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

[kalpik]

So speeds are low even on the stock firmware?
Didnt you say you have 1Gb connection? if so then the speedtest on the admin panel should give you 1Gb not 500Mbps.

Also, Wifi will output a max of 400-450Mbps in ideal conditions so an wall or distance will bring that down. Also your hardware might be out of date, i got a laptop that wont go above 75Mbps

No, I have a 500mbps connection. Shows around 510mbps on Orbi, and used to show between 480-500mbps on phone over wifi. Not anymore. Really not sure what changed.

 

[kalpik]

Okay wait. Changing channels helped! Now I'm back to ~470mbps on phone while connected to the satellite! Mystery solved

 

[kalpik]

Never mind, spoke too soon, now I'm back to ~280mbps, even on the router

 

[e38BimmerFN]

Seems like it's all related.

 

[Voxel]

Never mind, spoke too soon, now I'm back to ~280mbps, even on the router

Sorry, but I cannot reproduce...

Anybody else is having such problem?

Voxel.

 

[digital10]

Okay wait. Changing channels helped! Now I'm back to ~470mbps on phone while connected to the satellite! Mystery solved

I am not sure which channel you got but try 6 for 2.4Ghz and the highest on 5Ghz if it doesnt work try the lowest.

Maybe you live near airport or military base and have radar interference.

I am just guessing. You might have bad hardware btw not software. I am really starting to hate on companies that ship faulty products. Oh how I miss Japanese manufacturing of the 90s.

 

[kasper19]

Hello,

I cant seem to split the SSIDs for 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz frequencies. are the following commands correct?

nvram set wla_ssid="NAME OF YOUR 5GHZ NETWORK"
nvram set allow_diff_ssid=1
nvram commit
reboot

on that topic, is it possible to split the frequency for the guest wireless network also?

Edit: got it to work, had to turn off the satellites first before rebooting the router. The 5G ssid doesn't show up on the advanced page and I have a weird issue about the satellite going into 'config sync' often when watching the attached device page. Also, question about guest ssid still stands.

Thanks.

 

[Voxel]

Also, question about guest ssid still stands.

Sorry, not implemented for guest Wi-Fi.

P.S. It is not recommended to use different SSID: could lead to connection loosing router<-->satellite.

Voxel.

 

[kasper19]

Sorry, not implemented for guest Wi-Fi.

P.S. It is not recommended to use different SSID: could lead to connection loosing router<-->satellite.

Voxel.

thanks for responding. Yes, that's what I've seen when doing it with your firmware. But the performance connecting to my 2.4 Ghz only cameras was so much better [no lag / packet loss] with the split SSIDs. Went back to stock FW, it seems to be doing better with the split SSIDs.

 

[digital10]

thanks for responding. Yes, that's what I've seen when doing it with your firmware. But the performance connecting to my 2.4 Ghz only cameras was so much better [no lag / packet loss] with the split SSIDs. Went back to stock FW, it seems to be doing better with the split SSIDs.

The stock firmware does not allow you to split SSID, what am i missing?

 

[kasper19]

The stock firmware does not allow you to split SSID, what am i missing?

yes you can split it on stock. i'm running split right now. need to turn on telnet first [http://routerip/debug]

--
config set wifison-monitor_stop=1
config commit
config get wifison-monitor_stop

(If you ever need to reverse this setting use the command > config set wifison-monitor_stop=0)
The commands below will then set the the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks to the names you want:
config set wl_ssid="YOUR SSID 2.4Ghz NAME"
config set wla_ssid="YOUR SSID 5Ghz NAME"
config commit

The commands below check the SSID names have been set as required and apply a reboot when ready.
config get wl_ssid
config get wla_ssid
reboot
--

 

[Skippy Bosco]

Orbi has updated their stock firmware:

https://kb.netgear.com/000062062/RBR50-RBS50-Firmware-Version-2-5-1-32

New Features and Enhancements:

Improves the NTP sync speed and success rate Includes updates to the Terms and Conditions and adds a Privacy Policy link

Bug Fixes:

Fixes the incorrect power setting on the WiFi Transmit Power Control Fixes potential issues with the Armor activation

