the satellite is offline, rather than rebooting the router, the wifi just drops. Each time this happens the following shows up in dmesg:
...
Interesting. I'm curious to know if you have fast roaming on or off. And, does this log behavior change at all if you toggle that setting. I ask, because I'm pretty sure that "MBO" has to do with roaming behavior.
Since I can't use my Pixel 2 XL or my Nexus 6P on wifi with the Orbi(obviously with current issue) I started using my old Note 3 to play games on. Well it also makes the Orbi system REBOOT every time it wakes up! I wish Netgear would just refund me for this junk system because it doesn't seem like they will ever fix it?
I upgraded my new RBK50 system to 2.1.1.16 and had rebooting issues. I have a lot of Android phones and tablets in the house. I reverted back to 2.0.0.74 and continued to have issues. The beta seemed better, but still has problems - it seemed like a few of the re-boots became temporary WiFi drops. I read on one of the threads that someone reverted their system back to 1.11.0.20 and didn't have rebooting issues. I had tried 1.12.0.18 and had issues, so I went back another version and tried 1.11.0.20 (before connecting to the outside world I disabled auto updates). Both the router and satellite have been up over 24 hours with no reboots, and no one has complained of losing WIFI. Obviously it isn't a good fix, has security issues, and it may very well crash, but it seems to be the most stable if you don't mind living with the other limitations / bugs. My system sits behind another router so it isn't exposed directly to the internet. I assume that there must have been a kernel and / or driver update after that version. Just wanted to share in case it is of value to someone else.
Model: RBK50| Orbi AC3000 High-Performance Tri-Band WiFi System
I wonder if blocking MDNS (UDP port 5353) in the Orbi security rules would have any effect on these kernel panics / reboots. Unfortunately, I'm not able to test it myself because I don't have one of the affected Android devices.
I was rebooting every 30 minutes anytime my Google Homes were plugged in with 2.0.0.74 (and 2.1.1.16). Downgraded to 1.11.0.20 for both the main and the satellite as suggested and turned on the Google Homes - It's only been 10 hours, but it's been rock solid since then. I'm sitting behind another firewall, so not overly concerned with running an older firmware - our kid's Christmas presents were Google Homes and it sucked telling them they couldn't even plug them in!
One note - when I first flashed 1.11.0.20, it immediately installed the 2.0.0.74 update. I tried the telnet method for disabling auto updates, but it didn't work for me either. Only after blocking downloads.netgear.com did it work for me.
Model: RBK50| Orbi AC3000 High-Performance Tri-Band WiFi System
Wow... "...this firmware incorporates a new WLAN driver that will help mitigate an issue that was discovered where Android devices coming in and out of sleep mode would crash the Wireless Network...."
Looks like the other manufacturers have figured it out.
A few things that I've tried to narrow down the issue and something I've noticed:
Factory Reset Nexus 6P (7.1.2 - Aug Security Patch) - Trying to confirm if issue can be reproduced on Android Device not running Nov/Dec/Jan Security Patch. (*All other Android Phones were disconnected from WiFi during this test)
I've logged into my Google Account on the 6P
Installed Google Home App
Results: I can reproduce the issue and lock up WiFi after waking the device up after sleep over 1hr. So the issue can't be tied specifically or isolated to the 8.x (Nov/Dev/Jan Security Patch)
Powered off all Google Home (Qty 1) and Google Mini's (Qty 2) - My Google Home's were added in Nov and around the time when these WiFi / Network issues started to appear. Does the reduction in Chromecast / Google Home devices lessen the mDNS storm?
Pulled power from all Google Home devices for 30mins
Connect Pixel XL (8.1 - Jan Patch) to WiFi - Power still off on all Google Home devices
Let Pixel XL go into deep sleep, wake phone up from sleep
Results: I can reproduce the issue and lock up WiFi after waking the device up after sleep over 1hr. So the issue can't be tied specifically or isolated to the (**physical**) addition of the Google Home devices in Nov. (**We'll touch on this more later).
