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R9000 DROPPING WIFI EVERY 15-20 MINS
Neatgear Nighthawk R9000 X10
Firmware V1.0.4.12
QoS is already turned off (was never set up)
Wifi randonly drops off for about 30 secs about every 15-20 mins. This is mostly noticable on the 2.4ghz channel since all the "smart things" are connected to 2.4ghz. I have tried switching channels (1, 6, 11 & Auto) and hasnt seemed to help.
This only effects wireless connected devices as LAN devices have no issue.
I have had soo many issues with the new setup with the R9000 router and mesh (EX8000), I already returned the mesh to the store and plugged back in my EX7000 and I have been considering returning the R9000 and using my old R7000. I have had 4 hours of techincal support and still having more issues than with my old set up which was only replaced because I had to reset it once a week. Quite possibly my last netgear product.
Update:
Nothing I tried fixed the issue and I got really tired of spending so much time trying to fix it that I returned it and made a switch to a different brand...
150 Replies
I have had constant WiFi problems since upgrading to 1.0.4.12. I'm hoping it is just the firmware.
I had a BestBuy replacement plan for my R9000. So, I decided to exchange it (I was only seeing drops on 5GHz; 2.4 and ethernet were both fine). The replacement R9000 works flawlessly. It is possible you are seeing hardware issues.
Update:
Nothing I tried fixed the issue and I got really tired of spending so much time trying to fix it that I returned it and made a switch to a different brand...
switched brands and the Asus router took me a whole 15 mins to set up and has been working flawlessly. Bonus was it was half the price for 1 router and 1 router/mesh.
So it has been almost 2 weeks since I decided to quit messing with the netgear router and replaced with a mesh set up from Asus https://amzn.to/2IRFzkY. They are not as fancy but omg, not a single dropped signal since I swithced over. IMO I would rather have relyability over speed, still getting 800-900 mbps on LAN and 100mbps on 2.4 @~200 mbps on 5G. Best switch I have made an it was only half to cost lol... Good bye netgear you just lost a 15 year customer
I've had really good luck with Asus routers (I have one in a drawer I use for testing/ad hoc networks and I set one up for my parents); unfortunately only the ugly 8 antenta (AC5300) seemed to be able to support my device load and performance requirements at the time I was shopping around and bought the R9000 and it had better reviews and (believe it or not) better firmware.
That being said, the R9000 is really a nice piece of hardware and I still like its theoretical capabilities. Unfortunately, the firmware leaves a great deal to be desired. If Netgear support is not able to get it patched to my satisfaction, I'll try Voxel. If that doesn't work to my satisifaction, I'll either patch Voxel and submit a PR, fork Voxel and build my own custom firmware, or finally just throw my hands up and throw DD-WRT on there.
Good luck with your Asus devices! Like I said, Asus makes a solid product; just make sure you keep them up to date. They do put out frequent updates to pick up security fixes which is a really great thing. You may wish to do all your updates over a wired connection or their built in updater; I've had problems when updating my AC66U over WiFi and had to connect over wired to recover it.
This is the direction I am headed in as I have tried to work with Netgear support and their engineering team. This Product is a failure and product support team is a failure as well. Not addressing customer concerns around product reliability at this price point is a leadership problem. I will be advocating out to every forum I can not buy these products until Netgear gets their act together!
Same issue for me. Latest FW as of 10.5.2018.
Using AirPlay for iTunes music over wifi drops out every 5-10 mins, shortly 2 or 3 times, then works. for another 10 min.
Streaming music from my Mac iTunes (wifi) over AppleTV (wired) and to a couple wifi speakers is my primary use. I have no dropouts streaming video over my wired Apple TV (eg Netflix). When I hardwire my Mac to the router, my AirPlay dropouts are much less frequent - but still happen every 20 min or so.
I've messed around with beamforming, smart connect etc with little change but frankly this is a basic use case in 2018 for a "future proof" router that costs this much. It should work out of the box. I'll hope for a FW fix but will probably send it back to Amazon and abandon Netgear.
And also, I for one wish you'd give up trying to be a media server as well.
- I spent 2 hours on the phone with netgear support, had to pay $89.99 to get it fixed. 24 hours later, all my devices can’t connect to the router. All my problems began because I followed Netgear’s prompts to update the firmware. I ended up buying a Google WiFi. So frustrated with Netgear. They will lose customers if they don’t fix this issue. Researching and it seems many people have had this issue for a long while.
I just got off the phone with a very pleasant individual who has asked me to setup a few tests I've personally designed as well as some extra debug captures. I will be trying this tomorrow and reporting my findings to Netgear. Hopefully their engineers will be able to find the root cause in all the data I've managed to collect (and will collect tomorrow).
Even with my workaround in place two of my devices lose connectivity and will not recover (one is a Sony sound bar the other is my XBox One X; both are relatively new and both only have this happen on the 5GHz network; I exchanged the sound bar because I could and it did no fix the issue). Only a hard power cycle recovers the functionality.
I strongly suspect there is likely some less-than-bulletproof code in the XBox One X and Sony sound bar wireless drivers and the R9000 is doing something so strange its causing them to crash. Linux (4.15 kernel), Android (the one device I have on all the time anyway), iOS, and MacOS seem to just experience packet loss and recover.
