Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

How To Tutorials related to Routers and Firmware
Forum rules
This forum is for tutorials only--not for help or assistance.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

mellow65 wrote: Thu Apr 28, 2022 6:51 pm Have you bricked your device? Did a firmware fail to upload and you had no choice to yank the plug? Is the light just sitting there blinking mocking you, EFF YOU, EFF YOU.

I did.

This saved my bacon.
https://kb.netgear.com/000059634/How-do ... =000059634

If you don't have TFTP installed on your computer, try this.
https://teckangaroo.com/enable-tftp-windows-10/

I pushed the recommended firmware V2.5.2.20, took just seconds, and what a sign of relief!

Don't know if this fixes it all, but it saved me!!
Thanks for this, I knew I was forgetting an important section at the end of the OP and this would be it (link to netgear unbricking instructions). I've updated the OP with the links provided :)
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

papaburr wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 12:02 am pretty much a factory reset..start from scratch. i just flashed netgear fw via tftp and flashed voxel version prior and still resets
This sounds like possibly bad flash or other faulty hardware unfortunately :(
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

mellow65 wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 7:26 am There are directions in the quick start guide to do a VPN. I also believe you can set it up via the GUI. I have not played with this yet.
The only option available in the GUI is setting up the stock Netgear OpenVPN server. OVPN and WireGuard 'client' config would be done via SSH in Voxel at the command line.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

kjunmed wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 11:34 am Having difficulty performing Magic after a hardcore IMEI setting several weeks ago (AT+QPRTPARA=1). I need to change the IMEI back and I am getting an error after each magic command. Is there a way to reopen or revert back to the IMEI the device came with? I am able to perform other commands, do not understand why not allowing the command?? I have tried the factory reset without success.
If you are on the A06 modem firmware then you should not have to mess with +QPRTPARA=1; it is a sensitive setting for NVRAM that really shouldn't be touched if at all possible. If a factory reset has not helped then you may need to run a +QPRTPARA=3 which will factory reset the modem but be sure to follow it up with +QPRTPARA=1 else settings will not save properly to NVRAM after the next power cycle. Do NOT use +QPRTPARA=3 as it is very hard on the flash memory (lots of writes) and will decrease the longevity of the flash on the modem.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

nordicboy2 wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 7:36 am Has anyone figured out how to do something similar with Voxel's firmware?

The DNS settings on the web interface in 'Advanced' -> 'Setup' -> 'Internet Setup' -> 'Internet' are ignored (at least in V9.2.5.2.30SF-HW).
For custom DNS it is recommended to use Stubby or DNSCrypt. The config for those is covered in the Voxel QuickStart.txt. For full instructions refer to the Stubby and DNSCrypt documentation.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

nordicboy2 wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 4:06 pm I found a solution to my own question about how to set custom DNS servers. My solution seems to work for now, but it is really ugly.

I created a script that runs at startup and continues to overwrite /tmp/resolv.conf every minute.

Hopefully someone else has a better solution than this or can foresee problems with this one.

/mnt/circle/overlay/etc/rc.local

Code: Select all

/mnt/circle/overlay/opt/scripts/fixdns.sh > /dev/null 2>&1 &
exit 0
/mnt/circle/overlay/opt/scripts/fixdns.sh

Code: Select all

while true;
do
sleep 60
/bin/cp /mnt/circle/mods/resolv.conf /tmp/resolv.conf
done
Yes, this is one way to use your custom DNS. Since '/tmp' lives in memory you shouldn't have to worry about wearing out the router flash.
nordicboy2
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed May 04, 2022 7:20 am
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by nordicboy2 »

hazarjast wrote: Thu May 05, 2022 4:24 pm
nordicboy2 wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 4:06 pm I found a solution to my own question about how to set custom DNS servers. My solution seems to work for now, but it is really ugly.

I created a script that runs at startup and continues to overwrite /tmp/resolv.conf every minute.

Hopefully someone else has a better solution than this or can foresee problems with this one.

/mnt/circle/overlay/etc/rc.local

Code: Select all

/mnt/circle/overlay/opt/scripts/fixdns.sh > /dev/null 2>&1 &
exit 0
/mnt/circle/overlay/opt/scripts/fixdns.sh

Code: Select all

while true;
do
sleep 60
/bin/cp /mnt/circle/mods/resolv.conf /tmp/resolv.conf
done
Yes, this is one way to use your custom DNS. Since '/tmp' lives in memory you shouldn't have to worry about wearing out the router flash.
Maybe a better solution for custom DNS would be to simply overwrite the link at /etc/resolv.conf using the circle overlay at /mnt/circle/overlay/etc/resolv.conf

Would that work?
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

nordicboy2 wrote: Fri May 06, 2022 8:04 am
hazarjast wrote: Thu May 05, 2022 4:24 pm
nordicboy2 wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 4:06 pm I found a solution to my own question about how to set custom DNS servers. My solution seems to work for now, but it is really ugly.

I created a script that runs at startup and continues to overwrite /tmp/resolv.conf every minute.

Hopefully someone else has a better solution than this or can foresee problems with this one.

/mnt/circle/overlay/etc/rc.local

Code: Select all

/mnt/circle/overlay/opt/scripts/fixdns.sh > /dev/null 2>&1 &
exit 0
/mnt/circle/overlay/opt/scripts/fixdns.sh

Code: Select all

while true;
do
sleep 60
/bin/cp /mnt/circle/mods/resolv.conf /tmp/resolv.conf
done
Yes, this is one way to use your custom DNS. Since '/tmp' lives in memory you shouldn't have to worry about wearing out the router flash.
Maybe a better solution for custom DNS would be to simply overwrite the link at /etc/resolv.conf using the circle overlay at /mnt/circle/overlay/etc/resolv.conf

Would that work?
Not if another netgear service decides to overwrite or refresh it.
nordicboy2
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed May 04, 2022 7:20 am
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by nordicboy2 »

I noticed the latest Voxel firmware for the LBR20 from May 6 has this change:

9.2.5.2.31SF-HW:
5. Upgrade 'dnsmasq' package from the stock Orbi RBK50 firmware V2.7.4.24.

Any chance this will fix the custom DNS issue?
Can I just install the latest Voxel firmware over the last Voxel firmware? Would I lose my settings or scripts?
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

nordicboy2 wrote: Thu May 12, 2022 10:19 am I noticed the latest Voxel firmware for the LBR20 from May 6 has this change:

9.2.5.2.31SF-HW:
5. Upgrade 'dnsmasq' package from the stock Orbi RBK50 firmware V2.7.4.24.

Any chance this will fix the custom DNS issue?
Can I just install the latest Voxel firmware over the last Voxel firmware? Would I lose my settings or scripts?
This is just maintenance/bug fix release of dnsmasq. Custom DNS it's still recommended to setup something yourself that overwrites '/etc/resolv.conf' or use the officially supported Stubby/DNSCrypt solutions offered by Voxel natively.

