Firmware v2.5.1

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MikeG63 wrote:

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That's a shame, it's not 100% OK, I have one device that's stuck showing the 'doorbell' icon.  If I change it to an 'extender' icon it works, but if I change it to a 'generic network' icon it reverts back to showing the 'doorbell' icon :-)  Apart from that for all the other devices I can change their names and icons at will.

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I spent quite a bit of time repairing what seems like incorrect tagging from 2.5.0. So far it does seem better and at least usable.  

Hi, All, 

RBR50/RBS50 firmware version 2.5.1.8 is now available on our support site. Please see release notes and download link: 

https://kb.netgear.com/000061530/RBR50-RBS50-Firmware-Version-2-5-1-8

Regards,
Blanca
Community Team
 

Blanca_O, the release notes make no mention of fixing the device naming bug introduced by v2.5.0.38 firmware. Does v2.5.1.8 fix the device naming bug of v2.5.0.x?  Users including myself do not want to waste hours of our time beta testing the v2.5.1.8 firmware unless we know that the v2.5.0.x bugs were corrected.

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Blanca_O wrote:

Hi, All, 

 

RBR50/RBS50 firmware version 2.5.1.8 is now available on our support site. Please see release notes and download link: 

 

https://kb.netgear.com/000061530/RBR50-RBS50-Firmware-Version-2-5-1-8

 

Regards,
Blanca
Community Team
 

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tomschmidt wrote:

Blanca_O, the release notes make no mention of fixing the device naming bug introduced by v2.5.0.38 firmware. Does v2.5.1.8 fix the device naming bug of v2.5.0.x?  Users including myself do not want to waste hours of our time beta testing the v2.5.1.8 firmware unless we know that the v2.5.0.x bugs were corrected.

 

 

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Blanca_O wrote:

Hi, All, 

 

RBR50/RBS50 firmware version 2.5.1.8 is now available on our support site. Please see release notes and download link: 

 

https://kb.netgear.com/000061530/RBR50-RBS50-Firmware-Version-2-5-1-8

 

Regards,
Blanca
Community Team
 

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tomschmidt wrote:

Blanca_O, the release notes make no mention of fixing the device naming bug introduced by v2.5.0.38 firmware. Does v2.5.1.8 fix the device naming bug of v2.5.0.x?  Users including myself do not want to waste hours of our time beta testing the v2.5.1.8 firmware unless we know that the v2.5.0.x bugs were corrected.

 

 

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Blanca_O wrote:

Hi, All, 

 

RBR50/RBS50 firmware version 2.5.1.8 is now available on our support site. Please see release notes and download link: 

 

https://kb.netgear.com/000061530/RBR50-RBS50-Firmware-Version-2-5-1-8

 

Regards,
Blanca
Community Team
 

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Couldn't possibly comment on yours or indeed others particular setups and configurations, all I can say is that in my particular case it has resulted in a massive improvement in the ability to rename  / change device icons along with no stability issues and improved overall performance.

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I can confirm as well, after manually downloading the FW v2.5.1.8 files and applying them manually via web browser, no factory reset. changing device names is now working and sticking. 

Be aware that NG has changed from using specific Icons, i.e. apple and android and IoT sepecific icons to more generic Icons. So ALL apple and android phones will get a generic Smart Phone icon. Same goes for pads and desktop or laptops. NG seem to be using a smaller amount of icons for devices regardless of Apple or Android or otherwise. 

Device naming now seems fixed. Thank you NG. :smileywink:

Blanca_O 

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MikeG63 wrote:

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Couldn't possibly comment on yours or indeed others particular setups and configurations, all I can say is that in my particular case it has resulted in a massive improvement in the ability to rename  / change device icons along with no stability issues and improved overall performance.

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The inclusion of "Fing" might have made the difference. In term of performance, my iPhone 6s Plus was never able to break 300Mbps with v2.5.0.40.  It's able to hit ~400Mbps with v2.5.1.8 sitting next the Orbi.  YMMV.

Nice performance boost from the last FW version v2.5.0.40.

Take a look at the attached picture!

