UNBELIEVEABLE!!, Your're on your own, after 90 days, netgear, doesn't provide direct tech support unless you give then more $$$$, their app doesn't work, updates don't upload, etc. dont buy netgear at all, go w/ google or other brand.
3 days now and my Orbi network is more stable than any other time.
Devices are roaming much better and more consistent in 2.3.3.50
Most importantly, my speakers are connected all the time and I don't see any dropouts.
No more wireless devices showing as wired in Attached Devices.
Logs in Orbi are consistent (no missing log types), and not getting full very quickly as when I had the wifi disconnects.
All what I needed to do after upgrading to 2.3.5.30 to get the system stable is the following:
If you use wired backhaul, make sure that you sync the Satellite ONLY when the Satellite is wired to the Router to avoid having two different links between the Satellite and the Router.
If -after the upgrade- you see some devices that show as wired (in Attached Devices) while they're actually wireless, then disconnect those devices from Orbi (forget wifi in the devices, and -if possible- reset those devices) and attach again.
Almost 9 days now -since I fixed the backhaul issue- with a very stable network like never before.
Looks to me that Netgear made improvements and fune tuning with the radio parameters:
- I see that Band Steering is working now more effectively. Devices that have 5 GHz capability are -mostly- being moved to 5 GHz.
- Devices are moving between the bands and between the Router and Satellite with no disconnections.
- At the same time I see less DHCP events in the Logs which -for me- means that only needed "roamings" are happening, specially for the stationary IoT devices.
3 days now and my Orbi network is more stable than any other time.
Devices are roaming much better and more consistent in 2.3.3.50
Most importantly, my speakers are connected all the time and I don't see any dropouts.
No more wireless devices showing as wired in Attached Devices.
Logs in Orbi are consistent (no missing log types), and not getting full very quickly as when I had the wifi disconnects.
All what I needed to do after upgrading to 2.3.5.30 to get the system stable is the following:
If you use wired backhaul, make sure that you sync the Satellite ONLY when the Satellite is wired to the Router to avoid having two different links between the Satellite and the Router.
If -after the upgrade- you see some devices that show as wired (in Attached Devices) while they're actually wireless, then disconnect those devices from Orbi (forget wifi in the devices, and -if possible- reset those devices) and attach again.
Did you factory reset? I'm thinking about trying the update without the reset this time.
I'm noticing a connection drop with the Orbi satellite of a few seconds then it reconnects but what this causes is my “legacy” devices i.e. Ring Floodlight Cam, Ring Spotlight Cam Mount and Bowers and Wilkins A7 wireless speaker, LG E8 OLED to connect to the main Orbi router in a different room.
Anyone else noticing this temporary connection drop with the Orbi satellite since the latest firmware update? If so can you please report it to Netgear so it’s taken seriously and fixed.
Firmware 2.3.1 to 2.3.5 update using manual method
Took the plunge today updating from 2.3.1 ro 2.3.5. Procedure done without factory reset.
Quiesced entire home network except for PC desktop conneected to RBR50.
Used manual method via Chrome browser management console.
Applied update to satellite first and then base router. Rebooted both devices for good measure.
The router update took longer than the 3 minutes stated. Included screenshot a bit unsettling and probably should be looked into by Netgear.
Results so far show no discernable performance differences. iPhones one room away still don't hold a 5G connection to satellite. This appears worse on the past few releases.
@pablohoney wrote: Email patrick.lo@netgear.com directly with your issue and he’ll get someone to help you out.
Thank you, but no, I will add my information here and that's it. Most tech products seem to have a take it or leave it approach and it's increasingly obvious to me. Not going to pursue some trouble ticket that leads nowhere. These things will be remembered when it's time for the next buy decision.
I hear ya and do agree that some tech companies do have that approach these days. My ticket is with a level 3 tech and they have taken the debug logs off both my main Orbi and satellite which they are analysing. It’s worth a shot.
I have read through the 160+ post under this new version 2.3.5.30 version
So the story being when I bought the ORBI RBK50 on 9th Aug 2019. Plugged it all up and left he firmware update to 2.3.5.30 no issue there for RBR or RBS Work well for 24+ day and the reboots start happening on the Sunday morning and ever since. I found at first that I notice it was 3 time with in 12 hour period. Then I was doing more monitoring the reboots would be between 20min intervals to it running up to 12 hours.
