CAX80 Uploading Issues

[titanicnut]

This is our 2nd Nighthawk CAX80 … just replaced it yesterday. We are still having the same issues as before. Comcast has been out to check wiring and it’s all good.

I have a main channel on smart connect (but it happens whether this is on or not) and an enabled guest channel on 2.4 because NOTHING will go out on the guest 5G. The issue is uploading pics or videos to websites and sending emails with pics. Noticed that some websites will upload on the main channel and others have to be on the 2.4 guest. We get kicked off the internet (happens on either channel) often.

With the previous CAX80 I had done a factory reset… nothing. Re-boot… nothing. Called Netgear Tech Support multiple times… nothing. Called Comcast multiple times… nothing. Comcast Tech out… nothing.

Now with the BRAND NEW CAX80 it’s still happening.

Using an iphone, samsung phone and 2 laptops. Issues across all devices. This is interfering with a home business and I’m ready to take it back and get a non-netgear device!

[FURRYe38]

What Firmware version is currently loaded?

[titanicnut]

Firmware 2.1.5.2

[FURRYe38]

How do you have the Basic and Advanced WiFi Settings configured on the modem? 
Is Smart Connect, AX mode and OFDMA enabled? 

What channels are being used? 

Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many

Any other wifi broadcast devices near by? 

Please post a copy and paste of the modems connection status and event log page.
https://kb.netgear.com/30007/How-do-I-obtain-the-cable-connection-information-from-a-NETGEAR-cable-m...
https://kb.netgear.com/30008/How-do-I-view-or-clear-the-event-logs-on-my-NETGEAR-cable-modem-or-mode...

[titanicnut]

EDIT: Forgot to say that we had the first modem for 1.5 years with no issues until it started late sept/early oct 2022. I’ve also at the request of Netgear Support…
- removed and re-installed the modem on comcast’s end so it refreshed the MAC address
- replaced the coax cable going to the modem
- checked the cable coming from outside (in the attic) to see if it had a splitter… it doesn’t
- removed the power box from the surge protector

[titanicnut]

Yes we have neighbors as we’re in townhomes. They’re 3 other families in our building block with 4 families across from us and 4 across from them, so forth and so on.

I have no idea who uses wifi or has broadcast devices. I’m sure some or all do.

[FURRYe38]

Lets set manual channels 1 on 2.4Ghz and 40 on 5Ghz. 

Take the check mark out of the Enable AX and Enable 20/40Mhz Coexistence check boxes. 

Set Transmit Power to 50% on both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. 

Please post a copy and paste of the modems connection status and event log page.
https://kb.netgear.com/30007/How-do-I-obtain-the-cable-connection-information-from-a-NETGEAR-cable-m...
https://kb.netgear.com/30008/How-do-I-view-or-clear-the-event-logs-on-my-NETGEAR-cable-modem-or-mode...

What devices are you connecting and using to upload data?

[FURRYe38]

Need the full page bottom portion of the cable connections page please.

I see some wifi issues on the event logs page. One of your devices keeps trying to connect with incorrect security. Be sure all of your devices are connecting correctly to the modems wifi. What is the device with the mac address of d3:ab? 

[titanicnut]

I saw that too. I’ve gone to every device in the house and checked to make sure it’s connected. They all are so I have no idea what that device is that is having connection issues 🤦🏼‍

We’re using 2 cell phones and 2 laptops. We have to switch between main channel on smart connect and guest 2.4. Can’t send emails with pics of any size so we have to switch to guest to do it. Websites like go daddy and wyzant we can’t upload pics or videos on main channel either. Have to be on main channel to use multi web camera app but can get booted for no reason.

[FURRYe38]

Can you capture the downlink portion of the cable connections page from a web page on a PC? The screen on your mobile devices is too small and not getting all the downlink data we need to see in this section. 

I would find each device and match that MAC Address to it. 