Yes, you can just install the latest update, it should not remove any settings/scripts.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

Updated OP link to latest Voxel firmware:
https://www.voxel-firmware.com/Download ... 1SF-HW.zip

Release notes can be found here:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/custo ... -hw.78815/
Cool Ranch
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 6:08 pm
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by Cool Ranch »

How do I delete everything including circle jerk mod and start with a fresh slate? I've tried nvram erase, factory reset, plus pin reset back of router and almost all the commands remain + netgear settings.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

Cool Ranch wrote: Thu Jun 02, 2022 2:30 pm How do I delete everything including circle jerk mod and start with a fresh slate? I've tried nvram erase, factory reset, plus pin reset back of router and almost all the commands remain + netgear settings.
Circle_Jerk sits in a partition that doesn’t get wiped by a factory reset but factory reset does reset Circle settings which should keep it from running. Without SSH’ing in and manually removing the files and reverting to the factory files in the backup folder, you would probably have to flash a newer Netgear OEM firmware and then factory reset after that.

For others curious about Circle_Jerk who read this reply please be informed that Voxel is the mod firmware of choice for LBR20 and Circle_Jerk is completely deprecated/unsupported on OEM firmware at this point.
Cool Ranch
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 6:08 pm
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by Cool Ranch »

hazarjast wrote: Thu Jun 02, 2022 3:10 pm
Circle_Jerk sits in a partition that doesn’t get wiped by a factory reset but factory reset does reset Circle settings which should keep it from running. Without SSH’ing in and manually removing the files and reverting to the factory files in the backup folder, you would probably have to flash a newer Netgear OEM firmware and then factory reset after that.

For others curious about Circle_Jerk who read this reply please be informed that Voxel is the mod firmware of choice for LBR20 and Circle_Jerk is completely deprecated/unsupported on OEM firmware at this point.
That's what I was wondering what's the commands to delete it with SSH not very familiar with linux commands.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

Cool Ranch wrote: Thu Jun 02, 2022 3:57 pm
hazarjast wrote: Thu Jun 02, 2022 3:10 pm
Circle_Jerk sits in a partition that doesn’t get wiped by a factory reset but factory reset does reset Circle settings which should keep it from running. Without SSH’ing in and manually removing the files and reverting to the factory files in the backup folder, you would probably have to flash a newer Netgear OEM firmware and then factory reset after that.

For others curious about Circle_Jerk who read this reply please be informed that Voxel is the mod firmware of choice for LBR20 and Circle_Jerk is completely deprecated/unsupported on OEM firmware at this point.
That's what I was wondering what's the commands to delete it with SSH not very familiar with linux commands.
'rm [filename]' would be the command to remove the modified files to be followed by 'mv [path to backed up file source] [destination]' to restore the original Circle files. However, if you're not accustomed to working in Linux it is easy to make syntax errors with these commands especially relating to path names. Since I no longer have a device running circle_jerk I would not be able to provide support beyond the high level here. You can reference the setup script which creates the file backups for any further detail but I would suggest trying to flash a newer OEM firmware followed by a factory reset instead as this will probably be quicker/easier for you.
Cool Ranch
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 6:08 pm
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by Cool Ranch »

Just wanted to give a shout out and huge thanks to @hazarjast and @Voxel. Finally got cell locking down good instead of band locking and fixed the circle mod. I appreciate what you guys do :D

Thanks again
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

Cleaned up the OP a bit by moving the unbricking instructions up to just after the firmware flashing instructions so folks don't need to get all the way to the end to find that info. Also changed the band locking section a bit to remove the instruction to output the factory band index prior to setting your own since that output in hex format and it was not clear to folks how to issue the command with the expected decimal input. In it's place I included the exact command to return to band mask defaults. A few other typos, grammatical issues were fixed as well though I'm sure there are more of those that still exist. Ones that do exist should be minor and not affect the information being conveyed :)
jonathan_winters
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2020 8:12 pm
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by jonathan_winters »

hazarjast wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:31 pm Once logged in via Putty you have at least a couple of ways to send AT commands to the modem. The most elementary involves simultaneous echo and cat of the AT device ('/dev/ttyUSB2') ex.:

Code: Select all

cat /dev/ttyUSB2` echo -e "AT+EMGR=1,7,\"010101010101010"\r\n" > /dev/ttyUSB2`


However, you must be careful to include proper quoting and backticks using cat/echo method and it can be finicky. Therefore the preferred method of sending single commands with immediate return output is echo the commands and pipe to the inbuilt 'microcom' function of BusyBox like so:

Code: Select all

echo -ne "AT+EMGR=1,7,\"010101010101010\"\r\n" | microcom -X -t 1000 /dev/ttyUSB2
For anyone else who has been trying to work from the reply that I quoted, these commands threw some errors and hazarjast was able to get me back on the right track. Thanks for all of your help!!!
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

jonathan_winters wrote: Fri Jun 10, 2022 12:06 pm
For anyone else who has been trying to work from the reply that I quoted, these commands were throwing an error out at me no matter what I tried. After some searching and digging, I discovered a typo in this AT+ command -- it should be EGMR instead of EMGR (the middle two letters were transposed):

Code: Select all

echo -ne "AT+EMGR=1,7,\"010101010101010\"\r\n" | microcom -X -t 1000 /dev/ttyUSB2
Other than that, these commands worked a dream -- thanks hazarjast for your continued help us tune up the LBR20 and keep the bits flowing!
Sorry for the consternation but on my part the typo was intentional as such command correctly rendered here is giving unwanted attention from the carriers. Hope you can forgive this with that understanding :)
jonathan_winters
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2020 8:12 pm
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by jonathan_winters »

hazarjast wrote: Fri Jun 10, 2022 12:55 pm Hope you can forgive this with that understanding :)
Ack! I get it now and I can't believe I missed that. I edited my comment (and you can edit yours to take out my quote) -- sorry for missing that, and truly: thank you for all of your efforts to help keep people online!!!!
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

jonathan_winters wrote: Fri Jun 10, 2022 1:11 pm
hazarjast wrote: Fri Jun 10, 2022 12:55 pm Hope you can forgive this with that understanding :)
Ack! I get it now and I can't believe I missed that. I edited my comment (and you can edit yours to take out my quote) -- sorry for missing that, and truly: thank you for all of your efforts to help keep people online!!!!
No problem, you are fine. I've been told by some that I can be to stuffy about such things; maybe they are right. Anyways, your quoted reply I had already edited upon submission to reflect the command as it is shown in the OP ;)
gioele
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2022 11:12 am
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by gioele »

Is there a way to select the network operator? If I do a cell lock will that force my device to switch network operator?
gilbreen
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2020 4:26 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 6 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by gilbreen »

I am trying to follow the post below to set up a cron job to reboot the router twice a week. I understand and completed steps 1 and 2 but am stuck on step 3. Step 3 says:
3. Created /mnt/circle/overlay/etc/crontabs/root (rw/r/r perms) <------- This is your new crontab (for editing/persists)

my root/cron file contents:

Code: Select all

20 04 * * * /TM/QoSControl auto_update
50 03 * * * /usr/share/armor/bdupd_start_schedule.sh
00 02 * * 1,4 /sbin/reboot
It appears crontabs and root are folders and the root folder contains the cron file. If so, I am not sure how to set the permissions on the folder as referenced or create the cron file.

