Wifi goes OFF everytime I reboot the router

[Nisheel]

When i reboot my router the wifi network goes off (see the attached screenhot).

Also network password is a 10 digit password mix of alphabets, numbers and special characters but the admin screen only shows the 1st 2 and last 4 characters of the password.

I've noticed only when i renter the password and reboot or save in the admin screen, does the wifi network become available again.

Is this a firmware issue? I am on 2.1.1.16

[DaveMoi]

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@Nisheel wrote:

When i reboot my router the wifi network goes off (see the attached screenhot).

Also network password is a 10 digit password mix of alphabets, numbers and special characters but the admin screen only shows the 1st 2 and last 4 characters of the password.

I've noticed only when i renter the password and reboot or save in the admin screen, does the wifi network become available again.

Is this a firmware issue? I am on 2.1.1.16

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I have the same issues since a few days...

[In5iDi0uZ]

I have the same exact issue. Orbi 2.1.1.6 broke my system. Wireless broke after update. Could not turn it back on without factory reset. Any changes i made after reset would break wifi again. I went back to the previous firmware, 2.1.1.2 for now.

[aaz]

I would say your firmware was not updated properly in the first place. You have a broken config and the lower firmware is just masking it. You should update all over again taking care to update satellites first and then the Router after with the proper firmware for each device.

If it's still broken you need to reset to factory defaults and re-setup everything.

[Mudds]

I have the same exact issue...I have spent over 2 hours with Netgear Support.

• Factory Reset both Router/Satellites - Firmware v2.1.1.16
• Went through the whole process of setting it up - But once you make any changes - Bam Wifi stops
• Factory Reset both Router/Satellites - Firmware v2.1.1.12 (hard wired)
• Went through the whole process of setting it up - Again make one change - Bam wifi stops
• Factory Reset both Router/Satelllites - Upgrade back to current v2.1.1.16 (hard wired)
• Then support had me go in to Advance Setup - Wireless Setup and uncheck both - Enable Wireless SSID (2.4/5Ghz) - Apply and Close current page.
• Wait 2 mins - Go back into Advance Setup - Wireless Setup and re-check both SSID options again
• Still showing Warning no wifi even though SSID is enabled.

Still working with Support but will update if I get any further. 

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UPDATE: There have been several others have

[Mudds]

FYI - update:

There have been other reports of firmware not working and causing wifi to not work (SSID). Got this booted up to Level2 support which we were able to recreate the issue. I have downgraded back to 2.0.0.74 but Satellite will not show connected even though I am able to connect to it via IP address on my network.

It's just a Big F-ing headache and I am asking for full refund/return of the device since the firmware bricked my device.

[IT_fooly]

Ran into this when moving my router.  It appears that since the 2.1 firmware on power cycle some special characters in a wireless key/password will be dropped thus with the potential for not meeting the complexity requirement for the radios to be turned on.  If you are having this problem you can verify that your wireless password is displayed as being too short.  If you reapply your preferred wireless password the radios will be enabled at least until power cycle as the password will again be truncated and considered invalid.  Making matters worse this also appears to be true for the satellite(s).

I fixed this by downgrading to 2.0 and disabling auto upgrade via telnet but it was very time consuming since it wasn't easy to get the satellite to connect due to the above.  What probably would have been easier is to change the wireless password to one that displays correctly after being applied but it didn't come to me after being almost finished with the downgrade.

[Nisheel]

@IT_fooly This is exactly what is happening. The network key displayed on the admin page is shorter than what I had set. If I re-enter it and hit Apply the Wifi starts working again !

It is awful that #NETGEAR releases firmware that is so poor in quality. Sad for such an expensive product for a user to go thorugh complex troubleshooting issues. 

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@IT_fooly wrote:

Ran into this when moving my router.  It appears that since the 2.1 firmware on power cycle some special characters in a wireless key/password will be dropped thus with the potential for not meeting the complexity requirement for the radios to be turned on.  If you are having this problem you can verify that your wireless password is displayed as being too short.  If you reapply your preferred wireless password the radios will be enabled at least until power cycle as the password will again be truncated and considered invalid.  Making matters worse this also appears to be true for the satellite(s).

I fixed this by downgrading to 2.0 and disabling auto upgrade via telnet but it was very time consuming since it wasn't easy to get the satellite to connect due to the above.  What probably would have been easier is to change the wireless password to one that displays correctly after being applied but it didn't come to me after being almost finished with the downgrade.

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[Nisheel]

@aaz Firmware is fine. See @IT_fooly post. This is the issue.

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@aaz wrote:

I would say your firmware was not updated properly in the first place. You have a broken config and the lower firmware is just masking it. You should update all over again taking care to update satellites first and then the Router after with the proper firmware for each device.

If it's still broken you need to reset to factory defaults and re-setup everything.

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[Nisheel]

@Mudds

Yes very sad that a firmware which is not fit for mass deployment has been rolled out !

