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WAX220 WIFI Disconnects on Apple devices
Please help, this has been doing my nut in. WAX220 WIFI AP for some reason keeps disconnecting Apple Iphones for a minute frequently and causes calls on facetime to freeze and become unsuitable t...
I would like to confirm these issues with WAX220 WiFi 6 Access Point. I have about 15 devices connecting to it across 4 different VLANs and each VLAN being used on separate SSID network. I am using only 5GHz on 3 of the SSIDs and 4th SSID is using 2.4GHz. I have tried fixing the issue with tuning channels, disabling Band Steering etc. but nothing has helped.
My main router & firewall is custom built appliance with ProxMox and OPNSense.
The WAX220 AP connects to 1 of the 4 ports on main router over PPoE.
Only two of my devices have constant issues with WAX220 dropping connection. Those devices are:
- Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch, 2021 (Apple M1 Max / 32GB mem / macOS Sonoma 14.2.1)
- iPhone 13 (iOS Version 17.3 / Model Number MLA23LL/A)
Every other device (Peloton, 2x Pixel 6 Android phones, Samsung tablets, Kindle, Bose speakers, Alexa Echo Dot, etc. ) never has issues. I know because I work out on Peloton 4 or 5 times a week for 1h and I never had issues.
I have tested this by plugging in 2 different WiFi APs to the outlet in my room which is wired to port 2 of the main router (OPNSense) and when I connect above 2 Apple devices to the SSIDs provided by other manufacturer's WiFi APs, everything works flawlessly. Connections never drop. Similarly if I connect above devices to T-mobile 4G LTE hotspot, connections never drop. So the problem is guaranteed with WAX220 here. It is disappointing because these Apple devices were not manufactured after WAX220. In other words, WAX220 is never device and should support this. I have already gone through RMA and this is second unit of WAX220 which I am having same issues with. I will be contacting support to re-escalate my support case and seek refund. There is so many other better and tested devices out there for $220 that can do the same without these issues.
The most disappointing part is that these devices are my work devices as I WFH and my productivity was impacted by Netgear's inability to test products thoroughly before releasing it.
In addition to the above, I have caught flapping of the connection for the 1st device above in the WAX220 logs (Apple MacBook Pro 16in with MAC address: bc:d0:74:0e:fa:b3 ) - see attached!
Very disappointed with this.
I am also having this SAME EXACT ISSUE. I disabled the private IP settings as well and it still happens. I have NEVER had this disconnection issue with any other access point or router, and I bought 3 WAX220's to make sure I have coverage evyerwhere. I originally put one on each floor, but then thought it was interference and I disabled (completely unplugged) 2 of them to only leave one connected, and I STILL have this problem.
I've searched and it appears to be a problem with these devices, but nobody has found a solution. So frustrating to spend money on "Business class" gear only to be outperformed by regular consumer routers.
I wanted to contribute another report of this same issue. Firmware version 1.0.3.3. Multiple Apple devices will periodically disconnect and need to be reconnected on 5GHz, including a 14" 2021 M1 MBP, 4K Apple TV's, and 2020 iPhone SE's.
It mainly seems to affect the 5GHz band. I have tried both manual and automatic channel selection and multiple widths. I have tried WPA2 personal only, RSSI's are from -45dBm to -70dBm.
For others - I do seem to avoid disconnects using 2.4Ghz with 11ax and band steering both disabled, different SSID for the 2.4GHz band, and WPA2 personal only.
We should be able to use the full capabilities of the (expensive) WAP.
Hi all,
bough 2 x wax220 and had same issue with apple devices disconnecting. Tried every combination of settings with no success until I disabled “11ax mode(for 2.4GHz only)”
now 2.4G connections to iPhones and iPads are solid.
I don’t think this solves issue with 5G but need more time to test
before disabling 11ax mode(for 2.4GHz only) my iPad would disconnect randomly but often. Was just about the send the ap devices back for a refund but now i have stability, although sacrificing WiFi 6 performance, I might keep them as I’m not sure if the issue is apple device related or netgear issue
please try this and let me know if it helps you
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