RBR50 DNS Issues + AX6000

[SW_]

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@Photo-Craig wrote:

Instead of playing with the router I just used my Synology NAS as a DNS Server. After that everything worked fine.

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Another great solution to Orbi DNS problem!

[Spiffywerks]

6 days later after turning off traffic meter and Disney Circle, still having issues.

Setup:
Frontier ONT (Alcatel ONT I-211M-L) > Orbi RBR53 (v.2.5.1.8)

It was good for 3 days, but past three days having to reboot the router at least once a day. Rebooting the ONT doesn’t resolve the issue.

I cannot set a manual DNS in the router because it requires I also create a manual IP address which I cannot do. I’ve tried and there is no connection at all afterwards. Probably the way the ONT is setup?

All this trouble started after working from home and using a VPN client on my desktop to connect to work. Not sure why that would affect the entire network’s DNS.

[FURRYe38]

You can enter in custom DNS on the RBRs web page under Basic/Internet. Select the
Domain Name Server (DNS) Address section and  select Use These DNS Servers. Enter in any known working DNS, Quad 1 or 8. Google DNS like quad 8s and 8.8.4.4. Save and apply. 

Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last update? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMw4ePACgc4
https://www.howtogeek.com/434350/how-to-factory-reset-a-router/

Might try this and also power OFF the ONT for1 minute and back ON. Walk thru the setup wizard. 

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@Spiffywerks wrote:
6 days later after turning off traffic meter and Disney Circle, still having issues.

Setup:
Frontier ONT (Alcatel ONT I-211M-L) > Orbi RBR53 (v.2.5.1.8)

It was good for 3 days, but past three days having to reboot the router at least once a day. Rebooting the ONT doesn’t resolve the issue.

I cannot set a manual DNS in the router because it requires I also create a manual IP address which I cannot do. I’ve tried and there is no connection at all afterwards. Probably the way the ONT is setup?

All this trouble started after working from home and using a VPN client on my desktop to connect to work. Not sure why that would affect the entire network’s DNS.

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[Spiffywerks]

• Manual DNS - Not able to. Explained in following paragraph
• Reboot ONT - Yes, have done this many times. Does not resolve the issue. Router is the issue.
• Factory Reset - No, have not attempted yet. Will try sometime when everyone is not needing it. between daughter, wife, and myself, we're using the internet from 7 am - 10 pm everyday for work and school activities.

I cannot set a manual DNS without first setting a Static IP address. Option for Manual DNS is greyed out on the interface unless I click the option for "Use Static IP Address" first. Disabling DHCP completely kills the connection with the ONT. If I turn off DHCP and leave the settings in the router, the router cannot communicate the with ONT anymore.  Everytime I reboot it gets a new WAN IP address.

What gets me is this setup was fine for the past 9+ months and suddenly this is happening after  we started working from home. -______-;

[FURRYe38]

Try this, After you reset, disconnect the RBR from the ONT, and then setup the RBR. Be sure you don't enable Circle or Armor. Manually go in and edit the DNS setting. You should be able to select the DNS setction with out having to change the DHCP option. 

Once you get there and make a change, save and apply then reboot the RBR and soon as the RBR starts the reboot, reconnect it to the ONT. 

Try this when you get a opening. 

[milenkojmb]

It has now been about a week since I performed a factory reset and then left armor and circle disabled. I have not had the issue once. It has gone back to rock solid stable.

[Spiffywerks]

Okay, I will give this a shot when I've got a chance. Thanks.

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

Try this, After you reset, disconnect the RBR from the ONT, and then setup the RBR. Be sure you don't enable Circle or Armor. Manually go in and edit the DNS setting. You should be able to select the DNS setction with out having to change the DHCP option. 

Once you get there and make a change, save and apply then reboot the RBR and soon as the RBR starts the reboot, reconnect it to the ONT. 

Try this when you get a opening. 

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[Spiffywerks]

Just an update. Day 4 after performing a hard reset. Haven't lost connection again since. Armor and Circle disabled.

Thanks for the assistance!

[daverichard4]

Looks like Netgear just released new firmware, 2.5.1.16. But they don't mention what the update fixes, ha!  Hopefully it fixes this issue!

[EvilJohn]

I'm find this issue with dnsmasq to be pervasive. I factory reset the modem and the dns failures go away for some period of time say, weeks, the performanc slowly degrades requiriing yet another factory reset. There's still something going here (memory leak maybe?) and netgear has not addresses the issue.

I wish there was an option to disable this dnsmasq. it's poorly implemented and killing a very capable hardware problem. I don't really want to replace this system, but unless this gets addressed I won't have a choice.

[daverichard4]

Agreed.  I have already decided my next purchase will not be a Netgear product because of this issue.  I would have suspected an issue like this be addressed pretty quickly....service availability is priority one.  I understand that all products have problems, but I feel how a manufacturer responds or doesn't respond in this case, is the distinguishing factor for a good manufacturer.  Their lack of response to this issue has left a bad taste for me now for Netgear.  Has anyone tested any other wireless mesh systems with good success?