Disconnect Pixel XL / Nexus 6P from WiFi - I know many others have confirmed this in their testing, but just wanted to make sure I had the same baseline in my tests.
Turned off WiFi on Pixel XL & Nexus 6P
Disable "Turn on WiFi Automatically" feature in WiFi preferences
Results: After 24hrs, I could not reproduce the issue and had zero router crashes or WiFi / Network interruptions. After the 24hrs had completed, I reconnected my Pixel XL to WiFi and could immediately reproduce the issue and interrupt WiFi & Network connectivity.
Note: While a temp workaround, having our phones disconnected from WiFi isn't a logical solution / fix.
One thing that has my attention is that a lot of the main theories around these mDNS storms center around the Nov to Jan Security Patches and/or Google Home Devices. My initial test results wouldn't seem to directly align with these theories since I can reproduce the issues w/ a device on 7.x (Aug Patch) and w/ all my Google Home devices removed from the network and powered off.
That leads me to this thought... what else would be in common with the Nov timeframe and addition of Google Home devices on your network?..... the Google Home App.... Google Home App v1.26.30.8 was released on Nov. 14th 2017. Is it possible that in the redesign / release of this version that something changed in the Chromecast / Google Home mDNS discovery process? The majority of Android users are going to have this app regardless if they have Google Home devices or not.
Update: I've completely uninstalled the Google Home App from my 2 phones and after 6 hrs of testing and trying to trigger the issue, I can't reproduce this issue. This is the longest I've been able go in my testing w/o being able to trigger the issue.
Can someone else dealing with this issue also give this a try and uninstall the Google Home App from all your Android Phone / Tablets and see if you can still trigger this mDNS issue?
I know this doesn't provide a permanent fix, but if this also works for others we can try loading an older APK of Google Home.
The longer explanation is embedded in the TP-Link engineer's post in the article. Seems like it has to do with Google's Cast-enabled devices and their behavior when they wake up from sleeping. This would explain why it could never be narrowed down to just Android 8, Pixel devices, etc., and even some with those devices reported no issues. Seems if you have a cast enabled phone, or even a Google Home or Android TV device, you could be affected.
At least it appears Google has acknowledged the issue, and TP-Link and Linksys have already patched the issue. Here's hoping Netgear follows suit in short order.
Model: RBK50| Orbi AC3000 High-Performance Tri-Band WiFi System
I think you should share your results with Netgear support. They are not in the forum and while sneaking with the support, they doesn't seems to take this seriously/understand the magnitude. .
@logdump - I've seen that thread a few days ago. Although it appears to be the same issue on the surface, I don't think that fix is related specifically to this newly identified Chromecase wake issue crashing the Orbi is it? Some responses on the other thread are not very encouraging.
I just updated. It can't be any worse than the reboots. I had a wonderful 12 days without a reboot, then it started rebooting every hour, so I upgraded.
FWIW, the release notes for the new version make no mention of fixing the Android issue, so I would expect a separate release to be forthcoming for that.
These bug fixes in the release notes do look very similar to the referenced bug fixes in the most recent Beta release and most people said they still continued to experience the Android related issues while running this Beta.
Hopeful the next Beta has a fix for these mDNS / Android issues.
I hope Netgear continues to work on fixing the way the router deals with the problem though. This isn't going to be the last software problem on a network device... Also, it may take a week or longer for everyone to see the update from the Play store.
Model: RBK50| Orbi AC3000 High-Performance Tri-Band WiFi System
Interesting... The article says it's an issue when BOTH an Andoid phone AND a Chromecast built-in device (i.e. Google Home) are on the same wifi network.
That would explain why I've had none of these disconnect issues - I have numerous Chromecast devices all over my house, but no Android phones.
Is there any way to disable the Chromecast on your phone? I found a setting on my Nvidia Shield which was an actual app called Googlecast. I was able to disable that. Could not find something similar to that on my Samsung Galaxy S8
I have removed my 4 chromecast devices, updated to the new firmware 2.1.2.18. I still get reboots. If I log onto my RBR50 and RBS50 (Pixel XL) within 1 minute the router reboots. NOTHING is getting fixed here.
