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Forum Discussion
RAX50 5GHz not connected to internet
RAX50 suddenly lost 5GHz connection to internet. 5GHz signal is rated "excellent" by client devices but client devices using 5GHz network can no longer connect to internet. 2.4GHz works fine and client devices using 2.4GHz network can connect to internet. All router settings appear normal. Did something in the router fail? Did a file get corrupted? Ideas?
11 Replies
RAX50 suddenly lost internet connectivity but only for the 5GHz network. The 2.4GHz network is fine. Maybe it's a firmware problem? Router has Firmware Version V1.0.17.142_2.0.100. The Router Firmware Update tool says: "no new firmware version available" but Netgear Support website lists V1.0.17.144 as the latest version. Before I circumvent the Router Firmware Update tool to manually download and install version .144, I'd like to know why I got the "no new firmware" message. Am I likely to make matters worse by manually installing .144?
This is a common situation with Netgear routers. Netgear releases new firmware, which users can download and install manually. But, the Firmware Update process in the router management system does not recognize the new firmware. The most common explanation (on the Forum, because there is no formal documentation) for this is that Netgear wants to have a period of time where "early adopters" can discover unexpected problems with the new firmware and this allows Netgear time to discover what is happening. Actually, in the past couple of years new firmware has been released and pretty quickly "pulled".
One would expect that nine months would be long enough for firmware to move from "try at your own risk" to "it's safe to install".
If the new firmware is installed manually and "something goes wrong", then the user can simply manually install the previous firmware.
Thanks for this helpful information. I'd rather not complicate things by manually updating firmware if the update will not correct the 5GHz malfunction. Release Notes for .144 firmware says it fixes security vulnerabilities. Any idea what vulnerabilities? In other words, how essential is the update? If a manual update to .144 creates problems, where can I find instructions and firmware to return to the .142 version?
What happens when the RAX50 is restarted? (not "reset". just powered off and then back on again)
Is every device connected to 5G WiFi affected, or only some devices?
All devices connected to 5GHz network are affected: No internet connection. No change after rebooting router.
Honesty, I have no idea whether updating the firmware, or doing a Factory Reset will fix this WiFi issue. However...
- I do not see how it can be worse than doing nothing. If you do want to "go back", just download the previous firmware and perform a manual firmware upload. (going 'down' is the same as going 'up')
- If the RAX50 remains within the 1-year hardware warranty, Netgear is not likely to approve a replacement unless the router is at the current firmware level.
The RAX50 is well beyond the warranty period, but your suggestions sound reasonable. If the update doesn't help, I'll do a factory reset when I have time to reconnect all the clients. Thanks for your help.
Brand and model# of ISP Modem or ONT that the router is connected too?
What channels are you using on the router? Try 1 and 40 or 11 and 48?
After manually loading FW, did you perform a power OFF of the router and ISP modem for 1 minute then back ON?
Try a factory reset and setup from scratch?
The modem is made for the ISP (Spectrum) but does show the mfr name. Model# may be "PC15". Nothing on MAC and S/N label says Model #.
Channels are AUTO (7) and 36. Was using 44 and working well until problem with internet connectivity developed. Also tried 40 and 48, but still no internet connectivity.
Ch 7 is working well ("Good" signal rating from client devices).
Ch. 36, 40, 44, 48 are all rated "Excellent" by client devices, and they can connect to 5GHz, but it will not connect to internet.
I have not yet manually loaded newer version of FW, and have not tried factory reset. Will do when I have enough time to reconnect all client devices.
Thanks for your suggestions.
Wondering if its a Hitron, They make most of specturms internal modems. Hard to tell sometimes of the brand as sometimes they don't put good sticker info on the modem. Some they do.
Gotta picture of it?
Try 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz. Channel 7 is a sub channel used by the system and not handled well by client devices.
When you can, update FW manuall using MS Edge for Firefox browser and then factory reset and setup from scratch.
If you see protection engine on the routers web page, you can disable it and see if this helps any after you have updated the FW and reset it.
RAX50 suddenly lost 5GHz connection to internet. 5GHz signal is rated "excellent" by client devices but client devices using 5GHz network can no longer connect to internet.
Are they getting IP addresses from the router?
Can you ping 1.1.1.1 ? If you can, then the problem likely is related to DNS.
