Re: Orbi firmware update v2.1.4.16 availability

cheshbr · ‎2018-06-16

I’m running v2.1.4.16 with a wired backhaul I have a number of iDevicesall, some Wemo globes and a switch, an Echo Dot, a Google Home, a couple of TP-Link Kasa switches, and five Lifx globes, all of which connect and stay connected flawlessly. Until ‘16, I was having occasional issues with Lifx and HomeKit, but since upgrading to ‘16, none whatsoever.

Now Netgear, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

e1superman · ‎2018-06-16

My girlfriend's iPhone X is always dropping wifi calling on our Orbi. Horrible.

cheshbr · ‎2018-06-16

Try iPhone Settings, WiFi, your connected WiFi, Forget This Network and reconnect to WiFi from scratch. In my household, there are two iPhones, two iPads, a MacBook, a HomePod, an Airport Express (for AirPlay), and several generations of Apple TV, all of which connect flawlessly and never drop out. I have found the iDevices are the easiest to connect, so something else must be amis. Have you tried using the Netgear Genie to troubleshoot? The Genie maps all your devices and shows signal strength. Another option is to put iDevices in aeroplane mode for a few seconds, then switch it off. This kills WiFi, then forces it to reconnect. Try this on the iPhone near the router, then near the satellite to see if one is stronger than the other.

A final tip is to download from the App Store an app called Net Analyser. I think there’s a free Lite version. Then open it to the Information page. Look for a setting called “BSSID”. it will be a 12 character number, the composition of which is unimportant and can be ignored. Now walk from one Orbi device to the other, watching the BSSID code. As you move out from under the umbrella of WiFi cover for the first Orbi device, and under the cover of the next Orbi device, the BSSID should change. If it does then your Orbi mesh network is doing its job.

Using some of these modern tools is a joy when they work, unfortunately they need maintenance and a good location.

Let me know how you go

cheshbr · ‎2018-06-17

I can't/don't want to run my Orbis in router mode.

In Australia I am still on a crappy 5Mbps ADSL2+ service distributed on a 100 year old copper network designed for a plain old telephone service that requires a modem. My service, although crappy, is stable and the Orbis in AP mode deliver a good, stable outcome that works. Whan our governemnt upgrades our broadband later this year, I will go for router mode but not until then. I'm not rocking the boat just yet.

But as I have my Orbis working flawlessly in AP mode, I am demonstrating that the core WiFi functionality and wired backhaul works. You have to then ask the question "What is occurring in router mode that buggers this up?"

Here's a tip. Why not beg, borrow or steal a third party router and hook your Orbi system up in AP mode and see if it works? At least you can test your basic configuration and if the positioning of your Orbi devices is optimum. If in AP mode, it works, and in router mode it doesn', then perhaps the problem's in the way you have set up your Orbi in router mode.

In other words "Try running your Orbi in AP mode and not router mode...then report back"

I'm not an Orbi tester, i'm just a consumer who has an interest in this stuff.

My posts are my attempt to be helpful and share my experiences because they work. I'm perfectly happy to stop commenting

richromerman · ‎2018-06-17

Cheshbr.... please leave this forum. Youre trying to come across as a Netgear engineer. So BE one or get lost. Jesus effing christ

jesseasi · ‎2018-06-17

I updated - MISTAKE. I have one Base with 2 wired satellites, 1 wireless satellite, and one outdoor wireless satellite.

Nothing works after the update - I have rebooted everything several times. One of the wired satellites reports that it is connected via wired to the wireless satellite. HOW~?

I have been messing with this Orbi system now for 2 months - just when it seemed to be working OK - this update comes out.

This is the last straw. I will be going back to my old setup (Velop) - which worked perfectly.

Bullyterrier · ‎2018-06-17

I’m also not being argumentative but a 5 meg service and AP mode means the firmware is having a beer on the beach rather than doing any real work. I suspect the bugs are exposed by more intense multitasking and utilisation effects hence the varied experiences AND the difficulty the labs have in recreating and squashing them.

The real issue is product positioning - Orbi is low end on features and designed to ‘just work’ and yet currently needs ‘expert like’ fiddling with settings and resets in order to both work reliably and to survive updates while still working.

Wiler · ‎2018-06-17

Just updated router and satellite to 2.1.4.16. Prior to update my backhaul wrireless status was good and now its consistantly poor. Anyone having the same problem?

cheshbr · ‎2018-06-17

Happy to oblige.

cheshbr · ‎2018-06-17

That would be my longer term solution as well. I like the sound of the Ubiquity Edgerouter

rivets · ‎2018-06-17

All the download links seem to be dead now. Any ideas what is happening? (Support suggested using 1.4.16 but I still can't reply to my case as I get a blank page from the link)

jesseasi · ‎2018-06-17

As mentioned previously. Upgrading took down my whole network. At this point I have power cycled everything down. Started up only the router. Things that could connect to it seem to be fine.

As soon as I powered up one of the wired satellites - whole network crashed - including my Directv!

I have removed the wired connection on my 1st satellite - allowing it to connect wirelessly. Seems to be somewhat stable.

I have 4 more satellites to go...

cheshbr · ‎2018-06-17

richromerman, I'm not a network engineer, I'm a consumer who has got an Orbi system working in the way its supposed to without as much fuss as othes seem to be experiencing, in my case, in AP mode. I'm not sure what your beef is with me, and why you are angry with me. I have no motive here but to share what I have learned that works, on a forum of Orbi users set up for people to share their experiences.

