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Is there an easy way to swap out my RBR40 for a RBR50?

jamescosta
Aspirant

Is there an easy way to swap out my RBR40 for a RBR50?

Hi there!

I recently went to purchase another satellite for my Orbi system and it ended up being ore economical to buy a RBS50 kit. Now I have a spare RBR50 that I want to switch out my current router (RBR40) for.

Is there an easy way to do the swap without having to reconfigure the whole network?

Thanks!

James
Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 1 of 6

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CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Is there an easy way to swap out my RBR40 for a RBR50?

Sorry, no.  Congratulations on getting a good deal on the RBR50.  I am certainly happy with mine.

 

It is simple to add satellites to a router, because the satellites get the entire configuration from the router.  Alas, as far as anyone knows, the configuration file for the RBR40 and RBR50 are probably not identical, so it is not possible to export the configuration from one router and import it into another.  So, I would be prepared to set the RBR50 up from scratch (after updating it to the latest firmware!)

 

You can always give it a try.  i.e. on the Orbi web interface, under Administration, Backup Settings, "Save" the current configuration to your hard drive.  Then, when you connect to the new system, go to Administration->Backup Settings, and try to upload the saved configuration.  It can't hurt anything.  If somehow uploading hoses the router, just get out the trusty paperclip and stick it into the "Reset" hole for 15 seconds and the router will return to factory settings automatically.

 

If it does work for you, please report back.

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Message 2 of 6

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CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Is there an easy way to swap out my RBR40 for a RBR50?

Sorry, no.  Congratulations on getting a good deal on the RBR50.  I am certainly happy with mine.

 

It is simple to add satellites to a router, because the satellites get the entire configuration from the router.  Alas, as far as anyone knows, the configuration file for the RBR40 and RBR50 are probably not identical, so it is not possible to export the configuration from one router and import it into another.  So, I would be prepared to set the RBR50 up from scratch (after updating it to the latest firmware!)

 

You can always give it a try.  i.e. on the Orbi web interface, under Administration, Backup Settings, "Save" the current configuration to your hard drive.  Then, when you connect to the new system, go to Administration->Backup Settings, and try to upload the saved configuration.  It can't hurt anything.  If somehow uploading hoses the router, just get out the trusty paperclip and stick it into the "Reset" hole for 15 seconds and the router will return to factory settings automatically.

 

If it does work for you, please report back.

Message 2 of 6
jamescosta
Aspirant

Re: Is there an easy way to swap out my RBR40 for a RBR50?

Thanks for your help @CrimpOn! I can't seem to find the link to access Orbi's web interface offhand for some reason... sorry for the amateur question, but where is it?

 

I'll give it a shot... I called into NG support with an issue of the bandwidth "splitting" amongst all my devices (I have a bunch of smart home devices) and they told me a setting to change that would support each device getting the same speed, so I'm most nervous to lose that and don't know which one it was. In case that setting rings a bell, let me know? Haha!

Message 3 of 6
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Is there an easy way to swap out my RBR40 for a RBR50?

If the present Orbi is your "router" (i.e. the modem is not also a router), the point your web browser at either orbilogin.com or at 192.168.1.1

 

If you have a computer connected to the Orbi, the "Gateway address" is the Orbi.  On Windows, open a command prompt (CMD) and type in "ipconfig /all"  (no quotes) and the gateway address will be one of the items it shows.  On an Android phone, go to Settings, Wireless, click on the WiFi name, and scroll down.  On my Sony phone, it is under "Advanced" network details.

Message 4 of 6
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Is there an easy way to swap out my RBR40 for a RBR50?

Well, just on a lark I "saved" my RBR50 configuration to my PC.  Turns out this definitely a binary file, and the chances of the RBR40 configuration file matching the RBR50 file are "slim to none."

 

Back when I was a programmer, the fastest and easiest way to save a configuration was to "write out a structure to a file."  It was (literally) a couple of lines of C code.  Reading it back in was the same.  The only "downside" of doing this is that in a storage structure in C, everything piece of data has to line up exactly.  It was a common practice to "pad" structures with values that were empty, so that they could be assigned to some new variable and not have the structure "change".  But, even a single byte difference, and reading in the wrong format results in total garbage.  My guess is that Netgear has different people working on different products.  The products have different capabilities and hardware.  The chances of this working are just dismal.  Although, to be honest, I know of no one who has ever tried.

Message 5 of 6
jamescosta
Aspirant

Re: Is there an easy way to swap out my RBR40 for a RBR50?

Got it! Thanks for your help here, @CrimpOn! I'm all set back up and figured out what the setting I had changed before was and made the change manually on the new RBR50. Have an awesome weekend!

Message 6 of 6
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