ORBI Loses Internet Connection and CANNOT RENEW WAN IP RBR50/RBS50 2.3.5.30

[ElMotor]

ORBI Loses Internet Connection and CANNOT RENEW WAN IP RBR50/RBS50 2.3.5.30

I am a network engineer.  This is a piece of junk firmware.  Netgear can you get your SH!T together!!!!!

Repeatedly cannot renew WAN IP after ISP renews connection!

 Must Power off then on Parent Orbi to get IP to renew.  This is USELESS!  HIGHLY ADVISE ANYONE CONSIDERING ORBI TO BUY ANOTHER BRAND!!!!

[FURRYe38]

What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too? Built in router with the modem here or just a modem only?

Something I haven't seen with my RBK50 nor RBK852. However, I have a CM1100 and C7800 tested with both systems. 

[ElMotor]

ISP: Comcast Xfinity

Original Modem/Router (Bridged Mode) (Same issues occurred):  XFi Advanced Gateway. 

https://www.xfinity.com/learn/internet-service/modems-and-routers 

Current Modem (Bridged Mode) (Same issue is occuring):  Netgear CM1200

https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/cable-modems-routers/CM1200.aspx

[scsp85]

I having the same issues with Spectrum.

I’m using the RBR50, and most of the time the Orbi loses connection to the CM1200, and I’ll need to reset both. This happens 10-20 times a day, but Orbi’s logs say it’s still “up”.

And yes, I’ve tried the factory reset, the channels, all the stuff they recommend immediately in this forum. I have the 2.5.0.40 firmware on the Orbi and all satellites.

[ElMotor]

We are replacing all equipment with Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine and BeaconHD’s. Just tested for 10 days and it’s been solid.

No Netgear response and this equipment is just total junk without solid reliable firmware. I hope everyone sees this that is considering buying Netgear Orbi.

[FURRYe38]

If you connect a wired PC to the CM1200 modem do you still see these issues with just the PC connected? Been some posts over on the cable modem forum with the 1200 having some issues. I have a CM1100 and my RBK50 v40 is connected to WAN port #1 on the CM1100 modem. Not seeing any issues with  this modem. I have the 1200 however havn't had time to put it online yet. CM1100 run my RBK852 on WAN port #2. 

Ensure your ISP check the signal and line quality up to the modem. 

Be sure there are no coax cable line splitters in between the ISP service box and modem. 

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@scsp85 wrote:
I having the same issues with Spectrum.

I’m using the RBR50, and most of the time the Orbi loses connection to the CM1200, and I’ll need to reset both. This happens 10-20 times a day, but Orbi’s logs say it’s still “up”.

And yes, I’ve tried the factory reset, the channels, all the stuff they recommend immediately in this forum. I have the 2.5.0.40 firmware on the Orbi and all satellites.

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@scsp85 wrote:
I having the same issues with Spectrum.

I’m using the RBR50, and most of the time the Orbi loses connection to the CM1200, and I’ll need to reset both. This happens 10-20 times a day, but Orbi’s logs say it’s still “up”.

And yes, I’ve tried the factory reset, the channels, all the stuff they recommend immediately in this forum. I have the 2.5.0.40 firmware on the Orbi and all satellites.

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[FURRYe38]

Can you configure the ISP modem for router mode, disable ALL wifi radios on the modem and then configure AP mode on the RBR50 and see if you still experience problems? 

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@ElMotor wrote:

ISP: Comcast Xfinity

Original Modem/Router (Bridged Mode) (Same issues occurred):  XFi Advanced Gateway. 

https://www.xfinity.com/learn/internet-service/modems-and-routers 

Current Modem (Bridged Mode) (Same issue is occuring):  Netgear CM1200

https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/cable-modems-routers/CM1200.aspx

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[ElMotor]

That *is* the current configuration.

The CM1200 does not have WiFi antennas. It’s a cable modem not a router.

So it’s already “bridged” by nature of the device. And the Orbi is being used as the router. Setting the Orbi as access point mode wouldn’t work as the modem CM1200 is not a router.

[FURRYe38]

My bad. I forgot about that. Sorry about that. 

