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Forum Discussion
RAX120 constantly dropping WiFi until reset
I have had the RAX120 for about 7 months now with no issues. I started working from home three days ago with no issues. Then yesterday and today all day my router would stay connected but lose Internet. With the app I was able to remotely check internet speeds which I still had at the router 250 mbs but zero internet at my computer and wifi devices. I would reset the device and everything would work again for about an hour and half until it did the same thing. I have to work so all day yesterday and today I've been resetting my router. I went on the Netgear website and updated to the latest firmware today and change the 2.4ghz and 5 GHz channel to the recommended channels. I reset the device and thought everything would be fixed. However, I've now reset my device two more times and am growing in frustration. I turn to all of you. My internet is working on my hard wire devices such as my home server which gets routed through this router. I still have signal on my devices just no internet. Can someone help with what's going on?
96 Replies
- About four days ago I started experiencing the exact problem you are having with my RAX120. I usually have to reboot sometimes 5 times a day. Up until this week it has performed flawlessly.
- My router has been doing the same thing for the last 2-3 days, having to reset at least 3-5x/day. Was about to return it to Best Buy until I saw these posts.
Has anyone reached out to Netgear yet? Is this a firmware issue, or something else? I even changed out my cable modem (was over 3 years old) with no luck, still having to reset periodically.For what it's worth, I think I've found the cause of this on my router. I've had my RAX120 a few months now and haven't had a problem. Like most other posts on the subject my issues started happening early March. I saw another post about firefox switching the default protocol to DNS-over-HTTPS (https://www.computerworld.com/article/3529424/firefox-starts-switching-on-dns-over-https-to-encrypt-lookups-stymie-tracking.html) and tested it using the routers Default DNS server settings. Sure enough, soon after having a couple pages open in Firefox all DNS was broken and thus the 'internets' were unavailable.
I left the setting enabled in Firefox (and stopped using it for now). I switched my default to Chromium Edge and the network has been solid for 24+ hours vs. the 1-2 hours I was getting.
Currently my firmware is rolled back to 108 and it's been solid. After another 24 hours I'll go back to 114 with 118 hotfix.
Same here...2 - 3 days ago family started complaining that their wireless XBox, iPad and iPhone would drop Internet yet my wired dock contiuned to work fine. Cycling the RAX120 a couple times a day now.
Interesting so far today. I am still running the latest firmware and hotfix 118. I set my DNS to 1.1.1.1,1.0.0.1 and had no reset issues all day until about 45 min ago when my router completely reset itself back to factory (first time the router did this). I will keep it as default for now and report back.
- My router literally just reset to Factory Default around the same time as yours. Not exactly sure what’s going on here. Still running Firmware 1.114 when it happened, have held off pulling down the 118 Hotfix after rebuilding my setting. Any ideas?
Tried different DNS settings and reverted back to frimware from November and the drops continued. Wired and wireless Microsoft laptops and most IoT's Internet continued to work fine while every Xbox (wired or wireless), iPhone and iPad would only go a few hours before the RAX120 need cycled. 7 hours ago switched back to an old, non-NetGear router and have not had any issues.
- It looks like I've been stable and no issues since my router decided to factory reset itself. You can follow my steps above or just factory reset the router and report back. Let us know if that worked for you as well. I'm stable and on the latest firmware as of right now. Good luck all.
- I’ve owned this router for two weeks, and it has done this same thing to me, then factory reset on me twice when I unplugged it, forcing me to completely set up my router again from the beginning. I have gig fiber service with a static IP address. For as much as I spent on this thing, I’d hoped for more stability.
ricachica82 wrote:
I’ve owned this router for two weeks, and it has done this same thing to me, then factory reset on me twice when I unplugged it, forcing me to completely set up my router again from the beginning. I have gig fiber service with a static IP address. For as much as I spent on this thing, I’d hoped for more stability.there is an update here, download and install.
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/RAX120.aspx#download
Perform a factory reset after updating, use the rear pin hole method and setup as new. Do not use a saved config.
I have the same problem where it started 4 days ago. Internet suddently cut out i rebooted the touter then it went again. i called net gear and they informed to roll back the hardware to previous version. which i did but still not working, is worse now it use to just cut out now it randomly resets to default. anyone have a fix? i told the suport about this post here but she does not admit that netgeat knows about this problem. anyone help? i do wish they can fix this.
Sethers wrote:I have the same problem where it started 4 days ago. Internet suddently cut out i rebooted the touter then it went again. i called net gear and they informed to roll back the hardware to previous version. which i did but still not working, is worse now it use to just cut out now it randomly resets to default. anyone have a fix? i told the suport about this post here but she does not admit that netgeat knows about this problem. anyone help? i do wish they can fix this.
I would try factory reset on your router. It worked for me. Don't just reboot, but use the pin hole method.
my device is factory reseting it self... i baught a new one and still do the same thing
- I have been having all kinds of issues I’m taking it back. I did not spend top cash for something that don’t work
Hi! I'm having the same issue as others. On firmware 114 or 118, wifi drops out. on 84, it did not. I'm trying 108 now per tech support. The larger issues is that upon any reboot, the route goes back to factory settings and i have to start over, which is very frustrating.
Support was not helpful. they did not understand the main issue was going back to factory default settings on a reboot. they seemed to be fine when i explained my internet worked now AFTER downgrading firmware to 4 versions prior so i don't have to reboot to get wifi to work (and rebooting caused everything to go to factory default settings). Hoping someone here has better luck than I did.
I was on 114 and rolling back to 108 and changing DNS didn't help. Pushing in the reset button and re-setting up (which forced an upgrade to 118) seems to have resolved...2 days and no problems.
- Helps to reset with the small button then reset it up this will be the last thang I try it seams to be working
- I came home from work last night to find my RAX120 down again. This morning I rebooted and have continued to reboot every 5 to 10 minutes. I have given up and reinstalled my R9000 in place of the RAX120. This is a huge disappointment as I have installed WiFi 6 radios on all my laptops and desktops. Until Netgear delivers a definitve fix I will stay with the R9000. If no fix comes I will them look elsewhere for a reliable WiFi 6 router.
Do you guys having this problem set your "Access Control" to ON?
I have the same problem here. After wake up from sleep, the Wi-Fi are connected to the router stable and strong, but there is no Internet Connections at all.
When the problem occurs, I checked the router settings, it shows the device having this trouble are neither listed in "Attached Devices" nor "Access Control". That's why only this device is not able to connect to the Internet.
For now, the walkaround for me is turn OFF Access Control. But if you guys have same problem, we should contact NETGEAR and let them fix this.
Even turned OFF Access Control the problem still happend. Have no idea why a flagship router are so unstable. What are you doing NETGEAR?
UPDATE: I am keeping my fingers crossed and don't want to jinx it but so far after I did the steps outlined below my RAX120 seemed to have held up longer than it has in the past week.
1. Did a factory reset using the pinhole method.
2. Set it up like an out of the box router.
3. Personalized my SSID and password.
4. Enabled Access Control and added all my IoT devices.
What I did NOT do:
1. Change the default DHCP info.
2. Rollback the firmware from 118.
3. Disable ax setting.
Not saying that this solution will work for everyone but hopefully it helps eliminate things that DO NOT work if it does not work in your case. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences.
It seems disable OFDMA is a workaround. 24hours without problem and keep watching...
Hope NETGEAR will fix the OFDMA problem in next update.
I already tried disabling OFDMA with the up2date firmware (V1.0.1.118). First I thought it works, but it doesn't... Still dropping out... maybe after longer time, but in my case around 24h.
I have a RAX120 with factory installed .114 since Octoberish 2019 and since that time I have only experienced two (Recently within the last two weeks) total lockups with my RAX120. I don't know why it locked up, but a power off reboot has restored the RAX120 to operational condition. Yesterday, the second lockup time, I physically moved the RAX120 to a slightly different location to receive what I consider better air-flow for cooling purposes.
Other than those two lockups, I have had no issues with my RAX120 and I have been completely satisfied with its performance.
I want to help out here so possibly what I have to say will be of some use for others.
My Wireless Settings are:
Enabled AX
Disabled OFDMA 2.4 & 5
2.4G:
Enabled SSID
Enabled 20/40 Coexistance
Channel Auto
Mode Up to 1147
5G
Channel 153
Mode Up to 4803 HT80
So, there are a couple of "fine" points to realize when doing a firmware upgrade or downgrade:
1. Do NOT use a saved configuration file created from a different version firmware to update settings in the new upgrade/downgrade. If FW versions are changed, manually entering all settings is the absolute best way. In other words, using a .114 configuration file to restore settings in a .118 upgrade is a recipe for disaster.
2. It would be considered "Good Practice" when upgrading/downgrading firmware to first do a factory reset, then do your upgrade/downgrade, then do another factory reset, then enter your settings manually. Doing such provides you the insurance of a "clean" upgrade/downgrade.
I know it sounds like a bit much, but if you are having problems, sometimes the finest of details can be salvation.
3. Do NOT locate your router, or any other "Wireless" device within 6ft. of each other. The farther apart wireless devices are from each other, the better. Isolate these devices from each other. "Extenders" and "Repeaters" should be as far apart as possible, 30ft, 40ft, etc.
5. Be sure that your router and equipment have adaquate air flow around them to prevent overheating. Don't "Stack" equipment on top of each other, heat rises and whichever equipment is higher on the stack will get hot air from below.
6. Locate your wireless equipment so that it can freely and openly propagate its WiFi signal.
I hope this helps.
I am waiting to see if my RAX120 is going to lockup again after I relocated it....
I just recently upgraded from the RAX80 to the RAX120 and it worked great for the first few nights. Then I did the upgrade to the latest firmware .122 and the next morning my WIFI drops started happening.
I tried disabling AX, QOS and added the DNS servers, that didn't work.
I downgraded the firmware to the previous to .118 and did the factory reset yet my drops happened every 10 minutes to 30 minutes.
This is not good especially right now that I need it to work from home.
So I downgraded down to firmware .114 late last night and so far my connection has been stable. I haven't factory restored it yet, but it continues I will.Here is what I have configured so far.
Fimware .114
AX enabled
QOS disabled
DNS servers configured 1.0.0.1 and 1.1.1.1
