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Forum Discussion
Orbi firmware v2.1.1.16 discussion
do we need to do nvram wipe for this 2.1.1.16 Firmware just released today? noticed it downloaded automatically.
437 Replies
- Not discounting the issue with Google products however it's also Netgear. I have two home minis, Chromecast and Android 8.1 and everything works fine since I downgraded firmware to 1.11.0.20 and did a complete power cycle including the cable modem. Zero reboots or satellite drops
I'm pretty sure we can conclude this is exclusively a NETGEAR issue since the system reboots randomly with nothing at all connected but its satellites....
- I just had an update.. V2.1.2.18
Maybe it's been addressed? Too early to tell yet.
Unplugging IOT devices kinda defeats the purpose of a product like Orbi, though understandable as a short term fix. All I know is everything works fine on mine running 1.11.0.20 after tons of reboots from .74 to .16 to beta.
Just in case you all haven't seen it, there's an issue with Android and Google products and how they handle casting. I unplugged my Google Home, Minis, and Chromecast devices from the network and my router has not had a reboot in the past 23 hours. I'm using the beta 2.1.2.10 firmware and I would see a reboot almost anytime I unlocked my Android phone.
Here's the original post by user newbeb on the OrbiOS 2.1.1 thread:
I found a few article this morning where it looks as if there is a problem with the Google Cast protocol and android devices waking from sleep mode across multiple router vendors. The longer a device is in sleep, the more discovery packets it sends when it wakes up, into the 100,000s.
Here is the article that I found that seems to tie it together: https://www.myce.com/news/confirmed-issue-google-cast-causes-temporarily-wifi-drops-around-world-834....
It looks like there might be other issues with Google cast devices and MDNS packets as well like: http://www.androidpolice.com/2018/01/12/google-home-max-appears-killing-wifi-networks/.
I do have a Chromecast on my network, but I so I might unbox my Orbi again and see if that is the culprit...Very interesting. Thanks for sharing, robertcdh.
For the broader audience: of course, one would expect Netgear to have learned of this long ago, since the first reports date to last October (long before 2.1.1.16 firware was released) and use of Google / Android devices is commonplace.
Therefore, still no viable excuse for Netgear's ignorance, skipping QA, releasing garbage software last month, and not fixing it by now.
Ok - after reading the Google articles, I have disabled Guest mode on both my Chromecasts and just updated the firmware on the Orbi system to the latest Beta. We'll see how this goes.
I did have a reboot last night around midnight, and the wifi kept dropping - after reading about the Chromecast issues, that makes sense. I noticed that when I was using my chromecast to watch Youtube TV, my phone was completely useless over wifi.
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Of course, one would expect Netgear to have learned of this long ago, since the first reports date to last October (long before 2.1.1.16 firware was released) and Google / Android device use is commonplace.
Therefore, still no viable excuse for Netgear to release garbage and skip the QA.
Got auto upgraded to 2.1.1.16 and the router lost connection towards the satellite.
I tried reset and moving it next to the router without beeing able to connect it to the router.
When connecting a cable to the satellite the connection got up but when using wifi it didn't work.
Had to downgrade the system to get it to work.
Looks like a faulty FW.
I'll make this short, since I just lost another posting when doing a normal edit. Never seen forum software this bad before...Another 15 minutes of my life I'll never get back.
Have lots of clients on our home network here, and have had the Orbi for over a year now. It has been stable with great wireless, no problems that I couldn't manage with a rare power cycle, or even more infrequently, reset to factory defaults and reconfigure. We had lots of clients, include a Pixel phone, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPad 3 and an Air 2, an Android tablet, Windows 10 systems, solar panel monitor, Nest smoke alarm, TV's, T-Mobile CellSpot, lots of wireless devices on the local network.
A little detail, I have an R7800 set up as a "wired-only" main router, and the Orbi is in AP mode. We don't have any Pixel 2's or video security cameras, though. This configuration has been very stable through lots of firmware versions, auto-updates, etc. And has been just as stable on v2.1.1.16, the latest.
I have no idea what the difference between those that have stable, well-performing configurations and those that seem to be getting a lot of reboots and disconnects. I have a feeling that the difference must be the clients that one has, don't know what else it could be, but that's just a feeling.
Anyways, good luck to all.
Good to know all experiences are not bad but the inconsistent performance of this firmware is still much cause for concern. 'nuf said.
I agree there is something "weird and special" going on. There are only about 100 people reporting problems here, but my sense is that they have sold 10s of thousands of units (probably 100s of thousands). So where are all those other people? I know not everyone would return to the fourms, but our troubles are real and have been pretty bad. Seems like there should be WAY more posts....
I'm not sure what is happening with Orbi/Android but I switched back from 2.1.1.6 to the .74 firmware and it eliminated the reboots. Then, I switched to the latest beta firmware to test it a second time. I had some free time over the weekend and I wanted to see if there was anything I could try to make it stable. The reboots were still there and I decided to ride this whole firmware drama back on .74. The problem is that now Orbi is rebooting on .74 when I unlock my phone.
I can't understand why it's only a small number of users experiencing these reboots. What makes some users' Orbi so much more stable?
