Netgear Orbi discussion thread

[DanH]

I will say one thing I wish the Orbi guest network had a VLAN ID or if it does that they would at least tell us the VLAN ID for the guest network. As it is now if you are using the Orbi in AP mode, there is no way to prevent guess access to the LAN. I know I can do it if I knew the IPs of every device on the network and blocked each individually, but that is not really convenient. Would be much easier if Netgear let us know the VLAN ID being used by guest network much like Apple does with the AirPort Extreme then we could assign rules/tagging for that ID.

 

[RogerSC]

Apparently Netgear is taking the direction of having the Orbi do it's own flashing without needing user intervention, despite whether the user has done a manual flash or not. I found that after I had flashed the router back to 1.3.0.12 to get the "Advanced Attached Devices" screen thing going, that the Orbi had flashed itself back to 1.4.10.18 at some point during the next day. Then I manually flashed it to 1.4.0.34 because I caught it early on. I expect that it would have flashed itself to 1.4.0.34 if I had waited longer.

Interesting...Guess that goes along with dumbing down the interface, and the general appliance approach to home networking.

 

[husky55]

First post, my Apple Airport Extreme bit the dust and I'm forced to upgrade about a year sooner than I'd hoped to...

Looks like the Orbi +1 will be the setup for my house, but had a question:

Should I change from the Xfinity/Comcast modem to something better compatible with the Orbi? I'm supposed to be getting 100 down/8 up, and I'd like to use QoS if I can.

I'm actually not sure I'm allowed to, but if I can is it the better setup?

I'd just as soon buy everything at once and perhaps get a package deal... and install it all together.

Your modem is separate and independent of your router. So no need to buy a different modem, but if you lease from comcast then buying your own will save money.

 

[thiggins]

Interesting...Guess that goes along with dumbing down the interface, and the general appliance approach to home networking.

All of the distributed wireless / mesh systems automatically update. I had not noticed that Orbi does not have the ability to disable automatic updates. But it is in keeping with the product category.

 

[sm00thpapa]

I noticed that the router and satellite have to be updated separately. Router first then the satellite. And updated weren't automatic.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[RogerSC]

I noticed that the router and satellite have to be updated separately. Router first then the satellite. And updated weren't automatic.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Netgear does recommend updating the satellite first in the release notes, so that's what I'd do.

 

[DanH]

I just click update all and it works fine.

 

[lemuba]

Here, the Orbi advised me of the new firmware version 1.4.0.34 available last night...otherwise I wouldn't have known about it. It isn't much different, since, as the release notes say, "fixed some minor bugs". I don't use "Genie remote".

This may not interest you, but if you flash back to 1.3.0.12 and turn on the "Advanced Attached Devices" screen using the debug link you'll get the client information that you're looking for. Then if you flash forward again to 1.4.0.34, you'll retain the "Advanced Attached Devices" screen. So, if you're willing to do the extra flash, and don't do a reset to factory defaults in the process, you'll get the information that you're looking for.

While I'm not overjoyed by not being able to see what band a client is connected to without doing the above extra flash, I also don't care which band clients are on if things are working well. At my place, when things are working right, all clients (except my wifi printer) are put on 5GHz., and everything works well.

So everything is working fine here now. Even though I have the client connection information, I don't need it. And I'm not motivated to go back to the R7800, nor would I be if I didn't have the information about which band clients are connected to *smile*. Great wireless.

Dear all,

regards from Germany

I just purchased the Orbi Router and Satellite two days ago from Amazon Germany - everything works perfectly configurated as AP and connected to my existing router.
I also updated both Router and Satelleite directly to the new firmware version 1.4.0.34 and was able to enable the so called "Advanced Attached Devices" screen by finding a hint in the Netgear US community forum.

The steps are as follows:

1. Enter the debug page orbilogin.com/debug.htm (or: IP-of-Your-Router/debug.htm)
2. Sign in with your login data: admin & password
3. Set "Enable Telnet"
4. Open a terminal programm on your computer and start telnet by typing in: telnet "IP-of your ORBI Router"
5. Type in followig lines/commants and confirm each with "enter":
nvram set enable_adv_attached=1
nvram commit
6. Leave telnet
7. Repeat steps 1-3 und disable telnet!

8. Be happy to find now again the "Advanced Attached Devices" screen...

Hope this was helpful for you!

 

[RogerSC]

Ah, I've been looking for how to turn on the "Advanced Attached Devices" screen using nvram commands via telnet. Didn't run across the variable name that controls this.

Thanks!

 

[sfx2000]

Would be much easier if Netgear let us know the VLAN ID being used by guest network much like Apple does with the AirPort Extreme then we could assign rules/tagging for that ID.

Apple never documented that - but it was very nice to discover and use...

(outside of network geek hood - Apple was one of the few that could extend the "guest" network across their AP's - layer 2 was the SSID, but they worked the Layer 3) - very nice stuff for a $200 router...

 

[sm00thpapa]

I just click update all and it works fine.

Mine does not download the satellite so I have do do it separately.

 

[RogerSC]

Mine does not download the satellite so I have do do it separately.

That's what happened for me, too, early on...so I went to manual upgrading. I don't have any problem with that, used to it *smile*.

 

[Vandergraff]

My Orbi system did a factory reset yesterday.

We had a power outage during a s storm. The Orbi managed this fine - its on an UPS and we have a backup generator that comes on after 30 seconds when power goes out so Orbi didn't even know about the power outage. The power was out for 4 - 5 hours. Once it was back on I was switching around some of the UPS's in the house and unplugged and then re-plugged the Orbi back in a couple of times. I then noticed it had done a factory reset back to its default SSID and initial set up mode.

Had to set up again. I was just back from a business trip and this would have been a real pain if it had happened when I was away....The rest of the family would not be happy.

Any ideas what might cause a factory reset in this case?

 

[pete y testing]

Any ideas what might cause a factory reset in this case?

repeat what you did and see if it happens again as this shouldnt be the case as the config is in the nvram and the only way to clear it is to ether manually factory reset from the gui , its quite possible you didnt complete the setup process correctly the first time and thus wasnt saved to nvram and the power cycle just took it back to the initial setup page

 

[sm00thpapa]

Just tried connecting a first gen xbox 360 with external wifi adapter and it won't connect to the Orbi Wifi. It keeps saying "There are 2 networks with the same name please choose one". And there is no way to choose one so back to the R7800.

 

[pete y testing]

Just tried connecting a first gen xbox 360 with external wifi adapter and it won't connect to the Orbi Wifi. It keeps saying "There are 2 networks with the same name please choose one". And there is no way to choose one so back to the R7800.

then that is an issue with the external wifi adapter not the orbi

 

[sm00thpapa]

then that is an issue with the external wifi adapter not the orbi

Yes I know and the only way to fix it is to remove Orbi. So back to Best Buy it goes.

 

[pete y testing]

Yes I know and the only way to fix it is to remove Orbi. So back to Best Buy it goes.

thats about as backwards as it gets !! return the best wifi router because the cheap wireless adapter wont work , why not just get a better solution for the xbox like plug it into the sat

 

[sm00thpapa]

thats about as backwards as it gets !! return the best wifi router because the cheap wireless adapter wont work , why not just get a better solution for the xbox like plug it into the sat

The Xbox is upstairs. I need the satellite more for the back patio and pool so the router is on one end of the house and the satellite is on the other end downstairs. A 2nd satellite would be nice to put upstairs in that room.


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[pete y testing]

A 2nd satellite would be nice to put upstairs in that room.

thats what i would do