New - RBR850 / RBS850 Firmware Version 7.2.6.31 Released

[FURRYe38]

Enhancements: 04/04/2024

• Improves the stability of WiFi device connections during roaming.

Security Fixes:

• This firmware addresses security vulnerabilities. For more information about security vulnerabilities, visit https://www.netgear.com/about/security.

Download Link:

https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rbk852#download

Please navigate to the link below for step-by-step instructions on how to update your RBR850/RBS850:

Manual Firmware Update Proceedure 

Be sure to update the RBS FIRST, then the RBR lastly. 

I HIGHLY recommend after the FW is loaded on the system and it's back to ready, power OFF all Orbi units and the ISP modem/ONT for 1 minute. Then back ON with the ISP modem/ONT first, then RBR then RBS.

The best advise we can give people is to start a new config, power on one RBS and wait for some SOLID light or most often blue or magenta. And then add the RBS WIRELESSLY via the WebUI. Power off the RBS. Then rinse and repeat with any additional RBS(s). Pair RBS one at a time even if you have more than one. For ethernet connected RBS, after things come up wirelessly, you can move to wired backhaul but don't start with wired backhaul for those RBS that are ethernet connected. Wirelessly connect and sync RBS first before ethernet connecting RBS. 

NOTE: Orbi app or the routers web page may not report seeing new FW updates. NG may not push this to there auto update services immediately and may activate the newer FW update being seen on there auto update services at a later time. User will have the choice to manually update if you want too.

NOTE: The Disable Auto Update feature only prevents ANY new FW from being installed if available. This does NOT prevent the system from checking NG services to see if new FW is available. If new FW is available, this will be displayed as a notification to the user on the RBRs web page only. It will be up to the user to upgrade FW or not. 

A factory reset maybe needed if problems are encountered after the FW update:

Procedure-for-Factory-Reset 

NOTE: Recommend setting the default DHCP IP address pool range to the following after applying and a factory reset: 192.168.#.100 to 192.168.#.200

This article applies to:

• Orbi (5)
  • RBK852
  • RBK853
  • RBK854
  • RBR850
  • RBS850

Let us know how it works for you...

[Flupke]

(Updated)

I initially thought "Bad luck" as I started by upgrading one of the thee satellites (an RBS850) ....and it was impossible to reconnect it to the the RBR. It keeps blinking white when booting and does not sync.

I was reluctant to further proceed before I read positive things on the forum ;(

Then forced a power cold-reboot of the satellite and it eventually succeeded! I will now proceed with the two other RBSs then the RBR.

[Flupke]

Other satellites and then router went OK: everything is now up and running.

Note that the administration console of the router has a popup warning discouraging to do manual firmware upgrade ....althought this is precisely what is advised according to the forums. I guess it is a legal-disclaimer in case somebody would do upgrades with mismatched versions. I proceeded (manually).

[Erik_W]

Had anyone updated to this new version yet? Does everything work correctly?

[FURRYe38]

I updated my 854 system Saturday. Using the manual FW update method:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-WIFI-6-AX-AND-Wi-Fi-6E-AXE/Procedure-for-Factory-reset-of-RBS8...

Updated all RBS first, then RBR lastly. I power cycled the system. I haven't had a chance to fully test it out yet. Got other items online currently. 😉

[FURRYe38]

RBR connected to a CM3000 cable ISP modem. 1Gb WAN Port on CM Modem.

ISP - Sparklight

1Gb/50Mbps ISP Speed plan. 

Armor, SPC and Traffic Meter not enabled. 

RBR Onboard Speed Test:

Ooklas Installable Speed Test app on wired Windows 11 PC:

[quanah]

My RBR850 and RBS850 auto updated and so far all is working w/o issue.

[NYFB]

Well, Netgear's "best of the best" support has screwed up again. I configured the system to update the software and guess what, nothing happened automatically. The update page only shows router updates, not satellite updates. I checked the ORI 850 download pages and guess what, the firmware for the satellites and router are available for download, but the router's update system cannot find them. This isn't the first time when the updater didn't work.
I must admit that admire Netgear's business model,
borrowing software from OpenWrt, minimizing configuration to a minimum in order to limit support, charging for support after x months, pushing unwanted bloatware for mega dollars and providing (@&(@&#$@ support for only 1000$.