If you connect a wired PC to the CM1200 modem do you still see these issues with just the PC connected? Been some posts over on the cable modem forum with the 1200 having some issues.

You can try this, update to v34 or v40 by manually downloading the FW files for the 50 series RBS and RBR. Manually update using a wired PC. After the RBS and RBR is updated, factory reset the RBR and setup from scratch. I would power OFF the CM modem for 30 seconds then back ON. Then walk thru the setup wizard with the RBR and complete the setup. 

See if this stops the internet drop and renews the IP address from the modem. 

[ElMotor]

It was occurring also with the router we used to have (the one provided by Xfinity) that was set to bridged mode, as well. This was when it was an earlier Orbi firmware version as well.

This is a lot of work to factory reset and reconfigure again and manually update and I don’t want to waste time and risk another failure.

Also Unfortunately we cannot run the network by directly connecting to the modem and testing for an extended period of time because we need the entire network working. Instead of just one device wired to the modem.

Netgear needs to fix this issue in the firmware and report it’s been fixed for us to take any further time attempting to troubleshoot the issue. Until then, we’ll be switching to use the Ubiquiti UDM, and BeaconHD as the mesh node.

Thanks

[Retired_Member]

So how did you get in this mess to begin with?  Was your Orbi ever working OK?

[scsp85]

All,

I have an update that may help others.

My problem was two fold, and I haven’t had a drop in about 24 hours.

1. I tracked down a splitter in the Spectrum box that I removed. This was confusing as my error log was always full of issues, but my signals were always solid. Not a single error on my CM1200 modem since removing the splitter. Now why this was killing and crashing the modem instead of just going offline is NetGears crappy firmware.

2. The Orbi’s were on Daisy-Chain Topology and apparently arguing on which satellite connection scheme should work, so I disabled that and the Orbi has been solid for about 12 hours.

I wish these things could realize this on their own or have some level of debugging.

[scsp85]

That’s what’s infuriating. It worked great For a couple months, then dropped a couple times a day.

Then 6 months in it’s super unstable, and dropping constantly. While I may be “fixed” for the last day or so, I’m not happy with the solution.

[FURRYe38]

"It was occurring also with the router we used to have (the one provided by Xfinity) that was set to bridged mode, as well. This was when it was an earlier Orbi firmware version as well." If it was occuring with a prior router you had provided by the ISP, then this would point to an ISP problem. Not NG's. You need to look into the ISP services and have them check everything up to the modem. The root cause is else where.

Others haven't reported this issue. I haven't seen this either. 

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@ElMotor wrote:
It was occurring also with the router we used to have (the one provided by Xfinity) that was set to bridged mode, as well. This was when it was an earlier Orbi firmware version as well.

This is a lot of work to factory reset and reconfigure again and manually update and I don’t want to waste time and risk another failure.

Also Unfortunately we cannot run the network by directly connecting to the modem and testing for an extended period of time because we need the entire network working. Instead of just one device wired to the modem.

Netgear needs to fix this issue in the firmware and report it’s been fixed for us to take any further time attempting to troubleshoot the issue. Until then, we’ll be switching to use the Ubiquiti UDM, and BeaconHD as the mesh node.

Thanks

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[Retired_Member]

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

Others haven't reported this issue. I haven't seen this either. 

What does this mean?

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[abmp]

v2.5.0.38

I'm seeing a similar issue in my setup. About once a day the Orbi internet connection stops working. When I first started seeing this, I had

Fios ONT <=> Orbi Router

Rebooting the router would fix the issue for a day or so. But when it kept happening I thought maybe it was something about not having the Verizon router in place. So I put that back in and now have 

Fios ONT <=> Verizon Router <=> Orbi Router

But the issue continued to occur. I started looking more carefully at the Orbi. I noticed that the  DHCP lease seemed to be a day old when the problem happened. I found I could resolve the issue by using the router web UI to force a lease renewal.

