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Please allow users to disable auto update
Router hardware version: RBR50 Router Firmware Version V2.1.4.10 It is becoming routine for the updates Netgear releases to break the reliability of my Orbi network. When my network is working as I want it to I don't want your updates. Instead, though, I get updates whether I want them or not and am treated to random dropping of my connection to where I have to reboot the router to re-enable my internet connection. It can work great for months then you decide to send one of your piece of garbage updates, that I don't want, and boom - there goes reliability. I live with and care for my Father who is somewhat disabled and can not get to the part of the house where the router is located (out of necessity). I am sometimes out of town for work. He depends on our internet connection for various things including the TV. If I'm out of town and the router decides to take a dump, as it has been doing frequently lately, he's screwed. If I had been able to stick with the stable performance of the last firmware revision this wouldn't happen. I've been using the Orbi system since the late part of last year. This is the second firmware revision that has caused these problems. Do you even test your firmware updates or just send them out willy nilly? Based on what I'm seeing it's the latter. So for the love of all things good, add a switch somewhere so we can stop getting your crappy updates that break my network. I don't need 'em and I don't want 'em!Make Beta Firmware More Widely Available
As many of us know, there are tons of problems with the Orbi firmware and it seems they do not test it enough. I've seen several requests for beta firmware and from what I can tell, it's only offered to a very small select few, and only when Netgear wants it to go to that person, and not when some request it anyway. I sent a private message to a moderator/Netgear employee on here asking how I could get access to the beta firmware, and offered to help test and give feedback, and my message was completely ignored. Given all the problems that exist with the firmware and what appears to be a lack of testing and QA, why wouldn't they offer it to more people and get more feedback? Instead, they force update everyone, and then wait for complaints on failed networks and then take a long time to release updates and fixes. This is a broken process and needs improvement. Thoughts?