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Forum Discussion
Rax80 smart connect issue wifi dropping
Ive been having issues with my RAX80 since purchasing it , if i leave the router with the seperate bands (2.4ghz &5ghz) it runs fine but once i activate smartconnect all i get is intermittent connecti...
I don't think the timezone setting had anything to do with it working rather the change of channel...
Since its been working again I've been monitoring the channel & it's stayed on 9(p)+5(s).
If I get the house to myself this week I'll try setting the channel manually to see if 1,11,12,13 are causing the problems like the new firmware release notes suggest.
The are no other networks in range of my house except one (wifi anywhere from my internet provider which I cannot control/disable) so I don't think the 2.4ghz channel should change very often.
Since its been working again I've been monitoring the channel & it's stayed on 9(p)+5(s).
If I get the house to myself this week I'll try setting the channel manually to see if 1,11,12,13 are causing the problems like the new firmware release notes suggest.
The are no other networks in range of my house except one (wifi anywhere from my internet provider which I cannot control/disable) so I don't think the 2.4ghz channel should change very often.
I "fixed" my RAX120 Wi-fi issues by installing a beta version of the firmware from Netgear's website, doing the factory reset and just going with the default settings, not making any changes. (My 5GHz radio would disappear periodically and I could only get 25% of the speed provided my my ISP over the LAN cable.) I'm not using the "Smart Connect" feature. I connect to 5GHz only with my laptops and iPhone.
Everything was fine for about a week. This morning I had lost about half my speed over the 5GHz band. I immediatley rebooted the router and my speed returned to what it was before (~230Mbps down).
So now I'm at the place I was with the previous Nighthawk (R8000). (His Internet port died and I went with the AX120.) The router needs to be rebooted periodically to maintain performance over the Wi-fi radios. How is this NOT seen during testing by the engineers at Netgear? (Just bring one of these puppies up, put a moderate amount of traffic over the 5GHz radio, and let it sit for a week. You guys MUST be doing this. Right?) Or is just those of us who complain have this issue and the zillions of other routers out there are just fine? I'm serious. Are we just the unlucky few and all those other routers are fine?
Netgear (Christian?)... what should I do the next time I encounter this serious reduction in speed? Is there something in the logs I should be looking for to hint as to why? This all smells like a resource/memory leak to me, since the reboot "fixes" the immediate problem.
I'm not sure I would bother; I made a public dropbox folder and have been placing my router debug logs there, packet captures, smart connect logs, screen shots, videos I've taken, etc.
The conversation with the Netgear techs was frequent (communicating with me every day, sometimes multiple times) productive (I thought) up until I mentioned just getting a replacement unit. Now they have been radio silent for five days! Funny how that happens.
I had issues with my R8500, which was discontinued, ostensibly due to the same issues (if Amazon reviews are legit).
I've spent many days and hours trying to figure out how to talk this Router in to working the way it advertises to. I still get daily dropouts. I've tried channels, settings, etc. I just don't think the hardware or software is up to the challenge, either due to subpar programming of the firmware or rushed design of the electrical components / cost cutting.
- Thanks for everyone sharing their solutions and experiences. Does anyone know what the solution is or our options what with this router being well within warranty period? Is this something which warrants a refund as a fix or functioning replacement doesn't seem to be on the horizon. I love the router but if I can't use the AX WiFi 6 function or smart allocation then I have effectively paid 3 times what it would have cost for a regular router. :-(
I appreciate the noble efforts everyone seems to be putting in helping Netgear troubleshoot this awful product, but I decided not to waste my time being a beta tester for this rushed-to-market technology. The best decision I made was to return my AX router for a refund, and go back to AC WiFi until the technology matures a bit more. And when I buy another one, it won't be from Netgear. The fundamental problems in this round of routers is absolutely inexcusable.
- Just for reference. How long after purchase did you get a refund?
Thanks in advance I bought mine through Amazon, so depending on how you return it you're given several options for a refund. Mine came in a few days after they received the product back, but sometimes you get a refund as soon as the return has been checked into the UPS system.
- Wish I knew a way to get a refund. I’m stuck out of refund period basically screwed. Out $650 between my two devices can’t return and if I sell it the person I sell to will likely ask for a refund because of these issues. Really love wasting money
Every call with tech support wants to sign up for the extended warranty. I'm thinking they know it's defective... at this point if we can'g get a refund it may be worth getting the extended for an extra two years. Maybe we can get the updated "fixed" model rather than the expesive router we have. My ac3200 was still strong without issues.
