R7800 and iOS compatible OpenVPN when?

[garethr]

Anyone have any idea when we're likely to see iOS support for OpenVPN on the R7800 land - I see other models are slowly getting the update (including the R7000 - a much older model), so wondered when the R7800 is going to be in line for this update?

 

[RMerlin]

Why is a router update required for OpenVPN to work with iOS? DH size issues?

 

[garethr]

Because the R7800 and most other Netgear routers (although they appear to be slowly getting updated) don't have the TUN support required by the iOS OpenVPN client.

My concern is that I saw a post mentioning the (similar platform) R7500v2 wasn't scheduled for support any time soon and if the same is the case for the R7800 then I'll be ditching it pretty quick.

I get the impression these QCA based Netgear routers will always be a bit of an afterthought.

 

[NETGEAR Guy]

There are plans to release a firmware update for the R7800 which will support mobile VPN.

Waiting for the ETA...

 

[garethr]

Thanks for the update. Do let us know when you have that ETA.

 

[Killhippie]

Because the R7800 and most other Netgear routers (although they appear to be slowly getting updated) don't have the TUN support required by the iOS OpenVPN client.

My concern is that I saw a post mentioning the (similar platform) R7500v2 wasn't scheduled for support any time soon and if the same is the case for the R7800 then I'll be ditching it pretty quick.

I get the impression these QCA based Netgear routers will always be a bit of an afterthought.

If the current rumour is to be believed Broadcom are phasing out their wifi chip business after being bought up by Avago to concentrate on solutions for fiber-optic and server sectors. This was reported in digiTimes and mentioned below. But its just one rumour so may be click bait really. I'm not sure Broadcom will do this tbh it seems like the last thing they would be doing, but companies like Netgear may start using QCA etc more often now as each chipset manufacturer brings something new to the table, diversification ensures a good product base.

http://www.macrumors.com/2016/03/18/apple-supplier-broadcom-wi-fi-chip-business/

 

[garethr]

If the current rumour is to be true Broadcom are phasing out their wifi chip business after being bought up by Avago to concentrate on solutions for fiber-optic and server sectors. This was reported in digiTimes and mentioned here. So QCA may not be such an afterthought these days.

http://www.macrumors.com/2016/03/18/apple-supplier-broadcom-wi-fi-chip-business/

Depends on whether you buy that rumour or not. Me - not so much.

I think it would be pretty crazy to ditch a business where you're the clear market leader volume wise and pretty much every major consumer router manufacturer focus their ranges around Broadcom silicon.

Right now I tend to view the few odd forays we've seen into QCA (and others) as nothing more than experiments (despite the fact that I think the IPQ8065 is a technically better platform with more development headroom than the current high end Broadcom effort - for example the R7800 barely runs warm compared to the overclocked CPU in the R8500/Asus RT-AC5300 etc.). This is the reason why I'm concerned that these outlying QCA based products will end up the poor relations to the more widespread Broadcom based gear, so it would be nice to have some reassurances that they will be developed and supported unlike the R7500 and seemingly the R7500v2.

 

[avtella]

Features in the R7000 missing from the R7800 will get to it eventually, hopefully by next update that's all I can say. I don't think QCA is an after thought though. Is it worth waiting well that's up to the buyer to decide. I would say as others have said before in the forums, better to wait a few months maybe 6+ or so before buying a newly released product for all issues and features to be settled.

 

[Killhippie]

Even Netgears Broadcom based routers when new don't come with a complete feature set, Netgear seems to start with a blank slate on each product and see what they want to add as time goes by. The R7000 has been out years and only recently got many of the features the R7800 came out of the box with, it also got messed up with Arlo for some.

As avtella says it takes time, they will add the features and I don't think QCA routers from Netgear are 'experiments' as Mu-Mimo and and new wave 2 features came out Broadcom fell behind for a while and QCA came to the forefront after the Quantenna disaster for both Asus and Netgear (R7500 was QCA and Quantenna hybrid). The R7500v2 is all Qualcomm for stability over the messy R7500 and the Asus RT-87U which was Broadcom and Quantenna. It seems QT never got the drivers to be stable enough for some, or support the features it promised so it feels like manufactures moved on after struggling with those products.

