Firmware 8.5.4 RC 1

Product Discussion Beta Releases
1

We are pleased to announce that Firmware 8.5.4 RC 1 is now available.

Download the Firmware

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Does the RC1 fix also those two issues of 8.5.3?

  1. Firewall with Grouped Networks having domain-based criterion
  2. Bonjour Forwarding between VLANs not working
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We notified issues with this RC1 firmware on our Balance Two (see Ticket no #26010096):

  1. SMB-access from Windows 11 PC to clients in other VLANs:
    Example: Cannot reach NAS in VLAN 240 using \\192.168.240.YYY in Windows-Explorer from PC in VLAN 205 (IP 192.168.205.ZZZ) anymore
  2. Bonjour forwarding issues (several Apple clients/hubs and IOT in other VLANs cannot be found by Apple Homekit anymore or by iPhones trying to use Bonjour printer in other VLAN)

Both issues due not occur in 8.5.3s101 firmware.

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Not exactly a bug, but is it intentional that the logo and favicon was restored to the PEPWAVE logo of yore? I feel like I’m back in FW7 :slight_smile:

Zight 2026-02-15 at 9.11.00 PM
Zight 2026-02-15 at 9.11.00 PM1990Ă—620 87.5 KB

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5

i have noticed some devices have the old logo and some newer logo, i don’t know why? for example, i have two ap one ax lites…one has the old logo, one has newer, both used the same firmware file for update…

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OK, so after a bit of tinkering, it actually did NOT change. On 8.5.2 it shows Pepwave as well, but then this brings us back to the big question: Pepwave vs Peplink? I know Alex has talked about the difference a lot lately, but why is a BR1 Pro 5G showing Pepwave and my BR2 Pro are showing Peplink?

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@Jonathan_Pitts and I were discussing this and he speculated that it has to do with the HW revision.

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i just checked two devices. ap one ax lite. both are hardware revision 1. one had the peplink logo one has the pepwave logo.

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9

Good to see 8.5.4 RC 1 is out. I’ll review the release notes and plan some testing in our lab before considering it for production.

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@ChristopherSpitler @mystery

Let me clear up how the firmware UI & branding works. It simply follows what’s physically printed on your hardware. If your device is labeled Peplink, the web admin will show Peplink. If it says Pepwave, the UI shows Pepwave. Pushing a new firmware update isn’t going to change that logic.

If you have an older BR1 Pro 5G, you’ll notice it carries the Pepwave brand. That reflects how we historically separated our product families: Pepwave was for wireless and mobile, while Peplink was reserved for our Balance Multi-WAN routers.

But our approach has changed, and we’ve actually been making this transition for some time. Routers will all carry the Peplink brand, like the the BR1 Pro 5G, B310, and B580X. The Pepwave name isn’t going away; it’s just shifting to represent the connectivity building blocks and network extensions, like the AP One Enterprise and our Antenna MAX.

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11

Thanks for this. This is aligned with what Alex has said, but also clarifies how the device UI decides what logo/branding to use.

I’ll go on record (again) here to say that the Peplink vs Pepwave branding, even with the new designations for product lines, is extremely confusing due to the “Pep” at the beginning. Consumers (including enterprise buyers) frequently ask us which is correct.

Thanks!!

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