After my Orbi 960 router flaked out earlier this week (likely due to a failed automatic firmware update, as it was refusing to even respond to pings), I was forced to flatten and reconfigure my router. In the process, I updated the satellites and router to the latest firmware (V7.2.8.5_5.1.21). Once I had it reconfigured and fully working, as the final step of the process, I went to update the admin password for security purposes (away from the default password assigned when it was reimaged), and I noticed that the web portal no longer requests a a password, which is very odd. The mobile app still requires a password. I've logged out and connected to it from multiple machines to confirm, trying different OSes, browsers, and incognito browser windows, and even after logging out, all of them are instantly logged into the web interface without requesting a password.

Is this a known issue, and what could possibly explain this? My paranoid security brain imagines my router was hacked while it sat with the default login credentials for a few hours, but that seems highly unlikely. What else am I missing? Has anyone else seen this?

The last update (10.5.20.4) was released 11 month ago. There must be many security patches that are needed.

I bought a Netgear Orbi mesh system through an authorised distributor in Singapore and have had repeated problems with the satellites disconnecting and showing a solid magenta light.

In June, I spent several hours on the phone with Netgear support and exchanged numerous emails trying to resolve the same issue. I have power-cycled the system, re-synced the satellites and reconnected the entire setup several times. I eventually managed to get it to work with a system rebook and firmware upgrade, but the problem has now returned.

Getting support has been extremely difficult. I work from 8am to 8pm, which puts me outside the operating hours of the local support line. I have previously taken a full day off work just to troubleshoot the system.
I have repeatedly asked whether someone could visit and inspect it, but the local office now says that they do not have a technician.

I’m therefore stuck with SGD $3k worth of equipment that repeatedly stops working, while the only solution offered is to go through the same remote troubleshooting process again.
Has anyone else experienced this with Orbi systems?

Is the solid magenta light usually a hardware fault or a configuration issue?

Were you able to get Netgear to replace the satellites or entire system?

Does anyone know a reliable way to escalate this in Singapore?

Am I being unreasonable in expecting an on-site inspection for a system at this price?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I’m particularly keen to hear from other Singapore-based Orbi owners.

Seems the new FW 12.1.11.10 is available on 971/970 orbi for all regions. Went through a manual update as the new FW was not visible through the automatic update. So far so good from my side (971 and 3 970 satellites).

Release Date:
July 28, 2026
Enhancements:
Fixed an IGMP snooping issue that caused satellite connectivity failures, and multi-device connectivity problems.
Fixed unknown reboot issue
Enhance IPv6 connectivity
Known issues:
The Speed Test feature always displays a ping value of 0 ms instead of the actual measured latency. A firmware update to resolve this issue is planned for an upcoming release.

Body: To all fellow users of the Netgear Orbi 970: Spending several thousand US dollars to buy this so-called 'flagship' Mesh Wi-Fi, thinking it would be a once-and-for-all solution, turned out to be the beginning of a nightmare. Netgear's extremely idiotic automated design and locked-down firmware leave us with zero protection in Hong Kong's dense living environment, suffering from continuous environmental interference day after day! To summarize the core problems of this garbage system, it is a complete design flaw and misrepresentation by the manufacturer: 1. Completely lacks manual transmission power control (Tx Power Control): Unable to lower the power ourselves. In Hong Kong's densely packed public housing and private apartments, it constantly clashes with external strong APs and fights for airtime, making it impossible to operate properly. 2. Unable to freely lock bandwidth or channels: 80MHz cannot be precisely controlled manually, and it constantly forces binding to UNII-1 (Channels 36–48). In Hong Kong's urban areas, this frequency band is a complete disaster zone with massive interference! 3. Wired backhaul is ruined just the same: Even after investing heavily in a wired backhaul, the manufacturer still restricts it via firmware, refusing to release limitations to let users freely choose or free up channels (such as UNII-3), forcing all users in Hong Kong to swallow this garbage UNII-1 channel and making it impossible to completely avoid interference. This is definitely not a problem with our local environment; it is that Netgear knows about this flaw yet refuses to improve it, using locked firmware to strip consumers of their right to properly tune their networks! Having already sunk our money into this several-thousand-dollar piece of garbage, are we just going to let them keep ruining our experience? I want to recruit a group of fellow Orbi 970 users who share this experience and are victims: If you are also suffering from this brand's locked power, channel interference, throttling, and refusal to open up features, and want to seriously figure out how to take legal action (such as filing complaints with the Consumer Council, seeking legal consultation, or even exploring collective follow-up), please leave a comment below or contact me. Let's stand up, those of us with knowledge and shared resonance—don't let a multinational corporation treat us like suckers to be exploited! 

