Re: Win10 Reports C7000 has connection issues/problems

flinky · ‎2021-07-16

I bought my Nighthawk C7000 just over 2 years ago and have rarely had a problem, other than not getting very good WiFi range in an apartment with relatively thicker plaster and metal lathe walls. Just recently many of my Wifi devices that did connect were dropping. My PC was unable to connect to the any of the wired connections and thankfully I could connect using the wireless option. When I tried to troubleshoot the wired option I couldn't get reconnected. Rebooting didn't work, renewing the connection, turning everything off for at least a minute, disconnecting other connections, etc. I couldn't even get my phone to connect wirelessly at times.

I noticed that the device would also lose connection to the Internet so even if devices connected, there was no Internet. The provider was up and was fine (Spectrum.) Trying to use Win10 's network troubleshooter reported that the modem was having problems connecting to the Internet. This went on for a week and change intermittently. As of now, it seems things are back to normal but I have this fear it's going to happen again.

Question: Might this be signs that this relatively newer modem router might be starting to head its way out? Any internal tests that can be done to test ports, etc.? Any thoughts on what this could have been?

flinky · ‎2021-10-22

I've solved the problem and I will figure out the nature of keeping the extender/bridge assigned in the proper IP range.. On occasion I'd turn on an Asus Asus RT-AC88U router/extender set in extender mode to reach weak spots. It's a fantastic device and connected to the c7000 via ethernet. For some reason the c7000 began to assign it 192.168.1.1 (perhaps the extender reset) and , for reasons I cannot explain, the c7000 decided to occasionally provision wireless devices under the 192.168.1.x IP address format rather than just drawing from the DHCP server. One mobile device might connect but the Pixel just could not. Shutting off the extender and rebooting the phone now seems to connect the phone to the router.

I couldn't understand this as this setup worked so well until recently. Hopefully now we can fix this and move on. Thank you all for your prior help.

View solution in original post

flinky · ‎2021-07-18

Now it is working but new devices are not provisioning or connecting to the Internet. I've got 15 wireless devices connected. My laptop now will not connect. On the 2.4Ghz I can connect but will not be provisioned Internet access. On the 5GHz I am denied a connection to the router with Windows informing me "You cannot connect to this network".

FURRYe38 · ‎2021-07-19

Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update?

Have the ISP check the signal and line quality UP to the modem. Be sure the ISP provisions the modem correctly.
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.
Be sure to power OFF the modem for 1 minute them back ON.
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Cable-Modems-Routers/General-info-and-Troubleshooting-for-Cable-Mod...

flinky · ‎2021-10-21

Thanks and sorry for the late reply. I didn't get an email there was one. I am still having serious problems as now WiFi does not show as provisining and all phones get "no internet access". After about a year and a half, these problems began out of nowhere and persisted.

- performed a hard reset and that worked better for a few days, at best, before the problems began again

Have the ISP check the signal and line quality UP to the modem. Be sure the ISP provisions the modem correctly.

- Checked

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

- None and, if there is one or an extender, it was installed by my cable company

Be sure your using good quality RG6 coax cable up to the modem.

- Runs straight from the wire to the modem

Be sure to power OFF the modem for 1 minute them back ON.

- I've not only done this, I've also done a hard reset too

FURRYe38 · ‎2021-10-21

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 or 149 to 161 channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Try enabling any Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or may not be needed) and WMM features that may be seen. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

When this happens does both wireless and wired devices have problems getting internet access?

flinky · ‎2021-10-21

Looks like I will need to buy another expensive modem router I don't need. I doubt warranty support extends beyond 1 year but I couldn't register or contact support anyway - the website says "Sorry! It's us not you!" when I've clicked on checking warranty support, register a product, or technical support to contact Netgear.

Unfortunately I'm also constantly going to Windows 10 and using ipconfig to release and renew the IP configuration on the router and that I can't get the mobile devices to connect properly is troubling. Seems that once I start approaching more than 13, 14 wireless devices things don't function. It's also not a great sign when being literally 6 feet from the router provides noticeably less signal strength than someone else using a Google wireless router that is a thick ceiling away from me, if not further and in another room on another floor.

While the c7000 performed very solidly for a year, it's extremely disappointing that towards the middle of year 2 it is already ready for retirement and resulting in a poor investement. I do hope that there is some remedy for this as I cannot afford to be without consistent internet services. Thanks.

FURRYe38 · ‎2021-10-21

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 or 149 to 161 channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Try enabling any Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or may not be needed) and WMM features that may be seen. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

When this happens does both wireless and wired devices have problems getting internet access?

flinky · ‎2021-10-21

Thanks so much for the quick reply!!!

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 or 149 to 161 channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

I've changed auto and set manual channels to low usage valleys so there shouldn't be any interference. Nothing worked on either bandwidth. For a short moment I did have one phone that connected and then it dropped the connection and will not connect again, being told by the Android OS that there is no internet available. These are two completely different phones from different manufacturers.

