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R7000 2.4 signal and wifi speeds flaky (1.0.9.34)
Wifi became frustratingly slow again for me today. Speedtest registerd me around 15Mps rather than my normal 150+. I rebooted the router, but this did not clear the problem. I rebooted it again w/o success. This router is in AP mode, so I rebooted my main router and my Comcast modem as well. Still extremely slow wifi.
I then checked wired speeds at my main router, and it was 400Mbps+. So I checked the wired speed on an R7000 port, and it registerd about 190Mbps (don't remember it being significantly slower than when measured at main router, but not certain).
I then did a paper clip reset, not a full factory reset, and the wifi immediately cleaned up at around 200Mbps. But NetSpot indicated that 2.4 was down, so I rebooted from the admin console again. This time 2.4 came up fine, and wifi speeds are fine.
I believe I was experiencing similar if not same issues running 1.0.9.28. I know I had performed full reset and reprogramming after last upgrade, but I THINK that I last upgraded to 1.0.9.28. I do have auto-upgrade enabled, so maybe the router upgraded on its own.
How can I tell if I'm running into a s/w problem or if the router has h/w issues?
Final thank you to those contirbuting to my understanding.
The NG implementation of band steering, which doesn't support roaming between bands, really won't work for my home unless I disabled 5G altogether; we have some areas not covered by 5G, so every device would need to be on 2.4 to support occasional use from worst case location.
So either I invest in mesh replacement or leave smart connect off. The latter approach has been working well on 1.0.9.28 for almost a month now without any problems and without any router reboots.
I'm going to move forward with single SSID and disabled smart connect for now. It has been working well for my household since I bought the router, which is not surprising. Netflix HD streaming, for example, needs some 5Mbps, which is an easy reach for us if all 5 members of my household were sharig a single band. We occasionally host events where some 40 people are all using our wifi at the same time, but in this case none of their devices are driving high bandwidth applications, and noone has issues.
In conclusion, while my house is a candidate for mesh, the dual band r7000 is more than adequate for us provided that we levarage roaming between bands. I plan to use separate SSIDs if or when we actually run into a bandwidth challenge.
Thanks again.
24 Replies
Happened again today. Slow wifi for no apparent reason.
I'm not certain which version I was previously running, so I went back one version to 1.0.9.32. I did not touch anything else on my network. Immediately after applying v32, the router came up and wifi speeds are normal again.
Can someone at Netgear help me figure out if my router is malfunctioning?
I am having the same problem since moving to this version. My Windows 10 is flakey and extremely slow on wifi, even if I move within a few feet of the router along with sites, not being able to connect. I also seemed to have noticed that devices are dropping again, (mostly my wifi plugs, google homes and amazon alexa devices and my HP printer.
This is just like the old FW versions that experienced these problems.
Recommendation: Do not install V1.09.34. If you have, rollback to a prior version.
I've experienced several issues since upgrading to firmware version 1.0.9.34. After several days of fiddling and frustration, I've rolled back to V1.0.8.34_1.2.15 (no particular reason, just don't trust 1.0.9.xx branch right now). Issues experienced are as follows:
1. Neither my Epson nor my HP networked printers would connect / stay connected to the 2.4 gHz band. I tried both WPS and manual setup up with fixed IP, neither worked even after numerous attempts with router resets/reboots, etc.... Same goes for other 2.4 gHz devices such as Sonos players (sometimes 3 out of 5 would show, sometimes none).
2. The attached devices list in the UI, both via the genie app and via the web browser, no longer showed a complete list of attached devices. It seemed to only show devices on the bandwidth of the connected device. For example, if I connected via my Windows 10 pc on the 2.4 gHz band, the list only showed wired devices and devices connected to the 2.4 gHz band. When connected to the 5 gHz band, the attached devices list only showed devices on the 5 gHz band.
3. Referring back to the printer issue #1, the printer would indicate network status GOOD with the proper IP address. However, the printer(s) never show up in the connected devices list. Also can't print to them - device not found.
4. As indicated by others in this thread, devices would randomly drop. Not a big deal for a browser, just hit refresh. But for other devices like smart TVs, it is a big deal.
