Re: Major Failures After Firmware 2.0.0.74 Upgrade!

ZoneMaster · ‎2017-10-06

ORBI firmware version 2.0.0.74 is failing!

I have used the ORBI RBK50 system since Apr 2017. While running the 1.xx.xx firmware, the conection was incredibly reliable & fast. I had max speeds from all my devices: several PCs running Windows 10, & an iMac running Sierra (10.12)[High Sierra (10.13) since Sep 25th].

I had reliably uploaded/downloaded hundreds of GB of data each month. This included successful backups to Crashplan & later IDrive. I was very happy with my ORBI.

On Oct 1st, I updated my firmware to version 2.0.0.74. By Oct 2nd, I began having significant connectivity problems.

Since then, I have tried several suggestions from another thread but the failures continued. Today, I performed the following steps:

Factory reset all devices (router & 2 satellites)
Performed initial installation
Changed satellite names to Satellite-1 & Satellite-2
Rebooted xfinity router
Rebooted ORBI router
Restarted IDrive backup

The connection is still failing! I am lucky to backup a handful of files before IDrive reports a dropped connection!

I am not happy.

I feel NETGEAR caused this problem with the 2.0.0.74 update. I will be very pissed if I have to pay for premium support to solve this problem!

ZoneMaster · ‎2018-04-29

This was fixed eventually. Everything was working fine until the V2.1.4.10 update: now AirPrint isn't working. It would be nice if Netgear could perform some quality control.

View solution in original post

JustMakeItWork · ‎2017-10-06

You aren't alone. The Orbi has become worse and worse the longer the product stays on the market. I actually think they should revert to the latest stable firmware and just stop trying because they clearly are using the rest of us to test the product. If they really are testing their firmware before release - they need to hire an outside firm to do their testing because the last 4 releases have been increasingly terrible.

I now have a Satellite that won't even connect to the Router. Nobody knows why. If I could return this product to the store, I would. As it stands now, I'm getting to the point where I'm just willing to call it a loss and go buy something else.

MarkC1024 · ‎2017-10-07

If you have not already, try going into Advanced Setup / Wireless Settings and ensure Enable Daisy-Chain Topology is disabled. Myself and others found this enabled by default when upgrading to .74

JustMakeItWork · ‎2017-10-07

Thanks MarkC. I did that as well. It seems to keep the router from losing Internet connection several times a day, but it doesn't resolve the issues that I have with the satellite.

ZoneMaster · ‎2017-10-07

I tried unsuccessfully to roll back to the previous firmware release. Performed another factory reset of all units & installed the previous firmware on the router, but the satellites refused to install. Then the router reloaded itself with 2.0.0.74!

Enable Daisy-Chain Topology is disabled.

Backups to IDrive still constantly disconnecting.
Satellite connectivity seems OK.

Anyone else having IDrive (or other back services) issues?

ejprosse · ‎2017-10-07

Bought mine from Costco. Was having disconnect issues with the previous firmware, so I upgraded to 2.0.0.74. I work away from home during the week and my kids who need access at night to do homework and my wife who is online throughout the day tell me it's constantly up and down. Combo of devices in the house. iPhones, iPads, Apple TV, Chrome Books, stereo, TV, Xbox 360, Wii, Alexa and a few other things. I get notified when the network drops and I see this throughout the day of a disconnect and reconnect. This is what I have done so far and NOTHING has changed:

Turned off: "Enable WMM" for both 2.4 and 5Ghz.

Turned off: "Enable Daisy-Chain Topology"

I tried turning off the 2.4 frequency, but I have a few items that have issues connecting to 5ghz, but it didn't seem to make it better. All my Apple devices connect at 5ghz anyway.

PLEASE, PLEASE Netgear.... get you engineers on this! If you need my logs, I would be happy to upload them

ZoneMaster · ‎2017-10-07

My system is also a Costco special. Got it in April. However, in my case the previous firmware worked perfectly & 2.0.0.74 is the problem child!

aaz · ‎2017-10-07

@ejprosse wrote:
... I get notified when the network drops and I see this throughout the day of a disconnect and reconnect. This is what I have done so far and NOTHING has changed:

Turned off: "Enable WMM" for both 2.4 and 5Ghz.
Turned off: "Enable Daisy-Chain Topology"

...