[Mijnheer1970]

Upgraded 1 router and three satelites. All work fine. 

First impression: updates on the statuses of devices and saltelites seems to be more up-to-date and accurate

[CrimpOn]

It is really unfortunate that Netgear provides no documentation explaining how the firmware update process works.

The Terms & Conditions we all agreed to when first installing Netgear Orbi products clearly state that (a) Netgear reserves the  right to update firmware whenever it wants, and (b) if this does something horrible to the product Netgear accepts no responsibility. For entertainment, check out sections 15 and 23 of this:

https://www.netgear.com/about/terms-and-conditions/ 

When a number of firmware updates actually wreaked havoc with customer systems, Netgear added a feature to some models to allow the user to prevent these automatic updates from taking place.  (Not to the older models, of course, because..... well, who cares about 'old' routers?)

This means, literally, that Netgear is not supposed to silently push a firmware update to the system if the user has set this feature to "No. Don't do that."

This does not mean that the Firmware Update feature will detect and install firmware updates.  That is a whole different situation.  (Since there is no documentation) it appears that this is Netgear's firmware update practice:

• New firmware appears on the Netgear support site.  Users who discover the firmware can download and manually install it on their product.  At their own risk.  This allows Netgear to observe how well their internal Quality Assurance process worked.  If weeks go by with no hue and cry on the forum about, "This firmware sucks!", one might conclude that it is relatively safe to install it.
• During this period of time, the Firmware Update feature does not detect the new firmware and does not offer to install it.  How long does this period last?  Well, the latest 750 firmware was released in Sept, 2023, and Firmware Update still does not report it.  Firmware for the 50 series was published in Feb, 2023, and Firmware Update still does not report it being available. (14 months!)
• At some point, some Netgear employee "does something" and Firmware Update will detect and offer to install the new firmware.  If the user never opens the web interface or the Orbi 'app' and specifically opens Firmware Update, then they remain blissfully unaware of the new firmware.
• At another point, simply opening the web interface or the Orbi 'app' causes a pop-up message to appear, "New Firmware Available!!!"  If the user does not manage the firmware, nothing happens.
• Finally, at some point, Netgear can force systems to update to the new firmware.  (It has happened to my RBR50.)
  THIS is what people believe that "Automatic Firmware Update" feature will prevent.  If the feature is set to "Enable", then when Netgear gets damn good and ready, they can force an update.  Until then....(9 months? 14 months? ???) nothing happens.  Will this actually "work"?  No one knows.

[NYFB]

Good luck 4 you. I am not that lucky, I have got always problems. Once only satellites are updated but not the router or vice versa. I still believe that the QC and SDP are not well-known by Netgear developers, sysdev  etc.

So if you are one of them, congratulations that you have been able to manage your configuration well. 😀 

[Mooose]

I finally manually updated to V7.2.6.21 a few weeks ago since it never showed up in the firmware update interface.

Now I’m not seeing V7.2.6.31, I’ll give it a few days before updating manually.

[freeguy]

This is the first time since I've had the 852 that I've received an automatic update. I only noticed when I received a notification on my phone.

Curiously, my RBS750 did not update automatically.

Everything seems to be working fine.

[FURRYe38]

Something I did find with Auto Update and distances with RBS and some units not updating while others did. If the RBS do not have a good signal from the RBR when wirelessly connected, then there is a chance that the RBS will not see or get an FW update from the RBR thus the RBR maybe updated along with other RBS however may leave one RBS out from being updated. I re-created this by turning down the power on the RBR to 25% one time and had the RBR check for a known available FW update, The RBR and one RBS found the update, however the 2nd RBS that was farther out in distance saw no update or said no update was available. This would be a signal quality issue and the signal needs to be improved so that all RBS see and get the FW update. After I changed the RBRs power setting back to 100% then had the RBR recheck for available FW, both RBS now saw something available. I would presume that if any RBS have a GOOD status for Wi-Fi signal then the system and FW updates will work and does work. However, there maybe other hidden issues that we are not aware of that could cause some to not update properly. RBS registration not being set with the system, new Orbi RBS introduced after the original system was put online and not in NG update data base. ISP service or NAT issues here. Also hardware of the system could be faulty as well.

