Re: Orbi RBR40 no longer providing wifi, does not light up anymore

Swift_ · ‎2019-11-15

As of this morning, my Orbi RBR40 is no longer providing my wifi network to any device. It seems to have just stopped working altogether. The light on top of the Orbi no longer lights up at all, although to be fair it had stopped lighting up a few months ago, but I thought that was just it's normal function because the wifi worked great without any light.

I have a RBW30 Satellite that was showing magenta this morning (that's what tipped me off that something was wrong). It seems to be working ok at least, except of course that you can't get a connection through it because the main one is not providing the wifi network. What I mean is that the light on top appears to be giving the normal responses you would expect when I unplug it and plug it back in.

The RBR40 does not provide a wifi network according to 3 HP PC laptops and 2 Galaxy S-10 phones. It is just not broadcasting anything that my phone picks up.

Things I've tried with the RBR40:

Restarted the Orbi
Unplugged power cable, waited 10 seconds, plugged back in
Pressed the reset button with a paperclip
Pushed the reset button for 10 seconds, and kept it held in when I turned off the power via the switch. Still kept holding it when I powered back on and kept holding for another 10-20 seconds. The power light was apparently meant to flash a couple of times during all that - nothing.
I tried contacting support through the site, and it said that I am no longer in my warranty period (I bought the Orbi in April, so the warranty expired in July). It suggested coming here.

After all of these, the result is that the Orbi power light is on (the small green led on the back panel), but the light on top does not light up at all in any color. Also, no Orbi18 wireless network is found on my phone. If I plug the satellite back in, my phone sees my wifi, and of course when I connect to it, I get no internet (because the RBR40 is unresponsive).

It appears to me that my Orbi is now a paperweight with a really nice feel to it. I am quite disappointed that this wifi router did not even last me 7 full months of usage! There was no damage to the Orbi, and there is no tension on any of the cables. It's up quite a ways off the floor (at eye level), so my granddaughter would not have messed with it. It has no visible damage, and there was no power surge yesterday evening or this morning. No water damage - kept dry inside the house at room temperature. Power light still lights up, but no wifi or top LED light.

Call me old-fashioned, but I love dealing with companies who stand behind their product by replacing them if they are defective. Netgear has always provided top quality products in my experience, so maybe I should be hopeful? Of course, if there's something I could try to resurrect it, I'll give it a go!

Thanks in advance!

Information:

Product Model: RBR40

Serial Number: *************

Purchase Date: 2019-04-21

CrimpOn · ‎2019-11-16

@Swift_ wrote:

I tried contacting support through the site, and it said that I am no longer in my warranty period (I bought the Orbi in April, so the warranty expired in July). It suggested coming here.
Information:
Product Model: RBR40
Serial Number: *************
Purchase Date: 2019-04-21

I believe the product warranty is 1 year. Netgear provides 90 days of telephone support. There is a method to request a replacement. (Will have to search the forum for what it is.)

View solution in original post

Freon · ‎2019-11-15

Exactly same thing here. I noticed that a new firmware was released yesterday. Very likely that the upgrade bricked the RBR40. No happy either as I spent quite some money for the whole setup with some extra satellites. I've just spent hours trying to 'resurect' the unit. No love there. I've ordered a replacement unit as I can do without internet. Glad my old Airport Extreme is still working.

CrimpOn · ‎2019-11-15

A few observations:

The "Ring Light" at the top of the Orbi goes through a progression of colors when the Orbi powers up, and is completely OFF when the Orbi is functioning normally. (People are annoyed by a bright light in their bedrooms!) https://kb.netgear.com/31030/What-do-the-LEDs-on-my-Orbi-mean

The "factory reset" is done by sticking something into the tiny "Reset" hole next to the power plug (such as the end of a paperclip), holding the paperclip in until the LED turns amber and then begins to flash. This can take longer than 10 seconds.

Swift_ · ‎2019-11-16

Yep, I knew that the ring light was out with normal operation, and yes that is a good idea. However, the light does not come on at all now even when the internet is not available. I would have expected the magenta light, but got nothing.

And yes I tried the reset. I put the paperclip in as I mentioned. I had it in there for about 90 seconds overall when I tried the procedure mentioned by another forum message. The light never flashed, and never turned amber. I just tried it again for about 60 seconds, no amber light. There is a satisfying click for the reset button, so I know I am clicking it correctly. I tried pushing it, and turning the power off then on, and leaving it pushed for another 30 seconds. Nothing. As I said in my OP, I tried that already.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

CrimpOn · ‎2019-11-16

@Swift_ wrote:

I tried contacting support through the site, and it said that I am no longer in my warranty period (I bought the Orbi in April, so the warranty expired in July). It suggested coming here.
Information:
Product Model: RBR40
Serial Number: *************
Purchase Date: 2019-04-21

I believe the product warranty is 1 year. Netgear provides 90 days of telephone support. There is a method to request a replacement. (Will have to search the forum for what it is.)

Swift_ · ‎2019-11-16

CrimpOn you were correct! I was able to process the return request through a different link, and they are going to send me out another one. I had to pay for the shipping unless I wanted to ship them the old unit and wait until it arrived before they shipped me the new one. That's a weird policy. Either way, they are going to ship me another one. The support call engineer asked me to reset the orbi one more time, and had me hold the paperclip in there for 30 seconds. It still did not flash amber after that time, and so she went ahead and processed the RMA. Are we to therefore assume this is a known issue with this RBR40 device? Or at least, that they have seen this before?

Thank you for the help. I wish I had a simple software solution to fix the problem (in case others come to this thread with a similar issue), but it appears as perhaps the hardware itself is defective in my situation...

CrimpOn · ‎2019-11-16

When companies manufacture thousands of a product, some of them are going to break.

Glad Netgear came through for you.