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Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
Reply

New Firmware 2.3.5.30

FURRYe38
Guru

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?
Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode?

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.

 

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

 

Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or maynot be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

Try disabling the following and see:
Armor, Circle, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).

 

Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since this last update? 


@Goteborg wrote:

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.


 

Message 176 of 235
Goteborg
Tutor

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

I want to follow up on this, especially for anyone who lands here for the same reasons I did.

 

I finally had enough w/this Orbi garbage that simply doesn't work and went out and bought Google WiFi Home System. It's about the same price, so not cheap, but what a difference!!!! Seriously...I did end up calling support, but get this...they actually have their phone number easy to find. And someone actually answered! And, they actually took the time to get it all set up and running smoothly! 

 

The Google WiFi system is leagues above Netgear and Orbi. Seriously. It's better hardware and the support was amazing...absolutely top-notch. I literally spent months going back and forth w/Netgear support, almost exclusively through their web-based ticket system, and the second my 90 days was up they closed my case w/no way of re-opening it. F-U Netgear...I will never, ever buy your products again and I will yell it from the top of every mountain I can to everyone I know in the tech industry to completely avoid you. What am I going to do with these useless Orbi devices now? Good bye and good ridance. 

Message 177 of 235
Retired_Member
Not applicable

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30


@Goteborg wrote:

I want to follow up on this, especially for anyone who lands here for the same reasons I did.

 

I finally had enough w/this Orbi garbage that simply doesn't work and went out and bought Google WiFi Home System. It's about the same price, so not cheap, but what a difference!!!! Seriously...I did end up calling support, but get this...they actually have their phone number easy to find. And someone actually answered! And, they actually took the time to get it all set up and running smoothly! 

 

The Google WiFi system is leagues above Netgear and Orbi. Seriously. It's better hardware and the support was amazing...absolutely top-notch. I literally spent months going back and forth w/Netgear support, almost exclusively through their web-based ticket system, and the second my 90 days was up they closed my case w/no way of re-opening it. F-U Netgear...I will never, ever buy your products again and I will yell it from the top of every mountain I can to everyone I know in the tech industry to completely avoid you. What am I going to do with these useless Orbi devices now? Good bye and good ridance. 


Good luck.  No company/network device is immune to firmware update glitches.  As error prone as NGs FW update history has been, they have made an effort to appease their end users with somewhat controlled releases.  I hope you weren’t one that was looking to squeeze one more drop of speed bit or just curious as to what the next FW would do for your network.

 

Check back and let us know how you fared with Googles FW updates and procedures.  Adios.... 

 

Message 178 of 235
pablohoney
Luminary

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

I think you have hit the nail on the head with your description. It seems like with every firmware release that they take 2 steps forward and 1 step backwards. I think you should send your comments directly to the CEO and get him to look into the ongoing issues regarding their firmware releases. His direct email address is patrick.lo@netgear.com
Message 179 of 235
ekhalil
Master

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30


@Goteborg wrote:

.......

The Google WiFi system is leagues above Netgear and Orbi. Seriously. It's better hardware and the support was amazing......... 


I would agree that Google's Support is better, but hardware-wise, Orbi is way more advanced and powerfull than Google Wifi:

  • Orbi has a dedicated backhaul that Google Wifi does not have. So the same wifi channels are shared between devices and the backhaul. Orbi has 3 separated wireless links, while Google Wifi has only one.
  • Throughput (Performance): Orbi has AC3000 (RBR50) and AC2200 (RBR20 and RBR40), while Google Wifi can only support AC1200.
  • In Google Wifi, you have to have internet connected to change any setting, which can be sometimes not practical.

Goog luck!

Message 180 of 235
Retired_Member
Not applicable

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30


@pablohoney wrote:
I think you have hit the nail on the head ....

 

Be it the wrong nail.  I would include in your correspondence the history of your network and why you chosse to upgrade your FW, if that's the case.


 

Message 181 of 235
pablohoney
Luminary

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

So are you telling me that firmware nowadays is regressive and not progressive as it should be?!  I do not understand why companies release firmware that fix one thing and break something else?! Updated firmware is meant to improve users expericence via. bug fixes not introduce new ones!!! Especially when the users setup has not changed and was working perfectly fine on say a previous firmware version!!!  It's fcuking ridiculous or can you not see my point????

