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Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973

Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

dazzywazzy
Star

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

You can try two things.


- Go down to 1.10 or 1.11 first, then 1.9. You may need to go 1.11, then 1.10, then 1.9

- Factory reset both then go down to 1.9

 

Good luck

Message 501 of 810
cohoman
Star

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

Ok, after several page refreshes I was FINALLY able to get the main router and satellites firmware downgraded to V1.9.1.12. What an ordeal.

Now, after rebooting everything the main router is on the older V1.9.1.12 but the two satellite routers are back to the V1.12.0.18. They somehow upgraded themselves even though I logged into both of them and changed the nvram settings.

Crap. I'm giving up now. This is just not worth the hassle. Tomorrow I'm taking these back to Costco and will try a single router approach. Thanks for everyone's feedback and help.

Message 502 of 810
dazzywazzy
Star

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

Did you copy the NVRAM settings I posted, or someone elses?

Message 503 of 810
cohoman
Star

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion


@dazzywazzy wrote:

Did you copy the NVRAM settings I posted, or someone elses?


Your's, I believe. I set the nvram settings for the router and the satellites.

Message 504 of 810
dazzywazzy
Star

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

Using the below, I've not had the router or satellite update for 8 days now

 

FWIW my NVRAM settings which I changed are below

 

Router:

 

orbi_auto_upgrade=0

orbi_auto_upg=0

auto_update=0

auto_check_for_upgrade=0

auto_upgrade_flag=0

fwupgrade_Method=MANUAL

 

Satellite:

 

auto_check_for_upgrade=0

auto_upgrade_flag=0

fwupgrade_Method=MANUAL

 

Settings I'm monitoring but haven't changed as I don't know the outcome

 

Router:

 

detect_update=899798033

manual_upgrade=109908109666630

green_download_upgrade_stat=0
upgrade_satellite_image=109908109666630

 

Satellite:

 

upg_status=1

upgrade_check=49902240

Message 505 of 810
cohoman
Star

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

@dazzywazzy wrote:

Using the below, I've not had the router or satellite update for 8 days now

 

FWIW my NVRAM settings which I changed are below

 

Router:

 

orbi_auto_upgrade=0

orbi_auto_upg=0

auto_update=0

auto_check_for_upgrade=0

auto_upgrade_flag=0

fwupgrade_Method=MANUAL

 

Satellite:

 

auto_check_for_upgrade=0

auto_upgrade_flag=0

fwupgrade_Method=MANUAL

 

Settings I'm monitoring but haven't changed as I don't know the outcome

 

Router:

 

detect_update=899798033

manual_upgrade=109908109666630

green_download_upgrade_stat=0
upgrade_satellite_image=109908109666630

 

Satellite:

 

upg_status=1

upgrade_check=49902240


Yup, that's what I used. I modified those 3 specific settings on the satellite and did the "nvram commit" when I was done. For some reason, the satellite firmware upgraded to the newest version after I rebooted the satellite devices.

Message 506 of 810
dazzywazzy
Star

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

Could try changing upg_status=1 to upg_status=0 on the Satellite....If you feel like spending more time of course.

Message 507 of 810
gbjackson
Apprentice

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion


@TXGunLover wrote:

No spaces in my WIFI password- wish the problem was that simple.


I was told the same thing, but it didn't make a difference.  Also, as someone else pointed out, not supporting spaces as part of a password would make the router non-compliant with basic wi fi standards.  


 

Message 508 of 810
scornwell
Apprentice

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

Six weeks, 21 pages, 509 comments, no meaningful response from Netgear. 

 

Message 509 of 810
bwherry
Star

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

So I _thought_ things were good w/ V1.9.1.12, but I discovered a few problems:

1. None of our Macs could properly connect to the wifi. They would always get a "self-assigned" IP of 269.something and not be able to access the Internet (despite being "connected" to the wifi). Some kind of DHCP issue it seems.

2. Our Apple TV couldn't connect to the Internet - same problem with 269.* IP address as the Macs.

3. The speed would start okay (around 115 Mbps down) but deteriorate over the course of a few hours - down to like 40 Mbps.

