Orbi not showing up as WiFi choice

[Justin1975]

Orbi acting up... the main router has no white ring showing and no orbi WiFi is showing up on our devices. The power light is still ok. Tried to turn off and back on. Tried reset button. Unplugged for 1/2 hour, nothing works. This happened about 3 months ago, and somehow after about 1/2 a day it started working again. Any ideas or is it just dying? How to trouble shoot further? Thanks.

[CrimpOn]

Can you please provide a little more detail.

• The "ring light" at the top  of the Orbi router goes through a sequence of colors when the unit power up:
  https://kb.netgear.com/31030/What-do-the-LEDs-on-my-Orbi-mean 
  At the conclusion, there normally is no "ring light".
  When power is applied to the Orbii router, does it follow the color sequence on the web page, or .... what?
  Plus, I am always impatient at the time it takes for my Orbi to start running.  "It's a computer", I mumble. "Why is it taking so long?"
  
• Which WiFi name are you expecting to see?
  When the Orbi comes "out of the box" or is "Reset to Factory", the WiFi name (SSID) and password match the information printed on the product label (bottom of the unit).
  During setup, a lot of people elect to change the WiFi name and password.  (I, for example, set up each new WiFi system to exactly match the one it is replacing so that (a) I do not have to reconfigure all 35 WiFi devices around the house, and (b) so that if I decide "this was a mistake", I can go back by simply unplugging the new WiFi and restoring the old one.)
  Are you looking for the original Orbi WiFi or one that you configured?
  
• Note that having WiFi and having "internet" are two different issues, and what we are talking about is only the Orbi WiFi showing up.

[Justin1975]

Just without warning or reason (no storm, electrical outages) noticed devices that normally use orbi were now disconnected from internet. On available WiFi signals on phone for example, orbi did not show up anymore. Our provider that the orbi is plugged into, centurylink is working fine and that WiFi works fine. So back to the orbi, powered it off and back on, unplugged for an hour, those things don’t cause it to start working again. The power light is on however. Did the paperclip in the reset, nothing happens. LED ring does not do anything. The remote orbi has the magenta ring lit, meaning not getting the signal, correct.

So the orbi, while powered and showing “on” is not transmitting a WiFi signal to connect to. We never changed the name, it was just orbi74. Not showing as a choice and again things connected to it like Alexa now don’t work.

[CrimpOn]

If it is less than one year old, it is covered by warranty and can be replaced.

Can you please describe what happens when you perform the "Factory Reset" (power LED colors, etc.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMw4ePACgc4 

[Justin1975]

It is about 3 years old unfortunately.

When trying factory reset, nothing changes. The power light does not turn to amber as the video shows and the ring does not light up at all. Definitely feel the “click” of the button depressed when putting in the paper clip. Held it for up to a minute.

[CrimpOn]

If the regular factory reset process doesn't work, @michaelkenward described an undocumented way to get an Orbi to factory reset:

Press paperclip in reset hole for 30 seconds
Keep pressing paperclip while removing power
Keep pressing paperclip for another 30 seconds while apply power

If this also fails, there is "one last thing" that can be tried: forcing firmware to the router using the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP), which is described in these articles (one for Windows, one for Mac):

https://kb.netgear.com/000059633/How-to-upload-firmware-to-a-NETGEAR-router-using-TFTP-client

https://kb.netgear.com/000059634/How-to-upload-firmware-to-a-NETGEAR-router-using-Windows-TFTP