Custom firmware build for Orbi RBK50/RBK53 (RBR50, RBS50) v. 9.2.5.1.17SF-HW

[iNeusch]

Hi all !

First time Voxel firmware user here.. looks great, incredible job

Unfortunately could not keep it installed because of a strange situation : on wifi connected devices could not navigate to secured websites (like linkedin or office365) because of an incorrect certificate pointing to router login.net

I originally noticed this because my outlook app could not connect to my office365 account, and confirmed by navigating to secured website that would not load
https://imgur.com/a/8eZVex0

Some context :

• Orbi is in AP mode, not router
• Latest version installed, on satellites, then router
• Latest NG version installed before moving to Voxel’s
• Full reboot performed
• Situation happens only on wifi connected devices, ethernet devices work fine
• Situation confirmed on two iPads and one iPhone
• Once the NG firmware was reinstalled everything went back to normal

Any idea what I did wrong ?
Thanks !

 

[scooter2765]

Thanks Voxel works fine here ..

 

[Anjadekar]

I updated my RBR50 and RBS50 to Voxel’s firmware to separate SSIDs as I need to do so to have my Sony soundbar to play well with my WiFi setup.

After a few teething issues the SSIDs did separate. However, the 2.4GHz network is now dog slow. A mere few feet from the RBR I am seeing Txn Rates of 39 Mbps and have never seen it improve beyond 145 Mbps. I am also seeing very frequent dropouts.

I have done a lot of reading, both here and over at the NETGEAR forums and other places, and tried everything I could think of. I have Telnet into the satellite to see if the settings (specifically wla_ssid and allow_diff_ssid are the same as on the router, which they are), and disabled, enabled, and then again enabled the Enable 20/40 MHz Coexistence setting, but to no avail.

Despite Voxel’s cautionary note, other users over here (especially @Hammerfest, whose posts I have read with great interest) have been emphatic about how well the SSID separation works. I would greatly appreciate thoughts on what I might be doing/how I may be able to fix it.

On a sidenote, I think I may have discovered a bug on macOS, wherein the WiFi menu incorrectly reports the channel width. While my Mac shows the 2.4GHz channel as being 20MHz wide, WiFi Explorer Lite shows it as being 40MHz wide (see attached pictures). I am currently on High Sierra (10.13.6) and am not sure if this is OS specific.

 

[theoak]

I believe I heard it explained with regards to the Orbis is that they drop to 20MHz when an access point is detected and they handle this on a frame by frame basis. Hence, if a device is in an area that has no other interference, it will give that device the full 40MHz. Similarly 20MHz to another if it is in an area where an access point is detected. So your wifi application will show the full 40; however, it is still possible that your device is showing 20. I am sure folks can correct and/or explain better.

 

[e38BimmerFN]

Did you disable 20/40Mhz Coexistence on the RBRs UI for 2.4Ghz?

 

[Anjadekar]

Did you disable 20/40Mhz Coexistence on the RBRs UI for 2.4Ghz?

I’ve tried both. The problem with the extremely slow speed and drop-outs remains :-/

 

[e38BimmerFN]

And this only happens after SSID separation I take it?

 

[Anjadekar]

And this only happens after SSID separation I take it?

Yes, that is right. The Orbi was functioning perfectly before. I went ahead with the SSID separation not because of any issue with the Orbi but because I needed to do so for my soundbar to work.

 

[quackamole]

hi Voxel, long time user and lurker, first time poster...woot!

Any chance on getting the guest network to reside on it's own subnet like the srk60 does?

 

[Hammerfest]

What process have you been doing to correct the RBR after it's soft bricked?
Are you using the TFTP process to get stock FW back on?

I made a post about it in a prior release thread, the netgear instructions didnt work proper (small quirk), Will try to find it later to add to a nice little "what to know"

EDIT: here it is, rather long read, the only important part is at the top section
Custom firmware build for Orbi RBK50/RBK53 (RBR50, RBS50) v. 9.2.5.1.11SF-HW

 

[Hammerfest]

Despite Voxel’s cautionary note, other users over here (especially @Hammerfest, whose posts I have read with great interest) have been emphatic about how well the SSID separation works. I would greatly appreciate thoughts on what I might be doing/how I may be able to fix it.

