Re: Betreff: Orbi router solid magenta (not the satellite)
Unfortunately, knowing that you yourself do not have the problem this thread is about does not help everyone who does. Do you have any suggestions for how to solve the solid magenta problem?
Betreff: Orbi router solid magenta (not the satellite)
I today updated from 1.11.0.20 to firmware version1.12.0.18 and since then also have a solid magenta ring on my RBR50 and no more access to the UI system (via browser nor Genie app). I'm running the system (router and satellite) on AP mode and besides the constant solid magenta ring and no Ui access the system is working fine and fast. Does anyone have a solution available? Thanks!
Betreff: Orbi router solid magenta (not the satellite)
I also got the solid magenta ring on the RBR after updating to 1.12.0.18 - the RBS had no LED light though and seemed ok as others have reported. I am also running in AP mode currently.
I did a factory reset and it went away, will see if it happens again now...
I just bought this from Amazon after moving from cable to fios internet only.. Have a problem of very old spread out apartment with thick walls and need access at both ends. Purchased the Orbi with some hesitation after horrible experiences with Netgear's tech support for my previous Nighthawk 8 Router. But can't trust them to be reliable to their customers, not to show interest in making a good product great - they are too easily satisfied as long as it's selling.
Confused about whether to return it, what instead with such good range, or just shrug off that this is so expensive and its lifetime reliability seems really questionable.
Mate, I would keep it. I've tried a lot of things to get fast internet in my house (its like a Faraday cage in here) and nothing comes close. There are a lot of little issues with it but once you have it working just so, stop playing with it, tweaking it, touching it and it just works. I reboot the system whenever i see the magenta ring and im good for another 2 or 3 weeks.
I have a lot of bad things to say BUT its all outweighed by 95% internet speeds all over my 3 level town house, apparently with lead walls that superman himself couldnt see through and about a dozen other neighbour wifi routers nearby.
Betreff: Orbi router solid magenta (not the satellite)
Hi PrezWRC
As I mentioned in my previous post, I had the exact same issue on firmware version 1.11. I am using the ORBI as an Access Point (AP). The solution that worked for me was to switch from having a fixed IP number for the ORBI to allowing it to acquire an IP through DHCP. The ORBI does NOT seem to like having a fixed IP assigned to it. The symptoms I had were a solid magenta light on the ORBI router (not the satellite) and no access to the web UI interface. Once I allowed the ORBI to use DHCP again these issues were solved.
In order to correct this issue, you need to adjust the settings on the main router for your home network that is doing the DHCP, NOT on the ORBI itself. (All of this is applicable when using the ORBI as an Access Point (AP) only.)
HTH
Model: Orbi High-Performance AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi System (RBK50)
I have Orbi and tested Plume as well for my own home. For coverage, you cannot beat Plume. Blows away the Orbi hands down. More expensive in the long run for large home as you are buying per room but lowest latency between the two and Eero as well. Also no drops in handoffs either.
I too have the magenta rings when using the Orbi in AP mode. My bigger issue is that the same channel Orbi signals step on each other and cause drops when handing off between each other. Disabling MUMIMO and Beamforming helps but not solved and Netgear is aware but has been 'fixing' for months. Very sad for a company of this size. Will be noted on my final review for a major electronic publication.
Betreff: Orbi router solid magenta (not the satellite)
I still had the magenta LED issue on fw 1.11.0.20. Now we're up to 1.12.0.18 (where do they come up with these four-part numbers?) We'll see if that fixes it.
And I'm running just the Orbi, in router mode. One thing that doesn't work is selecting AP mode and then re-selecting router mode.
For me, the auto firmware update with no way to turn it off is the real deal killer here. What if I'm doing something important on the Internet, like downloading a 3 GB ISO, or trying to record a streaming movie, or place an order with my stock broker? And all of a sudden the Orbi decides it's time to reboot itself to install some new firmware?? That's simpy not acceptable, not from a router this expensive.
I went with Netgear because I've had good luck with their routers i the past and I'm familiar with their UI. But this is it. I'm looking around for something else now.
