Voxel Custom firmware build for Orbi RBK50/RBK53 (RBR50, RBS50) v. 9.2.5.1.19SF-HW

[Voxel]

Continuation of

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/custom-firmware-build-for-orbi-rbk50-v-2-5-0-42sf-hw.60308/
. . .
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/c...50-rbk53-rbr50-rbs50-v-9-2-5-1-17sf-hw.63554/
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/c...-v-9-2-5-1-18sf-hw-v-9-2-5-1-18-1sf-hw.64414/

New version of my custom firmware build: 9.2.5.1.19SF-HW.

Changes (vs 9.2.5.1.18.1SF-HW):

1. dropbear package is upgraded 2019.78->2020.79

(scp fix for CVE-2018-20685:​

https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2018-20685​

support of ed25519 hostkeys and authorized_keys,​

adding chacha20-poly1305 authenticated cipher etc).​

2. mount.cifs v. 6.10 utility is added (allowing to mount remote CIFS Share, see QuickStart.txt).
3. Kernel changes to allow mounting a CIFS Share.
4. iptables package is upgraded 1.8.4->1.8.5.
5. ca-certificates package is upgraded 20190110->20200601.
6. DNSCrypt Proxy v.2 is upgraded 2.0.42->2.0.44.
7. wireguard package is upgraded 1.0.20200520->1.0.20200611.
8. wireguard init script is changed (allowing to use LocalIP scope such as e.g. 10.0.xxx.xxx/24).
9. proftpd package is upgraded 1.3.6c->1.3.6d.
10. pcre package is upgraded 8.43->8.44.
11. Host tools: mkimage is downgraded (u-boot-2014.10).

[Probably this should fix TFTP issue but not tested yet.]​

The link is:

https://www.voxel-firmware.com (thanks to vladlenas for his help with hosting).

Voxel.

 

[digital10]

I am not sure if I am looking for any further updates, its perfect as it is I don't know what could be improved

its fast, stable, the signal is far reaching and everything works great!

 

[Skippy Bosco]

I am not sure if I am looking for any further updates, its perfect as it is I don't know what could be improved

its fast, stable, the signal is far reaching and everything works great!

To be fair, I felt the same way about Orbi stock firmware. I used it for years without any issue. I updated to Voxel and it worked the same, only a little better.

 

[digital10]

To be fair, I felt the same way about Orbi stock firmware. I used it for years without any issue. I updated to Voxel and it worked the same, only a little better.

I didn't give the stock firmware a chance. After two weeks I had multiple disconnects and finicky behavior, it didnt help that many complain that the stock firmware is usually disappointing(not on my experience on previous routers including netgear). Is it placebo effect? I dont know but what I know is that everything is superb thanks to Voxel firmware.

 

[gssjshark]

This firmware is amazing Voxel! Your work is greatly appreciated by us all! I was wondering if there will ever be a chance of your custom firmware coming to other orbi models (RBS or RBR 40/20)? Thanks again for all your hard work and amazing contributions.

 

[Voxel]

I was wondering if there will ever be a chance of your custom firmware coming to other orbi models (RBS or RBR 40/20)?

Sorry but I am just private person and I do not have other Orbi models. I have to buy them spending my own money

Voxel.

 

[theoak]

Sorry but I am just private person and I do not have other Orbi models. I have to buy them spending my own money

Voxel.

So ... if you every purchase a new router ... drop us a hint

 

[Voxel]

So ... if you every purchase a new router ... drop us a hint

Funnily... My house is overloaded by these gadgets... I am really just private person. I am not sponsored by any company or by government (save me God from this ) or by whatever else organization. These FW builds are just a fun for me. Brain gymnastics. Instead of paper job I hate.

Maybe something from AX line... But these gadgets are too raw IMO.

Ha-ha... Let us see. I'll inform you of course. It requires a some kind of heroism from my side... I should be ready... New gadget: new headache for me....

Voxel.

 

[LJ H]

do i need to do something special to scp a file onto the router?

it looks like the scp command is available on both the router and my local machine, but i get:

bash: scp: not found
lost connection

 

[digital10]

Funnily... My house is overloaded by these gadgets... I am really just private person. I am not sponsored by any company or by government (save me God from this ) or by whatever else organization. These FW builds are just a fun for me. Brain gymnastics. Instead of paper job I hate.

Maybe something from AX line... But these gadgets are too raw IMO.

Ha-ha... Let us see. I'll inform you of course. It requires a some kind of heroism from my side... I should be ready... New gadget: new headache for me....

