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Forum Discussion
Nighthawk MR2100 keeps ‘freezing’ - wifi connection drops out / cannot turn on the screen
I have had this mobile router since December, and having constant problems with it. Firstly we notice that the wifi signal has dropped down to almost zero (I am able to check this via my provider ap...
Test update:
Test intervals have been 1 week apart. Unit indicating a strong signal When left this long and the router is used as a failover internet connection:
- it takes over a minute to failover (if at all), it used to take 5 - 10 seconds
- I may get 1 - 5 pings if the failover connects, pings are a better result than the main internet connection
- the router then reboots
- once active I may get 10 - 30 pings, then it locks up and the only way to have it functional is to pull the battery, ie: the on/off does not work.
The unit is no longer functional as its purpose is to provide a redundant internet connection. It is about 15 months old.
I ended up getting some very good advice from Telstra about how to fix the problems I was having. The store manager told me not to leave the battery in the unit all the time, that the unit can be used just on mains power, which reduces the risk of the battery overheating (which is probably why is was not working properly). He recommended replacing the battery once a week to charge it but where possible to just run the nighthawk on mains power.
This has certainly worked, I have not had a single issue with the signal dropping out or the unit ‘freezing’ since I removed the battery!
As I do travel a lot in a motorhome, I will need to use it with the battery then, so will be interesting to see what happens…. But for now I am happy 😊
Thanks for that info.
I removed the battery and tested on mains power only. After disconnecting the WAN Ethernet cable on the main router so the internet connection would fail over to WAN2, which is the Nighthawk router, the Nighthawk locked up twice almost immediately. The power cable was disconnected in order to reboot the device as the screen and buttons don't function when locked up. The 3rd time an internet connection was established with the Nighthawk and operated for about 30 mins before locking up again; this is the longest it has operated since this 'lockup' problem was detected.
We had a 12 hour internet maintenance outage yesterday and 9 hours today (from the wholesale infrastructure operator - so no work around for us), so the Nighthawk is still no good as a redundant internet connection if it locks up after 30 mins.
I have the same issue but somewhat in reverse - I keep the battery out because its always plugged in, but if often freezes multiple times a day. When I leave the battery in (which isn't good for it) it stops locking up. I guess it must have bursts of power needs that the AC charger can't support on its own.
Seems these aren't particularly stable routers for anything long term