Orbi firmware v2.1.1.16 discussion

Functionally all is well after 20 hours. The UI’s of the Sats are not consistent with the router attached devices. Nor do I think the router’s attached devices is accurate. I a, daisy chained and after syncing my Sats the closest to the router then the that sat to the distant one the router  UI says the backhaul is good on both and properly daisy chained.

be nice if the attached devices would show properly.

on a side note my Roku stick now is 5g after being 2.4G on the previous versions.

Functionally all is well after 20 hours. The UI’s of the Sats are not consistent with the router attached devices. Nor do I think the router’s attached devices is accurate. I a, daisy chained and after syncing my Sats the closest to the router then the that sat to the distant one the router  UI says the backhaul is good on both and properly daisy chained.

be nice if the attached devices would show properly.

on a side note my Roku stick now is 5g after being 2.4G on the previous versions.

I was auto-upgraded to 2.1.1.16 as well, from 1.11.0.20, a few nights ago.  When I woke up and started running all my checks (each nodes debug.htm to check the system uptime), i noticed the upgrade.  I went ahead and power cycled both the satellite and router, so that they can have similar uptimes.

For the first few hours, the satellite main page and the router attached devices page were in sync, but afterwards (not sure how long it took), the satellites main page shows NO attached devices, the router attached devices page shows some devices are on the satellite, and, now, the Orbi Android app, which was just upgraded to 2.1, does NOT show which node you are connected to (it used to before).

Its hard to tell what is a display issue, and what is not.  But, on my phone, using wifi analyzer (far proc version), i can see which mac address i am connected to, and when i am close to router, i connect to router...when i am closer to satellite and FAR from router, i switch to satellite.  Even though the device pages do not reflect that.

Unfortunately, 2.1.1.16 did NOT do anything to improve the random rebooting.  I woke up this morning to a satellite uptime of 22 hours, and a router uptime of 4 hours.  That 4 hours elapsed corresponds to around 5 AM, and everyone was asleep.  

I have posted numerous times my journey with Orbi (2 versions of RBK50, one from amazon(returned), and one from Walmart (currently testing)).  I have tried different power outlets, all sorts of configuration options (daisy chaining on/off, fast roaming on/off, etc...).  I do NOT have any phones or devices with Android Oreo.  My satellite and router are about 45-50 feet apart, and separated by a single wall and there are no interfering channels from neighbors.

Really want Orbi to work, since Walmart had the RBK50 set for only $200, but based on reading almost every thread on Orbi in this forum and other places, it doesnt seem like there will be a "magic" firmware release that fixes it all.  

I appreciate all the posters here, relaying what information they can, in the hopes that we can maybe help find a pattern of why things happen to some, but seemingly, not to others.  Keep on keeping on, i guess!

For those that DO have stable systems, could you check your router and satellites debug.htm page,and check the system uptime for them?  I am guess that some folks dont even know about that, and there systems may be rebooting as well, but they are unaware?  Longest uptime i had was about 38 hours, and that was on 1.11.0.20 (auto upgrade to 2.1.1.16 happened).

thanks everyone for your contributions!

godspeed said: 

"For those that DO have stable systems, could you check your router and satellites debug.htm page,and check the system uptime for them?  I am guess that some folks dont even know about that, and there systems may be rebooting as well, but they are unaware?  Longest uptime i had was about 38 hours, and that was on 1.11.0.20 (auto upgrade to 2.1.1.16 happened)."

My thoughts exactly, I've been wondering how many "no trouble found" reports were more about luck (not online/watching when the system dropped/returned) rather than real consistency/stability of their networks. 

Just a +1 to everything earlier in this thread.  The upgrade did not resolve the satellites showing as disconnected and all devices showing as being connected to the main router, and the internet is still disconnecting at random.  SUPER frustrating for a $400 setup, so I'm throwing in the towel and taking it back to Costco.  

It's still rated super highly on PCMag... I have to wonder if they've actually used it!  Off to go reviews of all the other options out there.

I was logged into my Orbi router last night and did notice the message about a new firmware being available (I'm currently on 2.074).  I did not update.  I beleive I'll wait and see if it updates auto-pilot.  So far in the 3 weeks I've had the Orbi it's been fairly stable with 2 reboots necessary. 

Once the firmware updates, I'll report back.  I do hope if it happens next week, like many folks, I'll be out of town.  Would hate for my network to be off line while I'm away.

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godspeed wrote:

 

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For those that DO have stable systems, could you check your router and satellites debug.htm page,and check the system uptime for them?  I am guess that some folks dont even know about that, and there systems may be rebooting as well, but they are unaware?  Longest uptime i had was about 38 hours, and that was on 1.11.0.20 (auto upgrade to 2.1.1.16 happened).

 

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I've checked debug on router and both satellites and all saying uptime of 15+ hours now which is the time I update to .16

I haven't looked at satellites debug much but previously I've noticed that the router has been up for at least 7 days and I am sure it's been up longer but I have not looked for it specifically since I was not having drops. I'll keep an eye on it for the next few days to see what happens.