Speeds are nice with this version:

I upgraded my RBR50/RBS50 today from v2.3.5.34 to v2.5.1.8.  Results thus far:

Good: Device naming bug of v2.5.0.x is fixed!

Bad: https certificate is still untrusted due to it being self signed, as seen in the image below from Firefox 71.0 from https://orbilogin.com/ which is the same self-signed certificate as seen in the v2.3.5.34 and v2.5.0.40 hot fixes.  Netgear , please get a certificate authority to sign the certificate.  Your previous certificate that expired in August 2019 was signed by a CA.

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SW_ wrote:

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The inclusion of "Fing" might have made the difference. In term of performance,

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Fing is a popular software tool for scanning networks and deducing the manufacturer of the ethernet interfaces.  It has (literally) nothing to do with speed.  Speed improvements have come somewhere else.

Been using FING for years how. Nice little app to find out whats connected on your network or find unknown devices. Hopefully won't have to use it as much since the device detection seems way better now. 

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CrimpOn wrote:

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SW_ wrote:

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The inclusion of "Fing" might have made the difference. In term of performance,

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Fing is a popular software tool for scanning networks and deducing the manufacturer of the ethernet interfaces.  It has (literally) nothing to do with speed.  Speed improvements have come somewhere else.

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Based on the incremental FW change/description, if performance benefit isn't coming from the inclusion of "Fing", i.e., enhanced devices recognition, where is this "somewhere else" exactly?  For references, I don't use DIL, Armor, and Sonos.  CPU uage in v2.5.0.40 is extrememly high due to devices scanning and I don't do speed test while trying to rename devices at the same time.  Take a look at the picture bellow from a previous post regarding performance degradation/issue with v2.5.0.40.

Based on your above statement/claim, please share with us what you believe to be the "source" for the improved performance in v2.5.1.8.  I'm ready to listen and learn about your insight.   Thanks!

New Features and Enhancements:

• Enhances the device recognition mechanism of the attached devices list
• Add DAL into firmware for several features, like DIL, Armor.
• Include Fing for device recognition.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixes the compatibility issue with Sonos devices.
• Update the web server certification of RBR50/RBS40

Didn't mean to offend anyone.  I have no idea what Netgear did to improve performance.  What I DO know is that one person has looked at Netgear's code and found ways that he claims makes it run faster:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/custom-firmware-build-for-orbi-rbk50-v-2-5-0-42sf-hw.60308/ 

Things like using the Neon instruction set, changing compiler options, etc. are open to Netgear just like they are to him.  I am also happy to admit that Netgear's home grown device lookup software may have been so terrible that incorporating Fing software made a dramatic improvement in performance.  Maybe Fing is "the answer" all by itself.

Curious, are you seeing the same CPU load now with v1.8 loaded? Or is it lower? 

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SW_ wrote:

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CrimpOn wrote:

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SW_ wrote:

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The inclusion of "Fing" might have made the difference. In term of performance,

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Fing is a popular software tool for scanning networks and deducing the manufacturer of the ethernet interfaces.  It has (literally) nothing to do with speed.  Speed improvements have come somewhere else.

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Based on the incremental FW change/description, if performance benefit isn't coming from the inclusion of "Fing", i.e., enhanced devices recognition, where is this "somewhere else" exactly?  For references, I don't use DIL, Armor, and Sonos.  CPU uage in v2.5.0.40 is extrememly high due to devices scanning and I don't do speed test while trying to rename devices at the same time.  Take a look at the picture bellow from a previous post regarding performance degradation/issue with v2.5.0.40.

 

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SW_ wrote:

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The inclusion of "Fing" might have made the difference. 

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Hello,  Where did this statement come from, specifically Netgear?  First I've heard of it.