Has anyone been able to set it up? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

Gilbert

am888 wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 9:59 am VOXEL FIRMWARE
--------------
Is there any sort of cron with voxel? (NM - found cron - will see if I can get it to stick)
Will it try and auto-update the firmware if I don't use any sort of DNS block?

One thing I thought would be neat - though outside of my ability - would be being able to send an SMS to the router to reboot or feedback data usage... I assume this would be possible.

Thanks

As an LOL someone at netgear put their auto-update of QoS @ 0420 :mrgreen:

Meh - can't get it to hold crontab - it mounts the crontab from a different section of ROM than the circle overlay so it continually rewrites it. Any ideas??
----------------------------

UPDATE:
1. created /mnt/circle/overlay/etc/rc.local
2. contents of rc.local

Code: Select all

# Put your custom commands here that should be executed once
# the system init finished. By default this file does nothing.

#Crontab located at /mnt/circle/overlay/etc/crontabs/root
cat /etc/crontabs/root > /tmp/etc/crontabs/root

exit 0
3. Created /mnt/circle/overlay/etc/crontabs/root (rw/r/r perms) <------- This is your new crontab (for editing/persists)

my root/cron file contents:

Code: Select all

20 04 * * * /TM/QoSControl auto_update
50 03 * * * /usr/share/armor/bdupd_start_schedule.sh
00 02 * * 1,4 /sbin/reboot
I need my router to reboot a couple times a week since I'm not always there.
Voila - I have a working crontab that persists on reboot.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

gilbreen wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 11:01 am I am trying to follow the post below to set up a cron job to reboot the router twice a week. I understand and completed steps 1 and 2 but am stuck on step 3. Step 3 says:
3. Created /mnt/circle/overlay/etc/crontabs/root (rw/r/r perms) <------- This is your new crontab (for editing/persists)

my root/cron file contents:

Code: Select all

20 04 * * * /TM/QoSControl auto_update
50 03 * * * /usr/share/armor/bdupd_start_schedule.sh
00 02 * * 1,4 /sbin/reboot
It appears crontabs and root are folders and the root folder contains the cron file. If so, I am not sure how to set the permissions on the folder as referenced or create the cron file.

Has anyone been able to set it up? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

Gilbert
Apologies that I do not have an immediate answer for you here. I will defer to user @am888 for any assistance here as I have not played with crontabs any further on the LBR20 under Voxel and am not sure when I will be able to do so as much of my efforts have moved to my custom RPi 5G build along with the 5G Orbi (NBR750). If I should somehow get a chance to get back to testing this myself I will make a mental note to reply with feedback here.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

As a cross-reference I wanted to say that I did finally get my hands on the updated 5G Orbi NBR750 and have started a thread for it here: https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?p=24894

Hope that it is useful for some folks. I know not many people have purchased them due to their very high cost due to only being sold as a bundle with an additional Orbi satellite (RBS750). However, we are starting to see some of the standalone NBR750 unites show up on the used market in the usual places so I figured it would be good to get a jumpstart on knowledge pertaining to it. Sadly there is no Voxel firmware for the unit and I'm not sure if one will be possible due to myriad factors both technical and geo-political at this time. So, we make due with some rudimentary "hacking" of the OEM firmware for the present :)
nordicboy2
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed May 04, 2022 7:20 am
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by nordicboy2 »

gilbreen wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 11:01 am I am trying to follow the post below to set up a cron job to reboot the router twice a week.
An alternative to using the cron might be to call a script from /mnt/circle/overlay/etc/rc.local
that does something like sleep for 3 days, then reboot.
Similar to what I did a few posts above to update resolv.conf every 60 seconds.
gilbreen
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2020 4:26 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 6 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by gilbreen »

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll try it out and see how it does.
nordicboy2 wrote: Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:49 pm
gilbreen wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 11:01 am I am trying to follow the post below to set up a cron job to reboot the router twice a week.
An alternative to using the cron might be to call a script from /mnt/circle/overlay/etc/rc.local
that does something like sleep for 3 days, then reboot.
Similar to what I did a few posts above to update resolv.conf every 60 seconds.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

Updated OP link to latest Voxel firmware:
https://www.voxel-firmware.com/Download ... 2SF-HW.zip

Release notes can be found here:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/custo ... -hw.79464/
MsVibe
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2022 6:43 am
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by MsVibe »

Hello I am interested in cell locking my router.

I need help finding the PCID and EARFCN numbers. I tried CellMapper on an Android 7 device, but it cannot read earfcn. I also tried field test on an iPhone XS Max v. 15.6 beta, but is RAT PCI the same as the PCID number used for cell locking?

I am confused because the numbers from IPhone field test does not always correspond with the numbers in CellMapper.net web page even when CellID is the same.

Please elaborate on how to survey the nearby towers, thanks.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

MsVibe wrote: Mon Jul 25, 2022 4:20 pm Hello I am interested in cell locking my router.

I need help finding the PCID and EARFCN numbers. I tried CellMapper on an Android 7 device, but it cannot read earfcn. I also tried field test on an iPhone XS Max v. 15.6 beta, but is RAT PCI the same as the PCID number used for cell locking?

I am confused because the numbers from IPhone field test does not always correspond with the numbers in CellMapper.net web page even when CellID is the same.

Please elaborate on how to survey the nearby towers, thanks.
EARFCN can be hexadecimal as reported by some sites or utilities so you may need to perform conversion of hex to dec in order to get what you need for cell locking. I'm not an iOS beta user but yes I believe the RAT PCI is the PCID (iOS people please correct me if wrong here). There's really not much to elaborate on beyond what is presented in the OP. You can use survey sites and equipment that report in hex you'll just need to convert to dec for EARFCN else take the NBR750 in the car and drive to the cell site to obtain using "servingcell" and "neighbourcell" AT commands.
MsVibe
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2022 6:43 am
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by MsVibe »

Thank you for your reply. I think there is an error in the iOS beta app, but I found the numbers for the three closest towers with the AT commands and the LBR20, thank you.

Curiously, when I lock to the tower that is second nearest I just get serving cell SEARCH. I wanted to try that in order to see if that tower were used by fewer people and so could deliver better speeds. Closest tower is 35 m away from me. Second closest is about 600 m away.
MsVibe
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2022 6:43 am
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by MsVibe »

hazarjast wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 8:52 pm Thought I would share something useful/fun that I thought I shared before but don't see it posted here so guess it slipped my mind. Netgear has a ~1400 line shell script which the LBR20 uses as a wrapper for some of the raw AT commands it issues to the modem. The script is 'mbctrl.sh' and can be called simply as that without full path since it is in '/usr/sbin'. Usage is below:

Code: Select all

/usr/sbin/mbctrl.sh: is a simple tool
        --get-revision                  get the mobile FW version
        --get-sim-status                get the mobile sim status
        --get-network-registration      get the mobile network registration
        --get-signal-strength           get the mobile signal strength
        --pin-verify pincode            sim pin code verify
        --puk-verify puk                sim puk code verify
        power-on                        lte power on
        power-off                       lte power off
        --set-hot-swap                  set hot swap pin in high level
        --get-iccid                     get sim iccid
        --hot-swap-status               get hot swap status
        --software-restart              software restart the module
        --show-message                  show sim card msg
        --get-adv-info                  get adv_info
        --get-support-operator          get network available operator
        --get-current-operator          get current network operator
        --set-operator-selection        set operator selections
        --def                           factory default the module
        --get-imei                      get lte module imei
        --get-imsi                      get sim card imsi
        --get-roamstate                 get lte module roam setup
        --set-roamstate                 setup lte module roam on off
        --get-pin-mode                  get sim card in lock or unlock mode
        --set-pin-mode                  set sim card in lock or unlock mode
        --get-pinpuk-count <get pin|puk>get pin or puk less verify count
        --change-passwd                 change pin code when pin mode is lock
        --set-mbscanmode                set lte module scan network mode lte wcdma umts...
        --del-sms                       del the sms through index save in lte module
        --get-sim-number                get the sim card own phone number
        --get-pa-temp                   get the lte module pa temperature
        --get-band-freq                 get LTE band and frequency
        --eg18-upgrade  <file path>     do the eg18 upgrade
        --get-current-roaming           get current module is in roaming status or not

        option:
                get  item               output the item
Thanks for sharing, this appear to be very usefull, however I miss some info on the command format.

Could you please provide an example for each of these parameters:

Code: Select all

        --get-current-operator          get current network operator
        --set-operator-selection        set operator selections
        --set-mbscanmode                set lte module scan network mode lte wcdma umts...
Thank you very much!
MsVibe
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2022 6:43 am
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by MsVibe »

Today I found a command to display information about primary and secondary serving cells. I think this gives current information about carrier aggregation.

Code: Select all

 echo -ne "AT+QNETINFO=\"servingcell\"\r\n" | microcom -X -t 1000 /dev/ttyUSB2
Command is described on p. 82 of the manual.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

Added a gross copyright disclaimer as a preface to the OP.

Apologies for cluttering the tutorial with such legalese but it could not be helped in light of recent events. I know that most if not all WJ members show mutual respect for the tutorials authored here but there are those outside our ranks which do not and think it's cool to steal so I had speak out. Hope you all can understand.
hydrus
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2022 2:14 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread - how do I enable carrier aggregation while using cell-lock?

Post by hydrus »

Hi!

I'd like to use carrier aggregation while using cell lock. I could only find ways to lock onto a specific band on a specific cell tower. I can't choose multiple PCIs. How can I use CA while using cell lock? I couldn't find anything about it on the thread. I'm in European market and for those wondering, I want to aggegate band 1, 3, 7 and 20.

My carrier supports carrier aggregation on this device.

Thank you for your help.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread - how do I enable carrier aggregation while using cell-lock?

Post by hazarjast »

hydrus wrote: Mon Dec 12, 2022 2:21 pm Hi!

I'd like to use carrier aggregation while using cell lock. I could only find ways to lock onto a specific band on a specific cell tower. I can't choose multiple PCIs. How can I use CA while using cell lock? I couldn't find anything about it on the thread. I'm in European market and for those wondering, I want to aggegate band 1, 3, 7 and 20.

My carrier supports carrier aggregation on this device.

Thank you for your help.
Cell lock is not the greatest use case for CA but it is possible to lock multiple LTE cells by including the pairs of PCI and such as:

Code: Select all

AT+QNWLOCK="common/4g",2,[EARFCN_1},[PCI_1],[EARFCN_2],[PCI_2]
Obviously this can defeat the purpose of cell locking if the secondary carrier cells (SCC) you include can also function as primary carrier channels (PCC) and have a stronger signal than the PCC you desire thus causing the modem to connect to them as PCC. If you want CA then usually it is best to not lock bands or cells for this reason. In many cases this all comes down to the behavior you desire most. If locking a single cell provides you with less throughput due to lack of CA but is overall more stable then that may be desirable. However, if locking a cell gives not very good throughput to the point where it is impacting your usage then disabling the lock may offer better performance at the risk of bouncing around to another PCC from time to time (causing temporary drop in connection when this occurs).

There's not necessarily an easy answer here but I hope that helps.
M.TOMS1994
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2022 3:10 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by M.TOMS1994 »

im trying to figure out how to band lock my lbr20 to BAND 2 can anyone help me figure out what i need to do to be able to do so?
User avatar
Didneywhorl
Posts: 3609
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2018 5:37 pm
Location: USA
Has thanked: 1359 times
Been thanked: 754 times
Contact:

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by Didneywhorl »

M.TOMS1994 wrote: Tue Dec 27, 2022 3:12 pm im trying to figure out how to band lock my lbr20 to BAND 2 can anyone help me figure out what i need to do to be able to do so?
Band locking method is in this tutorial that your posting in: viewtopic.php?p=12676#p12676

The modem is a Quectel EG18, and uses the same commands as the Quectel EM12G. Quectel band locking: viewtopic.php?t=943
hydrocynus
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2022 11:42 am
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Fastest VPN TUN client

Post by hydrocynus »

Hello, I still am unclear about how to get openVPN on the orbi lbr20 running Voxel.

I have read the manual but don't know how. A step by step tutorial would be nice. FastestVPN are working on wire guard, so I am stuck with openVPN but am unsure if they have TUN client.
OpenVPN client.
Thanks for your help.

Important: only TUN clients are supported

To install OpenVPN client: just create /mnt/circle/overlay/etc/openvpn/config/client
directory and put your *.ovpn file (and CA/CERT/KEY if any).
See "Overlay partition on Circle partition".
burtybee93
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2023 11:01 pm
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by burtybee93 »

Excellent guide and firmware, I was able to get it working very quickly.

I have wireguard working but devices only work if I specify DNS on them individually. I have the router set for google dns but it doesn't seem to work. Any way around this?
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Fastest VPN TUN client

Post by hazarjast »

hydrocynus wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 8:03 am Hello, I still am unclear about how to get openVPN on the orbi lbr20 running Voxel.

I have read the manual but don't know how. A step by step tutorial would be nice. FastestVPN are working on wire guard, so I am stuck with openVPN but am unsure if they have TUN client.
OpenVPN client.
Thanks for your help.

Important: only TUN clients are supported

To install OpenVPN client: just create /mnt/circle/overlay/etc/openvpn/config/client
directory and put your *.ovpn file (and CA/CERT/KEY if any).
See "Overlay partition on Circle partition".
Voxel supports WireGuard in addition to OVPN. However, my VPN needs are more complex requiring split-tunnel routing which is handled by my upstream OPNSense firewall. There is really not much advanced configuration for VPNs which support my use under Voxel thus I haven't played with this functionality on the LBR20. Reposted below are the instructions for WG and OVPN client setup, if there are pieces which you do not understand it may be helpful for you to reference some other WG or OVPN tutorials in blogs or YouTube to grasp the basics then apply that knowledge in the context of the Voxel instructions (reposted below for reference). Unfortunately I will likely not have time or ability to create such a tutorial myself as my efforts have moved on to 5G NR and at present I do not have an LBR20 at my fingertips.

Code: Select all

9. WireGuard client.

To start its using you should

(1). Prepare the text file in Unix format (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_file#Unix_text_files)
with name wireguard.conf defining the following values: EndPoint, LocalIP, PrivateKey, 
PublicKey and Port of you WireGuard client config from WG provider.

