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RBR20 Solid Magenta LED, no help!

uniquetukie
Aspirant

RBR20 Solid Magenta LED, no help!

Hi all, I recently ran into a situation where my Orbi RBR20 will not connect. Since about November, I've been chatting on and off with Support and this is what's happened:

 

First the problem was blamed on the 50+ DoS attacks I receive each day. They asked me to ask Spectrum to reprovision my modem.  They came by and installed a brand new Hitron modem.  That worked OK for a while.

 

I called Support again, and this time they manually installed a Firmware update to V2.3.5.36.  Again, it worked a little while. I kept having all the DoS attacks though, and when they came through in bunches (several within seconds of each other) the Router would stop working. Netgear Support blamed my cable company (again) but when I connected my laptop directly to my cable modem I had a great signal.

 

The last time I called Netgear Support was because the ring LED was solid magenta and I could not get any Internet.  I could connect to the router, but no internet.  Support told me that my router's software had to be reprogrammed but since my router was outside the 90-day complimentary service window, it would cost money to go any further. I was shocked -- no one else at Netgear had mentioned that I need to pay for support, the Router is less than a year old.  So I tried to submit a claim to Squaretrade and they refused, saying it was still under warranty.  I am quite upset with Netgear for trying to shift blame to my cable company and then telling me my router was out of warranty even though previous Support people made a point of telling me that I was in fact still under warranty. 

 

I am wondering if anyone out there has dealt with this sort of problem and how they were able to fix it. The ring LED is a solid magenta and the router cannot locate an IP address.  When I hook the laptop to the router, there is still no internet.  I've tried changing a few settings (can't recall which and can't access orbilogin.net) but all under the direction of Netgear support.  Any help would be very much appreciated.  I'm an amateur but I'm trying to learn as much as I can so I can fix these problems. I would love to get my Orbi to work, other than all these problems it has been a perfect modem for my family.

Model: RBR20|Orbi AC2200 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 1 of 6
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: RBR20 Solid Magenta LED, no help!


@uniquetukie wrote:

The last time I called Netgear Support was because the ring LED was solid magenta and I could not get any Internet. 


I can appreciate your frustration.  It is true that Netgear provides a 1 year warranty, but only 90 days of "complimentary" support.  I have seen several instances where Netgear replaced Orbi's under warranty, but past the 90 day support period.  In every case, my memory is that one of the forum moderators interceded with Netgear.  (Since my Orbi remains going strong, I lack personal experience with the process.)

 

The key to me is "solid magenta".  Netgear provides a description of the expected behavior of the Orbi ring LED's:

https://kb.netgear.com/31030/What-do-the-LEDs-on-my-Orbi-router-and-satellite-mean 

Glancing over the web page, there is NO situation where the router ring LED would remain solid magenta for any period of time.

The only solid magenta is on the Orbi satellite when it cannot get an IP address from the router, and then only for 10 seconds.

 

My guess is that the appropriate diagnostic is to power the modem and Orbi off.  Wait a minute.  Power the modem on and wait until the lights stabilize. (1-2 minutes).  Power the Orbi on and observe the sequence of ring lights.  The router should be solid white while it powers up, and then go off.  If this is not what happens, then either (a) Netgear's documentation is incorrect, or (b) the router is faulty.

 

(Because I hope for a faster solution than an RMA (Return Material Authorization), I would then "factory reset" the Orbi, in hopes that would "clear out any cobwebs" and go through the power on sequence again.  If it still remains SOLID MAGENTA, it's time to call for a warranty replacement.

 

You mentioned SquareTrade.  Was this purchased from Costco?

Message 2 of 6
uniquetukie
Aspirant

Re: RBR20 Solid Magenta LED, no help!

Thank you for your reply. For some reason I can't do a factory reset that is really a factory reset. The name of the network stays the same. I tried the extreme hard reset, of pressing the reset button while I plugged and unplugged the modem and router, then plugging them back in while still pressing reset. The power button turned red, so I pressed it on. It turned green and the LED cycle went blinking white to solid white and then to solid magenta. The name of the old internet connection showed up, along with Netgear64 and Netgear44 (neither of which I can access with any combination of old password or original factory creds. It's baffling. 😣🤬
Model: RBR20|Orbi AC2200 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 3 of 6
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: RBR20 Solid Magenta LED, no help!

An Orbi that will not "factory reset" would seem to be defective and eligible for replacement by Netgear.

 

Just to make sure, sticking (the end of) a paperclip into the tiny reset hole next to the power plug and holding it in until the power LED turns amber, and then begins to blink (can take a lot longer than expected).  (1) doesn't happen.  it never turns amber, or never begins to blink, or (2) goes through this sequence, but the router does does not come up with the WiFi name printed on the label on the bottom?  (Everyone who has posted has mentioned a WiFi name that starts with "ORBI", then two digits.)

 

There are Netgear routers with the default WiFi name "Netgearxx".  Those two may be neighbors of yours who have never bothered to change their network name.  Many customers just plug something in and use the credentials printed on the bottom and never realize that they are able to change them.

 

Depending on how desparate you are, you could try flashing the software using TFTP, which requires a computer wired to the Orbi ethernet port: https://kb.netgear.com/000059634/How-to-upload-firmware-to-a-NETGEAR-router-using-Windows-TFTP 

Message 4 of 6
uniquetukie
Aspirant

Re: RBR20 Solid Magenta LED, no help!

I'm so grateful for the help I'm reviewing here. I've tried connecting directly to the router, but the screen says No Internet and that's as far as I can get. That solid magenta light will NOT go away. Do you know how I could get someone from Netgear to actually see this post?
Model: RBR20|Orbi AC2200 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 5 of 6
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: RBR20 Solid Magenta LED, no help!

What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?


@uniquetukie wrote:

Hi all, I recently ran into a situation where my Orbi RBR20 will not connect. Since about November, I've been chatting on and off with Support and this is what's happened:

 

First the problem was blamed on the 50+ DoS attacks I receive each day. They asked me to ask Spectrum to reprovision my modem.  They came by and installed a brand new Hitron modem.  That worked OK for a while.

 

I called Support again, and this time they manually installed a Firmware update to V2.3.5.36.  Again, it worked a little while. I kept having all the DoS attacks though, and when they came through in bunches (several within seconds of each other) the Router would stop working. Netgear Support blamed my cable company (again) but when I connected my laptop directly to my cable modem I had a great signal.

 

The last time I called Netgear Support was because the ring LED was solid magenta and I could not get any Internet.  I could connect to the router, but no internet.  Support told me that my router's software had to be reprogrammed but since my router was outside the 90-day complimentary service window, it would cost money to go any further. I was shocked -- no one else at Netgear had mentioned that I need to pay for support, the Router is less than a year old.  So I tried to submit a claim to Squaretrade and they refused, saying it was still under warranty.  I am quite upset with Netgear for trying to shift blame to my cable company and then telling me my router was out of warranty even though previous Support people made a point of telling me that I was in fact still under warranty. 

 

I am wondering if anyone out there has dealt with this sort of problem and how they were able to fix it. The ring LED is a solid magenta and the router cannot locate an IP address.  When I hook the laptop to the router, there is still no internet.  I've tried changing a few settings (can't recall which and can't access orbilogin.net) but all under the direction of Netgear support.  Any help would be very much appreciated.  I'm an amateur but I'm trying to learn as much as I can so I can fix these problems. I would love to get my Orbi to work, other than all these problems it has been a perfect modem for my family.


 

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