One of my "go to" diagnosis tools is to capture LAN/WAN traffic and analyze it with Wireshark. Since system memory is so small, I usually capture LAN/WAN packets to a USB stick that is formatted ext2 (Linux standard). When I tried it last week, up came a message
"There are no USB devices connected to the router!"
This was obviously incorrect, I have discovered that Orbi firmware 2.5.2.4 and 2.7.0.70 will both save LAN/WAN data to USB sticks, but every firmware since claims there is no USB device. i.e.
2.5.2.4 - Works
2.7.0.70 - Works
2.6.1.40 - Fails
2.7.1.60 - Fails
2.7.2.102 - Fails
2.7.2.104 - Fails
Tried on two different RBR50's with several USB sticks.
If this is a deliberate decision on the part of Netgear engineers to restrict the USB port only to printers and not allow a USB stick to be connected, then (a) it would have been nice to have this mentioned in the "Release Notes" for new firmware, and (b) Maybe the Orbi "debug" page should be corrected to eliminate the USB option. On the other hand, if this change was not deliberate, then maybe someone might want to investigate how it happened.
I have wondered if it would be a good investment to pay the $140 so I can call Gearhead about issues like this for a year, but I have a suspicion that nobody at Gearhead would have any worthwhile information nor any way to contact someone who does.
I sent a private message to a forum moderator and have not heard back. Does anyone have a way to ask Netgear if this change was deliberate? Or, can anyone think of a way to restore the USB port capability?
It is demoralizing that Netgear tinkered with something that was working. I understand that the original Orbi router was the only one with a USB port and the replacement model has none. So, "what's the big deal? No current Orbi's have USB ports. That code is useless."
So, I can debug a problem using LAN/WAN capture to USB, but not with the current firmware. What good is it to document how a previous firmware release functioned?
