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Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

daydemon
Star

CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

Just recently upgraded from the Netgear C6220 to the CAX80.

 

I noticed that the WIFI calling feature on my Samsung Note 10 Plus is no longer working. I cannot send or receive calls/texts over WIFI with the CAX80. With the C6220, the feature worked seamlessly. I have seen other issues on here about wifi calling with Nighthawks but not with this particular model.

 

I have tried changing the channels on both 2G and 5G and it did not work. I have also tried disabling SIP ALG under WAN settings.

 

I have no parental/access controls enabled.

 

Additional Info:

ISP: Spectrum

Hardware Version: 1.01

Firmware Version: 2.1.1.4

Cable Firmware Version: 1.02.08

 

 

Anyone having similar issues or have any ideas?

Message 1 of 25

Accepted Solutions
daydemon
Star

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

Solved:

After 7 months of painful troubleshooting we have finally found the fix to wifi calling.

It seems the culprit was "ipsec alg". The service is not found on the official firmware and therefore cannot be disabled.

For everyone with the issue:
You must contact netgear support and explain the wifi calling issues and that you'd like to try the beta firmware with the ipsec alg feature. Currently they do not have plans to release it publicly. Not sure why.

View solution in original post

Message 25 of 25

All Replies
Mishkhanian
Initiate

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

I have had this problem from day 1. No one can seem to figure it out either.

My Android device no longer has WiFi calling capabilities at home with my CAX80. But my iPhones do. So it's the phone right? Wrong! I have WiFi calling everywhere else. And it's not just my phone. My dad's and mom's phone couldn't do WiFi calling from my home. Both Androids as well. I tried contacting support, but they put me on hold for 2 hours (not joking) and when I hung up, they considered the case closed. Now my 90 days is up and I can't get support or return.

I have zero reception at home, so I really need the wifi calling to work.
Message 2 of 25
dadabunchie
Aspirant

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

I'm also experiencing this issue but I don't think this is a Netgear or router issue but its a carrier issue.  I'm on Verizon and wifi calling comes and goes on my Galaxy S10+.

 


@Mishkhanian wrote:
I have had this problem from day 1. No one can seem to figure it out either.

My Android device no longer has WiFi calling capabilities at home with my CAX80. But my iPhones do. So it's the phone right? Wrong! I have WiFi calling everywhere else. And it's not just my phone. My dad's and mom's phone couldn't do WiFi calling from my home. Both Androids as well. I tried contacting support, but they put me on hold for 2 hours (not joking) and when I hung up, they considered the case closed. Now my 90 days is up and I can't get support or return.

I have zero reception at home, so I really need the wifi calling to work.

 

Message 3 of 25
daydemon
Star

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

Unfortunately I think the problem lies with the router. Or at least with the Netgear/Samsung interconnectivity. None of my Android devices have encountered issues with wifi calling until switching to the CAX80.

Just to sum up the details on attempts to fix the problem:
-disabled SIP ALG under WAN settings
-switched channels on both 2G and 5G
-switched primary/alternate DNS to 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4
-established a DMZ for the target ip

None of these things worked.

Upon connecting to any other router, my wifi calling is instantly reestablished and functional.

This problem with the CAX80 needs to be addressed. It also has problems with Samsung TVs but that's an entirely different topic...
Message 4 of 25
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

Something I recommend contact NG support about and filing a support ticket. Let them know what your seeing.

@DarrenM 

Message 5 of 25
daydemon
Star

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

Absolutely. I already have one open but I think they ran out of solutions. They stopped responding after seeing the DMZ and DNS attempts were unsuccessful.
Message 6 of 25
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

Hopefully they will look into this. Seems like there is a problem on the modems router side of things. I presume if you put the modem into bridge mode and connected a different router to the modem that the proble may not present itself. Something that would be a good re-enforcing test to show this configuration results. 

 

Keep in contact with support. 

Message 7 of 25
daydemon
Star

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

Quick update.

Netgear technicians have not yet been able to identify or solve the issue. I have been in contact with various technicians and none of the aforementioned steps in this thread work to solve the issue.

Also a link to Samsung forum regarding the CAX80 and Samsung TVs.
https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Qled-and-Frame/TV-Plus-not-Working-with-New-Router-QN55Q6FNA-wit...

Bottom line, there is definitely an issue with the CAX80 and Samsung devices. Seems the issue is on the modem/router end. Could be firmware.

