NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
RAX120 one 2.4 WiFi device keeps disconnecting then won’t connect again (Any Diagnostics)
After the latest firmware update, V1.2.8.40, my Bosch Fridge/Freezer frequently disconnects and then won’t reconnect unless I boot it. This may be a coincident it’s the new firmware but that’s all th...
Thanks for the response…
I’m only using the RAX120 as LAN and WIFI router which is connected to a Gigaclear Fibre Internet Modem that’s not used as a router. As I mentioned out of 22 WiFi devices, some being old (5+ years) simple IoT switches and other home devices, this is the only device that has this issue. It worked for over 2 years without anything being changed, other than firmware. I use separately named 2.4 and 5GHz SSIDs to avoid the older devices being confused with a common 2.4 and 5GHz SSID name.
The no longer used BT was Hub6, so yes a MODEM and router, but I’m using it. I mentioned it as it has much more log information to help diagnose issues…
Adt57 wrote:
I’m only using the RAX120 as LAN and WIFI router which is connected to a Gigaclear Fibre Internet Modem that’s not used as a router.
Unfortunately, that isn't much help in diagnosing the situation.
Many people turn up here with a router piled on a router that they believe is "not used as a router" only to discover that they are wrong.
There has to be something between your router and the Internet. If it is an Optical Network Terminator (ONT), just say so. Then we can rule that out of the equation.
If you are still a BT customer, have you tried its support group?
Welcome to BT’s official support community.
Troubleshooting depends on a careful analytical approach to the problem, with as much detail as possible. For example, we kn ow nothing about how you have to set up your fridge. We don't even know what this means:
frequently disconnects and then won’t reconnect unless I boot it
What is the "it" that you reboot? The fridge. The router?
OK, thanks for the reply…
Sorry, I’ll try and make it clear…
1: I don’t use the BT Hub anymore, it went back to them. I only mentioned it as it seemed to have more helpful data in its logs than the RAX120.
2: As mentioned, I use Gigaclear and yes the RAX120 is connected directly to the ONT, apologies for not making this clear.
3: My Fridge/Freezer, like a lot of IoT home devices, can only connected to a 2.4GHz SSID using WPA2-Personal [AES].
4: As I mentioned, this device and all other 2.4GHz and 5GHz devices have worked without any changes to the RAX120 for over two years.
When the Fridge/Freezer is booted it connects and works fine with its associated App, Home Connect. This can be used to control certain aspects of the Fridge/Freezer either on my home network or remotely via their servers via the Internet. As I went through below, a couple of weeks ago I noticed that the Fridge/Freezer sometimes disconnects from the RAX120 WiFi and used to reconnect a while later, from minutes to tens of minutes. I know it’s disconnected as the display panel on the Fridge/Freezer loses the WiFi Icon and the App just says it’s Disconnected. I also lose notifications to the App like the Fridge or Freezer door being left open.In the last few days I noticed this had got progressively worse, in that after a few hours at most of repeatedly disconnecting and reconnecting the Fridge/Freezer would no longer reconnect unless I rebooted it, i.e. turned off the Fridge/Freezer and back on. After a short while of being connected it then started to disconnect and reconnect for a while before no longer connecting.
Reviewing the RAX120 logs there are just entries for when the Fridge/Freezer connects - as mentioned the logs don’t seem to log disconnects or any issues with this device. The RAX120 seems to give a lease for all WiFi connections of around 12 hours…
… I can’t find this to be tuneable?
So going back to old logs I just see a couple of connections for the Fridge/Freezer each day, like all WiFi devices. When the disconnects start for this device I’ve seen over 600 connections in a day. As mentioned, now after a few hours of booting the Fridge/Freezer and the connections/disconnects have gone on for less than a few hours it stops connecting.
As I also mentioned, this issue started on the same day as getting the latest firmware for the RAX120, however, this could be a coincidence. I asked my question initially to see if anyone else had seen anything similar after the latest firmware release…
Without any diagnostics I don’t see how I can work out if it’s the Fridge/Freezer or the RAX120. Obviously, Bosch seem to think it’s the RAX120 or my networks. When connected the signal strength is considered as good as it gets for the Fridge/Freezer. I’d now guess it’s the Bosch plug in WiFi Connect Dongle, but how do I prove it. I’ve now asked them to send me a replacement to test, as it’s a £140 part and the Fridge/Freezer is under an extended 5 year warranty - so far without any reply…
Is there anything else I can feed back to you?
Disable AX mode on 2.4Ghz.
What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz.
Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Set Short preamble instead of Long preamble modes. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s). Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or may not be needed) and WMM. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
Thanks for the reply…
Disabling AX mode on 2.4GHz didn’t help and some devices had a slower rate.
I was using default mode that was channel 13, I’d already tried 11 but that didn’t help. I used a WiFi location analyser that showed channel 13 was recommended for 2.4 and 52 for 5GHz.
Turning off Enable 20/40 MHz Coexistence didn’t help.
Preamble was set to auto, setting to short didn’t help.
Enable MU-MIMO was only under 5GHz and was already on.
I was hoping there was a way to get more connection/disconnection information logged by the RAX120, but I guess there isn’t? Think is must be a faulty WiFi component in the Fridge/Freezer.
Did you reset the RAX120 after you removed the BT thing?
It may have some settings left over from its past history. That is also an early move when you have problems after installing new firmware.
If it was the new firmware that broke things, you can try installing the previous version to check your theory.
You seem to be the first person to report that problem here:
Search - NETGEAR Communities – Bosch Fridge Freezer
Thanks for the reply…
The RAX120 was a new install that replaced the BT Hub6 Modem/Router over a year ago when the Gigaclear ONT was installed, so no past history as both were brand new. This was over a year ago and all networking has worked fine with the new RAX120 and Gigaclear until the one issue with the Fridge/Freezer.
Yes, I should try going back to the previous RAX120 firmware…
… will report back.