As the problem continued, I wired one of my computers directly to the Verizon router, while all other devices connected to the Orbi. The most recent time the problem ocurred, my family was complaining that the internet stopped working on their devices connected to the Orbi. I found that a ping to google.com was not working from a computer connected to the Orbi. However, my computer connected directly and only to the Verizon router was able to ping google.com without issue. As soon as I forced the Orbi to renew it's DHCP lease, the internet connection was restored and the family was happy. So I think it's clear there is an issue with the Orbi being able to automatically renew it's DHCP lease, and that it has nothing to do with the upstream device.

I think maybe the issue started after I updated to 2.3.5.38, although I am not certain. But it's the only change I can think of that would have destabilized a previously working Orbi.

[FURRYe38]

What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP ONT and router the NG router is connected too?

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

Try AP mode with the RBR while you have the verizon router online? 

Can try downgrading to the last working FW version to see if this solves what your seeing. 

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@abmp wrote:

v2.5.0.38

I'm seeing a similar issue in my setup. About once a day the Orbi internet connection stops working. When I first started seeing this, I had

Fios ONT <=> Orbi Router

Rebooting the router would fix the issue for a day or so. But when it kept happening I thought maybe it was something about not having the Verizon router in place. So I put that back in and now have 

Fios ONT <=> Verizon Router <=> Orbi Router

But the issue continued to occur. I started looking more carefully at the Orbi. I noticed that the  DHCP lease seemed to be a day old when the problem happened. I found I could resolve the issue by using the router web UI to force a lease renewal.

As the problem continued, I wired one of my computers directly to the Verizon router, while all other devices connected to the Orbi. The most recent time the problem ocurred, my family was complaining that the internet stopped working on their devices connected to the Orbi. I found that a ping to google.com was not working from a computer connected to the Orbi. However, my computer connected directly and only to the Verizon router was able to ping google.com without issue. As soon as I forced the Orbi to renew it's DHCP lease, the internet connection was restored and the family was happy. So I think it's clear there is an issue with the Orbi being able to automatically renew it's DHCP lease, and that it has nothing to do with the upstream device.

I think maybe the issue started after I updated to 2.3.5.38, although I am not certain. But it's the only change I can think of that would have destabilized a previously working Orbi.

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[abmp]

Not sure about the ONT mfr/model, and not that interested it going downstairs to find out.  The Verizon router is a Fios-G1100.

But the main point of my post is that it doesn't really matter. The common denominator is the RBR50.

Not really interested in putting the RBR in AP mode as I'm satisfied that the Verizon part is working fine, and I belive I need the RBR in router mode for the Circle functionality to work.

Haven't tried factory reset and setup. Was considering downgrading the firmware, but didn't keep track of the version that was there previously. 

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP ONT and router the NG router is connected too?

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

Try AP mode with the RBR while you have the verizon router online? 

Can try downgrading to the last working FW version to see if this solves what your seeing. 

---

@abmp wrote:

v2.5.0.38

I'm seeing a similar issue in my setup. About once a day the Orbi internet connection stops working. When I first started seeing this, I had

Fios ONT <=> Orbi Router

Rebooting the router would fix the issue for a day or so. But when it kept happening I thought maybe it was something about not having the Verizon router in place. So I put that back in and now have 

Fios ONT <=> Verizon Router <=> Orbi Router

But the issue continued to occur. I started looking more carefully at the Orbi. I noticed that the  DHCP lease seemed to be a day old when the problem happened. I found I could resolve the issue by using the router web UI to force a lease renewal.

As the problem continued, I wired one of my computers directly to the Verizon router, while all other devices connected to the Orbi. The most recent time the problem ocurred, my family was complaining that the internet stopped working on their devices connected to the Orbi. I found that a ping to google.com was not working from a computer connected to the Orbi. However, my computer connected directly and only to the Verizon router was able to ping google.com without issue. As soon as I forced the Orbi to renew it's DHCP lease, the internet connection was restored and the family was happy. So I think it's clear there is an issue with the Orbi being able to automatically renew it's DHCP lease, and that it has nothing to do with the upstream device.

I think maybe the issue started after I updated to 2.3.5.38, although I am not certain. But it's the only change I can think of that would have destabilized a previously working Orbi.