Have you tried turning off UPnP? I also have the same model with two satellites from costco and that was what resolved the constant drops for me. It appears that there is a camera on my network that was misbehaving with UPnP requests. Since I didn't need it on I've kept it off and the Orbi has been remarkably stable for me - going onto a month and a half now.

JustMakeItWork · ‎2017-10-07

Doesn't work. I just had to reset my hardware a few minutes ago even after all the stuff I turned off. This hardware is officially garbage. I've wired up my old Apple router until I can get some Google Wifi's in the morning.

JustMakeItWork · ‎2017-10-07

Your post is technically impossible. The .74 firmware that everyone is having an issue with isn't over a month old at this point. How could you be stable for over a month on the .74 firmware if it was just released on 9/22? It's just 10/8.

aaz · ‎2017-10-07

@JustMakeItWork wrote:
Your post is technically impossible. The .74 firmware that everyone is having an issue with isn't over a month old at this point. How could you be stable for over a month on the .74 firmware if it was just released on 9/22? It's just 10/8.

I had the stability issue starting in 1.12.x.x. I called Netgear support but they where not very helpful, had me changing my MTU when I know that is not the issue as it was the same as my old router which worked well enough. I tried various settings but noticed the UPnP issue with changes coinciding with the drops of my RDP and VOIP sessions. Turned that off and everything quieted down.

Even after upgrading to 2.0.0.72 and then .74 it has remained rock stable.

JustMakeItWork · ‎2017-10-07

UPnP was already off for many people here as we've been turning off features to try to keep it stable. Maybe there is something special about your hardware that is allowing it to work. Maybe the next firmware release should just clone your settings and force that to the rest of us.

ejprosse · ‎2017-10-08

I’ve had the same issues occurring in the previous version as well. Turning off features to make this $400 unit work is not a solution.

Alex_07 · ‎2017-10-08

I had drops connection with the satellite on the v1 firmware but not with the last.

Since this last firmware, i don't have any issues with all options enabled (Implicit BEAMFORMING, MU-MIMO, Fast Roaming).

No issues with xbox one, nintendo switch, nest thermostat, smartphones, tv connected, computers and synology nas connected. Very stable.

Good luck and tell us if you discover a solution.

aaz · ‎2017-10-08

@ejprosse wrote:
I’ve had the same issues occurring in the previous version as well. Turning off features to make this $400 unit work is not a solution.

I agree, turning off features is not the solution. You may only need to turn off one feature this is causing this with your devices.

I have every option on except for the UPnP. However, if you use Port forwarding then UPnP should probably not be on anyways so for me it remains off.

WIFI is not just something you put on your network, it's usually a dance with devices that are already there, figuring out what is not compatible is the trick.

madbrain · ‎2017-10-08

I am having major problems with 2.0.0.74 as well. My phone (Galaxy Note 4) keeps dropping off Wifi and going back to 4G LTE, even when I am stationary right next to the router.

When I disable Orbi (power off all 3 units), and switch to the R7000 (enable its Wifi radio), suddenly everything works - no more dropouts to 4G, except when I move out of the R7000 range.

I'm not paying premium support for Netgear to fix their own bugs.

Rett_77 · ‎2017-10-08

I've ran in to issues and it seems to coincide with this firmware release as well. Started noticing issues the week of 9/25, but specifically on my Xbox One. Everything else has worked fine. My issue has been when I join a multiplayer lobby with any of my friends and am also in a xbox party with them, I lose connection from the party and get dropped from the multiplayer match. If I'm lucky, I can play one match but otherwise always get dropped at some point. Yet if I play online by myself, without any of my friends in a party, it seems to work ok. I've tried the typically resets, did a factory reset and nothing.

I have my Xbox One hardwired to the RBS50 satellite. I tried just using wifi and had the same results. Never had this issue before. Any one else experience this? I've since downgraded my firmware back to 1.12.0.18 and am testing now. To say the least, it's extremely frustrating. Nothing else has changed. Been running this setup for the past year. Same ISP, no new hardware introduced, etc. And outside of multiplayer on my Xbox, everything else does seem to work ok.

ejprosse · ‎2017-10-08

@JustMakeItWork wrote:
Your post is technically impossible. The .74 firmware that everyone is having an issue with isn't over a month old at this point. How could you be stable for over a month on the .74 firmware if it was just released on 9/22? It's just 10/8.