I would agree, NGs AU system has never been good and as of 2022, finally seemed to be the last straw and NG had to give users the ability to turn that OFF which they did. So now users can manually update Orbi systems as they wish. This as been implemented since later V4 FW versions. One reason why I recommend users to manually update there systems, if and when they want too: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-WIFI-6-AX-AND-Wi-Fi-6E-AXE/Procedure-for-Factory-reset-of-RBS8...

This process outlined I've been using for years. Works well for me and others. 

I only test Auto Update if asked to by NG. Otherwise, I'm going the manual FW updates myself as I just did on two 850 series systems this past weekend with out issues. 

So you might give more details on "I have got always problems" and maybe we can help you figure out and resolve those problems. 

---

@NYFB wrote:

Good luck 4 you. I am not that lucky, I have got always problems. Once only satellites are updated but not the router or vice versa. I still believe that the QC and SDP are not well-known by Netgear developers, sysdev  etc.

So if you are one of them, congratulations that you have been able to manage your configuration well. 😀 

---

[FURRYe38]

Are the RBS750s on the same system as the 852 or are they on a separate system?

FYI, the 750 series FW was just put up early this morning. So the RBS750 may have not seen anything until today or later. 

---

@freeguy wrote:

This is the first time since I've had the 852 that I've received an automatic update. I only noticed when I received a notification on my phone.

Curiously, my RBS750 did not update automatically.

Everything seems to be working fine.

---

[freeguy]

Are the RBS750s on the same system as the 852 or are they on a separate system?

FYI, the 750 series FW was just put up early this morning. So the RBS750 may have not seen anything until today or later.

How do you do quotes in replies?

Anyway, the 750 is connected to the RBR850 via ethernet and is just another AP. Didn't realize the 750 FW was just released today. I'm not worried nor in any hurry to update it. Just thought it was curious.

Thanks!

[FURRYe38]

Select here:

Ok, Should be ok, however would be good to be all on same FW version since there both now at v.31. Update when you can. 

Enjoy. 

[Erik_W]

I updated my RBK853 to the 7.2.6.31 firmware manually. Updated from 7.2.6.21. Update went smoothly, no problems. First I updated the two satellites, then the router. After that, I powered off the three devices and switched them back on after a few minutes. First the router, then the satellites. They all came back online quickly and are running fine. This was a hassle-free update, just like the previous ones (4.6.14.3 and 7.2.6.21). 

[FURRYe38]

Glad you got it working. Be sure to save off a back up configuration to file for safe keeping. Saves time if a reset is needed.
https://kb.netgear.com/000062080/How-do-I-back-up-the-configuration-settings-on-my-Orbi-WiFi-System
Enjoy. 📡

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@Erik_W wrote:

I updated my RBK853 to the 7.2.6.31 firmware manually. Updated from 7.2.6.21. Update went smoothly, no problems. First I updated the two satellites, then the router. After that, I powered off the three devices and switched them back on after a few minutes. First the router, then the satellites. They all came back online quickly and are running fine. This was a hassle-free update, just like the previous ones (4.6.14.3 and 7.2.6.21). 

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[Chuck_M]

My 850 with three satellites auto updated and is working just fine.   

[JoshDi]

Was update 7.2.6.31 pulled from the website? I only see 7.2.6.21 listed here: https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rbk852/#download

[FURRYe38]

Scroll UP on that same page...Its there. 

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@JoshDi wrote:

Was update 7.2.6.31 pulled from the website? I only see 7.2.6.21 listed here: https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rbk852/#download

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[JoshDi]

thanks - I upgraded no problem on the router and two sats

[dtay]

Was wondering why it still shows .21 until I looked closer and then saw it.  Surprised why Netgear didn't just put it under the download link instead, rather than in an support article section?

[CrimpOn]

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@dtay wrote:

Was wondering why it still shows .21 until I looked closer and then saw it.  Surprised why Netgear didn't just put it under the download link instead, rather than in an support article section?

---

Because they updated the Download Link for the RBR850 router, but did not update the Download link for the "Kit".

Sloppy.