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Forum Discussion
Solved
SOLVED: Slow wireless internet passthrough speed after firmware update
So I first purchased a Nighthawk in July 2014 and it was awesome for a while. Then in notice is past couple months my streaming services were skipping and buffering more that usual (which was almost never with the Nighthawk).
I have a 110Mbps connection (from Comcast and through an SB6141 modem) but all of a sudden was only getting 10 Mbps (or less) passthrough on wireless 5G band (at start of test speed would sometimes be as high as 50 Mbps, but over a few seconds would drop to nothing..)
Wired speeds were fine. Always 110Mbps+. Tried several different channels and factory resets of the router, wireless speed was still slow. Logged onto Netgear website and submitted a support ticket.... within 2 hours they emailed me back with an RMA and the next day a new unit was being FedEx'd to me. Tech support rep said it's a known hardware issue in some units... I was super impressed with the customer service, it seriously was a no hassle replacement that took all of 15 minutes of my time.
EXCEPT when I received the replacement router in a few days it had the SAME PROBLEM. As soon as the new router was on and I logged in, I upgraded to the latest version of firmware, did a factory reset, and ran Speedtest. And I had the same problem: internet passthrough speed on all my wireless devices was awful. Less than 10Mbps when I have a 110+Mbps connection. (Wired speeds were fine, so was not a provider or modem issue).
Contacted support again and they instructed me to download latest firmware on laptop and manually upgrade router, doing a factory reset both before and after the upgrade. They also told me to try turning off WMM (made no difference in passthrough speed, but did lower my laptops link speed from 433Mbps to 54Mbps!).
I tried all of that... still slow wireless passthough speed.
The only thing that changed since I first got a Nighthawk back in July 2014 (and I ran speedtests then and had a 110+Mbps wireless speed at that time), is that the firmware has upgraded several times... which got me thinking...
I downloaded from Netgear support the last 5 versions of firmware for the Nighthawk. http://downloadcenter.netgear.com/en/product/R7000#sear...
I then manually downgraded the Nighthawk to each previous version (doing a factory reset both before and after each installation) and ran Speedtest each time. Once I got down to Version R7000-V1.0.3.24_1.1.20 (Released 2/12/14) and ran Speedtest, the PROBLEM WAS SOLVED. Wireless speeds on all devices (laptop, HTC One M7, and iPad Air 2) were all back up to 110Mbps or more!!!
Hope this experiment helps out someone else... if your're experiencing slow internet passthrough speeds and it's not your link speed (i.e. radio interference) that's the issue, there seems to be a serious problem with the last couple newer versions.. Try downgrading to firmware version R7000-V1.0.3.24_1.1.20
I have a 110Mbps connection (from Comcast and through an SB6141 modem) but all of a sudden was only getting 10 Mbps (or less) passthrough on wireless 5G band (at start of test speed would sometimes be as high as 50 Mbps, but over a few seconds would drop to nothing..)
Wired speeds were fine. Always 110Mbps+. Tried several different channels and factory resets of the router, wireless speed was still slow. Logged onto Netgear website and submitted a support ticket.... within 2 hours they emailed me back with an RMA and the next day a new unit was being FedEx'd to me. Tech support rep said it's a known hardware issue in some units... I was super impressed with the customer service, it seriously was a no hassle replacement that took all of 15 minutes of my time.
EXCEPT when I received the replacement router in a few days it had the SAME PROBLEM. As soon as the new router was on and I logged in, I upgraded to the latest version of firmware, did a factory reset, and ran Speedtest. And I had the same problem: internet passthrough speed on all my wireless devices was awful. Less than 10Mbps when I have a 110+Mbps connection. (Wired speeds were fine, so was not a provider or modem issue).
Contacted support again and they instructed me to download latest firmware on laptop and manually upgrade router, doing a factory reset both before and after the upgrade. They also told me to try turning off WMM (made no difference in passthrough speed, but did lower my laptops link speed from 433Mbps to 54Mbps!).
I tried all of that... still slow wireless passthough speed.
The only thing that changed since I first got a Nighthawk back in July 2014 (and I ran speedtests then and had a 110+Mbps wireless speed at that time), is that the firmware has upgraded several times... which got me thinking...
I downloaded from Netgear support the last 5 versions of firmware for the Nighthawk. http://downloadcenter.netgear.com/en/product/R7000#sear...
I then manually downgraded the Nighthawk to each previous version (doing a factory reset both before and after each installation) and ran Speedtest each time. Once I got down to Version R7000-V1.0.3.24_1.1.20 (Released 2/12/14) and ran Speedtest, the PROBLEM WAS SOLVED. Wireless speeds on all devices (laptop, HTC One M7, and iPad Air 2) were all back up to 110Mbps or more!!!
Hope this experiment helps out someone else... if your're experiencing slow internet passthrough speeds and it's not your link speed (i.e. radio interference) that's the issue, there seems to be a serious problem with the last couple newer versions.. Try downgrading to firmware version R7000-V1.0.3.24_1.1.20
- UPDATE: Yes, I actually tested the speeds with several different devices (an HP laptop, HTC One M7, and Nexus 9) all of them on 5G band, all ac enabled with latest updates. I also used a couple different speed test sites (speedtest.net, comcast speedtest, cnet speed test), inconsistently had the same result across all devices and hosts.
However, I've actually been communicating with Netgear L2 support for last month... beta testing a couple different versions of the Nighthawk's firmware and even spending over an hour on the phone one night with nice guy who told me he was on an island in Southeast Asia, part of the Philippines... that's where Netgear tech support is halfway between China where they build them and Taiwan where the engineers are. After trying every tweak he could think of for an hour and not getting better wireless speeds, he finally gave up and wished me a Merry Christmas lol. Not a one of those beta firmware's made a bit of difference and I loathe the hours they tricked me into screwing around with them!