For me, this was not a problem until I upgraded to 1.0.4.12.
mine keeps dropping 5g only
(see pic)
red 5g r9000
dark red 5g-ext
green 2g
dark green 2g-3xt
Yes, I would downgrade. I'm not going to say things are perfect on the older firmware (my Sony HT-Z9F 5GHz keeps crashing; I've just stuck it on the 2.4 for now) but it is certainly way better. Aside from the aforementioned Sony, all my other devices are fine. For example, my XBoxOne X used to have its WiFi driver crash and a hard power cycle was required to recover with the current firmware (while most devices would just lose connection for a few seconds); I haven't had a single WiFi issue with my XBoxOne X since downgrading. My gaming from all my other WiFi devices has been flawless since downgrading as well.
nachonighthawk
In my ticket to Netgear (which is still open) I illustrated that the issue is only for the 5GHz; the 2.4GHz devices and the hardline devices experience not even the slightest blip in latency or performance.
I am still waiting to hear back.Any update on this issue?
I'm tired of my 5 GHz clients dropping every 20-30 minutes.
Firmware is V1.0.4.2.
I adjusted my fan minimum temperatures to a lower setting
Before temps
51,47,54 celcius
I lowered the fan setting to 30 for min fan speed, and 45 for max fan speed.
Now that my temps dropped a bunch I'm hoping this will help stop the wifi dropouts!
I've requested access to the beta. hopefully someone responds!
I just wanted go on record as another person that is experiencing periodic wifi signal cuts over the 5Ghz network on my R9000. It started after I upgraded to firmware 1.0.4.12. Been going on for a couple months now. As others reported, switching to the 2.4Ghz network helped.
I'm hoping a new firmware is on the horizon to resolve this issue so that I can switch back to the faster 5Ghz network.
I just switched my network over to an old airport express and immediately noticed my packet drops issue fixed.
With my X10 R9000 i see every 5-10 minutes about 5 packets drop and the others having really high response times.
WIth my Airport express i see a single packet loss every several minutes, so my situation has improved by eliminating X10 R9000......i paid $400 for the router and feel like a chump.
I’m concerned NETGEAR isn’t adresssing such a basic type of issue right away. This is the most expensive router for consumers and shouldn’t have a basic problem like this and this type of bug should be a top priority for the price i paid.
BTW, i’m willing to work with any Netgear engineer to review my router logs and see what is causing this issue!!!! Feel free to email me and we can spend a couple hours gathering data and reviewing logs. I feel guilty for having comcast at my house 3 times telling them it had to be the cable line!!!! It was my X10 R9000 the whole time
I just received my R9000 3 days ago and have the same issue with WiFi dropping. I also purchased the Mesh WIFI extender as well. For now I am leaving that offline. I tried turning off smart roaming and MU-MIMO to no avail. I have downgraded the firmware to 1.0.4.2 and await the revised firmware package. 1.0.4.12 is a bust.
just wanted to weigh in. Mine is also cutting out quite a bit. I have not changed anything. I am on the newest firmware but since finding this thread, I reverted back to the previous one and will see how it goes. Was working great but so many drops lately. I don't know when exactly the problem started or when the new firmware was initiated. I removed auto updates.
I’ve been doing more testing and here’s what i’m seeing.
Test:
Using an iPad and iPhone, connected both to WiFi (and ensure the mobile radios are turned off) connected to each other using FaceTime.
Then I unplugged my cable modem to ensure no comcast networking is involved.
The two devices stay connected using only the local WiFi (nighthawk) network as expected.
Now I began a continuous ping from the iPad to iPhone and left the video chat running. Every 5-10 minutes I see significant packet loss and high response times (then the video gives a poor connection message). This poor video lasts for about 10 seconds, then it recovers. This cycle continues as long as the video connection is maintained.
I’ve requested access to the beta version of firmware from the two users previously mentioned by have not heard back as of yet.
so just pm christine for the beta link? coz I never had this issue for the first 2 months but now..this is recurring every hr. although it comes back after 1-2 mins. still im disconnected. I have multiple routers designated by purpose but this one is my main one considering this is damn expensive and I expect the best from this..I'm always a netgear user I can't believe this is happening to my most expensive router. i never had this issue with my r7000s even my ex7000 and 7800. this is ridiculous I have to move all my automation hub away from this router to my ex7000 which is hooked up directly to my att fiber router. this is frustrating.
Just curious. I never see the fan inside of the r9000 turn. Is this typical? I put my hand over the top of the router and it is is pretty cool to warm but never hot. I just use it for interney and my home automation devices, so I don't game with the router.
- My fan didn’t run much either. I adjusted the temps down on the debug screen so they always run.
http://routerlogin.net/debug.htm
I am having the same issue, I reverted back to old firmware to fox the majority of problems. however I am still having huge packet loss/ping issues.
Please get your BETA firmware out. This is a joke.
- I could not agree more. These routers should have premium service and this type of big bug should be #1 priority and dealt with off-cycle with a target fix. It’s base functionality that’s broken.
Even though I recently joined the beta and hopefully it fixes my problem I’m still upset I paid so much for this and had so many problems of basic WiFi router. Hopefully they patch this with a production release quickly (like emergency break fix). I know it’s the holidays so I bet most of their team is out on vacation.