But for now, seems we're at a dead end.
Message 8 of 25
F87garcia89
Initiate

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

I have same issue. No wifi calling since day one. I have zero reception at home and made this purchase to "save" from leasing Xfinity modem. But now regretting decision. Have gone through all those steps mentioned earlier and no solution either. Now I'm past my return window. Very disappointed with this expensive defective product.
Message 9 of 25
Mishkhanian
Initiate

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

I switched to an iPhone. Problem"solved"
Message 10 of 25
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

What model phone do you have? 


@F87garcia89 wrote:
I have same issue. No wifi calling since day one. I have zero reception at home and made this purchase to "save" from leasing Xfinity modem. But now regretting decision. Have gone through all those steps mentioned earlier and no solution either. Now I'm past my return window. Very disappointed with this expensive defective product.

 

Message 11 of 25
daydemon
Star

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

Februrary Update:

 

I have finally gotten the issue pushed up to Netgear's engineering team. They are now aware of the issue and working on a fix. It has taken awhile to get this issue recognized as a widespread problem and not an isolated incident. A big part of this was trying to get Netgear to realize that the problem was the router and not a myriad of other things (phones, carriers, internet connectivity, etc...). Whatever it is, it seems to be affecting Samsung devices in particular.

 

Hopefully we will have the issue fixed soon and a new firmware update in the not too distant future.

Message 12 of 25
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

Thanks for letting us know. I guess one reason why I never saw this issue. I have a iPhone. 

 

Keep on NG support about this. Hopefully it will finally get fixed. 

Message 13 of 25

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

Does anyone have this problem with Google Fi / Pixel phones?  I have been researching this issue closesly because I was about to buy a CAX80 but if this issue is not fixed I will find somethinge else.  I had this same issue a few years ago with my old Samsung S8+ on an old Netgear R7000 router so I don't think its "new" for Netgear to be wifi-calling averse.  I wonder what is going on behind the curtain that causes this...

Message 14 of 25
F87garcia89
Initiate

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

I have a Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra. It seems like Netgear has gave up on finding a solution.
Message 15 of 25

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

booo..... Robot Mad  Well I just found one for sale on Newegg.  I will be activating it on Xfinity next week and will let everyone know.  I have a Pixel 4XL and my wife has an iPhone 11.  We are both on Google Fi.  #fingersCrossed  If this doesn't work I will just switch to Starlink Smiley Very Happy

Message 16 of 25
daydemon
Star

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

March Update:

Still no fix from the engineers. They have managed to fix the Samsung TV PLUS issue that arose with the CAX80, however, nothing for the wifi calling.

Unfortunately I don't expect to see a fix anytime soon. I seem to be providing most of the suggestions to the engineers. I can't speak for Netgear's workload, but I would expect to see a much bigger effort on a problem this big.
Message 17 of 25
tamanaco
Apprentice

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues


@daydemon wrote:
March Update:

Still no fix from the engineers. They have managed to fix the Samsung TV PLUS issue that arose with the CAX80, however, nothing for the wifi calling.

Unfortunately I don't expect to see a fix anytime soon. I seem to be providing most of the suggestions to the engineers. I can't speak for Netgear's workload, but I would expect to see a much bigger effort on a problem this big.

@daydemon  Was the TV PLUS fixed made available to you via an "unreleased" firmware update? Did NG Support provide you with an aproximate release date for the general public to the TV PLUS fix?  I have been experiencing this issue since I started using the CAX80.

 

I used to get more frequent firmware updates on my older NG routers. The CAX80 appears not to get much attention as it relates to firmware updates. Only the NightHawk app gets frequent updates, but that doesn't fix or improve the router fuctions.

Message 18 of 25
daydemon
Star

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

I can only assume they are waiting to solve the wifi calling issue before pushing out a public firmware release with both wifi calling and Samsung tv plus fixes.

They did not provide me with a timeline on when the Samsung TV PLUS fix would be made available.
Message 19 of 25

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

When I checked for firmware I was told it would come from my service provider. Why Xfinity would care about my firmware is beyond me. They wish I had their branded hardware and would be glad to brick my CAX80 so I "upgrade." I think we are screwed on getting any updates ladies and gentlemen. It's a double bureaucracy combo. 😞

I wonder if this is like when Android updates are released. Google makes the update then pushes it out to the different carriers to test and verify, if the manufacturers/carriers choose not to push it out so they can market newer products too bad. We might be at the mercy of our wonderful, caring, and unevil ISPs. I don't think I have ever seen a Netgear product have absolutely no firmware updates available, I'm just as exasperated as you are.