FING is mentioned in the release notes:

https://kb.netgear.com/000061530/RBR50-RBS50-Firmware-Version-2-5-1-8

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CrimpOn wrote:

Didn't mean to offend anyone.  I have no idea what Netgear did to improve performance.  What I DO know is that one person has looked at Netgear's code and found ways that he claims makes it run faster:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/custom-firmware-build-for-orbi-rbk50-v-2-5-0-42sf-hw.60308/ 

 

Things like using the Neon instruction set, changing compiler options, etc. are open to Netgear just like they are to him.  I am also happy to admit that Netgear's home grown device lookup software may have been so terrible that incorporating Fing software made a dramatic improvement in performance.  Maybe Fing is "the answer" all by itself.

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It's possible that NG would suddenly decide to change the compiler options between v2.5.0.40 and v2.5.1.8 due to significant performance improvement.  Assuming the compiler options were the "source", I would expect to see that reference/change description in the release notes.  For example, let's take a look at the release notes for a prior release v2.3.1.44 as a reference.

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v2.3.1.44

Includes bug fixes for stability and performance:

• Fixes the LAN/WAN bidirectional throughput on the DHCP mode drop issue.
• Fixes the downstream drop issue when port forwarding is enabled.
• Fixes the issue where some online games periodicity lag.
• Fixes the issue where the PPPOE connection unstable 

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To see the performance effect of "Fing" in v2.5.1.8, just check the speed of the "Attached Devices" page between the two releases.  The devices are populated much faster and that page is more responsive with v2.5.1.8 than v2.5.0.40.

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gr8sho wrote:

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SW_ wrote:

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The inclusion of "Fing" might have made the difference. 

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Hello,  Where did this statement come from, specifically Netgear?  First I've heard of it.

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If you're referring to "Fing" within the statement, check v2.5.1.8 release note.  If you're wondering about the rational behind that statement, read my posts in this thread.  If in doubt, perform some tests and draw your own conclusion/statement and share the result with us.

Voxel does his own development on some NG FW. Yes he's just started working on Orbi since he was able to get his own Orbi HW. Users have been asking for his help in the FW realm for a while now. I recommend not confusing what he does with what NG does. Stock FW differs from Voxels FW. Voxels FW is tuned and updated for outside of the NG core code. Items that Voxel has access too and is free to develop as he chooses. There are some items with in the NG code, in fact all NG code that isn't GPL, Voxel has no access or ability to change. Any problems here, NG still needs to address these here.

Read the release notes of what Voxel does. You can see that he mostly updates the FW packages that work with in the FW he has access too. Ensures that what he does works, then posts it out for people to try and use. He always open to bug reports from users to that help him fine tune any issues he may have not seen. 

So yes, Voxel can help improve FW and most of the time does and has great success. His long time development of the R7800 and R9000 has helped user keep these two routers going for users who have chosen to use his FW over stock. Now that he has a Orbi 50 series system, this will benefit this series system and help users enjoy the Orbi for a more sustained longer life of operation who want to give Voxels FW a try. 

Since NG has fixed the device naming issue will be nice to see Voxels version based on v2.5.1.8. 

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CrimpOn wrote:

Didn't mean to offend anyone.  I have no idea what Netgear did to improve performance.  What I DO know is that one person has looked at Netgear's code and found ways that he claims makes it run faster:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/custom-firmware-build-for-orbi-rbk50-v-2-5-0-42sf-hw.60308/ 

 

Things like using the Neon instruction set, changing compiler options, etc. are open to Netgear just like they are to him.  I am also happy to admit that Netgear's home grown device lookup software may have been so terrible that incorporating Fing software made a dramatic improvement in performance.  Maybe Fing is "the answer" all by itself.

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Has anybody noticed better values for dBm since this new firmware?

Perhaps a coincidence but I measure this regularly and the connection between router and satellites are more stable and dBm values has improved to both satellites (and they have not been moved).

I was planning on moving the router closer to the satellites but now I'm waiting a while.

Actually, having each device to generate their own keys and selfsigning them for the TLS certificate is more secure than having the same private key in all of the orbi devices. If the same certificate (signed by a public and trusted CA) is used for all Orbis, then the private key is the same in all of them.

I posted my two cents about device renaming before finding this ariticle and the new firmware. Applying it today and see what happens. Thanks for the heads up on the forums: it makes life a bit more predictable :smileyvery-happy: