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Forum Discussion
CAX80 + Cox ISP Challenges: recurring disconnects
I purchased my first CAX80 in mid-August--Netgear sent me a replacement a month later when their tech support could not figure out why my Cox ISP connection was dropping multiple times a day. Here are all the solutions I have attempted, in consultation with Netgear technical support during 10+ phone calls & emails:
- Two vists to my house by Cox to replace and re-test the cable line
- Asking Cox to reprovision the modem multiple times
- Performing a hard reset multiple times
- For 2.4ghz wireless network, change the channel from auto to 11.
- For 5ghz wireless network, change the channel from auto to 128.
- Disable AX band
- Enable Beamforming, MU-MIMO, and Airtime Fairness.
None of these improved the disconnects. Yesterday, Cox came back & installed a 6 dB attenuator which raised my upstream power levels back in range. I've attached the before & after here for reference. Strangely, before the Cox tech installed the attenuator, the Cox tech noticed that the upstream power levels that my router is reporting to Cox are higher than what the router logs were showing--he said he's never seen that in 7 years, and could only explain that as being an early adopter of a new modem.
I have not had a disconnect since the attenuator was put on the device 19 hours ago, which is the longest I've gone without a disconnect since August.
I'm sharing these details so others don't have to go through the stress the CAX80 has caused me for two months, As you will also see throughout this forum, there are multiple people (especially on Cox) expericing the exact same problem with this combo modem/router--with no acknowledgement from Netgear.
34 Replies
- FURRYe38 Netgear support has been completely unhelpful. They haven’t responded to my ticket in a week.
I presume they are aware of the situation and probably working and reviewing all the information. It may take a longer period of time for them to review and look into this and probably work with the ISP on this. This won't happen over night.
- Thank you so much. I will give the 6db attenuator a shot. I purchased my cax80 back in August as well & have tried everything you listed. Netgear techs have been no help. If this works, they should pay you for solving THEIR problem. Thank you again.
I've been working directly with the Netgear engineering team on this, and have a couple of updates for those who are following:
1) I changed from a 6DB to a 10DB attenuator and that reduced th enumber of disconnects, but did not eliminate them.
2) This morning Netgear sent me a beta firmware release (v2.1.0.4). In their words, "Cox’s CMTS frequently performs load balancing which is not common and it may affect CAX80. I have a new firmware that have a newer codebase that may help."
As soon as I installed it my upstream power levels went up 3-6 points beyond the boost they got from the attenuator.
- Thank you for the update. Do you know when they will be releasing the firmware update? Thank you again for all your help.
Yep, after suffering through 2+ months of disconnects I haven't had a single one since I installed the new firmware.
- Just received the following message from Cox:
There is a ticket affecting the data carriers that the CAX80 uses to operate. This would cause issues with connection speeds as well as making it feel intermittent during peak times. Fixing the problem is taking longer than normal but our engineers are working to provide the best possible experience.Thanks for the info. Sounds like this is most an ISP issue...Hopefully they can get it fixed soon.
The router portion of my CAX80 updated to 2.1.1.4 last night.
I am on Xfinity in PDX.
The only difference I see so far is a popup asking if I want to sign up for a free trial period of Netgear Armor. No thanks.
I am on latest xfinity firmware for CAX80 and having daily 3 to 4 disconnects.
Firmware Version V2.1.1.4Anyone has any luck to solve this ?
Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update?
Have the ISP check the signal and line quality UP to the modem. Be sure the ISP provisions the modem correctly.
Be sure there are no coax cable line splitters in the between the modem and ISP service box.
Be sure your using good quality RG6 coax cable up to the modem.
Be sure to power OFF the modem for 1 minute them back ON.
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Cable-Modems-Routers/General-info-and-Troubleshooting-for-Cable-Modems/m-p/1530376#M12853
kulkarnipb wrote:I am on latest xfinity firmware for CAX80 and having daily 3 to 4 disconnects.
Firmware Version V2.1.1.4Anyone has any luck to solve this ?