Thanks for your thoughts and the information. I am still having some drops in hand-off and can't accept that. The only (verizon) cell tower available is across a river in an adjoining State. Considering that, it does pretty well - but not good enough. I have had drops with the Orbi but since they're occasional I keep thinking I just have to move that Satellite two inches.... I'm using the router and two satellites (router in the middle) in access mode connected to Fios router.
I've noticed my phone reporting it's on 2.4 and at another time it's on 5 which supports your comment about the bands stepping on each other. I'm going to disable MuMimo and Beamforming in the hopes of having that stop the occasional drops. But I feel really uneasy about Netgear's commitment.
I can return the whole thing to Amazon. Given the expense and questionable performance of the router and two satellites, spending a bit more doesn't seem like the most important issue. I need something that will get through thick walls AND will not drop wifi cell calls as I move around the space. Plume? Eero? or any other suggestions?
Well I'm pleased to report I've found the solution to the solid magenta problem and the firmware auto-update problem. It's called the Synology RT2600ac router. See review here: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/synology-rt2600ac
I'm still deciding if I should try to get my money back for the Orbi or just take it out to the range and ventilate it.
So long, Netgear - you've lost a customer for life.
Betreff: Orbi router solid magenta (not the satellite)
Hi HTH
Many thanks for providing the solution! Releasing the AP and Satellite from the fixed IP's I had assigned from the main router solved the issue. After rebooting the Orbi(s) the magenta light went away on the AP and access to the UI was available again.
UPDATE AND SEEMING RESOLUTION Re: Orbi router solid magenta (not the satellite)
Since my previous post I followed the recommendation to turn off Beamforming and Mumimo. This didn't, in and of itself, resolve the magenta light on the Orbi router, nor did it resolve dropped calls as I moved between the router and either of the satellites. However, the phone situation seemed a bit better and so I've left it that way.
I wondered - and this may not make any networking sense, whether the magenta light was a "signal" (unintended), that the router cache had become clogged. My Fios gigabyte browsing had slowed down a small amount and this was another thing that made me think along these lines. In my oh-so-many years with cable the cache on my surfboard modem had to dumped every few weeks. I would unplug and leave it for a good 10 or 15 minutes and use /flushdns in windows.
Now with the FIOS gigabit router and the Orbi, I changed the DNS addresses using ones generally considered safe and fast rather than letting FIOS choose the DNS. I did a /flushdns in Windows and also cleaned the cache on my default browser. After this I went to my unplugging routine below.
I then unplugged the power from the Orbi router and both the satellites. I also unplugged the ethernet cable running from my FIOS router to the Orbi. Following old-school technigques with cable I left everything unplugged for over an hour. I then plugged one thing back at a time and gave each device about 10 minutes to "settle in". So first I plugged the network cable from FIOS to Orbi and powered the Orbi router. Waited a good ten minutes. No magenta light and router working (checked with my phone by standing close to it). Then I plugged the power into one of the satellites and repeated the ten minute waiting game. Then...the last satellite. It's been about two weeks and everything is working very smoothely without any magenta light or loss of speed.
Then the cell phone (Android LG V10). I found that calls frequently "held on" as I moved between router and satellites - but not always. Found an excellent Android download Home WiFi Alert. It gives very sensitive readings of WiFi signal strength (-db) which I ended up using to fine tune the placement of the Orbi satellites. This led to only very occasional dropped calls - usually when I moved very quickly. I tried several apps and found that SwiFi allowed me to customize instructions to the phone as to when to change to a different SSID - how poor should the signal be and where should it change to. Making this work seemed to require the use of my Guest network as well as my single SSID but this is not a problem for me.
Hope this helps some folks and I'll update as I recognize the "solution" has only been successful so far for two weeks.
Model: Orbi High-Performance AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi System (RBK50)
Re: UPDATE AND SEEMING RESOLUTION Re: Orbi router solid magenta (not the satellite)
Hello,
I have a RBR50 running V1.12.0.18 for weeks without issue. I moved the physical position of the router device and its uplink moved to a different port on my HP1910 switch. Ever since this move (or perhaps it was simply a power off/on), the router device is showing the magenta solidly and is not manageable. I use a Sophos UTM firewall to assign IP addresses (MAC address mapping aka DHCP reservation) so I always know that my PCs and devices will have the same IP address (even when they are set to use DHCP). I am able to manage (like other people have noted) the satellite device (which displays no light ring so all is well), and I can see the wireless network is working correctly and internet works for wireless devices. But the router device cannot be managed by what should be its reserved IP.