So, I have again gone through the main threads over @Netgear, at this point, either some settings, or some chipsets just DONT seem to play well with Apple's Drivers/WiFi Modules, that's about the only conclusion I can come up with considering some Apple users report a problem, and some don't, AND it extends to MORE then just the Orbi in netgear's lineup.

NOOOOWWWW, because I dont want to say its Netgear only, I do see a few threads regarding Apple products and issues with other Vendor's as well, so might not only be Netgear, but Apple is a walled garden, in which you are wished the best of luck if you have issues and they cannot replicate the issue 100% of the time with ALL users*

The fun part: I worked for a network equipment vendor that did consumer routers, and we had Apple customers with issues quite often, firmware changes where made where possible if it was some specific setting, but I wasnt afraid to tell customers to seek out an Apple branded router when they existed...


EDIT: I forgot to mention, I live in an apartment complex surrounded by other complex's, I havent had much trouble on 2.4, but I did not specifically look for the 20hz/40hz downgrade netgear does as none of my main equipment is on 2.4, I can lock some down and see what I can tell this weekend if i get a chance, but the only Apple I have is a Mac Mini.

 

[Anjadekar]

I made a post about it in a prior release thread, the netgear instructions didnt work proper (small quirk), Will try to find it later to add to a nice little "what to know"

EDIT: here it is, rather long read, the only important part is at the top section
Custom firmware build for Orbi RBK50/RBK53 (RBR50, RBS50) v. 9.2.5.1.11SF-HW

I did come across these instructions, however, my Orbi didn't have the solitary, quick green flash that you mentioned. Instead, I had to power on the RBR with the pin pushing down on the Reset button. As soon as the router started and the red light blinked (within a couple of seconds) I pinged 192.168.1.1 (while keeping the Reset button pushed down with the pin) from Terminal and, voila, the pings were successful, the red light kept flashing and TFTP mode was activated! I could then take the pin out and continue with the TFTP transfer.

In my case the window to initiate the TFTP was very small as the red light blinked only 3-4 times when the RBR was restarted with a pin pushing down the Reset button. I had almost given up but was helped by this excellent tip.

 

[Anjadekar]

So, I have again gone through the main threads over @Netgear, at this point, either some settings, or some chipsets just DONT seem to play well with Apple's Drivers/WiFi Modules, that's about the only conclusion I can come up with considering some Apple users report a problem, and some don't, AND it extends to MORE then just the Orbi in netgear's lineup.

NOOOOWWWW, because I dont want to say its Netgear only, I do see a few threads regarding Apple products and issues with other Vendor's as well, so might not only be Netgear, but Apple is a walled garden, in which you are wished the best of luck if you have issues and they cannot replicate the issue 100% of the time with ALL users*

The fun part: I worked for a network equipment vendor that did consumer routers, and we had Apple customers with issues quite often, firmware changes where made where possible if it was some specific setting, but I wasnt afraid to tell customers to seek out an Apple branded router when they existed...


EDIT: I forgot to mention, I live in an apartment complex surrounded by other complex's, I havent had much trouble on 2.4, but I did not specifically look for the 20hz/40hz downgrade netgear does as none of my main equipment is on 2.4, I can lock some down and see what I can tell this weekend if i get a chance, but the only Apple I have is a Mac Mini.

Many thanks for taking the time out for this deep dive! The thing is, prior to separating the SSIDs my Orbi was working just fine with all my Apple devices for a good 2 plus years. I also didn't have any issues after upgrading to Voxel's firmware. It was only after separating the SSIDs that these issues, namely the unstable connection and frustratingly slow speeds, started.

Interestingly, the router that I am using while my Orbi issues are resolved is also made by Netgear (R6400) and is working perfectly well with the Apples. I guess in my case the issue might not be related to incompatibility between chipsets and Apple products as these products have worked just fine for years. In which case, the question remains, as to what the issue is and if it can be resolved.

I am also very curious about this post of yours, specifically the following bit (emphasis added by me):

nvram set wla_ssid="NAME OF YOUR 5GHZ NETWORK"
nvram set allow_diff_ssid=1
nvram commit
• Reboot your RBR and RBS
• Set “allow_diff_ssid” in nvram to “0” to disable separate SSIDs.
I found you have to do it to both RBR and RBS, didnt work on the RBS otherwise.

When I Telnetted into the Satellite the “allow_diff_ssid” was already set to 1 and the "wla_ssid" was also correct and and I didn't have to do anything else. I was wondering what you meant when you said that the procedure had to be done on the RBS as well.