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@Mudds wrote:

FYI - update:

There have been other reports of firmware not working and causing wifi to not work (SSID). Got this booted up to Level2 support which we were able to recreate the issue. I have downgraded back to 2.0.0.74 but Satellite will not show connected even though I am able to connect to it via IP address on my network.

It's just a Big F-ing headache and I am asking for full refund/return of the device since the firmware bricked my device.

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[IT_fooly]

If you go to the html page for the satellite you will see the radios aren't coming on, same issue of a too short key/password being seen by the device.  Do a reset and maybe a couple of reboots and the radios on the satellite will eventually come on and keep coming on after power cycle if successfully downgraded to 2.0 firmware.  If you are able to get an IP on the satellite then you are close, took me forever to get to that point.

On 2.0 now and all is fine but the simple solution for this 2.1 bug is to use a wireless password/key that displays correctly after being applied.

[Mudds]

@IT_fooly

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@IT_fooly wrote:

If you go to the html page for the satellite you will see the radios aren't coming on, same issue of a too short key/password being seen by the device.  Do a reset and maybe a couple of reboots and the radios on the satellite will eventually come on and keep coming on after power cycle if successfully downgraded to 2.0 firmware.  If you are able to get an IP on the satellite then you are close, took me forever to get to that point.

On 2.0 now and all is fine but the simple solution for this 2.1 bug is to use a wireless password/key that displays correctly after being applied.

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Yea - After the upgrade of 2.1 firmware, I did notice my password was missing some characters or was shorter but I thought that was just the "display bug" they are calling it. I didn't try to update it to my original password. I was just done with 2.1, contant resetting back to factory and trying different methods to get it working, let alone stable. 

In this post - https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Very-Sad-Orbi-RB50-experience/m-p/1481139#M20533 I basically, downgraded back to 2.0.0.76 beta (KRACK Fix) and disabled auto firmware update on both the router/satellite. Just done. Everything seems to be stable but I have notice some lag on the satellite with devices connected. I am running logs for that and assume 2.0.0.74 would be more stable than .76 but we will see.

My concern would be if a random disconnect/reboot or even a planned reboot of the router/satellite would they reconnect to each other consistently? So, far from my experience and testing the answer is no. It just seems 2.1 is not working as planned and causing a lot of issues.

[IT_fooly]

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@Mudds wrote:

@IT_fooly

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@IT_fooly wrote:

If you go to the html page for the satellite you will see the radios aren't coming on, same issue of a too short key/password being seen by the device.  Do a reset and maybe a couple of reboots and the radios on the satellite will eventually come on and keep coming on after power cycle if successfully downgraded to 2.0 firmware.  If you are able to get an IP on the satellite then you are close, took me forever to get to that point.

On 2.0 now and all is fine but the simple solution for this 2.1 bug is to use a wireless password/key that displays correctly after being applied.

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Yea - After the upgrade of 2.1 firmware, I did notice my password was missing some characters or was shorter but I thought that was just the "display bug" they are calling it. I didn't try to update it to my original password. I was just done with 2.1, contant resetting back to factory and trying different methods to get it working, let alone stable. 

In this post - https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Very-Sad-Orbi-RB50-experience/m-p/1481139#M20533 I basically, downgraded back to 2.0.0.76 beta (KRACK Fix) and disabled auto firmware update on both the router/satellite. Just done. Everything seems to be stable but I have notice some lag on the satellite with devices connected. I am running logs for that and assume 2.0.0.74 would be more stable than .76 but we will see.

My concern would be if a random disconnect/reboot or even a planned reboot of the router/satellite would they reconnect to each other consistently? So, far from my experience and testing the answer is no. It just seems 2.1 is not working as planned and causing a lot of issues.

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Thanks for the KRACK support reminder, had forgotten about that.  Moved to 2.0*76 beta and it went smoothly.  If you only have one satellite I would recommend disabling Daisy-Chain Topology.  Before I did so I noticed that occasionally the satellite would connect to the router at 2.4G which would result in poor connectivey to all devices attached to it.

[IT_fooly]

Addressed in Firmware Version 2.1.2.18, verified after upgrade:

• Fixes a WiFi issue if the WiFi password contains special characters

[Mudds]

@IT_fooly

Have you tried to update firmware? I am little hesitant to upgrade - as you can imagine. Was it pretty smooth upgrade? All device reconnect? Satellite reconnect?

Thanks

[IT_fooly]

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@Mudds wrote:

@IT_fooly

Have you tried to update firmware? I am little hesitant to upgrade - as you can imagine. Was it pretty smooth upgrade? All device reconnect? Satellite reconnect?

Thanks

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Yes after seeing the issue addressed in the Release Notes I poceeded with the upgrade.  Upgraded the satellite first and then the router, went without a hitch and everything came up and "attached" on it's own.  Most notably the wireless wifi password/key now displays correctly.