New Netgear Orbi RBK852 Bugs

[Retired_Member]

I purchased the new Netgear Orbi Wifi 6 router and satellite from my local Best Buy yesterday. The new router is starting to be released nationwide. 

It was so frustrating trying to get the router and satellite setup, that I spent about 4-5 hours of my time yesterday, only to conclude that Netgear released the new unit way too early. Netgear has a long road ahead of them to get all the bugs fixed. To me this seems more like a .1 release instead of a 1.0 release. 

I NEED the backhaul feature to work! The Satellite would connect via the dedicated 5Ghz band, but my connection was only "fair." I would connect the Satellite to my network via ethernet, and the light would turn solid blue. However, the Orbi router would report the Satellite is "disconnected." I tried rebooting the Satellite and router, and nothing would work. I was only able to get the satellite to show connected once.

The Orbi router was lying, however. I went into the Satellite's web GUI and from here you can see what devices are connected to the satellite. I could see my laptop and phone were both connected to the satellite. I went back into the router's web interface and looked at my attached devices. The router reports that ALL my devices are connected to the router. That's simply not true. So it looks like the new Orbi RBK852 model is NOT reporting the correct information back to the router.

Also, if I tried to setup the router and satellite when they were both connected to ethernet, the router would NEVER pickup the satellite. I would have to disconnect the satellite from ethernet so it could be setup via the dedicated 5Ghz band. Once that was done, I re-connected the satellite to the dedicated ethernet cable in my upstairs, and the same problems mentioned above started happening again.

Also, for those who were hoping to separate your 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz via the TELNET workaround, that feature is gone. Netgear has closed the loop. I tried running the commands, and I get an error how "config" doesn't exist. This was the final nail in the coffin when I knew I would be returning the new Orbi back to Best Buy. I NEED to have my 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz separated. Sometimes my streaming devices would connect to 2.4Ghz, and cause buffering. I didn't pay $700+ for a router to not be able to separate my 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks. 

Let me know if you all have any questions. I'd be happy to try and answer. All I know is the RBK852 is very buggy, and if you're even somewhat interested in this router, I would wait AT LEAST 6 months for Netgear to work out some of the bugs.

[ErnestTheGreat]

@Retired_Member I have RBK852 myself as well other then some problems here and there its been running fairly good. Out of curiousty what is the FW version you are or were running on your Orbi AX? Did you ttry FW V3.1.5.23?

[FURRYe38]

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between RBR and RBS to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.

Are you trying to get the RBS connected first while near the RBR in the same room or at it's remote final location?

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

[Retired_Member]

Ernest, is your backhaul working or are you connected via the 5Ghz dedicated band for the satellite?

What about your Attached Devices? Are they showing all connected to your router or do you actually see some reporting they are connected to your satellite? All I know is mine was extremely buggy and I reset the RBK852 multiple times thinking that would make a difference.

Yes, I had upgraded to the latest firmware when setting up the unit. 

[Retired_Member]

3,000 sq. feet. 

Yes, router and satellite are more than 30 feet apart. However, the satellite was supposed to be connected upstaris via ethernet backhaul (see my frst post. Backhaul feature is broken.) 

No, I was not setting up the router and satellite in the same room. The router on the first floor, and the satellite up in the loft on the 2nd floor connected via ethernet cable. The satellite would not setup when connected to ethernet for backhaul support. Even though the light would turn solid blue, the router always reported the satellite was disconnected. If I disconnected the ethernet cable, the satellite would eventually turn amber color and it WOULD work over the dedicated 5Ghz band. But I did NOT intend on using the satellite this way. The backhaul feature was a must for me. 

Of course I tried differnet channels.

I've already returned the RBK852 to Best Buy. Spending $750 on a router should not be this broken.

[ErnestTheGreat]

@Retired_Member I currently have 18 devices actively connected to the Orbi AX system and 7 out of 18 are showing as connected to my Sattelite. The Satelite is connected to router using dedicated 5 GHz backhaul connection.

[Retired_Member]

Looks like you got a good unit then. There's another review on Best Buy where the person is on their 3rd unit already. Their first unit reported the same problem where the Satellite wouldn't connect. Maybe the 5Ghz dedicated band works better than backhaul? Not sure.. but maybe I'll try the router again in a year once all the major issues are resolved. 

[FURRYe38]

You should have first connected the RBS to the RBR while in the same room to confirm that it would connect there directly. Either wireless or wired. This would have confirmed the RBS worked or not. There may other factors that had contributed to the RBS not working. 

Like any LAN switches or patch panels in between the RBR and the remote location to the RBS. 

Bad cabling. Swapped out LAN cabling to test as well. 

Things to be aware of next time. We see Ernest system is working. Leads me to this there may have been a misconfiguration with yours. 

Good Luck. 

[theBrick89]

Yes, in ideal world, Wi-Fi 6 backhaul should perform better in terms of speed (in terms of stability, it may vary depends on the physical environment around it)

What I keep wondering from both reportings from here and from BB's customer review section, is RBK852 supports wired backhaul to begin with? I can't fine any detailed spec about it from neither netgear's own product page/documentation nor on Best Buy/Amazon's listed specs.

[CrimpOn]

Sort of frustrating the Netgear's support site for the RBK852 has the product data sheet and installation guide, but no User Manual.