After discovering these problems, I tried the 1.10.whatever and 1.11.something firmware versions too, but the problems remained.

Despite its terrible flaw of dropping satellite connection, the V1.12.0.18 firmware fixes all of these issues. Of course! Ugh. My satellite is located in a detached home office and the three wired computers I have in there depend on it for their Internet. So my current options are to have good wifi speed, wifi to the Macs and a working Apple TV (on the latest firmware) or a connected satellite (on the older firmware). Sigh.

Maybe I'll try the factory reset thing on V1.12.0.18 and just hope to not lose power.

This really sucks. I was looking at the Linksys Velop but in all the reviews I found they say the Orbi is better. C'mon Netgear, get this fixed already!!

Brian
Message 510 of 810
scornwell
Apprentice

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

Message 511 of 810
RogerSC
Virtuoso

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

You don't have to look at Amazon reviews, you can look at the tech reviews on the internet for the Orbi and Google WiFi. As to "fakespot", I haven't found it helpful. I don't really know what sort of algorithms they use, but as far as I've experienced, they aren't much good. Maybe they'll get better, or maybe I don't look at the sort of products where it would be helpful, but they've been wrong most of the time that I looked at their results. Gave up on them after a few tries.

 

 

Message 512 of 810
scornwell
Apprentice

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

@RogerSC 

 

Fair call. Tech reviews are notoriously awful for products like this because they generally represent short term use at a single point in time for a product that changes over time. The same applies to customer reviews really.

Message 513 of 810
n4cho
Apprentice

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

I am also gettign frequent disconects on 1.12.0.18.  Is the best option to just wait for an upgrade or jump through all these hoops to downgrade?

Message 514 of 810
Retired_Member
Not applicable

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion


@n4cho wrote:

I am also gettign frequent disconects on 1.12.0.18.  Is the best option to just wait for an upgrade or jump through all these hoops to downgrade?


It's been out for about 6 weeks, so it's up to you.  No word from Netgear on if they're aware of how bad, or widespread it is, or if a fix is on the way.

Message 515 of 810
alberts
Star

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

Netgear support  offers to replace  my satelittes. I have three and dont know which of them is "Defect"

 

Has anybody  went through  such a replace action with the problem of disconnects solved ?

 

II'am not sure  all the effort of replacing  the satelittes does any good if the firmware is the big issue (what it clearly seems to be)

 

Will be interesting in Germany we have 2 years warranty by law, not just 90 days ...

 

Albert

Model: Orbi High-Performance AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi System (RBK50)
Message 516 of 810
nxc
Apprentice
Apprentice

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

So, I seem to have fixed my issues on the latest firmware (1.12). After going back and forth a number of times and playing with various NVRAM settings, I decided to start from scratch. Here's exactly what I did:

 

  1. Enable telnet and sign into the router.
  2. nvram erase
  3. nvram commit
  4. reboot

Items 2-4 above are commands to enter into the console. Once it's rebooted, sign into the admin panel and then restore firmware defaults.

 

After doing this, running latest firmware, my WiFi and wired speeds are super fast. I'm getting over 900Mbps wired on Speedtest, and my iPhone 7 Plus is regularly exceeding 300Mbps down and goes over 400Mbps up.

 

I strongly suspect that corrupt NVRAM settings are the source of these problems. Whether it's bad defaults or perhaps corruption when upgrading, the end result is pain. I also think the QoS implementation is the main source of the problem. As others have noted, re-running the Speed Test seems to help things, but I think the key to a working 1.12 installation is to NEVER RUN THE SPEED TEST. The instant you run it the router saves the results and the problems set in. If you reset to defaults and never touch the speedtest settings you may find it improves things.

 

As always, YMMV. Hope this helps somebody.

Model: Orbi High-Performance AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi System (RBK50)
Message 517 of 810
bwherry
Star

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

@scornwell I was referring to tech reviews on places like Tom's Guide, etc. - not Amazon reviews. I'll take them all with a grain of salt, but still, the Orbi does seem to be the better hardware - especially for my needs, where having the built-in 4-port ethernet switch on the satellite is really nice.

