I woke up and had an immediate phone call I need to make for work. Needless to say, all my devices were dropping from WIFI. I switched to the cell network. Problem solved.
But I knew what the problem was. Orbi auto updated to its GA 1.10.1.2 release AGAIN.
Rolled back to beta 1.10.0.1 and things are back to “normal”.
Thanks, Netgear
Anyone still feel that auto update is a good thing, or required?
As a seasoned IT professional I am astounded Netgear has hardcodes autoupdates, especially when we're talking about a networking device. I understand this is consumer grade but still, ridiculous.
Microsoft on the desktop and server platforms does have autoupdates but it's configurable with several different options so one can do it manually. Synology on the NAS side has done the same thing and Apple provides notifications that updates are available but I don't believe they autoupdates.
We're talking software here. There is no reason to not provide customers the ability to disable autoupdates and implement steps to how Microsoft and Synology have for their products except if you want to control everything.
Based on this on how Support was one-way I'm starting to understand how Netgear works. Your customers are not all mindless idiots. You have smart people wanting to use your products. Give your customers and those potentially to be the capabilities and options.
Well, I must be fair and honest (as my parents raised me to be)....
Netgear provided me with a NEW Beta this morning. I applied it immediately. About 8AM PST.
Almost 14 hours and not single problem.
WIFI-Calling is working well. No random drops I can see.
Today was a busy day in the home. 2 AppleTVs running, family on the iPads. A few Webex and Skype meetings with VoIP, and plenty of general internet use.
Not one problem I could see.
Is it possible they found a solution to make Orbi work?
I will give another update by Monday, if not sooner.
P.S. Why am I scared?
Now, if Netgear has Orbi to a BASELINE working condition, CAN WE PLEASE GET SOME PROGRESS ON OUR SUGGESTIONS AND PROMISES, such as No Auto-Updates, True MESH abilty, improved connected devices information (RSSI, MCS Rate), Maybe work on that Orbi App that "for me" is useless, etc., etc, etc. Getting us out of the red-zone is not the definition of improvement. Orbi should have been working right since day one, and evolved into something better by now. Now that it MAY be working right, its OVERDUE to make Orbi better.
Well this is encouraging - fingers crossed! I've had multiple internet drop outs and have sinced switched off the satellites (2 of them) - no drops outs for more than a week!
My Messages was for flash. I receiver the 1.11.0.8 yesterday but sinne I have lost hope that Netgear actually gonna manage to fix all issues I didn’t care to test it.
But if its works as well as flash saying I maybe should give the new beta a try...
I tested the 1.11.0.8 beta today and after 20 minutes got the first iOS Wifi disconnection (like with every previous firmware version, too). I sent them debug logs, but I'm quite pessimistic that it will get fixed soon or ever....
1.11.0.8 seems to be very much stable. So far so good but I’ve only been running that version for a few hours so I will not say that Netgear solved anything. But it sure looks promising...
I said it was a good day yesterday with this new beta. But that was only 14-15 hours before the day was over.
I will update in 24-48 hours. It would not be the first time a Netgear firmware seemed promising, then tanked hours or a day later.
But I was TRYING to be positive yesterday.
What bothers me is, if it took Netgear this LONG to fix the Orbi problems, then how long until we see evolutions and Orbi made better?
The Multi-AP playground is getting crowded, and with Google, Luma, Eero, Unifu, and the other MESH OEMs learning and improving...AND...ASUS (Netgear's closest competitor in my opinion) still not in the game. What happens when ASUS Lyra comes to market and the other OEMs improve.
Will Netgear still be KING with Orbi. It’s easy to be KING when you are the only person in the game with a dedicated backhaul.
Lyra is going to have a dedicated backhaul using 5Ghz, it will be TRUE MESH from day 1. It will be Orbi on steroids. I have no doubt the ASUS Dev team has been watching Netgear Orbi and delaying Lyra to insure it doesn’t fall victim to the same problems. And ASUS being the company we know. It will most likely have auto-updates optional, and many requests we have made to Netgear.
My concern with those on this forum is, we have been dealing with Orbi problems so long now that simply making Orbi do its “basic job” may be viewed as a good thing. When in fact these problems should not have existed, or been fixed much faster...and we still have not seen a SINGLE request we have made implemented.
What does that tell us? Maybe we will see one or two requests 1 FULL YEAR after Orbi release?
The only reason I have not replaced Orbi is:
I promised my wife I would not replace Orbi 6 months after I bought it.
I cannot get my money back.
The other Google and Eero and Luma and UBNT systems all have their deficiencies. But are all more stable than Orbi which for me matters the most. Netgear, what good is FAST is it drops our connections every 30 minutes?
Trying to be patient and see what ASUS and others come out with this year. Long story short, Orbi is a version 1.0 product and based on how Netgear has handled us these past months, it will most likely stay a 1.0 product.
I have provided Netgear with my review of their latest beta firmware.
I have recommended they release it for GA quickly. I believe it will solve many stability problems.
For me. It has been stable. Far better than there last GA release. About the same, if not “a little” better than beta 1.10.0.1 which I used for a while and prevented me reaching for the Advil bottle.
However, I am still holding them accountable for:
Option to disable auto updates.
Better GUI visibility for connected clients. RSSI, MCS, and which node they are connected.
True Mesh ability. No reason those Sat nodes can’t be used as extensions to other Sat nodes.
If Netgear could simply handle those modifications then I think Orbi will be good enough to pass itself as a “Premium” product.
May mercy on Netgear’s soul be given if Lyra and other products are released and/or updated before Orbi has these simple and required changes.
If they push another GA release that brings Orbi back to the disconnect world. I will EBay this thing faster than they can respond with another beta.