RBR50 – 1 network cable from the modem\router to the Ewan port on the back RBS50 – has 4 Ethernet connection to devices
1st configuration I tried and want to use. Modem Billion 7800NXL – Wireless turn off but router left active as I want it that was. Orbi RBR50 – wired direct to the modem port 1. set in to AP Mode With these change set - SSID Name, - Wifi Password, - 2.4ghz set to channel 8 (1 used for Sonos, 6 & 11 to many in my neighbourhood)
Note: The sonos boost is connect directly to port 2 on my modem Channel 1. The sonos works perfectly no drop out or issue when the orbi reboots
After 3 days had enough and Downgrade to FW 2.3.1.60 to see if the original firmware had the same issue out of the box, this time the following 2 configs were used.
2nd configuration Modem config same as above Orbi RBR50 and RBS50 both factory reset. - Left the RBR50 as router mode this time. With these change set - SSID Name, - Wifi Password, - 2.4ghz left to Auto this time as I forgot to change it - Daisy chain – turn it off (after reading it on this forum)
Ran for 12+ hours without any reboots.
3rd configuration Without factory reset 2nd config I just change it from router mode to AP mode worked great for 3 hours then reboot started 3hours, 45min, 1hr and 45min And so on. So then on tops of 2nd config I change - 2.4ghz to channel 8 - 20/40hz coexistence – turn it off (after reading it on this forum) - Also turn off the RBS50 which has a few thing connected via Ethernet as I read some people found there RBS50 with Ethernet attached devices were causing issue.
I haven’t turn off\unplugged all my sonos because I don’t see how they would be affecting the RBR50 as they are not plugged in to it.
I have been thinking of upgrading again to 2.3.5.30 to see if it make any differences as I did see one of the bug fixed in that first wear was to fix the random reboots. But as you can see I was getting them with my first configuration
Any other thought recommendations would be great. If I don’t get a resolution by this weekend or early next week I have been told by the store I can return it.
Just have to look for another solution if it is the velop or something else.
You may be mistaking my meaning for some fear of engaging the support team. That's not it at all. I'm just reasonably content I was able to update firmware without a factory reset and half a day of work getting things working again. Glass is half full.
After receiving a new RBR40, it self-updated to 2.1.3.58, IIRC. That seemed to work fine. It also notified me of a new update, the "dreaded" 2.3.5.30. After a day or so, I did update the new router. Updated OK (no http 500 failures). However several weird behaviors that I haven't seen reported here yet (I have reported to Netgear):
1.The connection data rates reported for all devices connected to the RBW remote unit (wifi only) are bogus/wacky. All rates are of the form 1112nnn Mbps. E.g., an iPad connected on 5 GHz band reports a data rate of 1112460 Mbps, obviously bogus.
After a reboot, backhaul quality reported as "poor", altho it usually clears to "good", which is what it had been for over 2 years.
When I first try to login with the Orbi app, I get a message of "too many attempts - try again in 30 sec". Clearly a problem with some initialization somewhere.
4. The (real) data rates of the devices connected (wifi) to the RBR40, seem less than they were under previous FW. E.g., my iPhone and iPad Air2 now both show "433 Mbps", which is half of what it was with previous FW; phone & iPad are only about 5 ft from router. The router mode is still set to the default, "866" Mbps. This sort of suggests that the router is operating in 80 MHz channel mode, not 160 MHz, as it would have been previously. Not sure why this would change, as nothing in the environment is different (i.e., no new devices in service).
One more: rebooted the RBW30, it completed booting with a blue ring light, indicating a good backhaul, yet the GUI's show not-good indications. I am not sure what is being analyzed here, since the backhaul is 2-way (but channel is half duplex), so there are really 2 distinct logical backhaul links, and it is not clear that they would necessarily have the same quality - e.g., do both transmitters have the same power output?
Debating (with myself) about downgrading to previous RBR40 FW.
Try a factory reset of the entire Orbi system and setup from scratch to see if this resolves anything. Others have mentioned a reset works for them. Something to try before downgrading FW. Others have v30 working fine.
After receiving a new RBR40, it self-updated to 2.1.3.58, IIRC. That seemed to work fine. It also notified me of a new update, the "dreaded" 2.3.5.30. After a day or so, I did update the new router. Updated OK (no http 500 failures). However several weird behaviors that I haven't seen reported here yet (I have reported to Netgear):
1.The connection data rates reported for all devices connected to the RBW remote unit (wifi only) are bogus/wacky. All rates are of the form 1112nnn Mbps. E.g., an iPad connected on 5 GHz band reports a data rate of 1112460 Mbps, obviously bogus.