[titanicnut]

I’ve already done the matching twice and can’t find it ugh! I look in the nighthawk app or the UI and can see all devices connected.. those don’t match up. Go around the house looking for other devices not yet connected and can’t find any I’m missing.

[FURRYe38]

Ok I see things look on for power, kind low but well with in specs. 

Channels 7,8, and 9 have some Correctables but not horrible. 

Be sure there are no coax cable line splitters in the between the modem and ISP service box. 
Be sure your using good quality RG6 coax cable up to the modem. 
Start with removing any amplifiers, signal attenuators, or splitters from the coax.
From there check the line for kinks, damage, moisture in the line.
Check the connectors for improperly made ends, foil touching the copper coax line, loose connections, bad/old/cheap connectors, or corroded connections. Replace them if you do.

I'd find the devices that's having problems connecting and see if this helps. Possible this device is dragging something down causing wifi and upload issues. 

This version is supposed to have fixed a long standing 5Ghz upload issue in prior versions of FW. I tested this and a beta on my CAX80 last year to help NG check this. I used a ASUS GT-AX11000 and a NG RAXE500 set to wireless bridge mode and uploaded several Gigs of data to a cloud storage and saw no issues during any uploads. I believe I used manual channels 1 and 40 and AX and OFDMA were enabled and 40Mhz Coexistence was set as well. Beamforming and MIMO enabled too. 

[titanicnut]

Ok I see things look on for power, kind low but well with in specs. 

I know the upload channel power levels are low but comcast claims they can't fix them

Channels 7,8, and 9 have some Correctables but not horrible. 

what needs correcting?

Be sure there are no coax cable line splitters in the between the modem and ISP service box. yup already checked

Be sure your using good quality RG6 coax cable up to the modem. I am but replaced it anyways

Start with removing any amplifiers, signal attenuators, or splitters from the coax. there weren't any

From there check the line for kinks, damage, moisture in the line. from what we can see in the attic there isn't any

Check the connectors for improperly made ends, foil touching the copper coax line, loose connections, bad/old/cheap connectors, or corroded connections. Replace them if you do. again, hard to check in the attic but how much of the line we could see we didn't see anything weird

I'd find the devices that's having problems connecting and see if this helps. Possible this device is dragging something down causing wifi and upload issues. I did find it was the printer we forgot to re-connect BUT we have had issues for way longer than the 24 hours this printer was trying to connect.

This version is supposed to have fixed a long standing 5Ghz upload issue in prior versions of FW. According to Netgear Tech Support there is no long standing issue. Ugh! They also claim it's not the recent firmware update that is messing things up even though we didn't have problems until it came through.

They changed our DNS from auto to some google numbers (they remoted into my laptop)... didn't fix the problem.

They asked me to request Comcast give us a static DNS... comcast doesn't do that for residential customers.

My list of "things to try" is getting longer and longer but nothing is working! This is super frustrating since we work from home and it disrupts us all day long.

[FURRYe38]

What devices are you using for the 5Ghz upload? 

Lets set manual channels 1 on 2.4Ghz and 40 on 5Ghz. 

Take the check mark out of the Enable AX and Enable 20/40Mhz Coexistence check boxes. 

Set Transmit Power to 50% on both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. 

---

@titanicnut wrote:

Ok I see things look on for power, kind low but well with in specs. 

I know the upload channel power levels are low but comcast claims they can't fix them

Ya they can fix them, thats on them. 

Channels 7,8, and 9 have some Correctables but not horrible. 

what needs correcting?

Those should be reading mostly zeros, Items below could help:

Be sure there are no coax cable line splitters in the between the modem and ISP service box. yup already checked

Be sure your using good quality RG6 coax cable up to the modem. I am but replaced it anyways

Start with removing any amplifiers, signal attenuators, or splitters from the coax. there weren't any

From there check the line for kinks, damage, moisture in the line. from what we can see in the attic there isn't any

Check the connectors for improperly made ends, foil touching the copper coax line, loose connections, bad/old/cheap connectors, or corroded connections. Replace them if you do. again, hard to check in the attic but how much of the line we could see we didn't see anything weird

Lines in this space been replaced? 

