RAX40 Firmware 1.0.3.80 Crash/Bug Log

After experiencing the crashing for a while and posting about it, I had downgraded my router to firmware RAX40-V1.0.2.60_1.0.1 for a while to have a stable experience.

With the talk of a beta firmware I went ahead and upgraded again to 1.0.3.80 and opened a support case (on the last day of the window) to see if I could get a copy of the beta firmware but had no luck with that.  Curiously though, it's been almost a month now with 1.0.3.80 again and so far I've had no issues with it. 

No idea if the downgrade then later upgrade fixed the issue or if something about the wireless environment here has changed and caused it to be more stable.  Recently I even bought a new Wifi 6 adapter for my pc to see if that might cause the crash (previously I had no Wifi6 devices yet) and still it's been a week or so with no issues. 

After complaining on the officiale Netgear FB page, I was contacted directly by the Italian Netgear support, I must say, very polite and capable.
They made me sign to get the beta firmware and since I installed it (V1.0.3.83_1.0.2) I had no more problems (on the same network I also have an EAX20 that was arguing a lot with the RAX40).
I activated AX and SmartConnect on both of them and finally I have a high performance Wi-Fi network without reboots or continuous bugs.
I'm still waiting a few days before exulting definitively but the premises are good.

I'm using firmware 1.0.3.80 and have been experiencing issues, wifi dropped out today and some devices did not recconect without a reboot.     Could someone from support get me in the beta tester program? I would like to assist in finding bugs/issues with this device.

Also it seems that the router is changing channels or using other channels then the one selected, not even when using DFS channels.

Thanks all for the info, my router has auto updated to 1.0.3.80 and broke itself, I used it for AP and suddently it stopped working.

Hard reset it and it failed to let me change SSID, password, region, everything. I can only use the standard SSID/password, what the heck.

Found this thread and I cannot believe almost 6 months now and they didn't fix the firmware, and the broken firmware is still auto updating to our router!

Guys,

After 2 months of disconnection issues and frustration, things seems to have settled for me.  

This is what I did and I am sure that it has been already mentioned somewhere in this topic.  

Step 1: Upgraded to the latest Firmware - RAX40-V1.0.3.83_1.0.10 

Step 2: Downgraded to the previous Firmware version - RAX40-V1.0.3.64_1.0.1

Step 3: Reset using the reset button

Step 4: Reconfigured manually

Since 2 days now, things are smooth till now and no disconnections yet.  Fingers crossed.

Having the same issue with wifi disconnects. I've really enjoyed this router until now. In the same boat as many people where I'm working from home. Moved the router so I'm direct connected to my work computer at the moment so the disconnects don't kill me in the middle of a call. Hoping they release a new firmware update soon. Keep getting an error with the download of the old .64 firmware version that the file is corrupt.

All, I have had issues since utilizing this firmware update and reverted back to previous version (I actually have the RAX35 to be clear).  After hours with Netgear support they gave me a new version of firmware.  It worked for a few days and then started behaving the same way where I had to reboot every 4+ hours of use.  Very frustrating.  I had noticed that when I went to reboot it that the router was quite warm.  I just received a digital infrared thermometer that day so I checked it.  It was 112F on the top of the unit.  I proceeded with the reboot and then put a small electric desk fan on top of the unit blowing into it.  It has now run for 24 hours with no issues.  Would be curious if this would work for others as well.  Looks hideous but at least I am able to get my work done.  The router is sitting on a marble fern stand all by its lonesome so not in a cabinet or near any heat source.  I have a LOT of devices both wired and wireless.  Not sure why the new firmware would cause it to run hotter than the old one.  The other suggestion I have is to log into the router and turn all the LED lights off.  Again, I think this helps some with the temperature of the unit.  I will try and provide an update as to whether it continues to have no issues.  Fingers crossed.

I've made a mistake buying this router. I'm glad it's working fine for now and thankfully I had the sense to save the last firmware file with a working config (with many of the features disabled). It took them 6 months to come up with a fix and then refer to a deleted firmware to revert to, if one wants some basic features.

The most troubling bit is the future support. I wonder if they are going to just stop security updates or take 6+ months to provide any security fixes. Will not be buying any netgear products again after watching this dumpster fire of a brand.

I have a RAX35 and like everyone else with a RAX35/RAX40 my router has been unusable for many months so I went back to an earlier router. This weekend I installed firmware 88 and the router is now usable and so far has been stable. At least it is now working with the AX option disabled so it is basically operating as an 802.11 AC router.

Thanks to everyone on this thread for working with Netgear to go though the unacceptable painful process you experienced to get these routers operational at a back-level AC capability. While I agree with everyone that we should all receive newer models of these routers (or their replacements such as the RAX-38 for us RAX-35 owners) I am not going to waste my time thinking Negear will do the right thing. 

Basically Netgear sold me an AX router that is not an AX router but is actually an AC router. Clicking on a box that says activate AX mode when the latest firmware has disabled what appears to be the only true AX feature of this device (OFDMA)  doesn't make it an AX router other than in advertising only. Any features that are still active on this crippled device are all AC or AC Wave 2 capabilities... QAM 1024, beamforming, 160 ghz channels, DFS, etc. If I wanted an AC router I would have bought one at a much less expensive price.

Currently I think Netgear has just been negligent or incompetent releasing the RAX35/RAX40 devices that do not work as advertised with AX capabilities. If Netgear doesn't fix these deficiency and release a stable, reliable firmware release that reactivates OFDMA and hopefully restores the promised WPA3 and Smart Connect capabilities then I would lean more towards fraud.

I think we have waited long enough to get a working, reliable device as advertised. I think 30 to 60 days more is enough time for Netgear to resolve these issues and restore the AX capabilities to these routers. Any longer than that  likely means that Netgear is not going to honor their data specifications or promises and confirm my worst suspicions.