BUT TODAY they released vR7000-V1.0.4.14_1.1.50 http://support.netgear.com/product/r7000
And to my shock it actually worked! Not only have my high wireless speeds returned (120+ Mbps)
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4078979293 (laptop)
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/1131321713 (nexus 9)
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/1131332778 (htc one m7)
but also my previously incompatible Seagate SRD0SD0 (3TB) USB 3.0 external hard drive now works, too. What a bonus! The whole reason I bought the Nighthawk was to use as DLNA server and the monster external HD I picked up 6 months ago just happened to be on the long list of ones incompatible with this finicky router.
But now it all works (at least for now).
P.S. Maybe it's in my head but I swear since this last firmware update when running speedtest now or transferring files (any heavy streaming) I can hear the router making a higher pitched electrical humming/whistling noise, it's a little disconcerting... I'm not sure having my brain fried by overclocked wifi is going to be worth the high speeds in the end... :eek:
22 Replies
- You would think the LATEST Firmware would be the most optimized..... :confused::rolleyes:
greenlife802 wrote:
Greetings,
Unless I missed something, it appears that you were only using one device for ALL of your wireless testing. This single device cannot be used as a basis for performance.
I have an identical set up, except SB6120 in front of my R7000. I do not see this behavior with any of my devices. Wireless performance rivals wired speeds. So, it might be safer to say that the wireless chipset, drivers or settings being used with the ONE network adapter all of your testing was performed with has issues with the nighthawk and certain FW releases. While using defaults is a good place to start, it sometimes necessary to make further config changes in order to get the best performance. You appear to be aware of the many environmental factors that can influence wireless network performance. Did you ever consider changing to a different driver on the device being used for testing? This may have influenced the outcome of your tests.- UPDATE: Yes, I actually tested the speeds with several different devices (an HP laptop, HTC One M7, and Nexus 9) all of them on 5G band, all ac enabled with latest updates. I also used a couple different speed test sites (speedtest.net, comcast speedtest, cnet speed test), inconsistently had the same result across all devices and hosts.
However, I've actually been communicating with Netgear L2 support for last month... beta testing a couple different versions of the Nighthawk's firmware and even spending over an hour on the phone one night with nice guy who told me he was on an island in Southeast Asia, part of the Philippines... that's where Netgear tech support is halfway between China where they build them and Taiwan where the engineers are. After trying every tweak he could think of for an hour and not getting better wireless speeds, he finally gave up and wished me a Merry Christmas lol. Not a one of those beta firmware's made a bit of difference and I loathe the hours they tricked me into screwing around with them!
BUT TODAY they released vR7000-V1.0.4.14_1.1.50 http://support.netgear.com/product/r7000
And to my shock it actually worked! Not only have my high wireless speeds returned (120+ Mbps)
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4078979293 (laptop)
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/1131321713 (nexus 9)
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/1131332778 (htc one m7)
but also my previously incompatible Seagate SRD0SD0 (3TB) USB 3.0 external hard drive now works, too. What a bonus! The whole reason I bought the Nighthawk was to use as DLNA server and the monster external HD I picked up 6 months ago just happened to be on the long list of ones incompatible with this finicky router.
But now it all works (at least for now).
P.S. Maybe it's in my head but I swear since this last firmware update when running speedtest now or transferring files (any heavy streaming) I can hear the router making a higher pitched electrical humming/whistling noise, it's a little disconcerting... I'm not sure having my brain fried by overclocked wifi is going to be worth the high speeds in the end... :eek: - greenlife802, Are you saving and restoring your settings? If you are, this is most likely the problem. Restoring settings created and saved under a different firmware version creates "interesting" problems.
- Negative. I did a complete factory reset both before and after each firmware upgrade or downgrade. Did not save or restore settings at all.
searay wrote: I'm guessing you removed the previously incompatible Seagate to rule it out. I wonder if the PS or the voltage regulator is struggling to regulate the DC with the additional load when using the drive.
Thank you for the suggestion. Yes, I tried speed tests both with and without the USB drive attached. Also the Seagate SRD0SD0 is externally powered.- Day #2 and speeds are still decent. It was down to about 50 Mbps the couple times I ran Speedtest at home during lunch, but tonight it's back up to 100+ Mbps: http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4081440785
I live in a condo and my router is near a wall shared with the next unit. I've considered that interference could be a cause, but I'm the only router in the neighborhood on channel 161 (and I did try other channels too). Of course, the logical explanation for all this is that my neighbor over there on the other side of the wall has been running a supercollider that's generating black holes whose magnetic fields have been eating my wifi...:rolleyes:
Until this new firmware defeated them that is.... :D
Oddly, other people have had this same problem: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2207401/nighthawk-r7000-slow-internet-passthough-speed-weird-problem.html - I noticed that if I changed the 5Ghz band to use a lower channel (e.g. 40, 44, 48), the internet speeds over wireless are maxed. However, as soon as I switch to one of the higher channels (e.g. 149+), the download speeds are cut by more than half, as per speedtest.net results.
This is using Firmware Version 1.0.3.80
Is this normal for others? - Nope. I'm presently using channel 161 and consistently getting speeds over 100Mbps. It's possible other routers in your neighborhood are already using the higher channels and causing interference? Use a wifi analytics tool like inSSIDer Home (PC) or Wifi Analyzer (Android) to discover which channels in your neighborhood are most and least congested (and manually set your own channel accordingly). It could also be an adapter/driver issue with the device you're conducting the test on. Be sure to run speedtest on a different device and compare results to isolate whether it's actually a router or device issue. And I definitely recommend upgrading to V1.01.14! It solves numerous bugs and adds worthwhile new functionality.