Voxel.

you saved me and I gof lucky I had the RBK50. After this upsetting firmware performance from Netgear, I am going for ASUS with merlin(hoping its as good as Voxel) or Ubiquiti if they ever make a dedicated backhaul

 

[Skippy Bosco]

you saved me and I gof lucky I had the RBK50. After this upsetting firmware performance from Netgear, I am going for ASUS with merlin(hoping its as good as Voxel) or Ubiquiti if they ever make a dedicated backhaul

Which Asus? I'm a bit fan of the Asus ZenWifi AX

https://www.asus.com/Networking/ZenWiFi-AX-XT8/

I love that the router and satellites are interchangeable. I love that the wireless backhaul can be repurposed for wifi clients if you use wired backhaul. Great reviews.

 

[Hyzepher]

Looks like separating the 2.4 and 5Ghz SSIDs doesn't hold - reverts both to whatever the wl_ssid is after a few minutes.

Any ideas on this?

 

[Hyzepher]

ignore - just found config set wifison-monitor_stop=1 option

 

[theoak]

Which Asus? I'm a bit fan of the Asus ZenWifi AX

https://www.asus.com/Networking/ZenWiFi-AX-XT8/

I love that the router and satellites are interchangeable. I love that the wireless backhaul can be repurposed for wifi clients if you use wired backhaul. Great reviews.

I am not convinced that AX is fully baked yet.

Personally, I just got the Orbi AC3000 for that reason and combined with the fact that with all the wifi I have in my home, I have 1 (uno, un, um, unus, odin, moja ... one) single AX device. It was hard to justify an expensive AX system for one device.

The 6E routers have me interested too when they get released.

Maybe come 2022 when the next versions of AX are released I'll revisit AX and/or whatever is the latest greatest then.

@Voxel talked about "heroism" in a prior post. I can relate. I have to coordinate my upgrades when my wife is not home. If she notices that things have changed, or her phone no longer works ... scary

 

[mith_y2k]

do i need to do something special to scp a file onto the router?

it looks like the scp command is available on both the router and my local machine, but i get:

bash: scp: not found
lost connection

See Custom firmware build for Orbi RBK50/RBK53 (RBR50, RBS50) v. 9.2.5.1.18SF-HW & v. 9.2.5.1.18.1SF-HW

I haven’t had a chance to try myself

 

[Skippy Bosco]

I am not convinced that AX is fully baked yet. @Voxel talked about "heroism" in a prior post. I can relate. I have to coordinate my upgrades when my wife is not home. If she notices that things have changed, or her phone no longer works ... scary

Are you confusing the ZenWifi AX with something else?

It is getting great reviews:

https://www.cnet.com/reviews/asus-zenwifi-ax-review/

And costs less than what Orbi does:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081ZVFN64/?tag=snbforums-20

And because the satellites and routers can be interchanged you don't end up with a single point of failure or buying a bundled set and ending up with a second router you can't use or have to hack.

 

[beanfootage]

I just updated from 9.2.5.1.17 to 9.2.5.1.19, and my throughput on both wifi and physically cabled into the router has dropped dramatically -- say ~250Mpbs with a cable on my 1Gbps connection. This happened in the past on earlier Voxel firmwares and I fixed it by flashing stock (though not until trying to restore to factory in the Voxel firmware and soft-bricking, so my flash-to-stock was via TFTP), restoring to factory settings, flashing Voxel's firmware, and setting everything up again manually. Since then I routinely get 1Gbps cabled to the router and high speeds on wifi as well, until flashing this update.

Any suggestions? If no I'll try flashing to stock again and going through the same song and dance but it's annoying and I'd like to avoid it.

 

[keridil]

do i need to do something special to scp a file onto the router?

it looks like the scp command is available on both the router and my local machine, but i get:

bash: scp: not found
lost connection

You can work around the error linking scp in your /root directory.

ln -s /usr/bin/scp /root/scp

 

[digital10]

Which Asus? I'm a bit fan of the Asus ZenWifi AX

https://www.asus.com/Networking/ZenWiFi-AX-XT8/

I love that the router and satellites are interchangeable. I love that the wireless backhaul can be repurposed for wifi clients if you use wired backhaul. Great reviews.

Whatever the equivalent of the Orbi is and that seems to be the one. I have thoughts that Asus might be a better performer than Netgear. I would love to hear from someone who has experience with both, but everyone seems to agree its a hit or miss.

I am afraid I have false impressions about Asus and it turns to be a quirky performer. There is no Voxel firmware to save me from that purchase. Any way I just got my Orbi and not upgrading until years ahead when most gadgets got Wifi6 and the standard has stabilized. But who knows, Orbi's were there in 2016 and the same Orbis are here in 2020. So ZenWifi might still be the best option then.

 

[Voxel]

do i need to do something special to scp a file onto the router?

it looks like the scp command is available on both the router and my local machine, but i get:

bash: scp: not found
lost connection

What OS is used on your local machine? This message just means that your shell "bash" failed to find the command "scp". Maybe it is not included into PATH. Or not installed. On local machine. Usually it is (full path to scp): /usr/bin/scp

scp is available on ORBI of course.

Voxel.