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Latest 2.3.2.32 firmware cripples the XR500
I’ve only had the XR500 router for about a month. Unfortunately, so far I’m not at all impressed with the main selling feature that is DumaOS and I’m frustruated to the point of potentially exchangin...
A quick status update on the issue. I few days ago I replaced the brand new Arris TM1602 modem that I got from Spectrum/Charter last month since I’ve just found out that the Arris modem has that garbage Intel Puma6 chip.
In its place I put an equivalent Netgear CM600 and now I’m running the .32 FW without any speed or MAC address issues; however, I still get WiFi devices disconnect on me for a few seconds when on the 2.4Ghz band.
So the .32 FW issue might have been related to the Arris modem, even though it seems to run fine with the XR500 on the .22 FW version.
OlegP wrote:
Strangely, in the internet configuration settings, if I changed the “use the PC MAC address” to “use XR500 default MAC address,” I would immediately lose internet access and no amount of power cycling would fix it until changing the setting back to the “use the computer’s MAC address.” I left all QOS settings stock.
My internet speed is usually slightly over 200/10. With the newest firmware update my download speed is now a consistent 60-90 download. The upload hasn’t changed; however. Direct connection to modem tests fine at 200 down and 10 up. Disabling all router’s QOS settings doesn’t help.
I feel like this has been the case since I've owned this router. The thing will randomly decide it doesn't want to renew the lease with it's main MAC address and will only work with the computer MAC address option. Using the computer MAC option cuts internet speeds to 1/3 of normal. Working with Spectrum I can get it to work for a short period on the routers MAC if I hold the reset button on the cable modem but once the router decides it wants to stop working once a day and I have to restart it; I'm back to square one.
I've never factory reset a router so much in my life and the constant flurry of issues every day really wears you out. It really feels counter-productive to have netgear designing and maintaining part of the software and netduma another part. Getting updates once a quarter that don't seem to make anything better and each update ends up getting the standard factory reset response. Who wants to setup their device from scratch every few months? I can only imagine if the Meraki's at work required this, who in their right mind would purchase something knowing that.
At this point I'm waiting for Spectrum to help us resolve some issues with our line and after that if there are still issues and the old Linksys doesn't have me spending hours each day fiddling with setting just to get an IP from the ISP; this thing will have to find a new home.
I also have Spectrum for my ISP. Last month I got a brand new Arris modem from them since everyone was getting bumped up to the 200/10 speeds. On the same day I decided to upgrade my aging ASUS router that had served me so well. That’s when I went with the internet hype and got the Netgear XR500. Oddly enough, there aren’t any reviews on smallnetworkbuilder even though this thing has been out for many months.
I only started getting the speed issues post firmware upgrade. After reading these forums and the ones on NetDumas own site I’ve came to a conclusion that this router might not be for me because waiting 3 months between firmware updates is just insane, especially since I’m actually getting slower internet speeds with a equipment that touts itself as the ultimate gaming router.
Also, performing factory resets on the router after every firmware update is just the icing on the cake.
Yeah, I'm sure the Arris modem doesn't help the cause. Feels like around the time of the 200/10 bump things went down hill in this area. Don't think any of that is an excuse for the router issues though.
Atleast you can downgrade your firmware if the last one was working fine for you.
I don’t know. Speeds seemed to be fine on the previous firmware.
I haven’t downgraded it yet but I wondering if it won’t just re upgrade itself anyway when going thru the initial setup. I assuming that I’ll have to reset the damn thing again back to factory after performing a downgrade.
Haha, yeah. You can downgrade without resetting but it'll be the first recommendation if you have issues.
There is a radio button in Settings → Administration → Firmware Update. You can choose disagree to updating the firmware automatically.