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sleekone's avatar
sleekone
Tutor
May 03, 2020
Solved

Can't get Gigibit speeds from Nighthawk Routers (RAX45, R6400)

I have the RAX45 | Nighthawk (AX4300) but it wasn't on the list to select, so I'll pick the RAX40 https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rax45.aspx https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking...
  • mando41's avatar
    mando41
    May 09, 2020

    Hey Christian,

     

    thanks for the reply,  I ended up doing a factory reset on the router and that fixed my issue.  I am now getting full speeds.  So far its been working great since yesterday.

Christian_R's avatar
Christian_R
NETGEAR Employee Retired
May 07, 2020

Hello mando41, 

 

May you check to see if setting the cable modem to modem mode only and having the Nighthawk act as the router produces the same results. 

 

Thanks,

Christian 

mando41's avatar
mando41
Initiate
May 09, 2020

Hey Christian,

 

thanks for the reply,  I ended up doing a factory reset on the router and that fixed my issue.  I am now getting full speeds.  So far its been working great since yesterday.

  • sleekone's avatar
    sleekone
    Tutor
    May 13, 2020

    I went ahead and reset my old R6400 to factory setting, attached this to the 2nd connection on my xFinity Gig Router  to see if I get different results. I do not

     

    The R6400 is set to AP only, the same top line speed of 300-350mb going through the router 

     

    -- It's in  AP Mode

    -- WMM is disabled

    -- No access control (as it's not in router mode)

    -- Firmware up to date (v.1.0.1.52_1.0.36)

    -- Just 1 device connected to R6400 Wired - Surface running Windows 10

    • sleekone's avatar
      sleekone
      Tutor
      May 13, 2020

      I'm getting around 800+mb down /40mb up using Speedtest app, to my Surface, direct connection to xfinity gig router , not the 950mb down I was getting a few days ago.  It's eary evening, could be just the time of day

       

      • sleekone's avatar
        sleekone
        Tutor
        May 28, 2020

        I can't select RAX45 in the Model Field so choosing RAX40

         

        3 things happened and now I can get ~950mb down  from my router

         

        1. I upgraded Firmware on the RAX45 and suddenly I had a burst over 500mb (speedtest app) and then I tested again and was at 806mb . This was wired connection to my desktop

         

        2. 15 minutes later I was getting less than 100mb and called Netgear support. I spent 30 minutes on support, while they did their magic, After they rebooted xFinity Modem,  I once again hit 900mb+ speeds (wired connection to Desktop running Windows 10)

         

        3. I had an open issue with Netgear support and they recommended a change to MTU which I did
        " On the WAN Setup page you would see an option " MTU Size(in bytes)". Change the value from 1500 to 1492"

        Not convinced this did anything but made the change

         

        4. Change Firewall setting on xFinity modem from Medium to Low. They could not tell me the difference, only that low was optimal setting for fastest connection.  I asked for more information on Firewall settings and they could not provide. 

         

        It's now Day 2, I am still getting ~950mb down / 40mb up which is the fastest possible speed from the xFinity XB6 Router (1gb minus 50mb overhead)

         

        Whichever step fixed this, I am not sure. My guess is that the new firmware / Firewall setting was part of this equation

         

        Current Firmware is Firmware Version V1.0.2.20_2.0.31

         

        Now onto my next troubleshooting which is my Extender 8000 - AC3000 Nighthawk Extender

        Firmware Version: V1.0.1.206

        From everything I read, this appears to be buggy firmware on this device. Like everyone else that has posted, sometimes it works great and other times I can't connect. I am also asked to reenter the Wifi password which seems to be fairly consistent with my setup.

        My workaround - reboot the Extender. I'm hopeful they are working out these bugs as this seems to be a Netgear issues

         

        My config 

         

        xFinity XB6 Router ---> Nighthawk RAX45 --- Extender 8000 (AC3000)

        Desktop connected via ethernet to RAX45 (now getting up to ~950mb down , 4-5ms ping)

        Speed Tested on mult servers using www.speedtest.net application running on Desktop (Windows 10)

        ** It's important to try  multiple servers when using Speedtest, not all will register highest speeds)