Netgear Orbi Firmware Updates Scare Me!

[Will_T]

Well not so much scare as frustrate. The first step of doing the update of the firmeware usually is fine.  It is the required 2nd step that always gets me. You know, the step where, because of all the issues, you have to roll back to a previous version of the firmware, reboot, or even reset, etc. etc. etc.

Sort of kidding of course, but not entirely.  Right now our system is working fine so I have been ignoring update notices.  I am on version 2.5.1.16 and all is good, but I can't forget the nightmare that doing an Orbi firmware update has been before.  I suppose eventually I will need to do it, but so far I am hesitant and if all is working well.....

[FURRYe38]

Steps to help out. 

Use a wired PC for doing any FW updates. 

Use a web browser. I find IE11, Edge, Firefox or Opera work fine. I avoid Chrome as i've seen it cause problems. 

Avoid using Orbi app to do the FW updates. Seen others post that using this causes. problems.

Some choose to manually download FW files and apply them manually to the RBS then RBR directly using there web pages. I been doing this for years. 

Some can use the RBRs FW update web page on the RBR. 

Do a full power OFF for 1 minute of the RBR and RBS and back ON after a FW update. 

If problems are seen after a power cycle, then do a full factory reset and setup from scratch. 

I prefer to do a factory reset and setup from scratch as a matter of habbit for anything I deal with. Just helps to ensure things are cleared out and setup well from scratch. Been using this process for years as well. 

"If it works, don't fix it!" Not always that users have to update FW either. Not all FW is great. So keep what works for you. You can try and test out updates as they get released. If after trying and testing and it doesn't work, you can revert back to what was working. 

Good Luck. 

[Will_T]

Thanks for that information.  My router has already downloaded the firmware updates and is waiting for me to tell it to install.  If I ignore that and do the download as you suggest will that be OK?  I have not had to use a "wired" laptop for anything for many years!

Your post sort of supports my original post about why upgrading Orbi firmware is so scary.  Lots of complicated steps to do it for us less technical types. And then if it does not work well, the steps to fix that are beyond the ability of many of us.  For the life of me, I can't understand why a big company like Netgear can not make it simple and reliable.  All our myriad devices have frequent updates to firmware and software. All of them are usually easy and seamless and in the rare event of something not working correctly, the fis is also easy.  Why can't Netgear be the same??

[FURRYe38]

The RBR does download the FW files and keeps them on hand in memory. IT's up to you if you want to install them. I believe this process is ok to use. I have tried it on occasion and it worked for me. Though again, I probably factory reset everything and setup from scratch. 

I agree and I believe the current process is mostly directed towards the average home user. It's been a mixed bag over the years, some users have had nothing but problems when FW hits. While others have seen no problems. Been hard to figure out what the problems are with the users who see problems. 

So from my experience here in the forums and seen what posts say and give feedback to suggestions we offer, some of us use the more advanced methods as I mentioned to do our own FW updates as it seems to keep the odd problems from appearing. 

There are many factors now days regard FW, Hardware and other IoT hard ware design and specs. I presume it maybe hard to NG at some level to make there products work for ALL kinds of devices, considering that some may or may not fully comply with current and emerging wifi standards. How the IoT devices are designed, supprted and developed may or may not be as well as we all kind of expect from both sides of the fence. 

[Mstrbig]

---

@Will_T wrote:

Well not so much scare as frustrate. The first step of doing the update of the firmeware usually is fine.  It is the required 2nd step that always gets me. You know, the step where, because of all the issues, you have to roll back to a previous version of the firmware, reboot, or even reset, etc. etc. etc.

Sort of kidding of course, but not entirely.  Right now our system is working fine so I have been ignoring update notices.  I am on version 2.5.1.16 and all is good, but I can't forget the nightmare that doing an Orbi firmware update has been before.  I suppose eventually I will need to do it, but so far I am hesitant and if all is working well.....

---

I updated firmware several times almost seemlessly, but successfully. Make sure you update the satellites first, if any, then the router. 

After updating it seems it takes a while for things to settle down. You may notice the app and GUI reporting devices that are connected via wireless, as wired, or in reverse. Some devices may connect to a further satellite or router. But after a while, for me 24 hours or so, things settle down, devices find the right connection, and the app and GUI start reporting correctly. The funny thing is, in all the updates I've done in the last few weeks, the scenario is the same, but all the devices work as they should. The only issue I had was a couple printers, cameras and phones had to be re-configured, where I had to forget the WIFI network and re-join.

[Will_T]

---

@Mstrbig wrote: Some devices may connect to a further satellite or router.

 The only issue I had was a couple printers, cameras and phones had to be re-configured, where I had to forget the WIFI network and re-join.

---

A couple of my cameras have always insisted on connecting to the router rather than the much closed satellite. I have never been able to fix or figure that out.

Forgetting the wifi and rejoing is an easy thing if only that was all that was ever needed. Last spring I had to do a reset and reconfiguration/setup and maybe more to fix an attempt at updating firmware.  I don't ever want to have to do that again.  Easy for some, not so easy for others of us.

When I do get up the courage to update, I think I will follow Furry's advice and do it manually and make sure as you suggest to do the satellites first.  Thanks!

[FURRYe38]

IT's up to wireless devices to pick and choose where they connect to on a wifi mesh system. The mesh system doesn't do this.

You can help some of this.  Try turning down the power output of the RBRs wifi radios from 100% to 50% and see if this changes anything. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings