nighthawk ax4 (RAX35) drops connection. multiple calls to 'tech support' yield nothing

Question

i set up the nighthawk nightgear ax4 rax35 router several weeks ago. when it works it works very well, but it drops connection multiple times a day. i've literally wasted days on the phone with netgear 'tech support'. when it goes out, i unplug the router, and plug it back in to get it going again, but this is not acceptable when working remotely, and video conferencing, etc.

the firmware is up to date, the unit has been rebooted, reverted to factory settings, and all the obvious basic trouble shooting that tech support has you do.

on one call they had me reduce the MTU size from 1500 to 1450. this made a slight improvement, and it dropped only twice a day rather that 5 times a day.

on the last call. (5 hours and with mulitple transfers because i was transfered to the wrong person), they had me disable the AX features. it doesn't make sense to me to buy an AX router, and then disable the AX features. again an improvement, it only drops once a day, but still what is the point of a wifi 6 router that you have to slow down, and disable the features that make it wifi 6 in order to use?

additionally, it Still drops out.

does anyone have a success story with this problem? i see people complain of the same issue all over the internet but i do not see any solutions. thank you.

kkc2020 · Answer

i have been having the same problem since early june. i'm on my 2nd device. i've gone through dozens of calls, the longest of which, lasted longer than 5 hours, with the hold time and the transfers to wrong departments.&nbsp;today i spoke with a level 2 tech who had me update to a new beta firmware that is supposed to fix things. factory re-set the router, installed the beta firmware, and less than 2 hours later i lost connection again. the agent gave me a 'backdoor number' to level 2 techs, which is 24hrs. i have not been on hold for an hour and 28 minutes. i was told to download some logs before i rebooted the modem, to help the trouble shooting in the case that it disconnects, but it seems i cannot do that, as i could access the router, since it was not online. &nbsp;now i am on hold, over an hour and a half, in pergatory, waiting to speak to yet another tech. i wish i had returned this device when it was still eligible for return.&nbsp;has anyone had Lasting success? we have tried some things that work for a few days, or a week, but inevitiably the disconnects start and then become increasingly frequent.&nbsp;

kkc2020 · Answer

Don’t let them give you the useless beta firmware. It’s terribly slow and drops connection. Worst tech support ever and terrible product.

ncdancer · Answer

kkc2020&nbsp;I had all the same problems as you. My last resort was to reset the router back to factory settings. &nbsp;Today was the third day without problems, I have named all my devices and chosen icons to attach and so far so good. It appears that some of the icons don't transfer to the app on my phone but all the names show up correctly. I have 4 wired connections and 9 wireless.&nbsp;I would suggest try running the router in the default mode and add you special configs one at a time to see which one breaks it.&nbsp;Hope this helps.

jreddout · Answer

Originally I have purchased this router through Walmart. My 3rd replacement unit was brand new in the box. I took it back to Walmart without the receipt and they gave me store credit. Netgear is all JUNK! I have supported the company for 15 years. Support is garbage too! I took the money and purchased a TP-link AX3000. Reviews by Toms Hardware guide as the best bang for your buck WiFi 6 router. Glad I did working flawlessly! Dump the device and support a better product.

kkc2020 · Answer

i wish i had done that. i bought my device at walmart also, but i am outside of their return period now because i have spent these months on the trouble shooting.&nbsp;i will make a note of your TP link recomendation, as very likely netgear will not resolve my issue.

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nighthawk ax4 (RAX35) drops connection. multiple calls to 'tech support' yield nothing

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