This topic has been marked solved and closed to new posts due to inactivity. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.
RBE960 says it's not connected to the internet when it is, time and date are wrong in ntp settings
So I'm currently connected to our RBRE960 mesh wifi system to post this, so I'm confused as to what is going on with the system.
Network wise the system is in ap-mode, connected to a firewall device running pfsense which also provides the dhcp services, ntp services, and dns forwarding. I previously updated the router and it's satellites to V6.3.7.5 manually as the system wouldn't see an available update since I purchased it (even when connected directly to the cable modem).
In the advanced -> ntp settings, I've tried both connect to Netgear default and used the various local ip addresses (such as 127.0.0.1) that the ntp service reports listening on. Regardless of the choice it says that it can't connect to any selection or manual entry. It says the current time is VWednesday, 28 Sep 2022 16:34:21 when its Nov 28, 2022 19:32:xx EST. I am unusure if this time setting it causing any other issues.
If Iook at the basic or advanced home page, it shows the Internet status as switching between "waiting" and "not connected". When I run a speed test, it also doesn't connect. I've set a floating rule in the firewall section to log any traffic coming from or going to the static IP address of the main router (not the satellites though) and after running the speed test or applying different ntp settings all I can usually see is ICMP traffic going from the router to the firewalll's internal static IP address, with the occasional UPD to the same address to port 137 (all the same port I think, but I haven't double checked)
So the question becomes, where should the Orbi router be trying to go to if it's set to default Netgear ntp? What is it trying to connect to for it's speed test? I can run Ookla's speedtest.net on my laptop that is connected to the internet via the Orbi router system (it should be to the main unit as that's the closest proximity and doesn't have any obstructions (walls, floors, ceiling) whereas the satellites do. So my assumption is that if the net addresses aren't being blocked for my laptop, then if the Orbi uses the same, they shouldn't be blocked.
While there are some IP addresses that are blocked based on various feeds, none of them should be blocking either service (I wouldn't think, again can run oookla's web page based test). Other than that the only other restriction is that traffic for DNS port 53 and DNS over TLS 853 is redirected to the local ip dns resolver/forward where it is forwarded via tls to 3 different dns providers (cloudflare, opendns, and quad9). This is simply because I get annoyed at devices having a specified dns in their programming and ignore the configuration provided by the dhcp server (roku loves to constantly try to send to google's 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 and hey google has enough info on me already, it doesn't need any more). Could that DNS redirect be interfering with Netgear's checks?
I don't recall the system having this problem prior to the bios updates. Did I miss a step?
Re: RBE960 says it's not connected to the internet when it is, time and date are wrong in ntp settin
So after going through a variety of settings in pfsense that had any possibility of interfering with the internet speed test web page button and the ntp server date/time connections, I found nothing that resolved the problem.
I did though find a solution, which was factory reset for the entire Orbi setup. After setting everything back to their same settings as prior to the reset, their connection speed test and ntp time sync both functioned properly. My only guess is that the Orbi's configuration got corrupted somehow. Sadly, as Netgear encrypts it I couldn't examine the backup cfg file to determine what setting(s) were wrong in the file.
Anyway, thanks for the help, just wish I didn't have to go through the whole reset and reconfigure everything on it again. Oh well.
Re: RBE960 says it's not connected to the internet when it is, time and date are wrong in ntp settin
So after going through a variety of settings in pfsense that had any possibility of interfering with the internet speed test web page button and the ntp server date/time connections, I found nothing that resolved the problem.
I did though find a solution, which was factory reset for the entire Orbi setup. After setting everything back to their same settings as prior to the reset, their connection speed test and ntp time sync both functioned properly. My only guess is that the Orbi's configuration got corrupted somehow. Sadly, as Netgear encrypts it I couldn't examine the backup cfg file to determine what setting(s) were wrong in the file.
Anyway, thanks for the help, just wish I didn't have to go through the whole reset and reconfigure everything on it again. Oh well.
I have verified that it works on older Orbi config files. Would be interesting to hear if it works on the RBE960 config file as well.
p.s. Often when there is 'garbage' in the system, it is not part of the official config that is saved. Sometimes, a Factory Reset and reloading the saved config file solves the problem.