 

For others, like @alberts wondering about hardware replacements, I've been there, done that. Before I discovered that the V1.12.0.18 firmware was problematic, I just figured there was something wrong with my satellite (since we still had wifi w/ good performance from the router). So I purchased a new satellite. Didn't help - I could never get that new satellite to sync with the router. So, "The router must be the problem," I thought. So I then purchased a brand new RBK50 system (consisting of the RBR50 router and one RBS50 satellite). That worked fine for a few days, then the satellite stopped syncing, just like before. Ugh! At this point I searched more and found this thread - so I plugged in my old router/satellite, did the factory resets and downgraded the firmware. And lo and behold, the satellite started syncing again. (but there were other problems with the older firmware, which I discovered later - see my previous posts)

 

HTH,

 

Brian

Message 518 of 810
bwherry
Star

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

@nxc that's very promising, thanks for the post! With the nvram erase, etc. that you did, is your satellite connecting/syncing correctly with the router, on the V1.12.0.18 firmware?

Message 519 of 810
gbjackson
Apprentice

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

@nxc To clarify, which particular sort of problems were you having?

Message 520 of 810
RogerSC
Virtuoso

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

One advantage to using the Orbi as an AP is that when you do a factory reset or clear nvram to get a fresh start, there's little configuration to be done. So I have less temptation to restore a saved configuraton file that might itself be corrupt. I agree that simply flashing a router time after time without ever resetting and renewing one's configuration settings is an invitation to problems. While I don't see the need to do this for every flash, especially since Netgear doesn't say that it's required, it is good to do this when problems come up. If only to verify that problems are really firmware problems as opposed to accumulated nvram corruption problems. No router is immune to those.

Message 521 of 810
nxc
Apprentice
Apprentice

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion


@gbjackson wrote:

@nxc To clarify, which particular sort of problems were you having?


I had a variety of issues. At least once a day the satellite would disconnect. I’d see it flashing the light for a bit as it fixed itself. Sometimes it needed a manual reboot to reconnect. In general, I was seeing very slow wireless and wired speeds. WiFi speeds would top out around 60-70 Mbps. Wired would reach around double that. After reflashing and testing a variety of things it seems to be to be squarely a problem with QoS settings. Regardless of what I tried, once I ran a Speedtest, problems started. Even messing with the Speedtest results in NVRAM wouldn’t fix it. Obviously I’ll need to watch and see what happens, but everything is flying fast and reliably now.

Message 522 of 810
bsemerick
Guide

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion


@ArtLee wrote:

@JMU1998 wrote:

@OrbiMan it is not only the signal strength as bogus as100% for ALL devices but also all show as wired and NO link speeds did Netgear even test this? 


I suspect they didn't test it. Sounds like no one is reporting it is working as intended. 


Once I got everything set up finally (originally my closet with my eletronics seemed to be killing the signal) everything mostly worked, except I had the two white flashes over and over forever.  I downgraded to the previous version.

 

Message 523 of 810
JMU1998
Luminary

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

@bsemerick the issue with the Orbi app for Android and iOS is still there and can be reproduce on demand all devices show as wired, with 100% signal strength even wireless show as wired I have mentioned this to Netgear Engineering and Moderators several times in many posts DarrenM even acknowledged Engineering is aware but no fix or ETA mentioned been 2 months or more

Message 524 of 810
bsemerick
Guide

Re: Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion


@JMU1998 wrote:

@bsemerick the issue with the Orbi app for Android and iOS is still there and can be reproduce on demand all devices show as wired, with 100% signal strength even wireless show as wired I have mentioned this to Netgear Engineering and Moderators several times in many posts DarrenM even acknowledged Engineering is aware but no fix or ETA mentioned been 2 months or more


Ah I see.  I'm new to Orbi, so all I know is the experience with my setup this weekend.  On my iPhone it shows the correct wifi/wired devices and the wifi strength, even remotely.  So far so good.....

Message 525 of 810
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