Re: Orbi Firmware update 2.5.0.38 problems

tomschmidt · ‎2019-12-09

You need to roll back the firmware to v2.3.5.34 to be the latest stable version. Download the image for both your satellite and the router and install it on them using the manual firmware install procedure.

@Igott wrote:
I'm having the same type of issue since this update, no changes in placement of my main orbi unit and 2 satellite units. On wirelss video conferencing and wifi calling are absolutely horrible. I've tried rebooting my routers resyncing the satellite and not improvement. Anything that is wired works perfect was my whole home is streaming apple TV HD and 4K streams without an issue. Please help any ideas on how to resolve as the wirelss issues are impacting my ability to work from home.

FURRYe38 · ‎2019-12-09

Factory reset worked for me and others.

Good luck though. Reset or revert.

@Vaslo wrote:
@FURRYe38 wrote:
Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last update?
@Igott wrote:
I'm having the same type of issue since this update, no changes in placement of my main orbi unit and 2 satellite units. On wirelss video conferencing and wifi calling are absolutely horrible. I've tried rebooting my routers resyncing the satellite and not improvement. Anything that is wired works perfect was my whole home is streaming apple TV HD and 4K streams without an issue. Please help any ideas on how to resolve as the wirelss issues are impacting my ability to work from home.

Doesn't need a factory reset. Needs someone to get off their rear and write a patch to fix it.

texjones · ‎2019-12-09

My post re problems with 2.5.0.38 was October 31st. Is there really no official update other than to revert or reset given a month has passed? I also removed bit defender from all my devices due to the speed impact. The naming of devices is my main issue as speeds etc otherwise are mostly steady and predictable over the last month.

chrissnv · ‎2019-12-09

@FURRYe38 wrote:
I was told today that NG pulled v30 and v40 from there Orbi update servers. So users shouldn't see this on there FW update page on the RBR. Yes there available via the download site.

They confirmed that v34 is the standing latest version that they recommend upgrading to. You can upgrade to v34 which has the web page certificate fix or downgrade to v30 or last working version of FW. A factory reset is the last resort if users can't get there systems working normally. Those of us who do resets and manual upgrades, this seems to avoid issues seen by those of you who do see issues and choose not to do a reset. It's up to you. NG said it was coming out with a new FW udpate to fix the device naming issue found in v38. For those of you who can't get there systems working, with or with out a factory reset, revert back to something that works for you and wait for the next update to arrive. No date was given when the next FW upate will be released.

Good Luck.

Hey @FURRYe38

First of all thanks for all your help and support it is greatly appreciated.

Even though a lot of us don’t agree on factory resets as a normal process when troubleshooting (it should be a rare occasion if at all necessary and not with nearly every FW release), in my experience a revert of Firmware is the first resort to get things back to normal.

I am not sure in which post but I saw somewhere that some of the Gurus have a test device, so I would like to suggest something that would help all of us probably a lot.

I would like to suggest you try to not do the factory resets and then send Netgear some feedback and then do the reset. I would hope that they listen to you more closely to avoid any future disasters.

Why am I suggesting this:

In my experience in large scale hosting operations a factory reset is the last thing you want to do with any upgrade, and I treat my home the same way. Either the settings transfer over and work or they don't. If they don't I revert and figure out what I either have to unconfigure or get a fix from the vendor.

If that doesn’t help to convince anyone - I would assume you don’t want to do a factory reset (loose all your data) on your personal computer every time a patch comes out either.

Thanks again.

Also tagging @Blanca_O for visibility to give maybe some of you Gurus a channel into Netgear.

FURRYe38 · ‎2019-12-10

We see a lot of different user configurations. Along with new FW udpates, these new FW updates and some of all the varied configurations or possibly corrupt configurations that maybe become incompatible with new FW updates. Yes I agree, resets shouldn't be first thing to do after a FW update, however in some cases, it's needed. There are good reasons for doing a reset. Yes in most cases as a last resort to give the new FW update a chance to be fully installed, seated and configured from scratch. In some cases even after a reset, a backup configuration maybe applied and this gets the system back online with the new FW update as well. Backup configurations are recommended after each FW update to ensure good system backup is maintained.

I presume NG wants there units working well after FW updates. However it is problematic to know how or what users have configured with there systems that may or seem to effect how new FW operates after installation. From a testing stand point, I would think NG may be testing on clean slated systems with resets to endure the base FW is installed with out any issues. I would also hope that NG also tests out what I call, "dirty" systems with varied configurations to tests real world configurations as well. No idea what NG does. For my testing, it's mostly clean slated FW configurations. How I know most of these FW versions DO work. Save some of the odd ball problems thats are hard bugs. However I do some real world FW upgrade configurations as well.

My friends systems I setup a while back has not seen a reset on my account since day one. Gone thru several auto updates. My friend has never asked me or told me of any problems since it went online.

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-firmware-update-v2-1-4-16-availability/m-p/1592753/highli...

So we know there are some cases where the systems are working as expected.

Overall, resets are a last resort and have a good reason for them. FW just can't be left to upgrade and in these cases where systems stop failing, yes it's the FW that was the initial cause, however we have to find out where the problem actually is. Is it a configuration incompatibility or an actual bug in FW. Factory resets helps to narrow this down.

I think users are rightly hesitent to reset as we all know Orbi systems are not the easiest to setup. However users can avoid most of this hassle when doing a reset if they have a good solid backup configuration that was saved to file. Saves time in most cases.

chrissnv · ‎2019-12-10

@FURRYe38
Glad to hear that you also do some normal upgrade testing. In the past (out of context) it just always sounded that you would always just do a factory reset.

Would be interesting to find out what “special” configurations break the upgrade, as my setup has pretty much only one modification (access control enabled) and so far the problems I had with pretty much every FW Upgrade was related to Backhaul communication issues locking out approved devices in Access control randomly.
Are there any known issues with Sonos and Orbi systems when FW upgrade and access control is enabled?

FURRYe38 · ‎2019-12-10

I do mostly do factory resets after I do FW updates. This seems to eliminate most issues. I've had good operation with resets after FW updates. Thought I have setting up from scratch down to a science now. LOL.

Seen many posts about access controls. I don't use them much if at all at my house. All adults here so no need to control anythign. Most cases access controls seems to cause problems from what I see. Not sure if this is a problem with the feature itself or due to a bad FW loads and users continue to used the system with out try a factory reset and setup from scratch to see if the problem continues or not.

Seen lots of posts with SONOS and Orbi over the years on here. Mostly condigurations which are solvable.

Igott · ‎2019-12-10

Will try resetting everything and see if that helps.

FURRYe38 · ‎2019-12-10

Be sure to make a backup configuration to file after setting up.

If all else fails, revert back to either v34 or v30.

@Igott wrote:
Will try resetting everything and see if that helps.

chrissnv · ‎2019-12-10

Just wanted to comment why access control:
I live in an apartment complex and access control is an additional security layer for neighbors not highjacking my internet 😊 if they ever hack my password. Lots of tech savvy people around here.

Igott · ‎2019-12-13

Resetting everything seems to have worked on my end, thanks for the help!

FURRYe38 · ‎2019-12-13

Thanks for letting us know.

Enjoy.

@Igott wrote:
Resetting everything seems to have worked on my end, thanks for the help!

FURRYe38 · ‎2019-12-15

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-Firmware-Update-2-5-0-38/m-p/1836446/highlight/true#M7818...