I've noticed that another device seems to connect more regularly but not any of the phones. But I know the router is a problem because I lose the wired connected too at random times so that my computer would go offline.

Try enabling any Beamforming and MIMO(MIMO may or may not be needed) and WMM features that may be seen. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

Beamformign is on. I don't see any control specifically related to MIMO - and the firmware is the latest per spectrum.

When this happens does both wireless and wired devices have problems getting internet access?

This is why I'm hoping it's something other than an unexplained hardware failure - since I did the factory reset, I have been able to connect to one or the other. If the computer went out, I was often (but not always) able to connect via WiFi. It is a very strange problem I cannot identify. If it was just the two phones I'd question that hardware. But when it's other items, I wonder. And this is also before I installed additional virus protection such as Kaspersky, which I have learned is very thorough but can also be very difficult to manage. I've thought through this but still can't get certain devices to connect regularly and the wireless seem to get knocked off and sometimes cannot reconnect, such as the phones and 2 light switches.

Thanks again, truly much appreciated.

flinky · ‎2021-10-21

Tried to "forget" the network. That didn't work. I connect with excellent signal but I'm told by Android "XYZ has no Internet access."

I tried it for 5Ghz and now got a connection. But this too will disconnect and the same problem will repeat. I can't explain why this is happening.

flinky · ‎2021-10-22

Here is an interesting observation. This phone is being assigned an IP address 192.168.1.244 while almost all the others use 0 for the third octet. I wonder if that has to do with the problem and wondering why it's being assigned that IP address while my other phone, which works intermittently but is connected with Internet access, uses a 0. This might be the source of the problem and would make sense it's a provisioning issue. I just don't know how to manage this.

flinky · ‎2021-10-22

OK - I may have identified the problem. The rother is assigned as the DHCP server and a range from 192.168.0.10 to .254 for the last octet. So why is it provisioning outside of this range to 192.168.1.xxx? The router as a DHCP server seems to be provisioning the phone outside of that range.

flinky · ‎2021-10-22

I figured out how to assign a static IP to the phone using its MAC address. The router will not provision anything other than what I posted. It doesn't matter using access control, not using it, rebooting the modem, rebooting the phone. The router is simply provisioning outside the network assignment in the LAN settings and it's more than one device. So.... what am I left to do? (There are plenty of IP addresses available)

FURRYe38 · ‎2021-10-22

Is the IP address of the modem 192.168.1.1 or .0.1?

You can change the range to be anything. I always seting my range from .100 to .150 as I don't have more than 30 devices and this give room for growth.

@flinky wrote:

I figured out how to assign a static IP to the phone using its MAC address. The router will not provision anything other than what I posted. It doesn't matter using access control, not using it, rebooting the modem, rebooting the phone. The router is simply provisioning outside the network assignment in the LAN settings and it's more than one device. So.... what am I left to do? (There are plenty of IP addresses available)

flinky · ‎2021-10-22

The IP address of the c7000 is 192.168.0.1. It assigned about 16 or so devices in the 192.168.0.xxx range beow 254. However, the phone (which is device 15, 16, 17 or 18 dependeing on what may be trying to connect) is always assigned 192.168.1.xxx - usually 237 and I have no idea why it's not assigning it and another deivce one of the many addresses in the 192.168.0.1 - 192.168.0.254 range. The LAN settings restrict the DHCP server to assignment in that range.

And as I mentioned above, I even found a way to manually assign a static IP address to the MAC address of the phone and the router simply ignores it.

flinky · ‎2021-10-22

I've solved the problem and I will figure out the nature of keeping the extender/bridge assigned in the proper IP range.. On occasion I'd turn on an Asus Asus RT-AC88U router/extender set in extender mode to reach weak spots. It's a fantastic device and connected to the c7000 via ethernet. For some reason the c7000 began to assign it 192.168.1.1 (perhaps the extender reset) and , for reasons I cannot explain, the c7000 decided to occasionally provision wireless devices under the 192.168.1.x IP address format rather than just drawing from the DHCP server. One mobile device might connect but the Pixel just could not. Shutting off the extender and rebooting the phone now seems to connect the phone to the router.

I couldn't understand this as this setup worked so well until recently. Hopefully now we can fix this and move on. Thank you all for your prior help.

FURRYe38 · ‎2021-10-23

Glad you figured it out.

Keep a back up configuration of the router on had for safe keeping. Saves time if a reset is needed.

Enjoy.

schumaku · ‎2021-10-23

@flinky wrote:

For some reason the c7000 began to assign it 192.168.1.1 (perhaps the extender reset) and , for reasons I cannot explain, the c7000 decided to occasionally provision wireless devices under the 192.168.1.x IP address format rather than just drawing from the DHCP server.

It's more than unlikely the C7000 does change it's DHCP config.issuing 192.168.1.x addresses. Much more likely this extender which is a router in it's heart has started to operate it's own DHCP service (as part of the factory reset which does almost certainly make it a router again) on the same network, creating the mess.