Re: Orbi MR 2.1 Update 3/23/18

aucman · ‎2018-04-11

I am experiencing the same trouble. Devices connected to the router are working fine. Devices connected to the Satellites are losing connection or appears everything is fine and there is no internet connection.

The problem is the satellite not the router. I had similar trouble on firmware 2.1.2.18 and installed 2.1.3.4 and it is still the same issue.

However I did not do the factory reset before installing firmware 2.1.3.4

aucman · ‎2018-04-11

However I must say I did not do a factory reset when installing firmware 2.1.3.4

Chairman007 · ‎2018-04-12

Just installed the beta firmware v.2.1.3.6 for my RBW30 wallplug satellite. Previously did the Reset .... I can confirm that this round of firmware looks very good in terms of stability. Daisy chain, Ethernet backhaul, Beamforming & Fast Roaming are all enabled. Everything working fine now. Only minor issues observed like inability to do the Speed Test ... my guess is this will get re-enabled down the road.

mmiguy · ‎2018-04-12

Ok, questions on the 2.1.3.4 FW upgrade.

1. Since this is a beta, do I have to reinstall again once the final version is released? Is this imminent or will it take months to be released? My system is dropping wireless devices constantly so I have to do something.

2. I have 2 wired runs for the Ethernet backhaul for the 2 satellites with no switches in between those and the main router. I am on 2.0.1.4 currently so the ethernet lines are not connected yet. What are the step by step instructions to do this upgrade correctly given the way it is configured?

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-04-12

Please try the factory reset and set up from scratch for this version of FW. This is needed for this version. Once official next version is released, and all subquent verions shouldn't need a factory reset. Let us know how it goes after the reset.

@aucman wrote:
I am experiencing the same trouble. Devices connected to the router are working fine. Devices connected to the Satellites are losing connection or appears everything is fine and there is no internet connection.

The problem is the satellite not the router. I had similar trouble on firmware 2.1.2.18 and installed 2.1.3.4 and it is still the same issue.

However I did not do the factory reset before installing firmware 2.1.3.4

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-04-12

Others have said they were abot to get betas from NG support. Did you escalate your issue higher?

How are you determining it's a crash?

Can you access the routers or satellies UI when this happens?

Ping 192.168.1.1 from a comrmand line?

You might enable some debug logging, someting to give to NG support...

@Brain29 wrote:

Other then creating an RMA there unhelpful they have all the details - they don't even have access to the beta software the first 4 had no clue of a problem, even after linking these threads created by employees

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-04-12

Let us know how it goes. Should work well for you.

Yes, Ng is aware of the speed test issues.

@Chairman007 wrote:
Just installed the beta firmware v.2.1.3.6 for my RBW30 wallplug satellite. Previously did the Reset .... I can confirm that this round of firmware looks very good in terms of stability. Daisy chain, Ethernet backhaul, Beamforming & Fast Roaming are all enabled. Everything working fine now. Only minor issues observed like inability to do the Speed Test ... my guess is this will get re-enabled down the road.

bryandmlee · ‎2018-04-12

@mmiguy I believe 2.1.3.4 firmware is "release" only for RBK50 so far, as its support page (https://www.netgear.com/support/product/RBK50.aspx#download) is the only one listing 2.1.3.4 at the moment. This seems to be the same firmware as originally released in beta in this thread. For all other setups/Orbi systems, you can refer to the links in the very first post of this thread.

As for how to set up for the wired backhaul, you can use my previous post as quoted below for reference. It shouldn't be too different with the additional satellite, the most important part should be making sure the wireless backhaul works properly first before plugging in all the respective Ethernet cables for wired backhaul. See:

In case anyone is interested, these were my steps in setting up my RBK50:
1) Update satellite and router to 2.1.3.4
2) Paperclip restart satellite, then router
3) Set up the Orbi system (with default wireless backhaul) using orbilogin.com on desktop browser, connected to router via Ethernet cable
4) Once router and satellite are set up with wireless backhaul, plug in respective Ethernet cables at leftmost LAN ports on router and satellite. Wait a few minutes for Orbi system to reconfigure itself to Ethernet backhaul.

