Re: New - CAX80 Firmware Version 5.1.1.8 Released

GearNet7 · ‎2024-10-01

Anyone who owns CAX80, do not use this firmware.

Unfortunately for me, the firmware was automatically updated for me last night and it completely brought my unit to its knees, so much so that I reset all my settings!!! For examples, it removed all my port forwarding settings, it changed my LAN settings (instead of 100.0.10.1 to the default 192.168.1.1, etc.

What's worse is that even after I reconfigured everything, I could never get port forwarding to work again. I tried port 80, 21, 443, 3389, you name it. None of those worked.

At the end, I had to manually install the previously known good version and only then I was able to get port forwarding to work again.

In summary, this version of the firmware is NOT READY for prime time yet.

FURRYe38 · ‎2024-10-01

Did you first try a factory reset on the modem after v5 FW was installed to see if your PF configuration would work?

This is a major update from v2 FW and I presume there maybe newer FW code changes that may not be compatible with older v2 FW configurations and such. So a factory reset would be needed and setup from scratch to check this.

Did you also disable uPnP feature since you are configuring PF rules?

GearNet7 · ‎2024-10-01

Sorry if I wasn't clear in my previous post. First off, the automatic update completely ruined my original setup. It was since then I had to perform a factory reset, and only then I tried to reconfigure everything. So yes, I understand this is a major release but still port forwarding was broken, period.

That being said, NG should have thoroughly tested their fw before releasing it to the public. Most consumers who purchased this would not have nearly the same level of knowledge as I do, let alone they would know or even bother to roll back the firmware to the previous version.

Suffice to say, this level of software QA is unacceptable.

Kitsap · ‎2024-10-01

@GearNet7 wrote:
Sorry if I wasn't clear in my previous post. First off, the automatic update completely ruined my original setup. It was since then I had to perform a factory reset, and only then I tried to reconfigure everything. So yes, I understand this is a major release but still port forwarding was broken, period.

That being said, NG should have thoroughly tested their fw before releasing it to the public. Most consumers who purchased this would not have nearly the same level of knowledge as I do, let alone they would know or even bother to roll back the firmware to the previous version.

Suffice to say, this level of software QA is unacceptable.

It is normal for experienced Netgear users to turn off automatic firmware updates. If you were not one before an automatic update blows up your network, you soon become one after.

I am not saying it is right, I am saying it is a cold hard fact with Netgear routers.

GearNet7 · ‎2024-10-02

Needless to say, my unit received the automatic update once again last night and as the result, it screwed up all port forwarding.

I try to find the automatic update option but I cannot find it. Is there any other secret menu option that I can enable to turn it off (like the developer mode on Android phone, for instance)?

Kitsap · ‎2024-10-03

@GearNet7 wrote:
Needless to say, my unit received the automatic update once again last night and as the result, it screwed up all port forwarding.

I try to find the automatic update option but I cannot find it. Is there any other secret menu option that I can enable to turn it off (like the developer mode on Android phone, for instance)?

I do not have a CAX80 available to check on the specific page. Maybe @FURRYe38 can shed some light on this question. There is also a chance that option has been depreciated in the most recent firmware release.