5. Also as indicated by others, speedtest via the router would give ~330 Mbps download. Speedtest via a browser or the Speedtest App (on iPhone 7+) ranged between 7 Mbps and 30 Mbps. Since downgrading firmware, speedtests consistently better (but not great)
Really disheartenening to hear these types of posts. I've owned this router for years and have been sitting happily on 1.0.7.6 until yesterday. I skipped 1.0.8 all together (the capture telemetry branch) and have tested several interations of 1.0.9.x with unsatisfactory results. Last build I tested was .26 and like the others, it was nothing more than an epic failure.
Then I see .34 and its impressive list of changes. I tried it and was amazed. Had Netgear finally got 1.0.9 right? So far it seemed. Like others, I don't like resetting/reconfiguring from scratch after flashing, but in my experience, it does matter and can/does affect the outcome in many cases.
Yesterday was no different, so after flashing I reset the router and couldn't believe my eyes. I had full downstream bandwidth where previously I had only had 50% (even after reset). Short on time, I put it down for the evening. This morning I returned to finish configuration. Suffered my first set back. One of my settings had put me right back to 50% of my downstream bandwidth. Reset agan and back to full speed. My 24hr celebration was again short lived.
To make a long story short, I figured it out. If you want to read about it - Its here
But on to your issues. My Wifi is fine. I'm using separate SSID's 2.4 / 5g broadcasts. There is a lot of streaming going on in my house. Bandwidth, connection and stability is 100%. Nothing is flaky. I've got consistent sustained bandwidth across my wired and wireless connections and no discernable packet loss.
So I really feel for you guys. I hope you can figure it out. I've been resigned to staying on 1.0.7.6 (forever) until moving to another device. This finally changed.
For reference:
I'm using separate SSIDs - Primary wireless
Guest networks are disabled
2.4 is broardcasting on channel 1 - best (neighbors use others)
5Ghz is channel 153
Using WPA-PSK) AES
I haven't made any changes to Preamble, Fragmentation, CTS/RTS or any settings on that page. WPS is disabled, MiMo and Beamforming is enabled. The only setting I've had to give up is Traffic Meter. If that is enabled, regardless of the settings below, my dowstream bandwidth decreases by 50%. Turn it off and I'm good wired or wireless.
shadowsports I'm happy to hear that the firmware is working for you. I really wish I could say the same.
Unfortunately, I can assure you that 1.0.9.34 does not perform well for me. My upgrade process goes like this: [1] upgrade to new firmware [2] if all is well, then I'm done [3] if any problems at all, perform factory reset. This is the procedure I followed when upgrading to .34, and yes, I did pull the trigger on step #3 and perform full reset with negative results.
I let the router pick 2.4 frequency, I leave the 5G frequency at its default, I leave smart connect off, one SSID for both radios (better automatic room-to-room behavior with laptops in my home), guest networks disabled, WPA2-PSK (AES), AP mode. The only unusual setting I have is short preamble, which I'd be happy to turn off is somebody indicates important.
Unfortunately I have not been taking good notes abouts the various releases I have installed prior to .34.
My assessment of .28 so far is that it is more stable than .34 and .32, though I admit I haven't been running it long enough to reach a real conclusion. That said, I couldn't reliably reboot the router on .34 (again, after a factory reset) to clear an obvious throughput problem.
I don't stare at NetSpot 24/7. I react to really crappy browing experience. I'm running Windows 10 with all updates, and the situation gets bad enough that I have had to take action almost daily.
The real tell with speedtest.net is the upload speed. I'm paying for 10, typically get 12, and I just never see it below 10. But when the problem manifests, upload speeds craw at 2 or 3Mbps, even though download might be 25Mpbs (paying for 400). I'm aware that proximity to the router affects speed.
We've used online gaming, Netflix, smart TVs, skype, and others, yet never has the entire household been concurrently frustrated with network performance.
Given this is not my main router, I guess I don't have to worry about the russian router hack, but I would like to have security fixes wrt crack. So I'd love for .34 to work well, but so far, it just isn't.
Given stated problems with .26, I guess I'm thinking I likely will go back to 1.0.8 if .9.28 doesn't hold up.
- I had the same issue after the last upgrade with my ORBI. Drove me nuts. Community was offering code rewrites...noooooo.
My 2.4 gigahertz Withings scale wasn't going to slow down my entire home network!
So. I have a guest network set up. Guest network appears to be much more forgiving. Withings has stayed connected for over a week!