Optional: 5) Once Ethernet backhaul is established, I powered off all three devices, and then on again in the usual order of ISP modem, wait two minutes then Orbi router and finally Orbi satellite—just to be extra sure the Orbi system has been set up correctly and the three devices all know what they're supposed to be doing. Wait a few minutes for the whole system to settle down and the Ethernet backhaul status to show as Good again.

ktula · ‎2018-04-12

I updated the router to 2.1.3.4 from 2.1.2.8 via remotely-VPNed to the router. I would strongly recommend against doing what i did. During the update process, i believe the firmware got corrupted so i could no longer VPN to it. Because i was thousands of miles away, there was no way for me to fix it remotely. When i got back home, i could see the SSID of the network but i could not connect to it. I had to factory reset the router and both satellites and configure them from scratch. Everything appears to be working OK now.

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-04-12

Ya, wireless or VPN would not be recommended for doing FW updates. Next time, you might have someone more locally help out on site if a FW is needed. Glad the reset got it working again. Enjoy.

@ktula wrote:
I updated the router to 2.1.3.4 from 2.1.2.8 via remotely-VPNed to the router. I would strongly recommend against doing what i did. During the update process, i believe the firmware got corrupted so i could no longer VPN to it. Because i was thousands of miles away, there was no way for me to fix it remotely. When i got back home, i could see the SSID of the network but i could not connect to it. I had to factory reset the router and both satellites and configure them from scratch. Everything appears to be working OK now.

angr · ‎2018-04-12

I've upgraded my system (RBR50, RBS50, 2x RBS40, 1xRBW30) to the latest BETA. Only upgraded RBW30 just now, however for the other parts of my system (running the latest FW beta for slightly less than a week now) this has been the best and most stable release for me in a very long time!

I used to have intermittent issues with individual wifi clients losing connections (and sometimes refusing to reconnect properly without satellite/router reboot) while other clients also connected to the same router or satellite were continously working just fine. My wife's Macbook were one of the most heavily affected by this, and have been for a long time - and believe me that was not easily managed. 😛

I'm very happy to say that this seems to be a thing of the past now.

Milmal · ‎2018-04-12

What beta are you refering to in relations to RBK40?

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-04-12

Glad its working well now. Enjoy.

@angr wrote:
I've upgraded my system (RBR50, RBS50, 2x RBS40, 1xRBW30) to the latest BETA. Only upgraded RBW30 just now, however for the other parts of my system (running the latest FW beta for slightly less than a week now) this has been the best and most stable release for me in a very long time!

I used to have intermittent issues with individual wifi clients losing connections (and sometimes refusing to reconnect properly without satellite/router reboot) while other clients also connected to the same router or satellite were continously working just fine. My wife's Macbook were one of the most heavily affected by this, and have been for a long time - and believe me that was not easily managed. 😛

I'm very happy to say that this seems to be a thing of the past now.

OrbiMan · ‎2018-04-12

@FURRYe38 wrotePlease try the factory reset and set up from scratch for this version of FW. This is needed for this version. Once official next version is released, and all subquent verions shouldn't need a factory reset. Let us know how it goes after the reset.

Where did you get that info?

chsalmon · ‎2018-04-13

@chsalmon wrote:
Nice uptime Mikey94025 ! need it...

i wonder if the temperature can reboot the router ?
i see the log thermal-log1.txt and the sensor seems to be ok but maybe sometimes overheat and then reboot ?
is it possible ? i don't know why, but why not, i could try to make it colder... (orbi in the fridge)

