Telnetenable on Orbi RBR50--Firmware 2.7.0.70

[RKLEVY]

Further to the discussion at https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/PERMANENTLY-ENABLE-TELNET/m-p/1812682 I found that telnetenable.exe does not seem to work with Firmware update 2.7.0.70.  Got the error "Could not open connection to the host, on port 23: Connect failed".

When I downgrade to a previous firmware version (e.g. 2.5.1.16), I do not get this error message and telnetenable executes correctly.

Any ideas how to get around the port 23 error?  I've tried all sorts of things, including trying to port forward port 23 on the orbi but I may not have done it correctly.  Given that telenetenable works properly with a lower firmware version, the problem is not the firewall on the PC.

[FURRYe38]

Well for one the built in telnet feature on the debug.htm page works already. Not sure if external apps are needed. 

[RKLEVY]

I am aware that the telnet switch on the debug.htm page is working ..but once you reboot, it resets to it's default setting of NO "telnet".  This was the subject of the prior post (link included in my recent post here).  That's why TelnetEnable was needed to reset the switch each time a reboot script was automatically launched.  The script enabled the telnet service on the router and then executed a reboot sequence (which unfortunately resets the telnet service to inactive).  This script worked until the most recent firmware...apparently a change was made in the new firmware to the telnet service so that port 23 is no longer opened.

[FURRYe38]

Maybe NG closed this backdoor. 

[Mikey94025]

I agree, I think the telnetenable backdoor has been closed or modified.  I have been trying the various versions of telnetEnable against my RBR50 (latest firmware V2.7.2.102) and my RBR850 (latest firmware V3.2.17.12_1.4.14).  It does not work and telnet is still closed for both my Orbi AC and Orbi AX.

For Orbi AC we can still enable telnet via the orbilogin.com/debug.htm web portal, but for Orbi AX the Enable Telnet toggle was removed long ago so I don't see any other way to get in.

[RKLEVY]

Thanks...looks like it's now confirmed...that's an unfortunate change but I have to say I've not been needing to reboot with the latest firmware (although I might like to)...it seems pretty stable and I've had no issues with it.  Maybe NG will decide in it's wisdom to either update telnetenable to work with the current/future firmware or to install a toggle in the firmware that locks telnet to be active after reboot. 

We'll see

[FURRYe38]

You can revert to what had been working or, You can try Voxels FW for Orbi:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Voxels-FW-available-for-50-series-Orbi-only-available/m-p/1883...
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/custom-firmware-build-for-orbi-a-la-faq.65224/
You can revert back to stock FW if it doesn't work out for you. 

[RKLEVY]

I attempted to load Voxel previously and it nearly bricked my Orbi....not sure exactly what happened  but the Orbi never booted correctly after the installation and could not connect properly to my satellite.  Fortunately, after several factory resets and firmware reloads, I was able to restore the Orbi with NG firmware.  I am not going to try that again! LOL

[FURRYe38]

If you attempted to load voxels on top of v2.7 versions, then I believe one needs to first downgrade from v2.7 to v2.5.something, then apply his FW. Applying first the RBS then RBR lastly.