I donät think its
robertcdh wrote:I'm not sure what is happening with Orbi/Android but I switched back from 2.1.1.6 to the .74 firmware and it eliminated the reboots. Then, I switched to the latest beta firmware to test it a second time. I had some free time over the weekend and I wanted to see if there was anything I could try to make it stable. The reboots were still there and I decided to ride this whole firmware drama back on .74. The problem is that now Orbi is rebooting on .74 when I unlock my phone.
I can't understand why it's only a small number of users experiencing these reboots. What makes some users' Orbi so much more stable?
I don't think it's a small number of users that are affected.
I can't understand why Netgear doesnät say something public about this rather big issue??
- I installed this system Thursday night and immediately upgraded to 2.1.1.16 using Cat6A wired backhaul with a Cisco 48 port switch. I have 26 HD live cameras around the property streaming full time, 7 teenagers (streaming full time 😁)and 3 file servers averaging between 180 and 200 connections. I have seen no reboots and nothing but extreme consistent speed. It sounds like those seeing reboots have a hardware or topology issue(s)
- I believe this same thing is happening to me although I only see it in the morning. My phone wakes. I come downstairs and the satellite is reconnecting. However uptime doesn't change.
And it also doesn't seem to occur under normal circumstances like when I get home or just use the WiFi during the day. But when my device has been pretty dormant all night it bumps the satellite in the morning.
Using .74
Reporting back about four days after rolling back to v2.0.0.74.
Stability and connectivity remain generally good, and worlds better than 2.1.1.16. Devices are connecting to the nearest router and not disconnecting randomly. It's maybe a little more volatile than before, but that could be my imagination.
I am having two significant new problems:
* I've got a second-generation Nest thermostat that can connect to the network just fine, but cannot retrieve an "entry key" for coupling with a Nest account. While working through the issue with a Nest technician, we discovered some information buried in the Nest network settings: the ping is 11,000 milliseconds. Yeah, as in: 11 seconds. It's literally 20 feet away and within line-of-sight of one Orbi, and maybe 15 feet away from a satellite in the other direction. I tried resetting the thermostat, reconnecting to the network... no dice.
* I've got an older Brother WiFI printer that just cannot connect to the network. I've reset it and reconfigured it repeatedly.
Both devices have been in use for years without issue. They've even outlasted some WiFi equipment (an old Linksys router, then Apple AirPorts, now the Orbi). No idea why they're having such trouble now, or whether it's the fault of the Orbi or the devices.
Still contemplating a network change to Velop or something else, especially as Netgear continues to fail to acknowledge the severity and urgency of this problem.
I am noticing also that my wireless printer now does not stay connected to the network. This printer worked flawlessly before. I do have a special character in my connection password.
Also I appear to have computers dropping from the internet. This could conceivably be dropping from the network, or the whole network disconnecting from cable modem. I will research further. I may try going back to a known stable version of the system for my RKR40 router and both RKS40 satellites.Suggestions appreciated.
I have about 45 devices on my network. Sat/RBS50 isn't showing any connections but I believe thats a known UI issue. I hardwired my backhaul via 1Gbps switch. Also - since I factory reset all settings after installing v2.1.1.16 - I am stable... no reboots in 10 days and counting. Previous to this my RBK50 system was rebooting like nuts.
In the last hour I just had my network and internet access die. Hoping it was my ISP, I called them and they had no outages reported. So I ran an ethernet cable from the cable modem to my PC and bingo, I was back online, so I knew it wasn't the ISP but instead was the Orbi.
So I uplugged the power to the RBR50 for about 30 seconds, then plugged it back in, reconnected my network/internet cables and waited until the white light went out. No change, still no internet access.
I began to dig out my old wifi system and was preparing to put it back in place when I heard my PC chime from the next room indicting I recieved a message alert. Sure enough, the Orbi was back online. But it took at least 10-15 minutes for it to come back up.
Now I'm perplexed as to whether to keep it and keep trying or just pack it up and take it back to Costco.
Decisions, decisions.
I just noticed something odd. I cranked up Wifi Analyzer and was checking my signal outdoors and happened to notice the channels. Take a look at my settings and then see what Wifi Analyzer shows. The channels I set are not being used. Or they don't appear to be. I'm sitting about 5 ft from the RBR50 when I took the Wifi Analyzer screen shots.
5 GHz radio should be on channel 482.4 GHz radio should be on channel 1Channel settings in the RBR50
Following up to the above post about the band discrepancy, I cranked up Inssider on a laptop and did not see band assignment issues. The assigned bands showed up properly. I cannot reconcile the difference between WiFi analyzer on my android and Inssider on a laptop.
orbirick wrote:
Following up to the above post about the band discrepancy, I cranked up Inssider on a laptop and did not see band assignment issues. The assigned bands showed up properly. I cannot reconcile the difference between WiFi analyzer on my android and Inssider on a laptop.
Your Orbi is using a 40 MHz width on 2.4 GHz. You set it to Channel 1 and it uses 1 - 5, which extends just to the edge of channel 7.
Your Orbi is using an 80 MHz width on 5 GHz. No matter what channel you set in the GUI, Orbi will always use channels 36-48.
These channels are what's shown in the plot you posted, so everything is working properly, but the way Orbi uses channels is confusing compared to the choices in the GUI.