log :
Thermal config for wifi0
enable: 1, dc: 100, dc_per_event: 2
level: 0, low thresold: -100, high thresold: 110, dcoffpercent: 0, queue priority 7, policy; 1
level: 1, low thresold: 100, high thresold: 120, dcoffpercent: 50, queue priority 7, policy; 1
level: 2, low thresold: 110, high thresold: 135, dcoffpercent: 90, queue priority 7, policy; 1
level: 3, low thresold: 125, high thresold: 150, dcoffpercent: 100, queue priority 7, policy; 1
Thermal stats for wifi0
sensor temperature: 55, current level: 0
level: 0, entry count: 0, duty cycle spent: 7690
level: 1, entry count: 0, duty cycle spent: 0
level: 2, entry count: 0, duty cycle spent: 0
level: 3, entry count: 0, duty cycle spent: 0
Thermal config for wifi1
enable: 1, dc: 100, dc_per_event: 2
level: 0, low thresold: -100, high thresold: 110, dcoffpercent: 0, queue priority 7, policy; 1
level: 1, low thresold: 100, high thresold: 120, dcoffpercent: 50, queue priority 7, policy; 1
level: 2, low thresold: 110, high thresold: 135, dcoffpercent: 90, queue priority 7, policy; 1
level: 3, low thresold: 125, high thresold: 150, dcoffpercent: 100, queue priority 7, policy; 1
Thermal stats for wifi1
sensor temperature: 54, current level: 0
level: 0, entry count: 0, duty cycle spent: 7687
level: 1, entry count: 0, duty cycle spent: 0
level: 2, entry count: 0, duty cycle spent: 0
level: 3, entry count: 0, duty cycle spent: 0
Thermal config for wifi2
enable: 1, dc: 100, dc_per_event: 2
level: 0, low thresold: -100, high thresold: 110, dcoffpercent: 0, queue priority 7, policy; 1
level: 1, low thresold: 100, high thresold: 120, dcoffpercent: 50, queue priority 7, policy; 1
level: 2, low thresold: 110, high thresold: 135, dcoffpercent: 90, queue priority 7, policy; 1
level: 3, low thresold: 125, high thresold: 150, dcoffpercent: 100, queue priority 7, policy; 1
Thermal stats for wifi2
sensor temperature: 43, current level: 0
level: 0, entry count: 0, duty cycle spent: 7674
level: 1, entry count: 0, duty cycle spent: 0
level: 2, entry count: 0, duty cycle spent: 0
level: 3, entry count: 0, duty cycle spent: 0

Good news !, The reboot is not because of overheat ! The router is cooler but reboot again ! and even currently unreachable and i'm not at home to turn it off and on, nice...

Strange, the satellite works really great (5 days uptime, never reboot itself) , with ethernet backhaul directly connected to main router (main internet connection, not the orbi router).

So just waiting for next firmware again... maybe a real fix ?

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-04-13

The Orbi should be directly connected to the Orbi router, not the main host router? Are you using the Orbi router in AP mode? Try connecting the satellite directly to the Orbi router.

What is the Mfr and model# of the main host router?

How did you determine it wasn't a heat problem?

@chsalmon wrote:
@chsalmon wrote:

Good news !, The reboot is not because of overheat ! The router is cooler but reboot again ! and even currently unreachable and i'm not at home to turn it off and on, nice...
Strange, the satellite works really great (5 days uptime, never reboot itself) , with ethernet backhaul directly connected to main router (main internet connection, not the orbi router).

So just waiting for next firmware again... maybe a real fix ?

Planetom · ‎2018-04-13

@FURRYe38 wrote:
So did chaning from WAN to LAN port resolve your problems?
@Planetom wrote:
Dear fellows in misery,

All the follwing applies only WHEN IN AP MODE!
Some relief comes from wired ethernet backhaul. I guess it is because of saved 5G bandwidth. Who knows.

However, problem was to run an extra cat 6 cable through the flat - next to the already existing LAN wired infrastructure.
Why is this an issue?
Well because the Netgear documentation - same crappy&confusing as the firmware - advises to use the yellow WAN port. Wrong.
As for ethernet wired backhaul in AP mode, use 1st LAN port - right next to the yellow one.
(no idea if this has influence but Daisychain Off, Beamforming On, MU-MIMO On, Fast Roaming On and Yes Yes Yes I did paper-clip factory reset the cheesy orbi router + satellite after firmware migration to 2.1.3.4)

=> this doesn't hinder Orbi junk from internet drops or lost connections but it reduces them

Cheers, Volker

PS
There is an entire thread for this:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Ethernet-Backhaul-Best-Practices/m-p/1486919#M21278

PPS
I also liked this reddit blog entry to find out the satellite backhaul type via telnet:
https://www.reddit.com/r/orbi/comments/7jfdhk/ethernet_backhaul_howto/

@FURRYe38
It eased the pain didn't solve

wegunterjr · ‎2018-04-13

With 2.1.3.4 update on the RBR50, RBS50 - seems to be working, but I am noticing an error in Parental Controls -> Disney Circle- it is now saying cannot connect to device. I updated a few days ago, and circle app on my phone connected again, but now it is not.

