I installed firmware 10.5.0.14 on two WAX620PA's this weekend, and I immediately saw a reduction in network broadcast strength on the 2.4Ghz band. A printer that was previously connected was suddenly unable to connect unless it was 20 feet closer. Other clients like my phone are showing strangely weak WiFi compared to previous. It's been in the same spot and the network has been great for 6+ months. Here's how I have the WAX620PA configured that is closest to the printer: Radio Mode: 11axChannel: 11/2.472 (I manually changed this to be on a less congested channelChannel Width: Dynamic 20/40MhzOutput Power: Auto (Full) Has anyone else seen negative WiFi range/performance after installing the 10.5.0.14 firmware? Are there any settings I should try changing, or do I just hope Netgear fixes this in the next firmware update?

Thanks so much to the awesome engineers and support people at Netgear! They were able to get on a call with me today and review the issues that I was having in several network locations across several different access points and we arrived at a solid work around for now. - Disable 802.11r on ALL SSIDs within the network location- Turn OFF "Automatic Transmit Power Allocation" in the Instant WiFi Section- Turn OFF "Allow Devices to Trigger Instant WiFi"- Expand Each Access Point and manually set the 2.4 GHz radio power to desired value (Full in my case) not auto After reviewing logs in several devices we found that for some reason whenever the 802.11r scan triggered it was causing the values for the transmit power on 2.4 GHz radios to change to junk values thus making entire 2.4 GHz radio unstable. They are currently discussing internally and working on a fix or firmware update and are going to let me know the conclusion they come to. Thanks again for all your effort! You guys are awesome!

Hi jasondunn For now the workaround is to disable just the 802.11r setting, which is available on each SSID. To disable it via the Android app: 1. Go to the Locations icon in the menu at the bottom of the App. 2. Tap WiFi. 3. Your SSID(s) will load. Tap into an SSID. 4. Scroll right to the bottom, under Radio Settings you will see Fast roaming (802.11r). Tap the slider to disable it. (it is disabled when slider is grey). 5. Click Save. As the setting is per SSID, if you have multiple Locations with multiple SSID's, you will need to repeat the steps to disable 802.11r on each SSID in each Location. Thanks David

YES! I have WAX610 Insight managed APs across 20 different network locations and after the 10.5.0.14 update MANY MANY devices in all locations that had absolutely zero connectivity issues before are now STRUGGLING to stay connected. PCs with USB Wifi adaptors and printers that have a/b/g/n wifi cards built in specifically. Also Honeywell RF scanners that have a/b/g/n wifi. Thank god I don't have auto update turned on at our main location or I would have had a riot on my hands. PLEASE FIX THIS FIRMWARE NETGEAR!!!! It has CRIPPLED 120 APs in my environment. Something is severely wrong with your code.

Glad to hear it's not just me. I haven't had an issue like this before with firmware; how do we get Netgear's attention on this? Open support tickets?

I don't suppose there's a way to roll back the firmware, is there? I haven't seen one but perhaps it's buried somewhere in the menus that I'm not seeing...

WAX620PA 10.5.0.14 firmware update weakens 2.4Ghz network?

15 Replies

Gedruspax
Star
Jul 26, 2023
YES!

I have WAX610 Insight managed APs across 20 different network locations and after the 10.5.0.14 update MANY MANY devices in all locations that had absolutely zero connectivity issues before are now STRUGGLING to stay connected.

PCs with USB Wifi adaptors and printers that have a/b/g/n wifi cards built in specifically. Also Honeywell RF scanners that have a/b/g/n wifi.

Thank god I don't have auto update turned on at our main location or I would have had a riot on my hands.

PLEASE FIX THIS FIRMWARE NETGEAR!!!! It has CRIPPLED 120 APs in my environment. Something is severely wrong with your code.
- jasondunn
  Apprentice
  Jul 26, 2023
  Glad to hear it's not just me. I haven't had an issue like this before with firmware; how do we get Netgear's attention on this? Open support tickets?
- jasondunn
  Apprentice
  Jul 26, 2023
  I don't suppose there's a way to roll back the firmware, is there? I haven't seen one but perhaps it's buried somewhere in the menus that I'm not seeing...
  - xMaeda
    Tutor
    Jul 27, 2023
    Hi,
    
    I have the same issue. Since firmware 10.5.0.14, i have IP cameras (in 2.4 only) that freeze or get disconnected by AP (802.11 deauthentication with code 34)
    
    The option to load the backup firmware is not available in cloud mode.
    
    The procedure I applied to be able to perform a rollback on two WAX360 managed in the Insight cloud :
    (be careful to have wired access to each AP and local admin/password of each AP. -only perform this procedure if you know what you are doing-)
    
    - Go to Web UI of an AP and log in.
    - Switch Managed Mode "NetGear insight (cloud)" > "Web Browser (local)"
    - Wait for AP reboot
    - Go to Web UI and log in
    - Go to Maintenance > Upgrade > Firmware upgrade
    - Now you have the "Boot Up Backup Firmware" button ! (hidden in cloud mode)
    - Wait for AP reboot
    - Go to Web UI and log in with default access (admin / password) and re-set your password.
    - Re-Switch Managed Mode "Web Browser (local)" > "NetGear Insight (cloud)"
    - Wait for AP reboot
    - Wait for the reconfiguration of the AP by Insight
    - Enjoy.

Forum Discussion

WAX620PA 10.5.0.14 firmware update weakens 2.4Ghz network?

15 Replies

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