Voxel Custom firmware build for Orbi RBK50/RBK53 (RBR50, RBS50) v. 9.2.5.2.10SF-HW

[Skippy Bosco]

Hello guys,
Does this firmware allow us to completely disable 5Ghz on a rbk50 orbi?

Similar to stock firmware, you can disable the 5ghz SSID and you can set the power level to 25% transmission. There is not a UI option to disable to 5Ghz radio altogether, however.

What are you trying to accomplish?

 

[whitelines84]

i see. I have some devices that only support 2.4 Ghz and i'm having some issues getting them to connect to the router. Going to try that 25% approach.

 

[digital10]

Perhaps related to the Apple "private address" feature, where it every time uses a different mac-address to connect to your wifi?

nope, as this also happens on my macbook which doesn't have this "feature". I also disabled it on my iphone.

I think maybe something is wrong in my setup that needs a reset.

 

[digital10]

follow up,
I must have set up something wrong as I tried to log in into my satellite but the main router password would not work, but will work for the router itself. I did the whole installation processes again.

My only guess is that something wrong happened when I restored from a backup to save time.

I guess the lesson here always setup from scratch do not restore from backup.

I logged in via SSH and tried to disable the Circle, Armour, and Ready cloud. I still get the Armour notification in my admin screen.

how can I check if they are enabled or disabled?

 

[CrimpOn]

I have been on Orbi stock 2.7.2.104 for about three weeks with no issues, and suddenly I lose DNS capability every couple of hours and only a reboot will restore service. There is a rumor going around that this is related to Daylight Saving Time. Before installing 2.5.2.4, then Voxel v9.2.5.2.10SF-HW, could someone humor me on some of points:

• It is still the consensus that loading v9.2.5.2.10SF-HW directly over 2.7.2.104 is not a good idea?
• There are no reports of DNS going whack-o on v9.2.5.2.10SF-HW firmware in the last two days?
• If I want to "clear out the cobwebs" and do a fresh configuration, that should be done while on 2.5.2.4 because v9.2.5.2.10SF-HW does not allow a Factory Reset?

 

[mith_y2k]

I have been on Orbi stock 2.7.2.104 for about three weeks with no issues, and suddenly I lose DNS capability every couple of hours and only a reboot will restore service. There is a rumor going around that this is related to Daylight Saving Time. Before installing 2.5.2.4, then Voxel v9.2.5.2.10SF-HW, could someone humor me on some of points:

• It is still the consensus that loading v9.2.5.2.10SF-HW directly over 2.7.2.104 is not a good idea?
• There are no reports of DNS going whack-o on v9.2.5.2.10SF-HW firmware in the last two days?
• If I want to "clear out the cobwebs" and do a fresh configuration, that should be done while on 2.5.2.4 because v9.2.5.2.10SF-HW does not allow a Factory Reset?

Yes, no, yes

 

[Skippy Bosco]

• It is still the consensus that loading v9.2.5.2.10SF-HW directly over 2.7.2.104 is not a good idea?

If you try to flash Voxel over 2.7 you will brick your device. You must be at 2.5.2.4 or lower.

• There are no reports of DNS going whack-o on v9.2.5.2.10SF-HW firmware in the last two days?

I have not seen or heard any issues, but then I have not seen any widespread reports from stock users either.

• If I want to "clear out the cobwebs" and do a fresh configuration, that should be done while on 2.5.2.4 because v9.2.5.2.10SF-HW does not allow a Factory Reset?

Flash 2.5.2.4 then do a factory reset. Keep all defaults. Make sure you keep Armor, Disney Circle, Parental Controls, etc. disabled. Then flash Voxel one device at a time. Start with your satellites than your router last. Wait for each device to finish the update and come back online before moving to the next device.

 

[CrimpOn]

Thank you both. I use a "cut and paste" method to enter all the device registrations into a clean system (50+ devices). Getting that prepped will take some work.
Meanwhile, it appears my Orbi may have "lived through" whatever was going on.

Perhaps a silly question:

• Is it possible to export a config from stock Orbi firmware and import it into Voxel (or the reverse)?
  I am considering building Voxel on a separate Orbi and then importing the config from my working Orbi so as to reduce the length of down time.
  I know this conflicts with my desire for a "clean config", so it is along the lines of which is more important: time or (in theory) a cleaner system.

 

[Skippy Bosco]

Thank you both. I use a "cut and paste" method to enter all the device registrations into a clean system (50+ devices). Getting that prepped will take some work.

What does this mean? If you use the same SSID and password when you set up your Orbi you should not have to make any device by device changes.

If you mean you are registering all of your devices manually instead of relying on DHCP, I guess I'd question why and wonder if these kind of custom choices are what are contributing to the issues you are seeing?

Is it possible to export a config from stock Orbi firmware and import it into Voxel (or the reverse)?
I am considering building Voxel on a separate Orbi and then importing the config from my working Orbi so as to reduce the length of down time.
I know this conflicts with my desire for a "clean config", so it is along the lines of which is more important: time or (in theory) a cleaner system.

Well given you are going from 2.7 to an older version of stock, I'm not sure that is a good idea. Also, in support of my answer above, I'd take a step back and really consider why you need such a manually and custom set up environment and if that complexity is causing the issues you're seeing.