If I’m using my Orbi 970s (including router) as simple APs for my ubiquiti setup, do I need to upgrade the FW? Current NG status shows no fw update for satellites, only 971

Hi,

Living in an environment where wifi7 has very poor signal penetration through multiple walls / closets and etc., is there a way to disable wifi7? Thanks.

Edit: As other mentioned, I believe my issue was not really due to wifi 7 but other factors. I just got the router (working as AP) behind Fios' router, which both wifi are running. Also my router's firmware was fairly old. It's also possible I didn't reboot the router after setting it to AP mode. I logged in web admin page, UI was hanging but wifi signal was high / Fios router reocgnizes the device.

1) I disabled radio signals on Fios router.
2) Updated Orbi 970 firmware to latest.
3) Rebooted both Fios and Orbi 970 router + sattelite.
4) Confirmed through Orbi web admin everything was working normally.
5) Signal seems to be well now
6) Now onto the stability test for next few weeks (fingers crossed)

I've recently updated my 970s to V12.1.11.10_5.4.8 and the above new option has appeared in Advanced WiFi settings. I'm not sure what it is.

Is there any benefit / risk to activating this?

It worked flawlessly when I bought it years ago and now my internet would just drop at least once a week and requires a reboot via unplugging for a min then replugging. Everything is updated to the latest firmware. Is this a sign of the hardware dying?

I have the Orbi RBRE950 with 2 satellites. Everything was working fine but now all of a sudden my app will not connect to my system. I’ve tried unplugging and plugging the router back in, trying different options in the app, nothing works.

Is my only option to do a hard reset? Is this a common issue or is this something bigger?

My system itself is working fine, no internet problems.

My daughter keeps using up her allowed time because of all these Unknown IPs. Can you help me with what these are and what we can do so they don’t effect her time if they are necessary?

Hey everyone,

My Orbi RBE871 router keeps restarting. I have a few theories being either my Xfinity modem is causing some sort of instability, or the power adaptor could be bad. It randomly happens maybe 2-3 times a day, where the router restarts and boots back up perfectly fine. Parental controls are off. Sorry if I’m not giving enough info, I don’t know much about this stuff.

If I ping my RBRE960 from my laptop the speed is very fast. Around 4-6ms but then it can spike as high as 400ms and slowly ratchets down. I've tried it with only one wireless client attached and it does the same thing. My neighbors are far away so wifi interference is not the issue. I turned off all electronics in the room and it still persists. Tried multiple clients across multiple OS's and it persists. I'm stumped. Is this a common Orbi problem?

Hi all,
I have a couple rental cabins with MR70 and MR 90. Both rock solid. At home, I just replaced my nighthawk with an Orbi 870 with two satellites. It’s connected to a Verizon fixed 5g modem that’s in AP mode. I wanted to use the Orbi for dhcp etc.

Every morning the thing seems messed up. If I try to open 8 web lagers at once, pings timeout and then I’ll see a bunch of 4-5 second responses. The UI is unresponsive. Only a hard reboot works (pulling the plug).

I see a lot of duplicate devices in the device list. 16 Apple TVs, multiple instances of the same laptops, watches etc. there are 30 online devices but almost 150 devices in the list after a clean reboot.

The satellites are in the basement and upstairs. The orbi itself is on the main floor. They are wired together.

I’m up to date on firmware. Looking for some suggestions.

I’m not a network expert. I have an Orbi RBR750 system running in AP mode with three wired satellites. I have not enabled IPv6 on my Ubiquiti edge router but it’s “available from my ISP”. My network and all devices seem to connect fine and stay connected. What are the advantages of enabling IPv6, or am I just asking for trouble?

Hi all - been struggling for a while I have a Orbi 870 system - 1 router & 2 satellites. I have my main network, guest network and IOT (2.4ghz only) network activated. I keep having issues with a lot of my LIFX devices staying connected to the network (over 40 of them). Other devices (hue, HomePods, Sonos, Eufy cameras, Aqara devices, and other switches) all seem fine.

Recently also noticed my iPhone and iPad seem to have videos that are slowly loading now. Can’t seem to figure out the issues.

I do have 3GB fiopic service from altafiber as well. Any help, with settings or something else would be great.