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[FURRYe38]

Well you have your options. Try a reset first to see if this clears this problem, if not, downgrade. 

Good Luck. 

[Tangles]

Mine does the same thing. It drops the wan connection about once a day. I have to manually renew the lease on the Orbi router and it comes back to life.

My internet connection has a supplied NTD. I have troubleshooted with the isp and they have said it was rock solid to the ntd for 3 days.

I read some previous forum posts on changing the wan_lease time and this has improved it but still an issue. My isp has this renewing every 30 minutes.

I am on firmware 2.5.0.38

I am also convinced this is an issue with the Orbi.

[ElMotor]

Since they can see the solid connection at the NTD, this is definitely the same issue.

I bought new UniFi equipment and replaced everything. Incredibly sad that Netgear has made this hardware useless with crap firmware.

I wish I could offer more help, but honestly i just swapped Out the router and satellite and it’s been 100% solid since. Not one drop.

[Tangles]

Have persisted with this for a while. Will wait for a few more firmware updates but starting to lose patience. 

Can I ask what unifi kit you got? 

[ElMotor]

UniFi Dream Machine and two beacon HDs

🙌🏼

[FURRYe38]

Please manually download v2.5.1.8 FW for both RBR and RBS. Update the RBS first then RBR. Factory reset everything and setup from scratch. While you factory reset the RBR, Power OFF the ISP modem for 30 seconds then back ON. Walk thru the setup wizard on the RBR with a wired PC and web browser. 

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@Tangles wrote:
Mine does the same thing. It drops the wan connection about once a day. I have to manually renew the lease on the Orbi router and it comes back to life.

My internet connection has a supplied NTD. I have troubleshooted with the isp and they have said it was rock solid to the ntd for 3 days.

I read some previous forum posts on changing the wan_lease time and this has improved it but still an issue. My isp has this renewing every 30 minutes.

I am on firmware 2.5.0.38

I am also convinced this is an issue with the Orbi.

---

[ElMotor]

If anyone has the patience to do this manual update (again) with this firmware, let me know how it works. If it works, It’ll make me feel a lot better selling this hardware to someone else.

Hardware shouldn’t have to be updated like this. This is a massive screwup and the fact that these forums are barely moderated by Netgear just goes to show how much they really don’t even care to support what they release. The software team to develop these products is probably incredibly small and is rushed to develop as many firmwares for all the new hardware they have on the release schedule instead of taking the required time to develop test and iterate as they should be.

I have done about 1.5 *years* of manual firmware updates, manual wired factory resets, etc on this hardware. I suggest many others buy this hardware because when it works the speed is indeed fast. ....and now I regret it. One Customer even needed to add another satellite to expand the network in daisychain mesh mode and it worked miserably. Highly unreliable connection. Just wouldn’t download anything smoothly. It would stall, hesitate, etc. the satellite was showing good connection... everything looked good and correct otherwise.

I had to run a cable to the new satellite from the parent Orbi and then it switched from satellite daisychain mode to access point mode and instantly, it started working, showing that the firmware was just plain bad. Others have experienced this as well as indicated many times on these forums and on Reddit. Also there’s no way to suggest to the satellite which other satellite or which parent mode to connect to. You CAN do this with the UniFi equipment and it works beautifully. It even shows the signal strength and bandwidth between nodes which helps immensely with placement and site survey. The Orbi just showed. Poor / Good / Excellent and took like 15 to 20 mins to update after rebooting which makes site survey and placement almost impossible.

I cannot even explain the endless hours of my time I wasted I playing with the settings to see what would work better. I do this for a living so all of this was unpaid time, just trying to get working all the Orbi systems I suggested they buy. I tried everything, multiple times. I changed all the software switches On and off in different configurations and tested repeatedly and got irregular results and And then ultimately, none were even close to reliable until I wired the rbs to the router together which is completely counter intuitive to how these are supposed to work as a mesh product. Then I started having the issue with the wan dhcp not refreshing and losing connection after the last 2 or so firmware updates. That was the last straw.

Let me know if that firmware actually works for any of you. If so, I’ll update these and sell em.

Thanks