 

[CrimpOn]

Very good points. Part of it is being OCD I guess. I like my security camera to have IP addresses that are "together". I like knowing that the printer is 1.4, the Orbi satellite is 1.5, etc. Like Attached Devices showing "people names' and pictures that match the device type. Could probably do as well with a crib sheet. I think Orbi builds all those tables anyway, although by editing them I could be introducing problems.

 

[Voxel]

Followed all the steps above and managed to successfully perform the flash operation, reset the routers and did a brand new setup.

The issue is that I am still getting satellite drop off every about 1 hour or so, been running continuous ping tests from 2 laptops, one connected on the router and one on the satellite to establish what is the culprit and have constant single packet losses ever about 25-30s and full signal loss.

Checked the backhaul connection between the router and the satellite and it was Good.

Tried some of the steps that used to help on stock firmware disabled the 20/40 coexistence, moved the 2ghz to channel 6 or 11, 5 ghz to 48, disabled daisy chain, tried with both Mu mimo and improved wifi options for mobile turned off and on and all combinations and simply have an issue where the satellite connectivity fully drops off.

Tried setting the router into AP mode to see if there is any improvement.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


EDIT: Even in AP mode the connection to the satellite dropped as well. Having serious thoughts of scrapping the whole system and moving to something more stable.

Probably it has a sense for you to try to disable Armor, Circle and ReadyCLOUD. On your RBR. See my QuickStart.txt re: how to.

Voxel.

 

[Voxel]

how can I check if they are enabled or disabled?

Armor if disable there should not be /opt/bitdefender
Circle if disabled there should not be /tmp/mnt/circle
ReadyCLOUD if disable there should not be 'xagent' process (ps | grep xagent)

All this after reboot of RBR.

Voxel.

 

[SandLake]

Can I ask, is there any documentation on Voxel's firmware, I have extensively read these forums and I am still unsure about it. Thanks

 

[Voxel]

Can I ask, is there any documentation on Voxel's firmware, I have extensively read these forums and I am still unsure about it. Thanks

There is QuickStart.txt text file inside the archive:

https://www.voxel-firmware.com/Downloads/Voxel/Orbi-RBK50-Voxel-firmware/RBK50-V9.2.5.2.10SF-HW.zip

Voxel.

 

[digital10]

Armor if disable there should not be /opt/bitdefender
Circle if disabled there should not be /tmp/mnt/circle
ReadyCLOUD if disable there should not be 'xagent' process (ps | grep xagent)

All this after reboot of RBR.

Voxel.

1-I did : cd /opt
there is no opt directory.

2-I did: ps | grep xagent
I got: 7078 root 1620 S grep xagent

what does this mean?

 

[digital10]

Thank you both. I use a "cut and paste" method to enter all the device registrations into a clean system (50+ devices). Getting that prepped will take some work.
Meanwhile, it appears my Orbi may have "lived through" whatever was going on.

Perhaps a silly question:

• Is it possible to export a config from stock Orbi firmware and import it into Voxel (or the reverse)?
  I am considering building Voxel on a separate Orbi and then importing the config from my working Orbi so as to reduce the length of down time.
  I know this conflicts with my desire for a "clean config", so it is along the lines of which is more important: time or (in theory) a cleaner system.

don't restore from backup, I did this last time I set it up and got a messed situation.

I don't get this but routers should allow us to do all the configs then reboot ONCE, not having to reboot after every config change.

 

[Voxel]

1-I did : cd /opt
there is no opt directory.

2-I did: ps | grep xagent
I got: 7078 root 1620 S grep xagent

what does this mean?

It means that you really disabled ReadyCLOUD and Armor.

Voxel.

 

[CrimpOn]

Trivial Question:

Does anyone know the maximum size of debug.log file that can be written to a USB stick in the RBR50?
I am trying to research some DHCP renewal issues and want to capture hours of WAN packets. I know the maximum single file size on an ext2 volume is 16GB-2TB, but I have a dim memory of trying to collect full days worth of traffic and finding that wan.pcap maxed out at something like 2GB.

Thanks

 

[Skippy Bosco]

Can I ask, is there any documentation on Voxel's firmware, I have extensively read these forums and I am still unsure about it. Thanks

Is there something specific you are looking for? The firmware, from a user engagement perspective, is near identical to stock. The differences are mainly in updated libraries and tools along with optimized configuration and compilation.

If you're looking to get info on how to update, there is a readme file included in the download file.

If you are looking for a changelog, you can find it here:

http://www.voxel-firmware.com/Downloads/Voxel/Orbi-RBK50-Voxel-firmware/changes.log

 

[SandLake]

Firstly, I am not familiar with the Netgear interface, Netgear are a reputable company so I imagine it has good basic interface but when you try to squeeze something extra out of it, that is when you see how good it really is - that is where an alternative firmware sometimes pays dividends. I have previously installed a VPN client on my router and used it selectively on my network (policy rules). That router has bitten the dust and did not support wireguard. I see that Voxel's firmware does but I don't know how it is implemented.

My current router also has the ability to have a seperate 2.4Ghz 'Smart' network and it has been transformational for Smart devices - does Netgear/Voxel allow that, even if it is a Guest network?

I have now bought a Netgear RBK (1 router, 1 satellite) so I can answer my own questions in the near future (I'll soon have a router for each room of the house - but it's fun!).

Thanks