Thanks much again for your valuable insights

 

[alceasan]

Thanks Voxel for this release.

I'd like to ask for a change in future releases: in the new RBK50 there is no longer USB port, so we can't use an USB drive to automatically load scripts on boot. I'm currently using an internal unused UBIFS volume to store my scripts (ubi0_1 in my case), but I have to mount it manually on every reboot using:

mount -t ubifs /dev/ubi0_1 $LOCAL_DIR

.

Could it be possible to include a NVRAM parameter to auto-mount the specified volume on boot like an USB drive?

 

[kamoj]

Very good idea!
I've had this "need" for long time and want the same thing but for other reasons and routers...
Why not add a nvram parameter, e.g. "run_at_boot_complete". If it exist: @Voxel code execute it!

Thanks Voxel for this release.

I'd like to ask for a change in future releases: in the new RBK50 there is no longer USB port, so we can't use an USB drive to automatically load scripts on boot. I'm currently using an internal unused UBIFS volume to store my scripts (ubi0_1 in my case), but I have to mount it manually on every reboot using:

mount -t ubifs /dev/ubi0_1 $LOCAL_DIR

.

Could it be possible to include a NVRAM parameter to auto-mount the specified volume on boot like an USB drive?

 

[kalpik]

Brilliant firmware! Thanks for your work. Sent a small donation your way.

A request: could we have the ability to push custom DNS servers to clients via DHCP? This is currently now possible, as DHCP pushes the router's IP as DNS to all clients.

Thanks

 

[iNeusch]

Hi all !

First time Voxel firmware user here.. looks great, incredible job

Unfortunately could not keep it installed because of a strange situation : on wifi connected devices could not navigate to secured websites (like linkedin or office365) because of an incorrect certificate pointing to router login.net

I originally noticed this because my outlook app could not connect to my office365 account, and confirmed by navigating to secured website that would not load
https://imgur.com/a/8eZVex0

Some context :

• Orbi is in AP mode, not router
• Latest version installed, on satellites, then router
• Latest NG version installed before moving to Voxel’s
• Full reboot performed
• Situation happens only on wifi connected devices, ethernet devices work fine
• Situation confirmed on two iPads and one iPhone
• Once the NG firmware was reinstalled everything went back to normal

Any idea what I did wrong ?
Thanks !

Tried again this morning :

• Went back to NG's latest firmware
• Factory reset and Complete re-setup
• Installation of Voxel's latest firmware
• Orbi app tells me there a newer version of firmware : 9.2.5.1.17SF-HW vs the installed version 9.2.5.1.17
• Worked fine at first
• After 5 minutes could not load websites on iPhone
• Forgot wifi on iPhone, reselected it
• Worked 1 minute and now it's not loading https webpages, outlook emails or any app on iPhone
• Same on all WiFi connected devices
• Seems to work again for a few minutes and then down again...

If anyone has a suggestion, I'd be grateful

https://imgur.com/a/0GJR8tN

 

[mith_y2k]

Tried again this morning :

• Went back to NG's latest firmware
• Factory reset and Complete re-setup
• Installation of Voxel's latest firmware
• Orbi app tells me there a newer version of firmware : 9.2.5.1.17SF-HW vs the installed version 9.2.5.1.17
• Worked fine at first
• After 5 minutes could not load websites on iPhone
• Forgot wifi on iPhone, reselected it
• Worked 1 minute and now it's not loading https webpages, outlook emails or any app on iPhone
• Same on all WiFi connected devices
• Seems to work again for a few minutes and then down again...

If anyone has a suggestion, I'd be grateful

https://imgur.com/a/0GJR8tN

maybe jumping in late, do you have the same issue on a wired connection? What I’m trying to understand is if it’s a WiFi issue or the router “going to sleep” for some unknown reason.

 

[theoak]

So you have another personal router as the Orbi is in AP mode. Does your router have a man in the middle certificate that needs to be installed on your Apple devices? This is only if your router is inspecting SSL for things like web filters.

Double check the Orbi is in AP mode? If it is in Router mode and Circle and/or Armor is on, that could be getting in the middle of your secure sites causing your grief.

 

[iNeusch]

maybe jumping in late, do you have the same issue on a wired connection? What I’m trying to understand is if it’s a WiFi issue or the router “going to sleep” for some unknown reason.

No, ethernet devices work fine :/

Thanks for the help