I did a power reset on the router device and I noticed that pings to the DHCP reserved IP address did work for around 10-30 seconds and then loss of pings. I checked my firewall DHCP log and it showed the following:
2017:08:16-07:15:09 firewall dhcpd: DHCPDISCOVER from b0:b9:8a:59:ab:42 via eth0 2017:08:16-07:15:09 firewall dhcpd: DHCPOFFER on 10.4.1.25 to b0:b9:8a:59:ab:42 via eth0 2017:08:16-07:15:14 firewall dhcpd: DHCPREQUEST for 10.4.1.25 (10.4.1.1) from b0:b9:8a:59:ab:42 via eth0 2017:08:16-07:15:14 firewall dhcpd: DHCPACK on 10.4.1.25 to b0:b9:8a:59:ab:42 via eth0 2017:08:16-07:15:19 firewall dhcpd: DHCPDISCOVER from b0:b9:8a:59:ab:42 via eth0 2017:08:16-07:15:19 firewall dhcpd: DHCPOFFER on 10.4.1.25 to b0:b9:8a:59:ab:42 via eth0 2017:08:16-07:15:24 firewall dhcpd: DHCPREQUEST for 10.4.1.25 (10.4.1.1) from b0:b9:8a:59:ab:42 via eth0 2017:08:16-07:15:24 firewall dhcpd: DHCPACK on 10.4.1.25 to b0:b9:8a:59:ab:42 via eth0 2017:08:16-07:16:01 firewall dhcpd: DHCPRELEASE from b0:b9:8a:59:ab:42 specified requested-address. 2017:08:16-07:16:01 firewall dhcpd: DHCPRELEASE of 10.4.1.25 from b0:b9:8a:59:ab:42 via eth0 (not found) 2017:08:16-07:16:01 firewall dhcpd: DHCPRELEASE from b0:b9:8a:59:ab:42 specified requested-address. 2017:08:16-07:16:01 firewall dhcpd: DHCPRELEASE of 10.4.1.25 from b0:b9:8a:59:ab:42 via eth0 (not found)
The HP switch shows the correct MAC address and the IP address (that the firewall has assigned to the RBR50) under the switch's ARP Management: Arp table. RTSP Port fast (aka port edge) was on for the port it was changed to. Turning off Port fast did not help.
Using this self-assigned IP, I was able to get to the management page (after I changed my computer to be in that IP range) and try out the suggested trick of setting the Advanced: Advanced Setup: Router/AP mode to be AP mode (even though it is already selected), and hitting apply. After the Orbi rebooted, it was able to pickup the DHCP reserved IP from the firewall and hold onto it for more than a minute. But only until the next reboot. Then it would do the usual sequence:
1. Obtain from DHCP an IP address. 2. Release the IP address 3. Become self-assigned.
Just to be sure my Sophos UTM was not to blame with some sort of DHCP reservation problem, I cleared the DHCP leases on the firewall. Then I rebooted the orbi but with the reservation removed from the firewall. As expected, the Orbi got an IP from the DHCP pool and then released it 10 seconds later and became self-assigned. Same sort of nonsense recorded in the firewall DHCP log as above, except where ever it said "(not found)", it was showing "(found)"
The trick of "selecting" AP mode and doing a reboot only works until you next reboot the Orbi router. Setting the "Choose IP Address settings on this access point" from "Get dynamically from existing router" to "Use fixed IP Address (not recommended)", and then setting the fixed IP to be the same as the DHCP reservation I had on the firewall, seems to be the best option for me to continue to have a manageable Orbi (so I can see Attached devices), which withstands Orbi reboots. You can only set the fixed IP when in this Router/AP mode screen as the other Internet Setup screens are disabled.