Actually, I was having similar issue in the previous version and they have carried it over to this version. I have one by one tested, rebooted, started from scratch and spent hours going through different senerios, but the drops are inconsistently consistent. Happens on Apple devices, chrome books and other devices connected directly on the satillites. If connected to the main router, it's not as frequent, but also inconsistent. I noticed this before the 2.0.0.74 version and thought maybe it was my config, but it actually is worse now on this version (thought it would have made it better).

I do think it's wierd that you would point this out vs. asking specific questions and offering your expertice. I'm all ears as I would like it to “just work” as expected.

Retired_Member · ‎2017-10-08

Maybe he had 2.0.0.77 that was so stable before they downgraded everyone back to .74. .77 was the best release since before 1.11.x.

ZoneMaster · ‎2017-10-09

The story so far:

1.12.0.18: Months of fast, reliable performance.
Installed 2.0.0.74 on Oct 1st: repeated, consistant connection failures start.
No improvement after trying various combinations of:
1. Factory reset all units
2. Reload firmware
3. Daisy-chain on/off
4. Regenerate backhaul password
5. UPnP on/off
6. Beamforming on/off
7. MU-MIMO on/off
8. 2 Satellites
9. 1 Satellite
10. Router only
I even tried (unsuccessfully) to roll back to the prior firmware version. The router updated, but the satellites refused the old firmware.
Persistent disconnects continue with 2.0.0.74.

NETGEAR needs to fix 2.0.0.74 ASAP!

NETGEAR, please acknowledge this problem and at least tell your users that a solution is being worked on!

jcalex22 · ‎2017-10-09

After the 2.0.0.74 firmware update my system with (1) satellite was very stable until yesterday. Then I lost the connection to the satellite. Nothing worked: factory reset router and sat.

Now I am back to this fourm to see others are also having issues.

Wow, this has been a rocky road since last December when I purchased this thing. Life is too short to waste my time changing settings, but unfortunately I did not buy this at Costco, so I am stuck like the rest of you.

Right now I'm going to turn off the UPnP and see how that goes. Fingers crossed!

nxc · ‎2017-10-09

@ejprosse wrote:
I’ve had the same issues occurring in the previous version as well. Turning off features to make this $400 unit work is not a solution.

👏👏👏

Exactly. I don't understand why there are so many folks on here intent on defending Netgear with something along the lines of, "Well, mine works." We're all glad it works for you. That doesn't mean many of us aren't experiencing different problems. And disabling feature after feature is not a reasonable suggestion, particularly with a product that effectively forces the user into software updates that can clearly introduce new problems for previously reliable installations.

If you purchased a car that shut off randomly if you were using the stereo and driving over 55, would you accept the suggestion that you simply not use the radio when on the highway? Of course not. We shouldn't be expected to sacrifice basic router functionality to get a working product, particularly when Netgear is selling at the high end of the consumer market and other similarly priced hardware seems perfectly up to the task (Eero comes to mind).

Netgear really needs to get its act together, and we need to start making noise about the problem. I would have returned my RBK50 to the store if I'd known what a headache it was going to be to live with.

mightyoregon · ‎2017-10-09

Just purchased RBK50 last Sunday and three days ago, I upgraded the hardware to the latest firmware.

I've been having the same issues as everyone else. For example, our iPad and iPhones have been losing connection to our Orbi...I have to manually connect to the Orbi WiFi network each time we use our devices, which is extremely annoying. If anyone purchases a new Orbi today, I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of returns.

While I know that the Orbi is supposed to have excellent throughput performance, I might just go back to my Eero 2nd generation system and return our Orbi, if Netgear can't resolve this. I never ever had a problem with eero.

nxc · ‎2017-10-09

@mightyoregon wrote:
Just purchased RBK50 last Sunday and three days ago, I upgraded the hardware to the latest firmware.
I've been having the same issues as everyone else. For example, our iPad and iPhones have been losing connection to our Orbi...I have to manually connect to the Orbi WiFi network each time we use our devices, which is extremely annoying. If anyone purchases a new Orbi today, I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of returns.

While I know that the Orbi is supposed to have excellent throughput performance, I might just go back to my Eero 2nd generation system and return our Orbi, if Netgear can't resolve this. I never ever had a problem with eero.

I've been considering simply eating the cost and going with the 2nd-gen Eero myself. Can you say more about why you switched from Eero?

saronian · ‎2017-10-09

I have two RBS50's connected to a single RBR50 and firmware 2.0.0.74 caused problems upon first update. I needed to manually apply the update twice to each device before problems went away.