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Forum Discussion
Nighthawk R6700v3 Consistently Restarting and Losing Connection
I am experiencing an issue that appears pretty common with the Nighthawk R6700v3, but I have tried most of the suggested troubleshooting tips in other posts and have not found one that works.
My Nighthawk R6700v3 router is consistently restarting itself, so I lose connection and have to wait about a minute for the network to come online again. This has been happening for about 6 months. I have Xfinity with a max of 500 mbps download speed, and they sent a technician who verified the modem was actually sending out around 600 mbps download speeds, so it is definitely an issue with the router. The router's firmware is currently V1.0.4.120.
It appears to happen most often when I am streaming shows on my smart TV, especially if I am streaming live. Once it starts restarting, it will continue to do a restart cycle every 5 minutes or so. When I am just working on my computer or connected with my phone, I rarely experience any issues. My Playstation is hardwired to the router, and I don't have any issue with the router restarting, although on some occasions the LAN wire will say it has disconnected (I have tried a couple different wires and made sure they were properly plugged in, but this still happens sometimes so I am not sure if it is a connected issue).
When this has happened before, I checked to see if the router was overheating. It is a little warm, but doesn't feel very hot. I have updated the firmware, restored it to factory settings, and power cycled it many times.
I'm not sure if it is a related issue, but I get about 150 mbps download speeds from my Playstation which is hardwired to the router, anywhere from 20 to 100 mbps from the 2.4 GHz WiFi, about 30 mbps from my Powerline extender. Again, this is even though my modem is putting out 600 mbps. These speeds have stayed about the same throughout all the power cycles and updates I have done (although I was previously able to get about 250 mbps from the hardwire).
As you can probably tell, this is driving me crazy and has been an issue for a while. I am not sure if it is all related or if there are a couple separate issues, but any help that you can provide would be incredibly appreciated.
5 Replies
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
What happens if you turn OFF all devices accept for 1 wired PC. Turn OFF the wifi radios on the router. Does router reboot on it's own?
The modem is a Netgear CM500. I live in a 3 story apartment building and I' m on the second floor, so I have at 5 or 6 neighbors all around me. I have tried changing the network channels to those recommended in other posts (I don't know the exact numbers, but I may be on like channel 5 for the 2.4 GHz band and something like channel 140 for the 5 GHz band). It didn't appear to make much of a difference in speeds compared to when it was automatically choosing the channels.
When I have turned off and disconnected all other devices, except for my wired playstation (as I do not have a converter to plug it into my Macbook), it does not automaticallly reboot. It really only does it when I am streaming on my TV or even sometimes on my phone. At least, those are the only times I really notice it because the router is directly under my TV, and I notice the immediate interruption in streaming on whatever device I am using. It very rarely happens when I am just working on my laptop, although it has happened.
Here's where I'd start.
1. you yourself hardwire a pc/laptop into the modem and test its speeds. Xfinity only certifies the CM500 for up to 400mbps plans. And it wouldn't be the first tech to say, yeah, it can hit 600mbps, when its not. so hardwire into the modem your self and test its speeds.
2. A 50-100ft ethernet cable is pretty cheap. snag one off amazon or borrow one and hardwire the tv into the modem and see if it causes a drop. if it doesn't, then hardwire it into the router and see if it causes a drop. If that's stable, then test the 5ghz.
3. You put that you're using powerline devices. Is the powerline device used to connect the router to the tv? Or how is that tied in there? I usually recommend people to simplify when testing issues. Start basic at the modem and test its wired speeds/stability. Then add the router and test its wired and wireless (both 2.4ghz/5ghz). Then add the next device. That way you can limit what can be causing the issue and isolate the problem better.