After a reboot, backhaul quality reported as "poor", altho it usually clears to "good", which is what it had been for over 2 years.
When I first try to login with the Orbi app, I get a message of "too many attempts - try again in 30 sec". Clearly a problem with some initialization somewhere.
4. The (real) data rates of the devices connected (wifi) to the RBR40, seem less than they were under previous FW. E.g., my iPhone and iPad Air2 now both show "433 Mbps", which is half of what it was with previous FW; phone & iPad are only about 5 ft from router. The router mode is still set to the default, "866" Mbps. This sort of suggests that the router is operating in 80 MHz channel mode, not 160 MHz, as it would have been previously. Not sure why this would change, as nothing in the environment is different (i.e., no new devices in service).
One more: rebooted the RBW30, it completed booting with a blue ring light, indicating a good backhaul, yet the GUI's show not-good indications. I am not sure what is being analyzed here, since the backhaul is 2-way (but channel is half duplex), so there are really 2 distinct logical backhaul links, and it is not clear that they would necessarily have the same quality - e.g., do both transmitters have the same power output?
Debating (with myself) about downgrading to previous RBR40 FW.
Never again. This is one of the more expensive wifi systems out there and I have nothing but constant effing problems since I got it in March. I've spent hundreds of hours troubleshooting on my own and at the direction of Netgear support (regular and escalated "technical" support), only to have them close my case at the end of my 90 days. And they never resolved my issue!
It's a garbage product and, as far as I'm concerned, a garbage company. This is the worst customer support experience I've had in a very long time. It's like readin the Da Vinci Code to figure out what phone number to call or how to even access your case if you're able to create one. And as everyone is pointing out, each firmware "upgrade" that is released just breaks it in new ways. Are there any competent engineers at Netgear? Obviously, they don't have any talent but just mediocre competence would be great at this point.
I will never, ever spend money on Netgear. Even though I've used their products since the '90's, this experience w/my Orbi has been a nightmare. I've uttered no shortage of curse words towards this company over the past six months. Customer support doesn't exist here.
Maybe post about what your having problems with and maybe we can help you get it running. We've been able to help users and there Orbi systems and get them working well.
if your interested in help, please post the details.
Never again. This is one of the more expensive wifi systems out there and I have nothing but constant effing problems since I got it in March. I've spent hundreds of hours troubleshooting on my own and at the direction of Netgear support (regular and escalated "technical" support), only to have them close my case at the end of my 90 days. And they never resolved my issue!
It's a garbage product and, as far as I'm concerned, a garbage company. This is the worst customer support experience I've had in a very long time. It's like readin the Da Vinci Code to figure out what phone number to call or how to even access your case if you're able to create one. And as everyone is pointing out, each firmware "upgrade" that is released just breaks it in new ways. Are there any competent engineers at Netgear? Obviously, they don't have any talent but just mediocre competence would be great at this point.
I will never, ever spend money on Netgear. Even though I've used their products since the '90's, this experience w/my Orbi has been a nightmare. I've uttered no shortage of curse words towards this company over the past six months. Customer support doesn't exist here.
......... I've spent hundreds of hours troubleshooting on my own and at the direction of Netgear support (regular and escalated "technical" support), only to have them close my case at the end of my 90 days. And they never resolved my issue!
.........
I agree with few points that you raised, but I still think that Orbi is a great product with excellent potential and Netgear is a good company with many high quality products.
This is how I see Orbi:
Good:
Orbi's hardware and software design makes it one of the best mesh systems in the market, if not the best. Hardware capabilities are unique and until today not many other brands have anything close.
The operating system on which Orbi is built is powerful and flexible which makes it easy to find and fix faults and introduce new features and functions.
Every Orbi software release makes the product a better product by fixing bugs and introducing new functionality. In 2.3.5.30 the following was made better:
Devices are roaming much better and more consistent in 2.3.3.50
No more wireless devices showing as wired in Attached Devices.
Looks like Netgear made improvements and fine tuned the radio parameters:
I see that Band Steering is working now more effectively. Devices that have 5 GHz capability are -mostly- being moved to 5 GHz.
Devices are moving between the bands and between the Router and Satellites with no disconnections.
At the same time I see less DHCP events in the Logs which -for me- means that only needed "roamings" are happening, specially for the stationary IoT devices.