Example:
------------------------- cut here ---------------------------------------
EndPoint="wireguard.5july.net"
LocalIP="10.0.xxx.xxx/24"
PrivateKey="XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX="
PublicKey="XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX="
Port="48574"
------------------------- cut here ---------------------------------------

NOTE: no spaces before/after "=" symbol in example above.
NOTE: the name of the file wireguard.conf is lowercase.
NOTE: optional line could be added if your providers requires that:

PresharedKey="XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX="

(2) Place this wireguard.conf file to /mnt/circle/overlay/etc/ directory. I.e. 

/mnt/circle/overlay/etc/wireguard.conf

(3) Enter by ssh/telnet to your router (LBR20) and set the nvram variable wg-client
to 1

nvram set wg-client=1
nvram commit

(4) Reboot your router.

NOTE: to disable WireGuard client starting just set wg-client to "0" and reboot
the router.


10. OpenVPN client.

Important: only TUN clients are supported

To install OpenVPN client: just create /mnt/circle/overlay/etc/openvpn/config/client
directory and put your *.ovpn file (and CA/CERT/KEY if any). 
See "Overlay partition on Circle partition".

You can start/stop OpenVPN client manually from telnet console for testing:

    /etc/init.d/openvpn-client start

or 

    /etc/init.d/openvpn-client stop

to stop it. Log file for OpenVPN client is /var/log/openvpn-client.log, check it if you
have problems.

NOTE: you can add your own delay for starting OpenVPN client after reboot by the 
command from telnet:

    nvram set vpn_client_delay=120
    nvram commit

(to set 120 sec. delay)
If you still require further support specific to Voxel VPN client configuration then I would suggest to request it in the SNB Forums as that is where Voxel and others post about such topics: https://www.snbforums.com/forums/netgea ... reless.53/
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

burtybee93 wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 11:05 pm Excellent guide and firmware, I was able to get it working very quickly.

I have wireguard working but devices only work if I specify DNS on them individually. I have the router set for google dns but it doesn't seem to work. Any way around this?
I believe when WG tunnel is active all traffic from clients is passing over it so I would check that that the WG configuration includes the desired DNS servers. Also, you could try clearing your google DNS entries and allowing DHCP to tell clients to use the LBR20 (gateway IP) for DNS as I would think this should allow the clients to pass DNS requests to WG. If neither of these suggestions is working for you then the answer might be more specific to your VPN provider and/or configuration. You may find some additional assistance over at the SNB Forums where Voxel and others post on such topics: https://www.snbforums.com/forums/netgea ... reless.53/ .
jpattigr
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2023 10:53 am
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by jpattigr »

Thanks for all the help in setting up my LBR20!!
I have Calyx and had an M2000 that would re boot / shutdown 6 times a day and decided to set up a LBR20 to prevent this. Did magic and all is working very stable thanks to this forum.
HOWEVER, I find that my speeds are way slower on LBR20 vs M2000, are there any background setting I can tweak to speed it up? I had the M2000 locked to LTE as 5G is slow when I am. So both units are only on LTE and yet the LBR20 is 20 down vs 60 on M2000 on average.
Thanks in advance
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

jpattigr wrote: Fri Jan 13, 2023 10:58 am Thanks for all the help in setting up my LBR20!!
I have Calyx and had an M2000 that would re boot / shutdown 6 times a day and decided to set up a LBR20 to prevent this. Did magic and all is working very stable thanks to this forum.
HOWEVER, I find that my speeds are way slower on LBR20 vs M2000, are there any background setting I can tweak to speed it up? I had the M2000 locked to LTE as 5G is slow when I am. So both units are only on LTE and yet the LBR20 is 20 down vs 60 on M2000 on average.
Thanks in advance
I do not know anything about the M2000 specifically to say how you've locked it to LTE and whether that means it's actually using only LTE or using LTE anchor bands but still 5GNR for a aggregated secondary carrier (5G NSA as opposed to 5G SA). If it is indeed truly locked to LTE only (not just 5G NSA using an LTE anchor band) then you would need some additional outputs from the M2000 to confirm the cell ID and the primary carrier channel band it's connected to. You would also need to know if it is aggregating with any secondary carrier channels (Carrier Aggregation). Once you have that information you can check the same information on the LBR20 to compare. Again assuming the M2000 is operating truly in LTE only, you would then likely be able to tell the difference which will come down to the specific cells it is connecting to and/or aggregating.

From there you could attempt band locking or cell locking on the LBR20 to hopefully replicate exactly how the M2000 is connected. However, this is all theoretical given the assumptions I've made here; you'll also want to check check things like specific signal strength/quality indicators as well (RSRP/RSRQ/SINR) between the two units. If the M2000 does not provide detailed technical outputs it may be hard to pin down the connected cell differences between the two units and then moving the LBR20 about to try and get it attached in the same way as the M2000 would be your only next option I think.
hydrocynus
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2022 11:42 am
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hydrocynus »

Hello, I am having an issue. I had it all worked out and it has been working fine for a while but, now, I cannot modify the files I created (e.g. TTL mangling). For example, if I want to modify my TTLs, I normally use this command:
nano mnt/circle/overlay/opt/scripts/firewall-start.sh

I am not sure what is going on, but I get this error:
[ Directory 'mnt/circle/overlay/opt/script' does not exist ]

I also cannot Cd to it as I used to as well.

I did try a total reset and the voxel firmware sticks and the commands work but I seems that I cannot create any directories and edit files.

I do not know what happened and thus would like to know what I need to do? Do I need to reflash voxel?

Just curious. I thought this was a problem with an orbi satellite RBS40V that should also ping at 192.168.1.1, but even when turned off and connected to the LBR20, I still get the same issue. So, I might have reset for nothing.

Thanks for your help.
Hydro.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

hydrocynus wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 12:51 am Hello, I am having an issue. I had it all worked out and it has been working fine for a while but, now, I cannot modify the files I created (e.g. TTL mangling). For example, if I want to modify my TTLs, I normally use this command:
nano mnt/circle/overlay/opt/scripts/firewall-start.sh

I am not sure what is going on, but I get this error:
[ Directory 'mnt/circle/overlay/opt/script' does not exist ]

I also cannot Cd to it as I used to as well.

I did try a total reset and the voxel firmware sticks and the commands work but I seems that I cannot create any directories and edit files.

I do not know what happened and thus would like to know what I need to do? Do I need to reflash voxel?

Just curious. I thought this was a problem with an orbi satellite RBS40V that should also ping at 192.168.1.1, but even when turned off and connected to the LBR20, I still get the same issue. So, I might have reset for nothing.