[FURRYe38]

@Christian_R 

[FURRYe38]

The Orbi AX supports ethernet back haul and works. 

Though the wireless back haul speed is slower than the 50 series.

(2400 + 2400 + 1200Mbps)

Not sure why they went with slower wrireless back haul speeds on wireless. Possible something with the chip set Mfr is working with. 

[Blanca_O]

Hi @CrimpOn

This has been brought up already to the Docs Team. We will let you know once the User Manual available on our support site. 

Regards, 
Blanca 
Community Team

[Retired_Member]

Hi Furry,

Just as an FYI-- I can confirm and tell you the LAN connection fo the backhaul is not bad because of LAN cable or patch panel. The ethernet port is actually upstaris in my loft, and I use it for my NAS. I get top gigabit speed. I was going to put the satellite up there, and bring the NAS into the office, but no need for that since I don't have the RBK852 anymore ;-( 

[theBrick89]

---

@FURRYe38 wrote:

The Orbi AX supports ethernet back haul and works. 

Though the wireless back haul speed is slower than the 50 series.

(2400 + 2400 + 1200Mbps)

Not sure why they went with slower wrireless back haul speeds on wireless. Possible something with the chip set Mfr is working with. 

---

previously stated wireless backhaul number is wrong.

I just replaced my RBK52 to RBK852 and it works way better than it used to be. (1733mbps -> 2400mbps) 

I previously had throughput issue and my router can't keep up with my fiber speed, now constantly show me 930mbps+ up and down.

and my NAS attatched to satellite now works as 2Gbps with dual LAN balanced alb 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-WiFi-6-at-IFA-2019-2nd-Gen-Mesh-WiFi-Is-Here/m-p/1798287/...

[FURRYe38]

Yes I strand corrected. Just checked my 852 and I guess the spec sheet reads backwards. 
I thought mostly reading the numbers from left to right always started with the 2.4Ghz radio. The spec sheet reads with the 2.4Ghz as the last value. 
Sorry for posting incorrect information. Spec sheet is kind of mis-leading from other spec sheets I read for other Orbi routers which read with the 2.4Ghz radio value first. So yet, the 1200 is the max speed rate on 2.4ghz and 2400 is seen on the 5Ghz radios. 

[schumaku]

FWIW: The term backhaul is used by Netgear (and the wireless industry in general) for both wireless or wired connections.

At this price tag, customers can indeed expect reliable firmware without guesswork of what is connected where - even if the "less common" (and obviously mostly untested - so where are the "proud" Beta testers here?) wired backhaul the App or the primary router Web UI must be able to fetch the information from the satellites so a correct network layout or at least a list of devices with the correct connection point can be displayed. Of course - from the router prospective - also devices connected to the satellite (wired or wireless) are connected wired.

Sorry Netgear, it can't be difficult to collect the information from all the Orbi satellites and show at the central point in a correct way. 

Another product not ready for prime time again. Not even a User Manual is published. But hey, Netgear is obviously not interested in dealing with experienced (and critical) networking people so we never get consumer BU Beta samples. I know @ChristineT that this is not your business, but you should take care that all active community members - with reasonable know-how and spending hours every day loading off Netgear community duties here - are honoured (or punished) with that process.

@Retired_Member I can understand your frustration.

[DYTX]

This was posted yesterday as an update in a Best Buy review in case it is helpful to anyone:

“Update as of 23 Oct 1130pm EST
Posted 21 hours ago.
So I've been emailing with Netgear support and (fingers crossed) everything has been working just fine. Here's my setup as of this second:

Internet: Comcast Xfinity gig speed
Router: Netgear CM1150V
Wireless: Orbi tri-band mesh ax6000

My system automatically updated to the latest firmware. I changed the 2.4ghz channel from Auto to channel 1. I also changed the 5ghz channel to 36 (lowest channel). Not sure if it mattered or not but also, in the orbi app, I had to activate ipv6 as it wasn't automatically activated. After all of that was done, I rebooted my modem and wireless router. Started the modem first, waited for it to boot up completely, then booted up the router. That was before noon Eastern today and it's almost midnight and haven't had any hiccups. Maybe luck? Maybe not. It's worth a $700 shot lol“

[FURRYe38]

Thanks for letting us know. Hope it works out well for you. 

---

@DYTX wrote:
This was posted yesterday as an update in a Best Buy review in case it is helpful to anyone:

“Update as of 23 Oct 1130pm EST
Posted 21 hours ago.
So I've been emailing with Netgear support and (fingers crossed) everything has been working just fine. Here's my setup as of this second:

Internet: Comcast Xfinity gig speed
Router: Netgear CM1150V
Wireless: Orbi tri-band mesh ax6000

My system automatically updated to the latest firmware. I changed the 2.4ghz channel from Auto to channel 1. I also changed the 5ghz channel to 36 (lowest channel). Not sure if it mattered or not but also, in the orbi app, I had to activate ipv6 as it wasn't automatically activated. After all of that was done, I rebooted my modem and wireless router. Started the modem first, waited for it to boot up completely, then booted up the router. That was before noon Eastern today and it's almost midnight and haven't had any hiccups. Maybe luck? Maybe not. It's worth a $700 shot lol“

---

[FURRYe38]

New FW availalbe if anyone wants to give it a go:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/New-RBR850-RBS850-Firmware-Version-3-2-7-2/td-p/1823309/jum...