Message 182 of 235
Retired_Member
Not applicable

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30


@pablohoney wrote:

So are you telling me that firmware nowadays is regressive and not progressive as it should be?!  I do not understand why companies release firmware that fix one thing and break something else?! Updated firmware is meant to improve users expericence via. bug fixes not introduce new ones!!! Especially when the users setup has not changed and was working perfectly fine on say a previous firmware version!!!  It's fcuking ridiculous or can you not see my point????


The more important question in the case I have in mind and point to make, is IF your network is working ,....why upgrade.  What were you thinking?

 

OBTW...you're allowed to use civil language in here and it helps if you use the quote function.

Message 183 of 235
pablohoney
Luminary

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

Simple - under the hood improvements or necessary security fixes. You may also find by not having up to date firmware you need to update to a certain version before updating to a newer version whcih happened on a recent firmware update for the Orbi.

Message 184 of 235
Retired_Member
Not applicable

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30


@pablohoney wrote:

Simple - under the hood improvements or necessary security fixes. You may also find by not having up to date firmware you need to update to a certain version before updating to a newer version whcih happened on a recent firmware update for the Orbi.


All of which are true.  However, NGs policy is that the actual updates that provide what you mention are covered in the auto-updates.  If you don't believe me, contact one of the moderators here and ask them yourself. People in this community got tired of ALL FW being pushed auto-pilot.  They wanted control.  So NG listened and the so-called updated FW (you see when you login to your router) with only minor tweaks are available as a end user option.  FW updates which contain major changes that ALL need still go auto. 

Message 185 of 235
Goteborg
Tutor

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

"The more important question in the case I have in mind and point to make, is IF your network is working ,....why upgrade.  What were you thinking?"

 

Well, I guess I was thinking that Netgear wasn't releasing firmware updates that hadn't been tested properly. I was also thinking that when I login to the orbi admin dashboard and there's an attention grabbing banner at the top broadcasting the new update...and the only way (I think) to clear that is to download...that maybe it's important. I hadn't realized it was "upgrade at your own risk". Yet another reason why this is complete crap.

 

Which it might be excusable if Netgear was advertising this as a geek-only product. From their homepage: "Orbi delivers WiFi the way it should be—fast, reliable WiFi without dead zones and lag. Easy to set up and use, stream with superfast speeds on all your devices."

https://www.netgear.com/orbi/

 

Bwhahahaha...nothing could be further from the truth! It's neither reliable or easy to setup and use. BUT, again, that could be excused if Netgear's support was more accomodating. The support experience has really been third-world. And closing my case at exactly the 90 day mark, even though it was still open and had been escalated was beyond the pale.

 

Contrast that with the Google WiFi experience and it's night and day. 10 years ago I was interested in getting under the hood and configuring my wifi network, but not today. I just need it to friggin' work with no problems. I don't have time for anything else. 

 

Message 186 of 235
ekhalil
Master

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30


@ekhalil wrote:


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 weeks have passed and all looks good. More stable than any time before, indeed!

During the 3 weeks, I saw only once the ISP lease time issue where I needed to reboot the Router to fix, otherwise no other issue was seen!

Message 187 of 235
NetNoob777
Initiate

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30


@NetNoob777 wrote:

Hi All

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.

 



Well I had enough last wednesday. I spent tuesday night configuring all my router setting in to the orbi and set my Billion 7800nxl to Bridge mode then did some testing of routers and then went to bed.

 

Wednesday woke up a check up time of the router and it say 36min which is telling me it had reboot during the night. Two hours later reboot again. So after that I had enought the Orbi it would reboot in AP or Router Mode so factory reset and back to ththe shop I bought it from and swapped it for Linksys Velop Tri-band. went home hookup it up set to AP mode, configured the nodes and then put them in the correct location around the house. Then did a rescan on the channels to make sure they are optimized and been running sold ever since.

 

Orbi would be a great product if it just worked.