Thanks for your help.
Hydro.
This appears to be related to possible typos made when entering your command. Not sure what directory you’re in when you’re issuing that command but if it’s not the root path (‘/‘) then that missing the ‘/‘ before ‘mnt’ could be your issue. Also, at least in this thread the folder ‘scripts’ should be plural not singular (needs an ‘s’ at the end). You have an ‘s’ in your first example but your error shows it was not entered.
karlzone
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2022 1:55 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by karlzone »

excellent instructions, I am very grateful for the help in modifying the router, I succeeded on the first attempt, but I have only one question left - how can I return the router to the factory state if I need it, or is it just enough to press the reset button?
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

karlzone wrote: Tue Mar 07, 2023 3:09 pm excellent instructions, I am very grateful for the help in modifying the router, I succeeded on the first attempt, but I have only one question left - how can I return the router to the factory state if I need it, or is it just enough to press the reset button?
You can use the factory reset option to reset it to the base configuration. If you're on Voxel and wish to go back to true Netgear factory defaults, you must install Netgear's latest available firmware update for the unit.
jareq77
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2023 5:56 am
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by jareq77 »

Hello everyone, this is my first post. Well I want to set the modem in the LBR20 to B1+B7/B7+B1 aggregation, what command should I use for that?
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

jareq77 wrote: Fri Apr 14, 2023 6:01 am Hello everyone, this is my first post. Well I want to set the modem in the LBR20 to B1+B7/B7+B1 aggregation, what command should I use for that?
Modems do not get to tell the tower which aggregation combos to use. If the bands are enabled and your tower uses them then aggregation should occur if enabled by the carrier. If not enabled for aggregation by the carrier for that tower then not much you can do. If you are connecting to other bands besides those but know for certain the tower has the bands you want you can use band locking to only enable B1 and B7 which could increase your chances of aggregating these bands. Band locking has been covered several times in this thread so I will not cover it here any further. However, locking the bands is not a guarantee they will aggregate.
jareq77
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2023 5:56 am
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by jareq77 »

hazarjast wrote: Fri Apr 14, 2023 11:47 am If you are connecting to other bands besides those but know for certain the tower has the bands you want you can use band locking to only enable B1 and B7 which could increase your chances of aggregating these bands. Band locking has been covered several times in this thread so I will not cover it here any further. However, locking the bands is not a guarantee they will aggregate.
I'm not an advanced user and I'm looking for ready-made commands (I don't want to experiment on a modem that supports a home network), there are no specific combinations of blocking bands in previous posts. On ZTE MF289F it worked flawlessly / I had to replace the modem and it is weak.
user6097
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2023 8:26 pm
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by user6097 »

I am hoping I can get some help. I have two Orbi devices. One is working fine with Voxel and needed no TTL mods as it is running a Mobile Beacon sim. The second is running Voxel and I cannot seem to get the TTL to stick. Carrier is Verizon phone postpaid unlimited plan and it is leaking hotspot data. I use the tables in this mega thread that were designed for TMobile. Any chance someone can help me here?
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

user6097 wrote: Wed Jun 21, 2023 8:36 pm I am hoping I can get some help. I have two Orbi devices. One is working fine with Voxel and needed no TTL mods as it is running a Mobile Beacon sim. The second is running Voxel and I cannot seem to get the TTL to stick. Carrier is Verizon phone postpaid unlimited plan and it is leaking hotspot data. I use the tables in this mega thread that were designed for TMobile. Any chance someone can help me here?
Falling off or not getting set to begin with? You can verify they are set with these two commands:

iptables -t mangle -L
ip6tables -t mangle -L

For VZW try 88 or 117.
user6097
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2023 8:26 pm
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by user6097 »

Thank you for your reply. Apparently they are not being saved properly as I am trying to modify to use 88 and when I run your command above it is returning a set TTL of 65. I am doing the Ctrl X and pressing Y and enter. Am I missing something?
user6097
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2023 8:26 pm
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by user6097 »

I figured out the save issue by reviewing previous posts and using vi editor. Hotspot leakage seems fixed but I am still video throttled. Any advice on video throttle from VZW?
MrBroskie
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2023 11:44 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by MrBroskie »

Hi everyone!

I've been having issues with my Orbi for a few months, it's purple-ringing more than it's staying connected. And my connection speed has dropped to basically unusable. Could someone be able to email with me at [coreyfe20 at geemail dot com] and assist with getting things sorted? I've tried following all the great advice here, but I'm still pulling my hair out!

Thanks so much!
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

user6097 wrote: Sat Jun 24, 2023 10:15 pm I figured out the save issue by reviewing previous posts and using vi editor. Hotspot leakage seems fixed but I am still video throttled. Any advice on video throttle from VZW?
Video throttle is dependent on your provisioned plan. Most plans have some bandwidth limit on streaming video these days. Using CloudFlare WARP or a VPN can be a workaround/alternative to upgrading to a more expensive plan that does not have video throttles.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

MrBroskie wrote: Tue Jul 11, 2023 12:40 am Hi everyone!

I've been having issues with my Orbi for a few months, it's purple-ringing more than it's staying connected. And my connection speed has dropped to basically unusable. Could someone be able to email with me at [coreyfe20 at geemail dot com] and assist with getting things sorted? I've tried following all the great advice here, but I'm still pulling my hair out!

Thanks so much!
This sounds like tower issues in your area. Have you tried a SIM from a competing provider (i.e. if you are on AT&T today, have you tested a T-Mobile SIM)?
jareq77
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2023 5:56 am
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by jareq77 »

I found a solution - the problem was edited command in Mac OS X notes/ replaced with "

Code: Select all

 BusyBox v1.24.1 (2023-04-10 13:40:57 UTC) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.


  __        __   _                              _
  \ \      / /__| | ___ ___  _ __ ___   ___    | |_ ___
   \ \ /\ / / _ \ |/ __/ _ \| '_ ` _ \ / _ \   | __/ _ \
    \ V  V /  __/ | (_| (_) | | | | | |  __/   | || (_) |
     \_/\_/ \___|_|\___\___/|_| |_| |_|\___|    \__\___/
    ___       _     _    _    ____  ____   ____   ___  _
   / _ \ _ __| |__ (_)  | |  | __ )|  _ \ |___ \ / _ \| |
  | | | | '__| '_ \| |  | |  |  _ \| |_) |  __) | | | | |
  | |_| | |  | |_) | |  | |__| |_) |  _ <  / __/| |_| |_|
   \___/|_|  |_.__/|_|  |____|____/|_| \_\|_____|\___/(_)



root@LBR20:~# echo -ne "AT+QCFG=\"band\",0,41,0\r\n" | microcom -X -t 1000 /dev/
ttyUSB2
AT+QCFG="band",0,41,0
OK
.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

jareq77 wrote: Sat Aug 05, 2023 6:19 am I found a solution - the problem was edited command in Mac OS X notes/ replaced with "

Code: Select all

 BusyBox v1.24.1 (2023-04-10 13:40:57 UTC) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.


  __        __   _                              _
  \ \      / /__| | ___ ___  _ __ ___   ___    | |_ ___
   \ \ /\ / / _ \ |/ __/ _ \| '_ ` _ \ / _ \   | __/ _ \
    \ V  V /  __/ | (_| (_) | | | | | |  __/   | || (_) |
     \_/\_/ \___|_|\___\___/|_| |_| |_|\___|    \__\___/
    ___       _     _    _    ____  ____   ____   ___  _
   / _ \ _ __| |__ (_)  | |  | __ )|  _ \ |___ \ / _ \| |
  | | | | '__| '_ \| |  | |  |  _ \| |_) |  __) | | | | |
  | |_| | |  | |_) | |  | |__| |_) |  _ <  / __/| |_| |_|
   \___/|_|  |_.__/|_|  |____|____/|_| \_\|_____|\___/(_)



root@LBR20:~# echo -ne "AT+QCFG=\"band\",0,41,0\r\n" | microcom -X -t 1000 /dev/
ttyUSB2
AT+QCFG="band",0,41,0
OK
.
Thanks for sharing the root cause to help others.