THoughts?

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-04-13

Have you factory reset both router and satellite and reset up the circle app again?

@wegunterjr wrote:
With 2.1.3.4 update on the RBR50, RBS50 - seems to be working, but I am noticing an error in Parental Controls -> Disney Circle- it is now saying cannot connect to device. I updated a few days ago, and circle app on my phone connected again, but now it is not.
THoughts?

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-04-13

Whats still happening thats a problem?

@Planetom wrote:

It eased the pain didn't solve

wegunterjr · ‎2018-04-13

I factory reset the router, but not the satellites. How do you reset those?

I did renable Disney Circle and then connected to it from the app..not sure if i did that right...

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-04-13

Back pin hole on back of satellite.

You might try setting up the app on the router using a PC and browser and see if this helps.

rhester72 · ‎2018-04-13

You guys might have read where I was engaged by Netgear support early this week, and that their direction is what you've already heard - upgrade to 2.1.3.x, factory reset with paperclips on satellite and router, and start over.

I can't explain it (I'm an ex OpenWRT dev, so I'm intimately familiar with how things work under the hood), but sure enough - it worked. The random 12-hour restarts are gone. I've been rock-solid in AP mode since Tuesday morning, perfect performance and latency, not a single packet drop (I'm explicitly monitoring for this 24/7).

For those who have said "a reset won't help, been there done that", "I can't be bothered to reset", etc. - I feel your pain. It's a serious pain in the butt to start over - but for whatever reason, on this code branch, it's necessary and worth it. Bite the bullet - upgrade, reset (I did Satellite first and then Router, but I doubt it matters - just reset EVERYTHING _before_ you start to reconfigure), and go. Upgrade *first*.

Good luck (and hope you won't need luck)!

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-04-13

Thanks for letting us know. Glad the reset helped. Been saying this all along.

@rhester72 wrote:
You guys might have read where I was engaged by Netgear support early this week, and that their direction is what you've already heard - upgrade to 2.1.3.x, factory reset with paperclips on satellite and router, and start over.

I can't explain it (I'm an ex OpenWRT dev, so I'm intimately familiar with how things work under the hood), but sure enough - it worked. The random 12-hour restarts are gone. I've been rock-solid in AP mode since Tuesday morning, perfect performance and latency, not a single packet drop (I'm explicitly monitoring for this 24/7).

For those who have said "a reset won't help, been there done that", "I can't be bothered to reset", etc. - I feel your pain. It's a serious pain in the butt to start over - but for whatever reason, on this code branch, it's necessary and worth it. Bite the bullet - upgrade, reset (I did Satellite first and then Router, but I doubt it matters - just reset EVERYTHING _before_ you start to reconfigure), and go. Upgrade *first*.

Good luck (and hope you won't need luck)!

cpd5215 · ‎2018-04-13

@rhester72 wrote:
You guys might have read where I was engaged by Netgear support early this week, and that their direction is what you've already heard - upgrade to 2.1.3.x, factory reset with paperclips on satellite and router, and start over.

I can't explain it (I'm an ex OpenWRT dev, so I'm intimately familiar with how things work under the hood), but sure enough - it worked. The random 12-hour restarts are gone. I've been rock-solid in AP mode since Tuesday morning, perfect performance and latency, not a single packet drop (I'm explicitly monitoring for this 24/7).

For those who have said "a reset won't help, been there done that", "I can't be bothered to reset", etc. - I feel your pain. It's a serious pain in the butt to start over - but for whatever reason, on this code branch, it's necessary and worth it. Bite the bullet - upgrade, reset (I did Satellite first and then Router, but I doubt it matters - just reset EVERYTHING _before_ you start to reconfigure), and go. Upgrade *first*.

Good luck (and hope you won't need luck)!

Awesome to hear....Quick Q.....I have been rock solid for 5 days now I think....Where do I check to see paket loss or where would you steer me to see how my system has performed behind the scene...In practical sense, all my devices have been great