I guess your anger towards me is an indicator that you are not having success, but instead of opening some useful dialog with me, you attack. Your loss. 'bye

D4rkGh0st · ‎2018-06-17

When click in the dowload link it says "Requested file does not exist!" and ask me for a code :@

cjake · ‎2018-06-17

Only one week so far with my new RBR50 and one RBS50 satellite. RBR50 is in Router mode with wireless back haul. I have had no issues so far; even after the 2.1.4.16 update yesterday.

I have 100 megabit service from my ISP. With my previous Apple router, I never got more than 80 megabit download. The Orbi speed test reports 130 megabit download. I confirmed this download speed with a speedtest.net test on a Windows PC.

Extremely pleased so far.

factoryresetnow · ‎2018-06-17

The RBK 50 downloads can no longer be accessed? Updates coming?

ajnafets · ‎2018-06-17

I had some issues before and after installing the 2.1.4.16 firmware....

Then I read different story's here about doing a complete reset of the system (factory reset)

So I did I already had installed the 2.1.4.16 firmware on the satellite's and the router.

I did a factory reset on the router with disconnected satellites and walked thru the setup fase

Then I did the satellite setup without wires connected and the satellites next to the router.

When everything was finished I put the satellites back in place and made sure they were connected again (wireless)

Then I checked and everyting was working and I connected other devices as well.

The app said backhaul poor on both the satellites but everything worked as it should....

The next day I connected the wires back to both satellites and checked again.....

Now it said it was connected by wire and no poor backhaul any more...

This was like a week ago and everything is still stable and working fast (isp = 200 / 20) and that's what I get in the spoeedtests as well..

For now I am happy again and started using more and more possibilities of the router day by day and still everything is stable...

Even my daughters don't complain anymore so that means something.... 🙂

Just for the information

I have the router in router mode (so not in AP) connected satellite1 to a TP-Link (on managed) switch and that switch is connected directly to a second switch (same brand) and that one is connected to the router....satellite2 is connected to the other port of satellite1...

So in my opinion not the ideal situation but it still works flawless the last couple of days...

e1superman · ‎2018-06-17

What happens when you reset them in place (like if the power went out)?

thossessess · ‎2018-06-17

This update has impacted my Nest Hello doorbell. It will not maintain a connection. It is 5ft from an Orbi Satellite with 600/40 mbps speeds. Running 5 other nest Cams with no issue at all (3 Nest Cams, Nest Cam Outdoor, Nest Cam Outdoor IQ). I exchanged my doorbell today since it was within the return window, but same results. Firmware update is the only variable that changed. I attached a photo to show the terrible connection issues. No issues prior with same settings. Thoughts?

e1superman · ‎2018-06-17

Ugh. Mine has been flaky too at times.

For those who haven't bought and Orbi: STAY CLEAR. Find a better product until Netgear gets their act in gear. Based on past performance that won't be any time soon. Don't hold your breath and become hostage like us.

ajnafets · ‎2018-06-17

@e1superman wrote:
What happens when you reset them in place (like if the power went out)?

Thanks for asking.....

You probably knew what would happen...

Now I know why there are so much complains about this system...

What happend:

I disconnected the power of satellite1 (satellite2 is also directly connected to this one...)

So only the satellites were down not the router itself !!

When I turned the power on again from sattelite1 the router completely turned down...

No wifi anymore no nothing I could not even login to the router anymore.

I turned everything off reset my ISP modem and turned the router back on (satellites still connected)

Nothing came back no wifi no internet nothing...

Then I turned the router off again and disconnected the power to satellite one.

Turned the router back on and waited until I had wifi and could connect to the router again...

After 5 minutes I also turned on satellite1 and at first there were some strange things....

Like the connection turned between 5Ghz and wired a couple of times...

But after another 5 minutes both satellites were online and showing wired again and everything is still stable at this point...

So the conclusion is that if there are no power faillures or something disconnected then it will work flawless.....

e1superman · ‎2018-06-17

Yeah that makes it unreliable. Especially for folks that have cameras or security connected to them. Losing power for 1 min while on vacation takes everything down until you get home and go through 30 minutes of crazy debug to fix.

Unacceptable.

ajnafets · ‎2018-06-17

Yes you are right unacceptable....
And I have security camera's so for me it's good to know this...

They are almost there I guess...( Just to stay positive...) Hopefully the next update will be before the holidays...😉

OrbiDemigod · ‎2018-06-17

Well, it seems like they knew the firmware update was garbage to say the least, and took down the RBR50 and RBS50 files. Got to love this router. This is probably the biggest pile of junk I have ever bought in the last 15 years. Will not be buying any Netgear products ever again!

Makes me wonder why they even keep the engineers around that are working on this firmware. Fire them all, and hire some competent engineers from Asus or TP-Link. This would likely be the best solution to the problem.

The current team of engineers are incompetent at best. Understand that they are costing your company millions of dollars in revenue due to the shoddy firmware they having been pushing out.

randomousity · ‎2018-06-17

@D4rkGh0st wrote:

When click in the dowload link it says "Requested file does not exist!" and ask me for a code :@

I got the same thing, just now. However, when I go into the router settings and have it manually check for updates, it now shows there being an update ready for installation, so my thought is that they took that one down since it's, apparently, generally available now.