Wordpad in Windows tends to add these 'formatted' style quotes as well. Always frustrating.
MrBroskie
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2023 11:44 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by MrBroskie »

hazarjast wrote: Thu Jul 13, 2023 4:20 pm
MrBroskie wrote: Tue Jul 11, 2023 12:40 am Hi everyone!

I've been having issues with my Orbi for a few months, it's purple-ringing more than it's staying connected. And my connection speed has dropped to basically unusable. Could someone be able to email with me at [coreyfe20 at geemail dot com] and assist with getting things sorted? I've tried following all the great advice here, but I'm still pulling my hair out!

Thanks so much!
This sounds like tower issues in your area. Have you tried a SIM from a competing provider (i.e. if you are on AT&T today, have you tested a T-Mobile SIM)?
Hey, just wanted to report back. I tried testing out my phones sim (prepaid ATT) and that was actually working really well! I finally went out and bought a dedicated sim, and it worked just as well... for a night. Now, it just sends me to ATTs "we see you're trying to use internet on a plan that doesn't have any". Tried swapping back to my personal sim, and nothing unfortunately. Only thing I can figure is maybe I got LTE blocked?? But I'm honestly not even sure that ATT does that.

I'll hopefully be trying T-Mobile soon, though they have the least coverage in my area of the three.
gilbreen
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2020 4:26 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 6 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by gilbreen »

I have an LBR20 with Voxel and have been using it without issue as a backup. I decided to sell it but the buyer did a hard reset by holding in the reset button even though I told him I had reset all the settings and provided the login credentials. Now the device will boot up, but the login page is not accessible via a browser. I can ping the device and it does give out an IP address so DHCP does seem to be working. I followed the steps linked on the first page to Netgear's site on how to recover from a bad firmware flash but it isn't working for me. The instructions say to wait until the power light flashes orange, but it only flashes orange once before becoming solid green. I tried uploading the firmware via tftp anyways, but it gives a message stating "Connect request failed."

I can access the device via SSH using the default login info. Is there a way to reinstall either the Netgear firmware or Voxel firmware via SSH? Any other suggestions on how to reload the firmware?
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

gilbreen wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2023 5:52 pm I have an LBR20 with Voxel and have been using it without issue as a backup. I decided to sell it but the buyer did a hard reset by holding in the reset button even though I told him I had reset all the settings and provided the login credentials. Now the device will boot up, but the login page is not accessible via a browser. I can ping the device and it does give out an IP address so DHCP does seem to be working. I followed the steps linked on the first page to Netgear's site on how to recover from a bad firmware flash but it isn't working for me. The instructions say to wait until the power light flashes orange, but it only flashes orange once before becoming solid green. I tried uploading the firmware via tftp anyways, but it gives a message stating "Connect request failed."

I can access the device via SSH using the default login info. Is there a way to reinstall either the Netgear firmware or Voxel firmware via SSH? Any other suggestions on how to reload the firmware?
Firmware recovery isn’t possible over SSH to my knowledge. Others have used the TFTP instructions successfully, if they are not working I would recommend going through the steps again carefully to ensure nothing was missed and/or trying a 30-30-30 reset (details on netgear support site and elsewhere online).
gilbreen
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2020 4:26 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 6 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by gilbreen »

hazarjast wrote: Wed Aug 16, 2023 8:25 am Firmware recovery isn’t possible over SSH to my knowledge. Others have used the TFTP instructions successfully, if they are not working I would recommend going through the steps again carefully to ensure nothing was missed and/or trying a 30-30-30 reset (details on netgear support site and elsewhere online).
TLDR - I have the router working again.

I was not familiar with the 30-30-30 reset, so I looked up the procedure to try it. After performing it, when I accessed the router IP address in my browser, I was greeted with the initial Orbi setup screens (option to set up satellites, set the admin password and security questions, etc.). After I did those steps, I was able to login and found that the Voxel firmware was still installed.

To be on the safe side, I reinstalled the recommended Netgear firmware (2.5.2.20) firmware, did a factory reset and then reinstalled the Voxel firmware. The strange thing is that all my scripts were still present from before so not sure if the factory reset under the Netgear firmware really worked. So I decided to do one more factory reset under the Voxel firmware (using the admin page) and found myself again not able to log into the router web interface even though I could connect via SSH.

I again did the 30-30-30 reset, but this time I noticed that the power LED was flashing orange similar to what the Netgear instructions mention on recovering from a bad flash. So I then tried to transfer the 2.5.2.20 firmware via TFTP via the command line and it worked. After about 5 minutes, the firmware was flashed and I when I accessed the router's IP via a browser, I was again shown the initial Orbi setup screens. I then did one more factory reset through the admin page and again went through the initial set up screens.

I then proceeded installing the latest Voxel firmware and followed the rest of the initial steps to configure the router (turn off the bloatware, create the firewall scripts, set up TTL, etc.) The device is now working again as expected.

@hazarjast, thanks for the recommendation of the 30-30-30 reset and all of your help overall.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

gilbreen wrote: Wed Aug 16, 2023 2:17 pm
hazarjast wrote: Wed Aug 16, 2023 8:25 am Firmware recovery isn’t possible over SSH to my knowledge. Others have used the TFTP instructions successfully, if they are not working I would recommend going through the steps again carefully to ensure nothing was missed and/or trying a 30-30-30 reset (details on netgear support site and elsewhere online).
TLDR - I have the router working again.

I was not familiar with the 30-30-30 reset, so I looked up the procedure to try it. After performing it, when I accessed the router IP address in my browser, I was greeted with the initial Orbi setup screens (option to set up satellites, set the admin password and security questions, etc.). After I did those steps, I was able to login and found that the Voxel firmware was still installed.

To be on the safe side, I reinstalled the recommended Netgear firmware (2.5.2.20) firmware, did a factory reset and then reinstalled the Voxel firmware. The strange thing is that all my scripts were still present from before so not sure if the factory reset under the Netgear firmware really worked. So I decided to do one more factory reset under the Voxel firmware (using the admin page) and found myself again not able to log into the router web interface even though I could connect via SSH.

I again did the 30-30-30 reset, but this time I noticed that the power LED was flashing orange similar to what the Netgear instructions mention on recovering from a bad flash. So I then tried to transfer the 2.5.2.20 firmware via TFTP via the command line and it worked. After about 5 minutes, the firmware was flashed and I when I accessed the router's IP via a browser, I was again shown the initial Orbi setup screens. I then did one more factory reset through the admin page and again went through the initial set up screens.

I then proceeded installing the latest Voxel firmware and followed the rest of the initial steps to configure the router (turn off the bloatware, create the firewall scripts, set up TTL, etc.) The device is now working again as expected.