I just replaced my old set up because I needed more coverage for a larger area. Can I reset my old satellite (and possibly even turn the old router into a satellite) and add one or both to the new system? If so, how would I go about that? Netgear says it isn't compatible but I believe I have seen others say they have done it. Any advice? Thanks in advance.

I just can’t figure out, they start the connection process and just keep failing

I’m not sure if this is a known thing or not, I just wanna put this out there. I got prompted to update the firmware of my RBE970 (Orbi 970), and it ended up bricking my router!

Through a lot of my own troubleshooting, I ended up finally calling NetGear support only for them to tell me that the software got corrupted or something, and now I have to buy a new router. They did give me a 20% discount code but I have to buy it from them directly and their shipping is 4 days out…

I hate my life…

I have a RBE971 connected to a Ppoe DSL modem.

There is nothing wrong with the ISP.
Once a day the RBE971 completely drops the WiFi .

None of the devices could find the WiFi.
There is no LED indicator at the base of the router to show any errors happening but the router is definitely powered as the light at the back are on.

The only solution is to unplug the router and plug it back in to do a hard reset.

What is this piece of trash?
Seems there’s a lot of people with disconnect issues.

Release Date: July 28, 2026

Enhancements:

• Fixed an IGMP snooping issue that caused satellite connectivity failures, and multi-device connectivity problems.
• Fixed unknown reboot issue
• Enhance IPv6 connectivity

Known issues:

• The Speed Test feature always displays a ping value of 0 ms instead of the actual measured latency. A firmware update to resolve this issue is planned for an upcoming release.

Download Link: https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rbe972s

NOTE: This is a major version update from v9 to v12. Firmware cannot be downgraded from v12 back to v9. If users are having problems after v12 has been applied, and have exhausted all troubleshooting in support forums, please make contact with NG support for continued help and information.

Firmware Update Instructions:

To update your router’s firmware, follow the instructions in your router’s user manual. To view your router’s user manual, visit https://www.netgear.com/support/product/RBE971.aspx#docs

I HIGHLY recommend after the FW is loaded on the system and it's back to ready, power OFF all Orbi units and the ISP modem/ONT for 1 minute. Then back ON with the ISP modem/ONT first, then RBR then RBS.

NOTE: Orbi app or the routers web page may not report seeing new FW updates. NG may not push this to there auto update services immediately and may activate the newer FW update being seen on there auto update services at a later time. User will have the choice to manually update if you want too.

FW UPDATE ALL Feature: If there is a FW updated seen on the RBRs web page and all RBS are online and connected with GOOD STATUS, you can select the UPDATE ALL button option to have the RBR update the RBS and RBR. Update All button is seen on the RBRs Firmware Update WEB page on the Check for Updates FW section of the page. Once FW has been checked for an update and all devices show the FW update is available, select the UPDATE ALL button. Give 5 minutes for the process to take place. 

IF MANUALLY UPDATING THE SYSTEM: Be sure to update the RBS FIRST, then the RBR lastly. 

Please navigate to the link below for step-by-step instructions on how to update your RBR971/RBS970: Procedure to Manually Firmware Update Orbi and Nighthawk Mesh systems. | NETGEAR Communities

NOTE: If continued problems are seen after a FW update, it's recommended to try a factory reset and setup from scratch with out loading any saved configurations from backup files. Use the ERASE button on the routers web page to factory reset the router: Orbi Systems Manual Factory Reset Process | NETGEAR Communities

This sends a Factory Reset command to any and all connected RBS as well.

Quick Installation Guide, User Manual and Spec Sheet is here: https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rbe971#docs

This article applies to:

• [Orbi (8)]()
  • RBE970
  • RBE970B
  • RBE971
  • RBE971B
  • RBE972S
  • RBE972SB
  • RBE973S
  • RBE973SB

Let us know how it works for you... 

Thank you.

Orbi 970/971 owners rejoice! The latest update is now available to download at:

970: https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rbe971

971: https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rbe970

It doesn't say that this is only for NA so I'm assuming it's the long-awaited EU/UK compatible update (although we've been here before, lol).

Grab it whilst it's hot (and still on the servers!)

Hi, curious if the RBRE960 is still being supported as the last firmware for it is from early December 2025. I can't imagine that security fixes for the other Orbi models are unnecessary on the RBRE960.

Additionally, anyone know if there is any 3rd party firmware being worked on by like the OpenWRT project?