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Forum Discussion
Do all routers eventually just start to die (nighthawk R7000)?
Right now running a Netgear R7000 running DD-WRT. Ive been experiencing a lot of issues lately and have to reboot often. This happened to my last router a few years back as well. Do all routers ev...
nikarsena Well my 3 year old R7000 AC1900 (from actual known manufacture date) is still working ok, but as of the last 24 hours of me posting this, is now consigned to a box in the attic, probably never to be used again. Quite simply, I'd had enough of Netgear's seemingly useless firmware updates, the tragically poor browser GUI experience and the fact that it didn't make full use of my rebuilt ax compatible wifi desktop.
So I've now got myself a TP-Link AX6600 GX90, all set up and it's quite literally, dynamite! Super simple to configure, auto updated the firmware without any hitches (over ethernet) without me having to do any of the mucking about downloading firmware updates. Browser GUI is so much more intuitive and a lot more modern to look at. The WiFi range is also so much better. I stress it's early days, but if the experience I now have is anything to go by, then I think I've made the right choice. Yes it's marketed as a gaming router and I'm no gamer, but it's handling everything just as I like, so no complaints.
I guess this is me saying adios to Netgear.
Portwey84 wrote:nikarsena Well my 3 year old R7000 AC1900 (from actual known manufacture date) is still working ok, but as of the last 24 hours of me posting this, is now consigned to a box in the attic, probably never to be used again. Quite simply, I'd had enough of Netgear's seemingly useless firmware updates, the tragically poor browser GUI experience and the fact that it didn't make full use of my rebuilt ax compatible wifi desktop.
So I've now got myself a TP-Link AX6600 GX90, all set up and it's quite literally, dynamite! Super simple to configure, auto updated the firmware without any hitches (over ethernet) without me having to do any of the mucking about downloading firmware updates. Browser GUI is so much more intuitive and a lot more modern to look at. The WiFi range is also so much better. I stress it's early days, but if the experience I now have is anything to go by, then I think I've made the right choice. Yes it's marketed as a gaming router and I'm no gamer, but it's handling everything just as I like, so no complaints.
I guess this is me saying adios to Netgear.
Auto-update of firmware, regardless of manufacturer, is always a bad idea. Too many things can go wrong behind your back. Always do a manual, controlled firmware upgrade. Do not use wifi or any other method. Always use a hard-wired connecttion!
To the original post,yes routers eventually die. Sometimes the wifi radio dies, sometimes the power adapter on them dies, and sometimes the capacitors inside the routers crap out. So yes they die eventually. Just depends how much you use them, streaming, gaming all take a toll on them eventually.
One thing that also helps extend HW life is adding air cooling to routers. I found that years ago that some routers didn't have adequite heat dissapation or cooling aid to help with internal ambient cooling. After adding a laptop cooler under a router, sure helps keep the HW much cooler than the intended design. Save the life of the HW too.
wcalifas wrote:
To the original post,yes routers eventually die. Sometimes the wifi radio dies, sometimes the power adapter on them dies, and sometimes the capacitors inside the routers crap out. So yes they die eventually. Just depends how much you use them, streaming, gaming all take a toll on them eventually.
microchip8 wrote:
Portwey84 wrote:nikarsena Well my 3 year old R7000 AC1900 (from actual known manufacture date) is still working ok, but as of the last 24 hours of me posting this, is now consigned to a box in the attic, probably never to be used again. Quite simply, I'd had enough of Netgear's seemingly useless firmware updates, the tragically poor browser GUI experience and the fact that it didn't make full use of my rebuilt ax compatible wifi desktop.
So I've now got myself a TP-Link AX6600 GX90, all set up and it's quite literally, dynamite! Super simple to configure, auto updated the firmware without any hitches (over ethernet) without me having to do any of the mucking about downloading firmware updates. Browser GUI is so much more intuitive and a lot more modern to look at. The WiFi range is also so much better. I stress it's early days, but if the experience I now have is anything to go by, then I think I've made the right choice. Yes it's marketed as a gaming router and I'm no gamer, but it's handling everything just as I like, so no complaints.
