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R8000 Firmware 1.0.4.4 Wireless Drops
I updated my R8000 router to firmware 1.0.4.4 this week, and have been getting 5GHz WiFi drop only on Android phones. I do not use 2.4GHz unless the device is not dual-band to know if it is also an issue. As I sit here watching the wireless signal disappear on my phone, I am on my Windows 10 laptop and continue to have an active connection during the times my phone cannot find a signal. I also have an Amazon Fire TV Stick on the 5GHz network running Netflix and no disconnects. My phone does not show in attached devices, even after it reconnects. Using the WiFi Analytics app, I show 100% signal strength and -50 dBm where I am sitting. I have beamforming and smart connect turned on, but have not had issues with those settings before now. I tried reverting to 1.0.4.2, but the issue persists.
I did not reset the router after this update because I generally have not found any issues updating. Do I need to try this first or are there known general issues with WiFi dropping?
WiFi Analyzer doesn't pick up any other 5GHz networks in the area, so interference shouldn't be an issue. Since I removed the bridge, the connection has been fine on 1.0.4.4. Not sure when it went defunct, but the last router reboot must have disconnected the bridge for good and it kept trying to send connection requests. Best guess is either Windows dealt with the issue gracefully, or Android phones being lower priority on the router kept getting the boot.
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I went overkill and reset the router, updated the firmware back to 1.0.4.4 by uploading the file myself instead of using the Internet, reset the router again, then manually configured all the settings. Android phones were still dropping. I had recently enabled IPv6 as 6to4 Tunnel trying to see if my ISP supported resedential IPv6 addressing, which I've disabled now, but I also came to realize that my WNCE4004 Wireless Bridge had gone rogue and was refusing to reconnect to the 5GHz network. Even after resetting it, I was unable to get it to connect to the 5GHz network. I do currently use a EX7007 Range Extender for getting signal to cover the basement, but do not believe those should have been in conflict.
I've unplugged the bridge and left it powered off. Checking my phone for 20 minutes and no drop outs, not long enough to be conclusive, but long enough I believe I should have seen one by now. I may try re-enabling IPv6 tomorrow to see if my phone starts dropping again, but right now have a big suspicion the bridge was essentially causing a DOS on the 5GHz network if not just one of the two channels.
- I have no solution, just want to say that the 1.0.4 firmware is not ready for prime time. It has caused endless problems for me.
Hi All,
You may try changing channels for 5Ghz and check if it will help. Disable QoS as well.
WiFi Analyzer doesn't pick up any other 5GHz networks in the area, so interference shouldn't be an issue. Since I removed the bridge, the connection has been fine on 1.0.4.4. Not sure when it went defunct, but the last router reboot must have disconnected the bridge for good and it kept trying to send connection requests. Best guess is either Windows dealt with the issue gracefully, or Android phones being lower priority on the router kept getting the boot.
I've had my R8000 since October 2014, and in those three years I've had no issue of any kind. All updates have worked without a hitch... until now.
When I updated to 1.0.4.4, my Android devices and my Chromebook had connectivity issues on 2.4g and 5g as described by april1, above.
I went back to 1.0.4.2 and my problems disappeared.
Living in a rural area, there are no other 5g broadcasts to compete with, so I'm pretty sure that this was not the issue with 1.0.4.4.
Any thoughts?
If it's both channels, might want to try updating, reseting the router, then configuring by hand, do not restore a backup. Also download the firmware and upload it to the router manually, do not update by internet.
My issue seemed to be a device that was continually trying to connect on the 5GHz network but failing, which apaprently caused lower priority devices to be denied a connection, or Android were being sensitive to continually being forced to change channels because I enable smart connect.
I need to amend my post, above. I spoke too soon! Soon after going back to 1.0.4.2, my Android devices began, again, to cycle endlessly between being connected and disconnected from the R8000.
I then downloaded the 1.0.3.54 firmware and installed it on the R8000, and now (several days later), not one hiccup, not one disconnect/reconnect cycle.
At this point, my thoughts are that if it is the Android devices causing the problem, why would the problem go away when I downgraded the firmware to 1.0.3.54? In my mind the problem has to be with the 1.0.4.4 and 1.0.4.2 firmware releases.
I'm frustrated because I want the security of the most recent firmware release, but it is not worth the problems it causes my Android devices.
Any ideas?
Thanks, in advance!
I tried 1.0.4.4 for R8000 and experienced random WiFi dropout issue as described people above.
The difference is the WiFi drop out is on the 2.4GHz band and it is a Win10 machine. In addition, 1.0.4.4 has worse speed performance than 1.0.3.54 over WiFi according to SpeedTest. About 20 - 25% less WiFi speed.
Downgraded to 1.0.3.54 and all is well again. It looks like 1.0.4.* release have problems or at device compatibility issues with both Windows and Android. This is a shame as 1.0.4.* is supposed to have more security fixes.
IMHO. Netgear should be doing more regression testing before releasing. I guess rapid release is the current bandwagon - let the public be the guinea pig / beta testers.
I hope NetGear can look into these issues and fix them in a a future release.