Don't ask me why other people are finding it helpful to do the opposite of what was my solution - going from the Router/AP mode of using "Use fixed IP Address (not recommended)" to "Get dynamically from existing router".
Model: Orbi High-Performance AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi System (RBK50)
Re: UPDATE AND SEEMING RESOLUTION Re: Orbi router solid magenta (not the satellite)
jacher's tip of setting AP Mode's static IP address on the RBR50 router node makes the router node stay on the assigned address as desired for v1.12.0.18 firmware. Thank you very much for the detective work, jacher.
I wish I had returned this Orbi kit. It wastes my time.
Aaargh, I just got a message in the Orbi web console that v2.0.0.72 firmware is available.
Model: Orbi High-Performance AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi System (RBK50)
Re: UPDATE AND SEEMING RESOLUTION Re: Orbi router solid magenta (not the satellite)
My Orbi router web page (no problems with getting remote access management since changing to static IP) shows no update available (yet). And yes, I did add another satellite, set with DHCP reservation, which was able to be seen by the router after I updated its firmware.
I will wait for the next incremental version after 2.0.0.72 before upgrading/rocking the boat potentially.
Just a quick update from my perspective. The date is Sept 15, 2017. I use my Orbi system as an access point (AP) and not as a full up router.
No new firmware is available that I can see. The Orbi does not see any new firmware nor does the Netgear website offer any new firmware. Latest version is 1.12.0.18. The magenta light error on the main Orbi router has been present for over 6 weeks at my place. Does not matter whether I use a fixed IP assigned to the Orbi or allow DHCP to assign an IP.
As far as I can see, the magenta error light basically signals "Web Interface Offline - System NOT controllable by web browser interface". All other functions seem to work fine. This is a very annoying fault that Netgear should fix immediately. The hardware seems well thought out but they really need to put a little TLC into the software.
Model: Orbi High-Performance AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi System (RBK50)
....No new firmware is available that I can see. The Orbi does not see any new firmware nor does the Netgear website offer any new firmware. Latest version is 1.12.0.18....
The links to the 2.0 firmware can be found in the following thread:
I would avoid the firmware in these links. This firmware was pulled back and taken off the official download page for " futher testing". In other posts on this message board, you will see Orbi users who tried this firmware and had issues.
Model: Orbi High-Performance AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi System (RBK50)
I would avoid the firmware in these links. This firmware was pulled back and taken off the official download page for " futher testing". In other posts on this message board, you will see Orbi users who tried this firmware and had issues.
Not wishing to argue, but if you are already experiencing severe 'hair pulling' issues, there is not much reason to avoid the pre-release beta firmware that has been posted. This is not alpha firmware. I just updated my RBK3000 with the two satallites and everything is behaving. I am still not turning on UPnP but the release feels solid and even a little faster than previous firmware. If it remains solid for the next week, I'll turn on UPnP and see if that works now.
I have a 4G internet connection in a Huawei b315, working also as a router (and i can't put it in brigde mode, so i have to usea de orbi in AP mode), in the third plant of the house.
Before yesterday i also had a Netgear RT6400 (just working as a AP+Switch, connected with cable to the huawei), a TP-Link switch (connected to the netgear) in the second plant. Finally i had a tp-link repeater RE450 in the first plant wireless connected to the netgear.
Yesterday i put down the netgear router, the tp-link repeater, and turned off the huawei wifi. Then i connect the orbi router in the place of the netgear rt6400, and the satellite in the place of the tp-link repeater. Everything was fine! i could setup it fast and with no problem, set the router in AP mode with a fixed ip, connect all the devices to the new wifi (16 in total)... and i was very happy, just one ssid that covers all my house! Hue Lights, Netatmo camera, thermostat, weather station, smartphones, tablets, laptops, tv, xbox, mediaplayers, satbox, Nas... all working fine.
This morning: The router has the ***** magenta light... (satellite was fine) I have to go to work, so i could not check it properly, but i think that this is the only problem... i can access the nas, and lights and other stuff from my work, so inetnet is working...
Will come back when i get home and could check the web ui and other stuff, and try the "solutions" you found.