I'd find the devices that's having problems connecting and see if this helps. Possible this device is dragging something down causing wifi and upload issues. I did find it was the printer we forgot to re-connect BUT we have had issues for way longer than the 24 hours this printer was trying to connect.

So after connecting it, problem still happens? 

This version is supposed to have fixed a long standing 5Ghz upload issue in prior versions of FW. According to Netgear Tech Support there is no long standing issue. Ugh! They also claim it's not the recent firmware update that is messing things up even though we didn't have problems until it came through.

You can try downgrading FW to prior version and see. 

They changed our DNS from auto to some google numbers (they remoted into my laptop)... didn't fix the problem.

They asked me to request Comcast give us a static DNS... comcast doesn't do that for residential customers.

My list of "things to try" is getting longer and longer but nothing is working! This is super frustrating since we work from home and it disrupts us all day long.

---

[titanicnut]

What devices are you using for the 5Ghz upload? 

2 cell phones and 2 windows laptops

Lets set manual channels 1 on 2.4Ghz and 40 on 5Ghz. done

Take the check mark out of the Enable AX and Enable 20/40Mhz Coexistence check boxes.  done

Set Transmit Power to 50% on both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. can't... it only gives 100, 80, 60, 40 and 20

Okay just checked and now it's worse. Having issues just sending an email with text only. crum!

@titanicnut wrote:

Ok I see things look on for power, kind low but well with in specs. 

I know the upload channel power levels are low but comcast claims they can't fix them

Ya they can fix them, thats on them. I'll contact them again

Check the connectors for improperly made ends, foil touching the copper coax line, loose connections, bad/old/cheap connectors, or corroded connections. Replace them if you do. again, hard to check in the attic but how much of the line we could see we didn't see anything weird

Lines in this space been replaced?  no because access is quite limited up there

I'd find the devices that's having problems connecting and see if this helps. Possible this device is dragging something down causing wifi and upload issues. I did find it was the printer we forgot to re-connect BUT we have had issues for way longer than the 24 hours this printer was trying to connect.

So after connecting it, problem still happens? no there's nothing showing up in the logs anymore. THAT problems fixed lol.

This version is supposed to have fixed a long standing 5Ghz upload issue in prior versions of FW. According to Netgear Tech Support there is no long standing issue. Ugh! They also claim it's not the recent firmware update that is messing things up even though we didn't have problems until it came through.

You can try downgrading FW to prior version and see. oooooo! how do I do that?!?! and when/if I can do it, won't it revert back when it looks for firmware the next time around?

[FURRYe38]

What is the brand and model#s of the phones and laptops? 

Ok so disabling Smart Connect. Can you connect to the 2.4Ghz only SSID name and upload OK? 

Do you have Airtime Fairness enabled or disabled? It's disabled on mine. 

https://kb.netgear.com/23960/How-do-I-manually-update-the-firmware-on-my-NETGEAR-router

Possible. Something maybe we can get NG to stop if older version works...Worth trying if you can. 

[titanicnut]

iPhone XR and Samsung S22

HP Laptop and MSI Creator Z16

Disabled the smart connect and still cannot upload on either the 2.4 or 5

I didn't have Airtime Fairness enabled but enabled it to see if it helped and it didn't. It's back disabled again.

I tried to roll back the firmware but the downloaded file only gave me a .bin and it's supposed to be a .img or .chk

ugh!

[titanicnut]

Thank you for all your help with my issue. After spending the last 6 hours on and off the phone with Netgear Tech Support (not to mention at least 15 hours over the past several days!) and NOT getting it fixed we have decided to return the Nighthawk CAX80 and get a motorola.

We're DONE with netgear!!!

[FURRYe38]

Good Luck.