So, I consider myself to be a rather tech savy person. Over the years, I've played around with home Wifi mesh systems and I feel that the Netgear Orbo RBR10 model I have has been the most consistent and reliable in the short time I've been using it.
I've used Eero 6s, TP Link Deco (W7200), Google Wifi. All have had their pros and cons but in the end were not as reliable as the Netgear that I've now been using a month or so. Yes, the TP Link is a tri-band router and still not that reliable.
With that said, I was curious how often Netgear updates their firmware. Especially and specifically on the RBR10 model. I realize that it is one of the older models. But everything is working fine for my 45 plus connected devices and didnt want to have an issue with new firmware.
Second, is there a difference to connected to the Orbi in the Orbi app "locally" or using the "Anywhere access." It looks like all settings in the Orbi app are "read only" as you can't make changes and have to connect via the web login.
Second, is there a difference to connected to the Orbi in the Orbi app "locally" or using the "Anywhere access." It looks like all settings in the Orbi app are "read only" as you can't make changes and have to connect via the web login.
The Orbi 'app' has the same capabilities whether connected locally or through Anywhere Access. You are correct that the Orbi 'app' is not especially capable. It can do a few things, such as display which devices are connected, change the WiFi password, and assign user friendly names to devices. But, it has no ability to control any of the "Advanced" features of the Orbi. (change DNS servers, set up OpenVPN, set up port forwarding, control WiFi features, etc. etc.) I am tempted to make a "dumb blonde" analogy, but that would not be appropriate.
With that said, I was curious how often Netgear updates their firmware. Especially and specifically on the RBR10 model. I realize that it is one of the older models. But everything is working fine for my 45 plus connected devices and didnt want to have an issue with new firmware.
This is indeed a mystery. Netgear has not declared this product "End of Life", so there may be firmware updates..... or not. The RBR50 router was updated to v2.7.4.24 in April 2022 and the RBR10 finally received the same update in Dec 2022. This might lead one to expect that the RBR50 will get a future release before the RBR10 will. (or...... not). In general, firmware updates are a "good thing" if they increase the capability and security of the product. Netgear typically follows a practice of:
Releasing new firmware to beta testers.
If there are no obvious problems, the new firmware appears on the support web site, where "early adopters" can find and install it. At this time, the Firmware Update mechanism seems to be blissfully unaware that there is new firmware.
At some point, Netgear changes something so that the Firmware Update mechanism is aware of new firmware and notifies users (who happen to open the Orbi app or look at the web browser Firmware Update page) that new firmware is available.
Finally, after quite some time, Netgear quietly pushes the firmware to every system that has not already been updated. I deliberately waited to see what would happen with v2.7.4.24, and it was a couple of months before one day I woke up and the system had updated firmware during the night.
There are, of course, ways to prevent Netgear from updating firmware. I am not confident that doing so is obviously a good decision.
Second, is there a difference to connected to the Orbi in the Orbi app "locally" or using the "Anywhere access." It looks like all settings in the Orbi app are "read only" as you can't make changes and have to connect via the web login.
Not much difference. They give you access to the same features.
I don't know which settings you see as "read only" but apps are designed for simplicity and cannot manage every setting on a router. That's why the browser graphical user interface (GUI) is there.