@hazarjast, thanks for the recommendation of the 30-30-30 reset and all of your help overall.
Fantastic! Glad to hear you were ultimately successful :)
Cool Ranch
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 6:08 pm
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by Cool Ranch »

Hey I already have an orbi 20 working perfectly fine with voxel firmware.

But I'm trying to troubleshoot another one for a friend. It's making the directories but upon reboot the files disappear. It won't even save nvram noarmor 1. I've tried flashing to the original netgear firmware and back to voxel + revert to factory settings. Nothing will save after reboot.

I'm trying to get it to save cell locking upon reboot since it really likes to band hop and cause micro-disconnections. Which I'm running the exact same script on this router currently and it works fine.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

Cool Ranch wrote: Fri Sep 08, 2023 3:50 pm Hey I already have an orbi 20 working perfectly fine with voxel firmware.

But I'm trying to troubleshoot another one for a friend. It's making the directories but upon reboot the files disappear. It won't even save nvram noarmor 1. I've tried flashing to the original netgear firmware and back to voxel + revert to factory settings. Nothing will save after reboot.

I'm trying to get it to save cell locking upon reboot since it really likes to band hop and cause micro-disconnections. Which I'm running the exact same script on this router currently and it works fine.
You can try a 30-30-30 reset but if that doesn’t work it sounds like the flash on the router side might have reached the end of its write limits and may be in read only mode.
Cool Ranch
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 6:08 pm
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by Cool Ranch »

hazarjast wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 10:57 am
Cool Ranch wrote: Fri Sep 08, 2023 3:50 pm Hey I already have an orbi 20 working perfectly fine with voxel firmware.

But I'm trying to troubleshoot another one for a friend. It's making the directories but upon reboot the files disappear. It won't even save nvram noarmor 1. I've tried flashing to the original netgear firmware and back to voxel + revert to factory settings. Nothing will save after reboot.

I'm trying to get it to save cell locking upon reboot since it really likes to band hop and cause micro-disconnections. Which I'm running the exact same script on this router currently and it works fine.
You can try a 30-30-30 reset but if that doesn’t work it sounds like the flash on the router side might have reached the end of its write limits and may be in read only mode.
I tried a 30-30-30 reset, flashed to latest netgear side another 30-30-30, reverted back to old one before voxel 30-30-30 again, voxel firmware 30-30-30. Yeah I think you are right. Unless it's a command to nvram reset it. Oh, Well.
theluke79
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Sep 25, 2023 1:13 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by theluke79 »

Hey folks, good evening everyone!
This is my first message, I have a LBR20 on V9.2.5.2.40SF-HW + RBS20 on V2.7.4.24.
Few basic questions:

1) I don't have the folder

Code: Select all

/mnt/circle/overlay
.
2) How do I become root?
3) Can I use Google One VPN?
hassannasih
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 26, 2023 4:05 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hassannasih »

plz help i purchased lbr20 us-canada version and i am in iraq
i tried to put my lte network settings but there is no internet
i think it locked to specific networks
i want your help to unlock it
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

theluke79 wrote: Mon Sep 25, 2023 2:49 pm Hey folks, good evening everyone!
This is my first message, I have a LBR20 on V9.2.5.2.40SF-HW + RBS20 on V2.7.4.24.
Few basic questions:

1) I don't have the folder

Code: Select all

/mnt/circle/overlay
.
2) How do I become root?
3) Can I use Google One VPN?
1. If you’re missing overlay then something is very wrong with your file systems. Would suggest reflashing the firmware again.

2. Root is the only user so you’re already root :)

3. If Google one is OVPN or WireGuard based then it may be possible. I have no additional info to say for certain.
hazarjast
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:38 am
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by hazarjast »

hassannasih wrote: Tue Sep 26, 2023 4:26 pm plz help i purchased lbr20 us-canada version and i am in iraq
i tried to put my lte network settings but there is no internet
i think it locked to specific networks
i want your help to unlock it
Does your carrier use bands supported by the LBR20? If you read further back in this thread I believe someone else had a similar issue but not sure if they solved it. Unfortunately I have no experience with Iraq cell phone carriers myself.
clee19
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2023 5:38 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by clee19 »

Hi all, hoping someone has experienced this and I'm just not searching with the correct keywords. I seem to keep waking up to no internet. Restarting the device doesn't seem to work and I eventually mess around with it long enough that it eventually reconnects to LTE but while trying to figure it out I noticed under the log tab (Advanced>Administration>Logs) the time showed as incorrect. I'm thinking that has something to do with why it isn't working. Typically I've rebooted the device multiple times an I've plugged the SIM into a cell phone to verify the network isn't having any issues and then plugged it back into the LBR20. I've searched through the tabs is there a way to manually update the time?

Note: I'm not sure if this detail helps but when I'm getting "no internet" showing in the GUI I also noticed the device shows to have no external iP (0.0.0.0) which I still think is pointing back to the time issue being the cause as when it goes to get a connection with the cell tower the time stamp is wrong. this morning it showed an time in April so not even the correct Month let alone the time.
clee19
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2023 5:38 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by clee19 »

clee19 wrote: Mon Nov 27, 2023 11:05 am Hi all, hoping someone has experienced this and I'm just not searching with the correct keywords. I seem to keep waking up to no internet. Restarting the device doesn't seem to work and I eventually mess around with it long enough that it eventually reconnects to LTE but while trying to figure it out I noticed under the log tab (Advanced>Administration>Logs) the time showed as incorrect. I'm thinking that has something to do with why it isn't working. Typically I've rebooted the device multiple times an I've plugged the SIM into a cell phone to verify the network isn't having any issues and then plugged it back into the LBR20. I've searched through the tabs is there a way to manually update the time?

Note: I'm not sure if this detail helps but when I'm getting "no internet" showing in the GUI I also noticed the device shows to have no external iP (0.0.0.0) which I still think is pointing back to the time issue being the cause as when it goes to get a connection with the cell tower the time stamp is wrong. this morning it showed an time in April so not even the correct Month let alone the time.
***Update****

As of today I can't seem to get my LBR20 to connect to my V*isi*ble unlimited plan at all. I put the sim card in a cell phone it service works. I put a different sim into the LBR20 it service works (different provider). When this problem started I reset the device about 10 times, I attempted to downgrade the LTE firmware to A05 and A06. Used reset button on the back of the device to factory it suddenly started working again previously between all of these steps but today no luck at all. It went down after attempting to change the DNS (which I reverted back before all of these steps but for some reason that broke it this time). When I look in the settings I see the updated IMEI (which was reapplied after factory reset), it also shows the cellphone number, I look in the lte status menu and I see it has a connection to channel 66 on the tower. I'm out of ideas here on what to do because it seems to have a connection to service it is just not retrieving an outside IP address from the provider.
Canuck
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2024 1:52 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Orbi LBR20 How-To / Megathread

Post by Canuck »

@hazarjast Is there anyway to have this firmware modified/working for LBR20 Bell Canada version? It's a different model: LBR20-1BNCNS
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/lbr20-1bncns
I'll appreciate it .
Post Reply

Return to “Tutorials”