Forum Discussion

Guru - Experienced User

Mar 06, 2024

New - CAX30 Firmware Version 2.2.2.2 Released

Bug Fixes: 03/05/2024 Improve WiFi stability. Enhance system reliability. Fix security vulnerability issues. Various bug fixes. Download Link : https://www.netgear.com/support/produ...

FURRYe38

Guru - Experienced User

Apr 08, 2024

Is Smart Connect enabled or disabled?

Have a set a smaller DHCP IP address pool size on the modem? Recommend setting the default DHCP IP address pool range to the following after applying and a factory reset: 192.168.#.100 to 192.168.#.200.
https://kb.netgear.com/24089/How-do-I-specify-the-pool-of-IP-addresses-assigned-by-my-Nighthawk-router

What channels are you using for the WiFi configuration?

How many devices are connected total?

What is the size of the home?

Please post a copy and paste of the modems connection status and event log page.
https://kb.netgear.com/30007/How-do-I-obtain-the-cable-connection-information-from-a-NETGEAR-cable-modem-modem-router
https://kb.netgear.com/30008/How-do-I-view-or-clear-the-event-logs-on-my-NETGEAR-cable-modem-or-modem-router

brian_928347987 wrote:

Darn - it looks like this V2.2.2.2 firmware is still hanging after a while, even after doing a full factory reset and manual re-configuration (not importing a saved settings file).

I did the reset/setup on Saturday - and it worked fine all that day. But then on Sunday evening, it did the same thing again - where most devices just stopped working. Some devices already connected continued working (such as my ROKU on wifi), but many devices, such as my laptop on wifi, stopped being able to connect. They could sort of connect via wifi - but would not have internet access. I suspect it's the DHCP, where the router can't assign an IP address.

Note that I have gone into the LAN setup and configured IP reserverations for basically every device in my house. I had to do that, even with the older firmware, or else I had constant DHCP issues, even with the old firmware.

brian_928347987

Aspirant

Apr 14, 2024

FURRYe38 wrote:
Is Smart Connect enabled or disabled?
Have a set a smaller DHCP IP address pool size on the modem? Recommend setting the default DHCP IP address pool range to the following after applying and a factory reset: 192.168.#.100 to 192.168.#.200.
https://kb.netgear.com/24089/How-do-I-specify-the-pool-of-IP-addresses-assigned-by-my-Nighthawk-router

What channels are you using for the WiFi configuration?
How many devices are connected total?
What is the size of the home?

Here's my replies to FURRYe38 :

Smart Connect is DISABLED
I did change the default DHCP IP address to 100-200. This made no difference - it still hung several times a day, which could only be fixed by rebooting
I'm using nearly all defaults for Wifi configuration - only thing I change is the SSID and wifi password
I have a total of 30 devices - but only 5 are directly using the CAX30's WIFI. I have a separate router in AP mode and connected to the CAX30 via ethernet cable - and all the other devices are either wired into that AP, or are using that AP's WIFI
From the logs, I notice that basically all logging stops around the time when the router stops responding - and then the logs seems to jump to some historical date and time. See the excerpt below (with IPs and macs blocked out) - it was around April 9th 18:53 when the router hung - and then the logs started showing "Dec 14 17:48" all of a sudden, which is weird. Then I rebooted about 10 minutes later, and I see the times goes back to the correct time.

I tried going back to firmware v1.4.11.2 yesterday, after the v2.2.2.2 had already hung TWICE that morning - but now, overnight, I see it is BACK on v2.2.2.2. Can Netgear just please make a version of v1.4.11.2 which does not automatically update to the latest? And/or add an option to not update to the latest? Auto-updating firmware is wrong and dangerous, unless it has a 100% foolproof update mechanism (meaning that even in a power outage, it can positively recover).

[admin login] from source 192.168.1.101 Apr  9 19:07:55
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.101)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:07:43
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.101)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:07:40
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.144)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:07:04
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.165)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:06:57
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.164)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:06:57
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.166)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:06:55
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.166)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:06:44
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.107)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:06:44
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.144)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:06:39
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.165)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:06:39
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.164)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:06:38
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.121)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:05:51
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.111)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:05:41
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.120)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:05:36
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.104)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:05:16
[Internet connected] IP address: xx.xx.xx.xx, Apr  9 19:05:09
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.141)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:05:06
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.132)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:05:01
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.142)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:04:58
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.102)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 19:04:54
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.131)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:18
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.163)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:16
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.163)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:16
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.140)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:16
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.111)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:14
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.172)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:12
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.103)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:12
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.100)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:12
[Initialized, firmware version: V2.2.2.2], Apr  9 19:03:37
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.161)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:10
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.130)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:07
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.167)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:06
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.133)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:05
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.171)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:05
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.111)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:04
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.173)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:02
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.140)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:49:01
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.160)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:48:58
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.172)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:48:58
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.106)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:48:56
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.105)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:48:55
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.162)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Dec 14 17:48:55
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.111)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 18:54:39
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.101)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 18:54:27
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.144)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 18:54:17
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.142)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 18:53:56
[DHCP IP: (192.168.1.140)] to MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, Apr  9 18:53:50

FURRYe38
Guru - Experienced User
Apr 14, 2024
brian_928347987 wrote:

Here's my replies to FURRYe38 :

Smart Connect is DISABLED

I did change the default DHCP IP address to 100-200. This made no difference - it still hung several times a day, which could only be fixed by rebooting

I'm using nearly all defaults for Wifi configuration - only thing I change is the SSID and wifi password

I have a total of 30 devices - but only 5 are directly using the CAX30's WIFI. I have a separate router in AP mode and connected to the CAX30 via ethernet cable - and all the other devices are either wired into that AP, or are using that AP's WIFI

From the logs, I notice that basically all logging stops around the time when the router stops responding - and then the logs seems to jump to some historical date and time. See the excerpt below (with IPs and macs blocked out) - it was around April 9th 18:53 when the router hung - and then the logs started showing "Dec 14 17:48" all of a sudden, which is weird. Then I rebooted about 10 minutes later, and I see the times goes back to the correct time.

OK I see a few things here that maybe causing problems. FYI, I had v2.2.2.2 loaded on my CAX30 for months with over 30 devices and never saw any issues. However...

Smart Connect enabled on mine. Manual channel 1 and 40

I don't have a separate AP that connected to my CAX30. I recommend you turn this AP OFF and let the devices connect to the CAX30. Enable Smart Connect as well.
How big is your home? Mines 5000Sq Ff and CAX30 alone was OK for coverage. Though I might have connected a EAX series wifi extender to cover remote distances.

I would highly recommend manually loading the FW file on to the CAX30 using a wired PC and web browser, then soon as it's loaded, factory reset the CAX30 and setup from scratch using same wired PC.

Also please post the CAX30 cable connections and event logs data pages please. Lets take a look and see whats happening on the modem service side.

https://kb.netgear.com/30007/How-do-I-obtain-the-cable-connection-information-from-a-NETGEAR-cable-modem-modem-router
https://kb.netgear.com/30008/How-do-I-view-or-clear-the-event-logs-on-my-NETGEAR-cable-modem-or-modem-router

Could be something happening here causing problems down stream.