Is it possible that you are having brownouts or surges - if you have a UPS maybe try put your router on one, I have mine on a UPS. 

One other thing I've seen, when I did have the UPNP device causing issues, it would cause a code reload which looks like a reboot from the uptime perspective. Any device change could cause that. Is it possible that you have some schedule set? I actually have my router schedule set to all days - but 24 hours so no reloads.

smearp - if you want incredibly wonderfully boring reliability, try Eero. I'm back on my Eero system and it just works, no muss, no fuss.  Eero is missing: 

- IPV6 support - supposedly they are going to add this 

- Native VPN support - no idea if they will add this. They do offer an annual add-on service bundle (Eero +) for $99 that includes VPN (Encrypt.me) available at home and on mobile away from home and several other (potentially useful depending on your needs) services. 

- Browser interface to router - Eero has a better mobile app than Orbi w/more settings/features, but I do miss the accessing the modem pages via a browser on laptop/chromebook). Don't think they are going to add this and I've seen some info that browser interfaces are going to go the way of the dodo in the future. 

Basically Eero isn't as highly configurable as Orbi, but on the other hand (wait fo it)...

IT JUST WORKS!  :) 

aaz - regarding potential power issues - I've swapped back and forth between Orbi and Eero several times over the past week or so (and was using a Netgear Nighthawk for years before either) and have never had repeated intermittent network drops with the Nighthawk or Eero like I do w/the Orbi (on any 2.0 or 2.1 FW). For the vast majority if users this is not a power issue.   

It's easy to force the firmware update in the router advanced settings, if you want to make sure it happens before you leave town.  You might also want to make sure you are familiar with how to manually force the router and satellite back to an earlier firmware version.  A side benefit of doing a manual firmware load is that the router and satellite will NOT LONGER auto-update the firmware.  (I read that somewhere, so I assume it's true.)

I have a question for the group, but hopefully someone at Netgear will see this.

If Netgear Support is telling people to do a factory reset before they manually install new firmware, why is auto-update of the firmware still enabled.  If a stable systems auto-update to buggy firmware, isn't this a recipe for unhappy customers?

netgearguy & godspeed

I'm on of those "no trouble found" folks. My uptime is currently 1 day, 3 hours, 45 minutes, which corresponds to the time I upgraded to 2.1.16. I have had zero issues since day 1. And, since I'm a cord-cutter who streams TV wirelessly from DirecTV Now through a Roku, I'd notice pretty quickly if I had dropped connections. I'm also a Pixel 2 XL owner, and there have been reports that other Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL owners have had reboots.

I don't know what makes my setup different, or perhaps I'm lucky. But everything has been rock solid for the two months I have had the system. I'm running in AP Mode with Google Fiber as my ISP. I currently have 16 devices connected, but can have anywhere up to 50. Four Rokus, Nest, my Pixel 2 XL, my wife's iPhone, a Fire tablet, some other phones, my Windows 10 PC, my wife's laptop, security cameras, SmartThings Hub, some WeMo switches, Google Home, 2 Google Home Minis, 2 Raspberry Pis, a WiFi connected garage door opener, etc.

Product: RBR50 - V2.1.1.16

Had my Orbi (Router and Sat) since June 2017 - very stable.  But it looks like V2.1.1.16 was upgraded a few days ago automatically.

I've had 3 network drops in last 2 days.   I have 40+ devices on my Network for work and business and push 2TB of download data monthly.  It's a big deal when I get network drops - I hear the screams from the whole house.

What is going on Netgear?  You need to think about rolling back 2.1.1.16 - this isnt production ready.

I've powered them down and rebooted.   

Is there a suggested work-around to solve this firmware instability?

Is there a way to rollback to previous firmware and keep you from automatically upgrading firmware?

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sherveyjeff wrote:

Product: RBR50 - V2.1.1.16

Had my Orbi (Router and Sat) since June 2017 - very stable.  But it looks like V2.1.1.16 was upgraded a few days ago automatically.

I've had 3 network drops in last 2 days.   I have 40+ devices on my Network for work and business and push 2TB of download data monthly.  It's a big deal when I get network drops - I hear the screams from the whole house.

What is going on Netgear?  You need to think about rolling back 2.1.1.16 - this isnt production ready.

I've powered them down and rebooted.   

Is there a suggested work-around to solve this firmware instability?

Is there a way to rollback to previous firmware and keep you from automatically upgrading firmware?

 

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From what little I know, you can install an earlier firmware, but then have to telnet into the device to turn off automatic updates. I have no clue how to accomplish that. Yet. 

For what it's worth.

My Orbi was working for 5-10 minutes, then restarted.

Called Netgear support yesterday, they was not aware of this issue and recommended change of product.

I changed to a new set and the problem come back again directly after update to V2.1.1.16 firmware.

Also noticed that the connection to the satellite is weak.

Now it's clear to me that the firmware is the problem. 

The router is worthless as it's working now, 5 minutes than it restarts, how is it possible that this is not tested before rolling out?!