Message 188 of 235
UltraNet
Aspirant

Orbi Firmware [ 2.3.5.30] - Still no WPA3.

Sadly, there are no significant security enhancements with this firmware update. After all this time, Netgear have still not enabled the superior WPA3/Personal WiFi transmission protocol for the Orbi ecosystem. Shame.

Model: RBK53|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi System
Message 189 of 235
schumaku
Guru

Re: Orbi Firmware [ 2.3.5.30] - Still no WPA3.


@UltraNet wrote:

After all this time, Netgear have still not enabled the superior WPA3/Personal WiFi transmission protocol for the Orbi ecosystem.


Not aware of any statement that Netgear has announced WPA3 for the existing Orbi or other non-WiFi-6 routers.

Message 190 of 235
groupjdesign
Aspirant

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

I never saw anything other than the Speed Test in that tab. Is there something else in that window?

Message 191 of 235
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

No.

Message 192 of 235
OKinNJ
Aspirant

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

Not sure what window you may be referring to. Using orbilogin.net, there is a (download and upload) speed test. If you use the Orbi app (iOS in my case), and open the device manager (or click on each router or satellite in network view), you will see a reported link rate for each connected client device (just touch each item to open it up and see this info). Note that this "rate" tells you rather little about your actual performance with actual applications (other than you can't get a file transfer speed test of 200 Mbps if the link rate is 72 Mbps, for example).

Not sure if this helps Smiley Happy

Message 193 of 235
groupjdesign
Aspirant

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

Thanks, I thought I was missing something.

Message 194 of 235
pablohoney
Luminary

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

Anyone having issues with fixed devices in this case Ring Floodlight Cam, 2xRing Spotlight Cam Mounts and a Bowers and Wilkins A7 wireless speaker dropping off the satellite say after a week or even a few days and connecting to the main Orbi router instead? The Orbis are the RBK 50 and RBS 50 just 1 satellite in my house.

I’m not sure why this would happen given the satellite is obviously closer to them than the main Orbi Router?
Message 195 of 235
gr8sho
Virtuoso

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

IIRC, there was entire session on this exact issue.
Message 196 of 235
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

Devices handle there own way of connecting and how they choose to connect to the Orbi WiFi. 

 

Message 197 of 235
Jaunty
Aspirant

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

I'm on V2.3.1.48. No new devices added or changes to system. In UK running Virgin Netgear in modem only mode. Has been good for 3 months with maybe 2 drop puts. But in the last week I have lost Internet 5 times, a reset of the Orbi router brings it back, the modem is continuously showing Internet connection is fine in to the house, and the modem does not need to be touched.

 

So despite the mixed reviews of V2.3.5.30 I am about to upgrade my RBR50 and 2 x RBS50 via browser, and cross my fingers for the best. Will post back in due course, wish me luck.

Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 198 of 235
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

Keep in mind that a factory reset maybe needed if you see problems after upgrading. We know it shouldn't be needed, however sometimes it needs done. Good luck. 


@Jaunty wrote:

I'm on V2.3.1.48. No new devices added or changes to system. In UK running Virgin Netgear in modem only mode. Has been good for 3 months with maybe 2 drop puts. But in the last week I have lost Internet 5 times, a reset of the Orbi router brings it back, the modem is continuously showing Internet connection is fine in to the house, and the modem does not need to be touched.

 

So despite the mixed reviews of V2.3.5.30 I am about to upgrade my RBR50 and 2 x RBS50 via browser, and cross my fingers for the best. Will post back in due course, wish me luck.


 

Message 199 of 235
AFD
Luminary
Luminary

Re: New Firmware 2.3.5.30

I can see in this thread  and others , related that some people are reporting problems with the satellite with this FW version . Same disconnection problems in my case ,  regarding cameras because they are so far from the main router and it supposed them must be connected to the satellite . Satellite is not receiving connections since autoupdate was executed yesterday without my knowledge . 

Still working how to solve the problem (previous FW version was 2.3.1.44 in my case) and I dont want to perform a factory reset because a lot of work must be done regarding definitions again (lets see if I have a recent backup of the configuration file-my fault-)    

Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 200 of 235
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