The R7000 seems to be Netgear's bread and butter in the AC market, and it had a horrible start, the R7800 comparably is very stable. New features will come in time. The R7800 is not even Wi-Fi certified yet so it has a way to go and it has QCA's second wave 2 chipset as well so good things will come in time.

 

[garethr]

Fair points guys. I guess only time will tell.

I think the R7000 has ended up being a bit of a 'classic' - much like the old DG834 ADSL model from years ago - that went through about six different hardware revisions but was continually developed and supported firmware wise - well beyond its days.

It will be interesting to see if over time there will be an overall industry shift to QCA - I get the impression Broadcom have become a bit complacent and dropped the ball with regards modern silicon and Wave 2/MU-MIMO.

Back on topic though, good to hear that mobile OpenVPN support is close for this model!

 

[NETGEAR Guy]

If QA goes well, hoping we'll have supported FW in the next couple of weeks...

 

[garethr]

If QA goes well, hoping we'll have supported FW in the next couple of weeks...

Great news. Thanks for the update.

 

[NETGEAR Guy]

Update from engineering that firmware V1.0.1.28 was released yesterday.

Update should be available from within the GUI...

 

[garethr]

Update from engineering that firmware V1.0.1.28 was released yesterday.

Update should be available from within the GUI...

Brilliant. Thanks for the update. Looks like its a feature packed update too. Just downloaded it now, so we'll see how it goes...

Release Notes:
[New Feature and Enhancement] Supports ReadyCloud, which allows you to access your USB storage device from anywhere.
[New Feature and Enhancement] Supports genie remote, which allows you to manage your home network remotely using NETGEAR genie.
[New Feature and Enhancement] Supports the Kwilt iOS photo manager app, which can be used to view and share photos stored on the USB drive connected to the R7800, as well as from other sources like DropBox, OneDrive, Facebook etc.
[New Feature and Enhancement] Supports NETGEAR Downloader (Beta), which allows you to directly download files from Internet to the USB drive connected to the router.
[New Feature and Enhancement] Supports OpenVPN mobile client (iOS and Android) app for easy secure remote access to your home network.
[New Feature and Enhancement] Sends log reports via SSL email, which allows email notification to be setup on your Nighthawk router.
[New Feature and Enhancement] Supports WiFi Transmit Power Control, which reduces WiFi power to just cover your home network and reduces WiFi interference in the neighborhood.
[New Feature and Enhancement] Supports AP mode detection, which detects whether you set up the router in AP mode or not, and provides you with the option to configure the router in router mode or AP mode.
[New Feature and Enhancement] Supports IPTV port, which creates a bridge connection from the WAN port to one of the LAN ports. The designated LAN port or wireless SSID becomes an IPTV port, and has the direct access to the WAN port, without going through NAT.
[New Feature and Enhancement] Supports IGMP proxy for British Telecom.
[New Feature and Enhancement] Improves port forwarding by allowing fixed and range ports to be added to one rule.
[New Feature and Enhancement] Supports IP-MAC binding for the PR region.
[New Feature and Enhancement] Supports Super WiFi for the PR region.
[New Feature and Enhancement] Supports DNS 3322 for the PR region.
[New Feature and Enhancement] Supports Russian WAN installation and IPTV port support.
[Bug Fix] Fix the issue in which iMAC cannot scan 5G SSID when channel is set to 153/157.
[Bug Fix] Fix the issue in which IPv6 cannot be disabled when using Windows10 Edge browser.

 

[avtella]

I don't see an update.

 

[garethr]

I don't see an update.

It appears to only be available through the router UI update. It wasn't on the support website when I checked.

 

[avtella]

Its weird I did check the update in GUI.

 

[garethr]

Its weird I did check the update in GUI.

So oddly enough the first time I tried to update it hung at 99% downloading, and it didn't show any release notes on the update page, but the second time of trying it worked fine with release notes and all.
The good news everything seems to be working well so far - including the mobile VPN which I've just tested. Lots of great new stuff in this update - not least the ability to finally email logs via SSL!

 

[avtella]

I don't even see it lol.

 

[garethr]

I don't even see it lol.

How odd. Maybe it is a region specific thing? I'm UK based.

@NETGEAR Guy - any thoughts on this?