I guess this is me saying adios to Netgear.
Auto-update of firmware, regardless of manufacturer, is always a bad idea. Too many things can go wrong behind your back. Always do a manual, controlled firmware upgrade. Do not use wifi or any other method. Always use a hard-wired connecttion!
microchip8 I'm fully aware that auto updates, especially as far as this particular model of router is concerned, might not be the best thing to have enabled. I've never had an auto update take place on my R7000 in the 2 years I've owned it. As you are undoubtedly aware, the R7000 is a decade old conceived and designed router that is quite possibly, long past its sell by date compared to newer routers even from other manufacturers.
As far as auto updating is concerned, well I have a dishwasher with built in WiFi that manages auto updates without any issues, and yes, that dishwasher has received OTA updates without any input from me. Same with my TV and media streaming devices. If a manufacturer is going to offer an auto update option, then it should work and no one should have to worry about their product 'bricking'. As for my R7000 router, every single one of the 9 updates I applied to it, were all done over ethernet. Same with my brand new TP-Link router when I received it yesterday, plugged it into my laptop via cable and I let the auto firmware update do its job. Funny old thing, it worked, no issues whatsoever.
As I say, my personal journey with the R7000 is now well and truly over. I've had far less problems with it than many others reading through the mountains of threads on this forum, but enough is enough and I've moved on.
Portwey84 wrote:
microchip8 wrote:
Portwey84 wrote:nikarsena Well my 3 year old R7000 AC1900 (from actual known manufacture date) is still working ok, but as of the last 24 hours of me posting this, is now consigned to a box in the attic, probably never to be used again. Quite simply, I'd had enough of Netgear's seemingly useless firmware updates, the tragically poor browser GUI experience and the fact that it didn't make full use of my rebuilt ax compatible wifi desktop.
So I've now got myself a TP-Link AX6600 GX90, all set up and it's quite literally, dynamite! Super simple to configure, auto updated the firmware without any hitches (over ethernet) without me having to do any of the mucking about downloading firmware updates. Browser GUI is so much more intuitive and a lot more modern to look at. The WiFi range is also so much better. I stress it's early days, but if the experience I now have is anything to go by, then I think I've made the right choice. Yes it's marketed as a gaming router and I'm no gamer, but it's handling everything just as I like, so no complaints.
I guess this is me saying adios to Netgear.
Auto-update of firmware, regardless of manufacturer, is always a bad idea. Too many things can go wrong behind your back. Always do a manual, controlled firmware upgrade. Do not use wifi or any other method. Always use a hard-wired connecttion!
microchip8 I'm fully aware that auto updates, especially as far as this particular model of router is concerned, might not be the best thing to have enabled. I've never had an auto update take place on my R7000 in the 2 years I've owned it. As you are undoubtedly aware, the R7000 is a decade old conceived and designed router that is quite possibly, long past its sell by date compared to newer routers even from other manufacturers.
As far as auto updating is concerned, well I have a dishwasher with built in WiFi that manages auto updates without any issues, and yes, that dishwasher has received OTA updates without any input from me. Same with my TV and media streaming devices. If a manufacturer is going to offer an auto update option, then it should work and no one should have to worry about their product 'bricking'. As for my R7000 router, every single one of the 9 updates I applied to it, were all done over ethernet. Same with my brand new TP-Link router when I received it yesterday, plugged it into my laptop via cable and I let the auto firmware update do its job. Funny old thing, it worked, no issues whatsoever.
As I say, my personal journey with the R7000 is now well and truly over. I've had far less problems with it than many others reading through the mountains of threads on this forum, but enough is enough and I've moved on.
The problem is, NETGEAR's firmware is totally broken. The guys at Delta Networks, Inc., the ones that develop the firmware for NETGEAR, are total idiots. Due to the sad state of the firmware, regardless whether it offers a auo-update option, it's not recommended to use it. You can't really compare it to a dishwasher or TV. NETGEAR's firmware is a total disaster. For this reason, virtually no one here will recommend auto-update.