Logs in Orbi are consistent (no missing log types), and not getting full very quickly as when I had the wifi disconnects.
Bad:
Every new software introduces new faults that were not existing in previous releases. In 2.3.5.30 this following faults were introduced:
Wired backhaul loops if you also have done wireless sync between router and satellite.
Sensitivity to connected devices that can cause the whole system to stop fuctioning well.
ISP lease time issue is still existing. This was introduced in 2.3.x software and is still there.
Communication is not the best. We don't see presence for Netgear's support and design engineers to help usets to troubleshoot and fix issues. Also Support's response and resolution times are usually not acceptable.
What can Netgear do to make Orbi a better product:
Better communication is needed. Netgear should monitor this forum, be present and provide feedback.
Better testing. System and regression testing should be improved to avoid introducing new faults with every software.
Introducing of built'in troubleshooting tools -in the Orbi app and web GUI- to help users to find and fix issues. For example it took me few days to find out that Orbi's sensitivity to a faulty speaker caused all wireless devices to continuously drop wifi, until I found out the culprit speaker and factory reset that speaker to fix the issue,
......... I've spent hundreds of hours troubleshooting on my own and at the direction of Netgear support (regular and escalated "technical" support), only to have them close my case at the end of my 90 days. And they never resolved my issue!
.........
I agree with few points that you raised, but I still think that Orbi is a great product with excellent potential and Netgear is a good company with many high quality products.
This is how I see Orbi:
Good:
Orbi's hardware and software design makes it one of the best mesh systems in the market, if not the best. Hardware capabilities are unique and until today not many other brands have anything close.
The operating system on which Orbi is built is powerful and flexible which makes it easy to find and fix faults and introduce new features and functions.
Every Orbi software release makes the product a better product by fixing bugs and introducing new functionality. In 2.3.5.30 the following was made better:
Devices are roaming much better and more consistent in 2.3.3.50
No more wireless devices showing as wired in Attached Devices.
Looks like Netgear made improvements and fine tuned the radio parameters:
I see that Band Steering is working now more effectively. Devices that have 5 GHz capability are -mostly- being moved to 5 GHz.
Devices are moving between the bands and between the Router and Satellites with no disconnections.
At the same time I see less DHCP events in the Logs which -for me- means that only needed "roamings" are happening, specially for the stationary IoT devices.
Logs in Orbi are consistent (no missing log types), and not getting full very quickly as when I had the wifi disconnects.
Bad:
Every new software introduces new faults that were not existing in previous releases. In 2.3.5.30 this following faults were introduced:
Wired backhaul loops if you also have done wireless sync between router and satellite.
Sensitivity to connected devices that can cause the whole system to stop fuctioning well.
ISP lease time issue is still existing. This was introduced in 2.3.x software and is still there.
Communication is not the best. We don't see presence for Netgear's support and design engineers to help usets to troubleshoot and fix issues. Also Support's response and resolution times are usually not acceptable.
What can Netgear do to make Orbi a better product:
Better communication is needed. Netgear should monitor this forum, be present and provide feedback.
Better testing. System and regression testing should be improved to avoid introducing new faults with every software.
Introducing of built'in troubleshooting tools -in the Orbi app and web GUI- to help users to find and fix issues. For example it took me few days to find out that Orbi's sensitivity to a faulty speaker caused all wireless devices to continuously drop wifi, until I found out the culprit speaker and factory reset that speaker to fix the issue,
Save yourself alot of grief and stop doing manual updates. NG responsed after the masses complained about pushing unwanted FW updates. Now the only ones that are pushed are those with MAJOR changes. If your network works, LEAVE IT ALONE. The speed you chase will kill you.
That's all good...but I'm doing video conferencing from home today over my 4G hotspot b/c Orbi keeps crashing. It doesn't really matter how "good" it may be technically or anectdotally, if it's not working. Netgear needs to stop releasing firmware updates that cause crashes...pretty straightforward. Thanks Netgear for making my working from home impossible...pretty expensive garbage I've paid for.
That's all good...but I'm doing video conferencing from home today over my 4G hotspot b/c Orbi keeps crashing. It doesn't really matter how "good" it may be technically or anectdotally, if it's not working. Netgear needs to stop releasing firmware updates that cause crashes...pretty straightforward. Thanks Netgear for making my working from home impossible...pretty expensive garbage I've paid for.