[tomschmidt]

I likewise have reported DNS issues to NG for the RBR50.  Their response was to use a different device to provide DNS DHCP IP resolution for the LAN.  This is unacceptable, as a router is supposed to provide that basic functionality.  I likewise will never buy from NG again.

[FURRYe38]

The issue is not a FW issue. Thought we haven't seen anyone mention using v16 and Circle as of yet to see if maybe NG resolved this. However this is a Disney Circle issue and NG is aware of it. Those of us using v8 or v16 FW don't use Armor or Circle have not been seting any kind of DNS issues. 

Factory reset your RBR and set up from scratch. Do not enable Circle. Armor doesn't seem to cause this problem. Use Armor as you see fit if needed. 

For anyone having problems with DNS, besure Circle is disabled on the RBR. Also please post about any Circle issues over in the Disney Circle forum:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Circle-Smart-Parental-Controls/bd-p/en-home-circle

Good Luck. 

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@daverichard4 wrote:

Looks like Netgear just released new firmware, 2.5.1.16. But they don't mention what the update fixes, ha!  Hopefully it fixes this issue!

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[FURRYe38]

Thanks for letting us know. 
Hopefully NG will fix the Circle issue that cause problems with DNS. 

Any Armor or Circle problems seen please post in there persective forums. 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/NETGEAR-Armor/bd-p/en-home-armor

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Circle-Smart-Parental-Controls/bd-p/en-home-circle

Enjoy. 

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@Spiffywerks wrote:

Just an update. Day 4 after performing a hard reset. Haven't lost connection again since. Armor and Circle disabled.

Thanks for the assistance!

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[mitchellfrom]

All of your information stated is great. This is exactly what I'm experiencing. I have yet to read through this entire thread, but wanted to comment here as I am reading through these while on hold with support AGAIN. I am within my 90 days so I've been on the phone with them like 5 times trying to figure it out. They are useless. 

Additionally, what I've found... is that it does appear to be random when it happens and when it does happen, it seems to affect maybe 50% of my devices on my network. Some of them continue to function just fine. 

If the Orbi's DHCP Server settings could be configured to hand out the Primary/Secondary DNS server IPs during the DHCP request from the clients, we could fix this by using cloudflare 1.1.1.1 and google 8.8.8.8 but every client always just has 1 DNS... 192.168.1.1 which is the Orbi, which has issues with its DNS services. Very frustrating.

What I've found is that almost every time I get on Zoom (I'm on a new Lenovo C940 laptop, Win 10, 64bit, ethernet/wired or wireless), it triggers the problem in the router and my laptop is definitely affected. 

I'll keep reading and see if you guys figured anything else out. 

[MarkMorton72]

Just a thought and question - do people who see this issue regularly use VPN (e.g to access work)?  The reason I ask is a that although I have had this issue, it is very infrequent for me.  However (and I have no metrics to back this up), this first started for me when I started to use the work VPN (working from home).  My company has a great web app access so I infrequently need to use the VPN but, I was using it a lot yesterday and had some DNS issues this morning. 

Didn't need a reboot of the orbi so may not be the same issue but it did occur that most people that work from home will be using some VPN or other which, before home working was imposed, didn't get much use?

[tcomp]

I'm still on 2.3.5.36, but have followed some of the recommended suggestions in this forum and have had more stability/success recently.  Specifically, it does appear this is specific to the Circle on the network.  I have done the following things and have been stable for the last few days now:

• Turned off Cirlce in settings on Orbi.
• Rebooted the orbi.
• Let it fully boot/sync with satellites, etc.
• Turned Circle on again - another reboot cycle.

This seems to have helped in some way.  I wouldn't say it's perfect still - seems like there is still an underlying issue with the DNS service, but overall it's definitely an improvement.

[FURRYe38]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Yes this is a CIrcle issue. Users are advised to disable Circle until NG get that app and services fixed. 

Users are encouraged to post about this over in the Circle forum since this is a Circle problem and not a Orbi or FW issue. 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Circle-Smart-Parental-Controls/bd-p/en-home-circle

For 20 series systems, you can update to v16 if you choose too though no mention of Circle fixes are mentioned for it:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/RBR50-RBS50-Firmware-2-5-1-16-Update/m-p/1897955/highlight/tru...

Good Luck

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@tcomp wrote:

I'm still on 2.3.5.36, but have followed some of the recommended suggestions in this forum and have had more stability/success recently.  Specifically, it does appear this is specific to the Circle on the network.  I have done the following things and have been stable for the last few days now:

• Turned off Cirlce in settings on Orbi.
• Rebooted the orbi.
• Let it fully boot/sync with satellites, etc.
• Turned Circle on again - another reboot cycle.

This seems to have helped in some way.  I wouldn't say it's perfect still - seems like there is still an underlying issue with the DNS service, but overall it's definitely an improvement.

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[john442]

2.5.1.16 Does NOT FIX it.

I have been running 2.5.1.16 and with Circle enabled, drops the internet randomly.  Circle Disabled it works great.   Have open support case but can't seem to connect with Netgear to debug.

I might try the factory reset thing though I don't see how that would help/change anything.