Message 20 of 25
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

This is a DOCSIS cable modem spec set forth by this group and ISPs. ALL Cable modems fall under ISP FW support and it's up to ISPs to push any FW out to cable modems, ISP owned or user owned. Some ISPs do NOT push FW to user owned modems. Mainly Spectrum. Smiley Tongue

 

The modem portion of the CAX80 falls under this. So NG will develop the modem portion of the FW then hand it off to ISPs for there testing to ensure it works on there systems. It's up to ISPs to test it and push it if they choose to do so. 

 

The router portion of the CAX80 can be user updated. I presume NG keeps this under only as needed basis and only done thru tech support when deem necessary. I see there is a FW version available for users to download and install. This would be only for the router portion of the CAX80. Not the modem portion. 

Message 21 of 25
daydemon
Star

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

April update:

 

It has now been 3 months since bringing the WIFI calling issue to Netgear. My impression so far is that the customer service process (more specifically, tech support) is both inefficient and inadequate. They continually seem to forget the past discussions and troubleshooting steps we have done to get to this point.

 

In short, if there are any possible ideas that you can think of with the router,  it is likely that I have done it. Twice. Maybe 3 times.

 

To give an overview into the process:

After a few months of trying all the basic rudimentary steps through L1 and L2 support and proving to them that I wasn't incompetent and had a legitimate issue, it was forwarded to the enginners at Netgear, though I have no actual contact with them. Everything is relayed through a L2 support rep which makes communication extremely difficult. My issues were both WIFI calling and Samsung TVPLUS issues with the router. The engineers were quick with a few beta pushes that ultimately fixed the Samsung TVPLUS issue, though no progress has been made with WIFI calling. Though they have voiced that they see the issue with samsung devices. A statement that they later contradicted...

 

I have given several debug lugs capturing my phone attempting to make a call over WIFI. This is where communication gets difficult...because with Samsung devices you cannot manually attempt to make a WIFI call unless the phone recognizes the WIFI network as being able to facilitate WIFI calling. Usually you will see a wifi icon over the call button when you are on a capable WIFI network. Therefore when doing a packet capture, the CAX80 cannot see the phone attempting to make a WIFI call. Why? Because it isn't. The phone is not trying to utilize the WIFI network, it is using the mobile network because it doesn't see a WIFI calling capability through the CAX80. I have switched preferences from mobile to wifi. I have attempted it in airplane mode, i have disabled mobile data. All the things. The engineers do not seem to understand this.

 

Furthermore, I would expect to see some initiative on Netgear's end to fix an issue of this magnitude. Why not acquire a Samsung phone and recreate the issue in a controlled environment? Requesting packet captures from 1 person over and over again is not at all the correct way to solve this problem and slows the progress significantly. Especially when you have no direct contact and only respond once or twice a month.

 

Lastly, It would appear the Netgear engineering team does not review this website. Kind of ironic given that this is the place to discuss ISSUES with Netgear devices. Their latest response to me through their service rep was that this problem only seems to be affecting me and therefore is more likely an isolated incident which is why they need more packet captures. Now even a quick 2 minute research on Google would showcase more than a dozen instances of this exact issue through Amazon reviews, Best Buy reviews, and this forum. Bottom line is this level of mediocrity is completely unacceptable for a company like Netgear and needs to be addressed. If an average consumer is oupacing your engineering team, then they either need some serious training or you need a new engineering team.

 

I emplore anyone experiencing this issue to voice it here and to Netgear directly to speed up this process.

Message 22 of 25
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

Another way to help them understand and offer up more information to NG L2 and Engineering, I would put the CAX80 into modem only mode and connect up a different wifi router to the back fo the CAX80 and test WiFi calling out. See if the problem continues or not. Give your results and information to NG Support. 

Message 23 of 25
KarlWS
Aspirant

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

Happy to hear that. Now, we wait. We installed the NETGEAR CAX80 just over a week ago, on the Xfinity network. I have a Samsung Galaxy S9+, and my wife has an iPhone 11. Hers still works with Wi-Fi calling; mine does not. We're in an area with sketchy mobile coverage, so have relied on Wi-Fi calling, inside our home.
Message 24 of 25
daydemon
Star

Re: CAX 80 / WIFI calling issues

Solved:

After 7 months of painful troubleshooting we have finally found the fix to wifi calling.

It seems the culprit was "ipsec alg". The service is not found on the official firmware and therefore cannot be disabled.

For everyone with the issue:
You must contact netgear support and explain the wifi calling issues and that you'd like to try the beta firmware with the ipsec alg feature. Currently they do not have plans to release it publicly. Not sure why.

Message 25 of 25
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