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mazar23
Nov 03, 2022Follower
Nighthawk M6 Pro Overheating Update
Hi everyone,
Over a month ago I posted an issue I am having with the Nighthawk M6 pro overheating, freezing up, and stopping all internet connections. This is just an update I got from Netgear in the event that anyone else is having this issue.
This is the response I received from John Peng with Netgear yesterday in regards to the issue:
“After checking with the internal team, I can confirm that the issue is related to using the device without battery. We have a fix for this already. We are going to submit the release to AT&T get their approval before releasing it.”
The current work around at this time is to use the device with the battery. Setting the device screen to never going to sleep has seemed to improve reliability as well.
I personally have still had overheating issues when using the device with the battery, but it has improved significantly. The last three days for me have actually been relatively stable with the device only overheating a couple times.
I hope this helps until the fix gets approved!
52 Replies
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- JohnPengNETGEAR Expert
Thanks for sharing the information. We will try to get the release with the fix approved by AT&T asap.
Sorry for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.
Regards
I'm having (I guess) a similar issue, brand new M6 just 2 days old, will be running fine, and then at various times (no rhyme or reason), can be up for hours, or 5 minutes, the screen looks up, won't respond, drops internet completely (using AT&T) and pushing the power button will get the screen to flash on and off once in a while.
I've been using it plugged in WITH the battery. The only way to restart it is to physically pull out the battery and remove power, then start back up again.
Then 5 minutes to 5 hours later it does it again.Not impressed with this $800 router Netgear... need the fix shared immediately or we're returning it, as I'm on a road trip this was purchased for and need it to work NOW, not in weeks. Please advise how much longer to push the update or if I need to just return it and get a hotspot that works.
- kbusby10Aspirant
I am having very similar issues. I have the M6 Nighthawk hotspot with first net. I had no issues for 6 months using an orbit WIFI extender. I had the battery removed as recommended due to running on AC power.
Within the past month the router would get very hot and become unresponsive and drop internet. when pressing the top button the screen would flash on and off. the only way to fix this was to unplug AC power and let it reboot itself. This would fix it for 30 min to 5 hours and then it would start the same process over.
I called AT&T/First net and they sent me a new one. All firmware on the old and new was current. The new hotspot began doing the same thing but now it's totally fried. It will turn on with AC power only with a battery in it. No internet is being transmitted via ethernet or wifi now.
ATT won't send me a new one until i send this one back now. This is becoming very frustrating.
- jbree89InitiateI've always had issues with mine overheating completely: plugged in without battery, plugged in with battery, unplugged with battery. Very poor design from what I thought was a reputable company.
- jbree89Initiate
I've always had issues with mine overheating completely: plugged in without battery, plugged in with battery, unplugged with battery. Very poor design from what I thought was a reputable company.
- PhmocquardAspirantSame trouble for me. 50°C with mine but only if I disable WIFI.
NETGEAR team just asked me to change my Internet provider... :((
Phmocquard wrote:
Same trouble for me. 50°C with mine but only if I disable WIFI.
NETGEAR team just asked me to change my Internet provider... :((Wouldn't it be easier to suggest moving to Alaska, or somewhere else with a cooler climate?
- whbrehmInitiate
Looking at ATT Nighthawk M6 Pro to increase internet speed. Network is 12 machines processing POS. Also, guest network. The M6 Pro seems to offer what we need.
Have the overheating problems been resolved? We cannot operate with an unreliable connection.
Thanks, Bill
- bombsquadrobInitiate
My sisters M6 Pro had same issue and would shutdown. Only way to solve it was to run it without the battery. It still gets hot but no where near what it was before
- Harrydo60InitiateI have this device always left battery in it heats up all the time now have to cool it off then reconnect to internet pain in the ( ! )
From what I observe with a M6 Pro using firmware NTGX65_12.01.48.00, the "overheating" issue despite Netgear's repeated announcements isn't fixed, at least not if a throttled performance when reaching a certain temperature threshold in order to prevent that very overheating falls into a similar category.
In my case, while the device itself continues to work without interruptions or restarts, the performance gets significantly degraded whenever the temperature rises above 62°C and the up- and downstream resources (3CA for LTE, 2CA for 5G) are more or less fully occupied, which with my current operator means about 32 Mbps upload and 320 Mbps download. Then, within minutes, the downstream droppes to 40-100 Mbps with higher latency times between 400-1000 ms. Cooling the device down by a fan reproducibly resolves the performance hit by significantly lowering the temperature (about 10°C less).
Whoever wondered how the heck a manufacturer wants to resolve a pretty clear hardware/implementation issue by pure magic of remote software (e.g. updating the firmware) might have an idea. He can't. Netgear's portable routers obviously lack the required hardware-based cooling and the very least they should provide is a heatsink one can attach inside of the freed-up battery slot when in stationary use. At least as of now, their devices are simply not suitable for power users and for the light ones, one can ask oneself whether a way cheaper pocket wifi doesn't suffice as well.
The heat issue for me comes to no surprise at all here - other manufacturers either use the mentioned heatsink in their devices or even add an additional fan to that, e.g.:
With Netgear's M-series though, consisting only of some simple plastic case around relatively high-performant chipsets, raises the rhetorical question where the heat should be conveyed that quickly - physics is greeting.
The temperature result in concrete is mostly made up of the following variables, taking the environment aside:
- chipset efficiency
- cooling/heat convey strategy
- programming code efficiency
- load
For the first two, it's already too late. The thing is built, packaged and shipped already. Only the second might be indeed an option if Netgear would deliver such a heatsink retroactively (with a more or less fiddly gel-pad included DIY-kit after one paid about 1000 bucks for that thing, hurray).
Third is possible, but not very likely to make a huge difference. Leaving number four, simply throttling the performance when this thing gets too hot. Which is exactly what happens.
Printing the return label ...
- sjbenderGuide
- tumi4real2003Aspirant
I found a way around this device by installing heatsink inside the battery space and it solved the overheating problem. This I expect netgear to do in the first place. It is a great device but the hardware design is not well thought of and it had let me down many times by throttling due to overheating. Since its maximum power is what i need and its only achievable by removing the battery. So i got this heatsink on amazon with sticky back when peeled off. i cut them into size and stick it on the inside of the battery compartment. If i need an excellent cooling I place it a USB fan as seen in the photo it will stay below 35 degree Celsius all day livestreaming not even warm.
- tumi4real2003Aspirant
Heat sink - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JLQL63D?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1
Fan - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S51M3R5?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
You need to grind the heatsink so that you can still cover the back when not in use. You can cut the heatsink to fit the space with a Dremel tool