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Forum Discussion
xr500 Disappointing All Around
I have a modest network at home, 5 Computers wich 2 of them are game servers. I host a PC gaming community that supports almost every country around the world. I have host 2 server that run game se...
The Geo-Filter is not active until you add a device to it and when a device has been added you can disable the Filtering functionality or delete it and the device will no longer be restricted. Disable Smart Connect for WiFi and connect to the 5GHz manually - you may have a lot of WiFi networks in your area so using a WiFi analyzer and finding the least congested channel can help. In System Information in the Rapp panel options change the retries to 5 and then reboot and Rapps shouldn't crash as much. Yes it is very much marketed towards the client side experience for gaming. It sounds like you may not have the Geo-Filter set up correctly, by selecting the closest possible servers that will give you the best ping possible and then utilize that with QoS to keep it stable.
"The Geo-Filter is not active until you add a device to it and when a device has been added you can disable the Filtering functionality or delete it and the device will no longer be restricted."
I can record a video showing you when the geofilter RAPP crashes it blocks anything more than 2500km away, I understand that it should only work when a device is added. When the app is running it will work correctly, as soon as it crashes this then for whatever reason stops outside connects more than 2500km away give or take.
"Disable Smart Connect for WiFi and connect to the 5GHz manually - you may have a lot of WiFi networks in your area so using a WiFi analyzer and finding the least congested channel can help."
As for this I have done all that, I live in a house, with not much wifi around, and the channels i do have selected are clear. I suggest this solution to people in appartment buildings or row houses. But this does not pertain to my problems.
"In System Information in the Rapp panel options change the retries to 5 and then reboot and Rapps shouldn't crash as much. Yes it is very much marketed towards the client side experience for gaming."
I have done this and changed this multiple times to really no change. Even with it marketed towards "End Clients" the price you are charging for it is outrageous.
UniFi Dream Machine <--- This is around the same price and MUCH more functionality.. And It can handle everything you throw at it. Honestly I feel ripped off, I feel like i paid for somthing that looks cool. Thats really it. I downgraded. Not a good feeling after spending around $500 I have had this router over a year now, I think i have givin it a pretty fair go. Would really like my money back.
You should price your product accordingly and whith products like this its a matter of time before people start figuring this out.
" It sounds like you may not have the Geo-Filter set up correctly, by selecting the closest possible servers that will give you the best ping possible and then utilize that with QoS to keep it stable."
Yea i understand how it works and I have set it up corrcetly with it causing me way more issues than it should. I still think the appility to disable apps is important. That way the user can free up recourses that could go towards features they are actaully using.
The fact that the geo filter DOES effect What you can see, and who can see you when the app crashes is a major flaw and should be addressed. Hope my intput can help you make better decisions and maybe think about the people purchasing your prodcut. As a long time and up until now satisfied user of netgear products I would hope you take this post seriously.
- So if it crashes even without any devices added it blocks completely? What happens to the 5GHz exactly when more devices are added? I didn't price the product so I can't comment on that.
"So if it crashes even without any devices added it blocks completely?"
Yes users can not see me and I can not connect to them unless its through discord or another 3rd party app proxying for us. This also occurs with some co-op games. I found also that when the users use VPNs then they can once again connect with the servers/game. After about the last 6 months of diagnosing this issue I don't have an exact explanation for you, (Due to limitied monitoring options) but by reading some of the posts in your forum this may be a big reason many people are having intermittent isssues with connecting to servers,friends,chats that have some distance between them. From what I could control in my testing it seems to happen around 1500-2500km in distance. ( with the help of users in my community). I have spoke with other Nighthawk users in the community and at this point the consensus that a major issue is with the GEO FILTER.. A quick hotfix to be able to disable this feature completely would really tell you a lot.
"What happens to the 5GHz exactly when more devices are added?"
The service just stops.. Says its working, but devices disconect and retry over and over.. Tested this on the other router i purchased for my folks. Theres seems to work much better, but I cant monitor as closley as my own. So im not sure if this is just my luck or if this is another APP related issue. after discovering the geofilter app issue I have started to try to replicate the issue but it takes alot of time to replicate this problem.
"I didn't price the product so I can't comment on that."
I am aware that you did not price the product, but you are a consumer like the rest of us. Was meant to explain that if other consumers feel the way I do when they learn what I have they will not be happy. Like I am. I feel right now that my only option left is to bite the bullet and just buy the Unifi Router that btw is cheaper than the xr500. I have used one at one of my members small offices and its amazing the functionality and ease. Not to mention the performance benifits that I could see with bench testing. Maybe your team can get one and see what im talking about. Once someone uses both, it will be very apparent what one is easier and feature rich without being confusing. For al long time I used your routers and I found your interfaces better than other manufactures and for a long time have suggested them. So im not hating on you here. Anyway Hope the info helps.
EDIT: And the fact that your apps are known to crash so much is a disturbing outlook to the stability of this product line/OS. Personaly if I would have had read that response before purchasing I would have avoided it. Just saying, and regardless of the outcome of this post I appreciate the participation and quick response you have given.
- I have never heard of that happening at all. I'd suggest upgrading to the latest beta which changes the Geo-Filter quite a lot and has fixes and then see if everything works better for you. https://bit.ly/39ZN5JT
It is a support forum so you will only see issues here but the amount of people using the support forums and other channels to report issues compared with the amount of customers is within the normal range for a consumer product.