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Nighthawk R7000 loses WIFI connections during backup process
I have a wintel laptop directly attached, via Cat5, to my Nighthawk router. I also have a Cisco IP Phone #7965 attached, via Cat5. There is a 3tb Seagate USB drive attached to the 3.0 port, using ReadySHARE Basic. I have approximately 8 -10 different end points connected via WIFI. The router has a standard configuration, with no QoS (Firmware Version V1.0.4.30_1.1.67). ISP is via a cable modem with up to 50Mpbs download. The cable modem is connected to the R7000 via Cat5.
Regardless of whether I use ReadySHARE Vault or move the folders from the laptop to the Seagate drive, at some point during the process, the WIFI connections drop. Ocassionally, I will also lose LAN connections (no internet access). The interesting thing is that when the LAN and WIFI connections are down, I can still use the IP Phone. I end up having to reboot the router. I'm moving ~120g of data during this backup.
I also have an iMac that backs up to the Seagate drive (different partition), via WIFI. So the drive is mapped to the iMac. This process also causes the WIFI connections to drop at some point during the backup process, where the router needs to be reset to recover. This backup is only moving ~2g of data.
I have ordered new Cat6a cables to replace all of the Cat5.
Has anyone else experienced this issue and if so, how do I address it? Are there router configurations that I should be using to move large amounts of data across the LAN or via WIFI?
I did perform a factory restore using the current firmware (V1.0.4.30_1.1.67). I still experienced the connection loss, so I down graded the firmware to V1.0.4.28_1.1.64. I haven't noticed any connection loss, as of yet, but I also unplugged the Seagate drive from the USB 3.0.
I'll attached the drive, cycle the router, and run a backup this evening.
I've had connection related issues, usually associated with backing up large files to the network drive, for many months - using different versions of firmware. When the issue happened, I just reset the router. This is the first time I downgraded firmware. I also had legacy Cat 5 cables that I recently swapped out with Cat 6a.
11 Replies
WiFi to the ReadyShare drive won't have anything to do with the CAT5 cables (good quality CAT5e should be adequate for the connections), so I doubt these are the issue.
Where is the router physically located? Is it in an area that has good ventilation and reasonable temperature control? I wonder if it could be over heating.
Router is in the same room as the laptop and iMac. Router is on a shelf with Seagate drive - no obstructions, so good ventilation. The Cat 5 cable I have is legacy Cat 5 and not Cat 5e.
All the ports on the R7000 are GB ethernet, so if the device being connected is capable of GB, then by default they will connect at that speed, regardless of the actual bandwidth of your WAN, so you typically need CAT 5e minimum for GB ethernet. A substandard cable can cause various problems.