 

[CrimpOn]

Trivia question: Is there a maximum file size for the LAN and WAN files produced by the Orbi "debug" option? On the stock firmware, I wanted to capture one 24-hour day of traffic and use Wireshark to investigate some issues. My 32GB USB stick was formatted FAT32, but I found that the LAN file topped out at about 1.3GB. I used a Linux system to reformat the USB stick as ext4 and did another 24 hour capture. Wireshark reports that the WAN capture runs for about 85,000+ seconds (because I did not stop exactly at 24 hours = 86,400 seconds). However the LAN file reports only a little over 30 minutes of capture. Swapping back and forth between stock and Voxel is a bit of a chore, so I wanted to ask if anyone has ever captured a full day of both WAN and LAN traffic (either on stock firmware or Voxel's firmware).

Thanks

 

[quackamole]

Sorry, not implemented for guest Wi-Fi.

P.S. It is not recommended to use different SSID: could lead to connection loosing router<-->satellite.

Voxel.

Hi Voxel,
Is it possible to add the ability for the guest network to be on a different subnet like the Pro version?

 

[Edc]

Sorry, but I cannot reproduce...

Anybody else is having such problem?

Voxel.

I'm having the exact same problem. It's been since RBK50-V9.2.5.1.18SF-HW for me. I haven't tried any resets etc as I haven't had any available downtime.

It's stuck at around 200mbps when connected to the router on internet speed tests and with iperf3. Sometimes a satellite will allow higher speeds, but then it feels like the dynamic QOS kicks in and tries to pull the speeds back down to 200mbps. There are no neighbouring 5ghz networks or interference that would cause it, it purely seems like QOS to me. I'm wondering if the new firmware may fix it, so I'll wait until you release your version.

 

[Voxel]

Hi Voxel,
Is it possible to add the ability for the guest network to be on a different subnet like the Pro version?

I'll check. But IMO different subnets are (at least yet) very not stable. The same SSID for 2.4 and 5GHz are used for backhaul. Logic is hidden inside binary modules from QCA, I do not control it much...

Voxel.

 

[Voxel]

It's stuck at around 200mbps when connected to the router on internet speed tests and with iperf3. Sometimes a satellite will allow higher speeds, but then it feels like the dynamic QOS kicks in and tries to pull the speeds back down to 200mbps. There are no neighbouring 5ghz networks or interference that would cause it, it purely seems like QOS to me. I'm wondering if the new firmware may fix it, so I'll wait until you release your version.

Was there something like this with stock version? I still cannot catch this issue.

Anyway I'll release new version (mainly because of the integration latest stock changes). Maybe it will help... There are a lot of changes, not recorded in release notes. So...

Voxel.

 

[theoak]

Voxel 9.2.5.1.33 is out:

http://www.voxel-firmware.com/Downloads/Voxel/Orbi-RBK50-Voxel-firmware/RBK50-V9.2.5.1.33SF-HW.zip

FYI

 

[Voxel]

Was there something like this with stock version? I still cannot catch this issue.

BTW. I'd ask somebody who is facing the speed degradation to check the load of CPUs. It would be good to install procps-ng-top from Entware and to run this "top" command. It shows not only processes CPU load but kernel's work too. E.g.

It is visible in screenshot above that processes do not eat CPU but kernel does.

Voxel.

 

[Edc]

Was there something like this with stock version? I still cannot catch this issue.

Anyway I'll release new version (mainly because of the integration latest stock changes). Maybe it will help... There are a lot of changes, not recorded in release notes. So...

Voxel.

Not that I remember, but I've been using yours for a couple of months and it happened during that time. I've only had the Orbi for around 4 months. I'll give the new version a go this evening once everyone has stopped using the network.

BTW. I'd ask somebody who is facing the speed degradation to check the load of CPUs. It would be good to install procps-ng-top from Entware and to run this "top" command. It shows not only processes CPU load but kernel's work too. E.g.


View attachment 24637

It is visible in screenshot above that processes do not eat CPU but kernel does.

Voxel.

I'll also give this a go tonight after upgrading if it still happens.