Is my R7000 router with 40% signal degradation about to die?

[Popo99]

Have this basic setup

Xfinity => CM700 (modem) => R7000 (router) =(wired)=> PC

For simplicity let's say I get 500 Mbps from Comcast. If I do the following:

Xfinity => CM700 (modem) =(wired)=> PC

I get 500. But if I use the router setup:

Xfinity => CM700 (modem) => R7000 (router) =(wired)=> PC

I only get 500*60% = 300 Mbps. Tested many times, similar results.

Also tested:

Using iperf3 talking to a Synology NAS from a PC, both linked through the R7000 router, wired. The speed ranges from 850-920. Probably some loss there (not sure how to test packet loss with Synology, -u did not quite work for me).

Let me say I don't think there is an issue with the cables. I use them to test direction link to the modem.

Well, R7000 is Gigabit capable. But it's aged.

Question:

Is there a configuration issue, firmware issue (I am just one behind, see no major impact there), or my router is just about to die?

[Kitsap · Accepted solution]

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@Popo99 wrote:

I then realized I had a spare Asus router, RT AC66U (comparable to the R7000). I started using it to test. Initial tests results were pretty miserable. I only got 10% (like 50 Mbps). I thought there was an issue between Asus and my Netgear modem. Since I can do anything on this router, I moved to follow @plemans to factory reset it.

What came out was a surprise. I got 100% of the speed from Comcast.  Asus does not seem to have an app that can run Speedtest on the router, so I did the tests on the PC, which should be more "reliable". So my modem is fine. My cables are fine.

The last thing, there is got to be something wrong with the R7000.

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It should not be a surprise.  While it is a pain, the repair value of a firmware default reset far exceeds the pain it causes.

The design of the R7000 is several years old and many of the machines have thousands of hours of run time on them.  Like anything electronic, it ages.  Heat, voltage spikes, and power surges all take a cumulative toll on the device.  Many many R7000's are still running fine and providing good service.

[Kitsap]

Cables are cheap, buy a couple of new ones to be certain they are not the issue.

Have you checked the inside of all the Ethernet ports?  Use a good flashlight to check for corrosion, lint, or other debris.

Make certain QOS and Traffic Meter are disabled.  Be sure and power cord reboot your router after making changes whether it calls for a reboot or not.

Port statistics could shed some light on the situation.

https://kb.netgear.com/24222/How-do-I-display-Internet-port-statistics-on-my-Nighthawk-router

Are you using the Ookla native operating system application to check your capacity?

(available in the play stores)

Maybe change out the power adapter?

[Popo99]

Let me provide a bit more background. I don't have much networking knowledge and practical know-how. There is also limitation of time as well as equipment, as I need to maintain network connection for the house most of the time, so even if I tried to do testing as much as I can, it's slow.

For one thing,I did manage to make and pull some Cat6 cables to wire some location as there just isn't any option. The switches and router (AP) I use are budget. So all these are suspect.

Bu I did manage to do some tests, which I am going to explain next.

[Popo99]

(Netgear comments won't allow edit, even for the first 30 seconds, so I want to add this from the last comment: because I can't easily shut down the connection, I did not try reset.)

In my initial post, I did not mention, but I did run a Nighthawk app speedtest. The results at first showed some noticeable difference (like 7-10% faster), but the results were not sustainable. Eventually Nighthawk Speedtest fell into a range of 5% faster than test from a PC.

Early on I realized I had an extended list of blocked sites (for ads), then as @Kitsap and @plemans (in a different thread, https://community.netgear.com/t5/Cable-Modems-Routers/Have-interneet-with-modem-router-but-no-when-p...) pointed out, need to "make sure to leave qos, access control, traffic monitoring, and parental controls all disabled". I am not an advanced user, so I did not use many of of the controls at all. When I checked, I saw my traffic monitor was on. So I disabled both blocked sites and traffic control.

Initial tests were mixed. Not much an improvement on the PC site, but initial results from Nighthawk Speedtest saw some 15% improvement. So I get 75%*500 Mbps = 385, still not 100%. I understand Nighthawk Speedtest was run on the router itself. so this made sense and it can point to a problem with my cabling. But a day later the difference disappeared, I only saw some 5-8% improvement, very unstable.

I also follow @Kitsap to check Port statistics, which looked good, as well as trying to stare into the physical ports themselves. Did not see anything unusual either. I did not have a lot of spare cables. So did not try checking.

[FURRYe38]

What Firmware version is currently loaded?

Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6 is recommended. 

Has a factory reset been performed and setup from scratch with out enabling Access Controls, Armor, Circle or Traffic Meter?

What my R7000 sees with my ISP services last time it was online as a router:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/New-R7000-Firmware-Version-1-0-11-134-Releas...

I recommend placing a laptop cooler under your router as well for additional cooling.

[Popo99]

I then realized I had a spare Asus router, RT AC66U (comparable to the R7000). I started using it to test. Initial tests results were pretty miserable. I only got 10% (like 50 Mbps). I thought there was an issue between Asus and my Netgear modem. Since I can do anything on this router, I moved to follow @plemans to factory reset it.

What came out was a surprise. I got 100% of the speed from Comcast.  Asus does not seem to have an app that can run Speedtest on the router, so I did the tests on the PC, which should be more "reliable". So my modem is fine. My cables are fine.

The last thing, there is got to be something wrong with the R7000.

[Kitsap · Accepted solution]

---

@Popo99 wrote:

I then realized I had a spare Asus router, RT AC66U (comparable to the R7000). I started using it to test. Initial tests results were pretty miserable. I only got 10% (like 50 Mbps). I thought there was an issue between Asus and my Netgear modem. Since I can do anything on this router, I moved to follow @plemans to factory reset it.

What came out was a surprise. I got 100% of the speed from Comcast.  Asus does not seem to have an app that can run Speedtest on the router, so I did the tests on the PC, which should be more "reliable". So my modem is fine. My cables are fine.

The last thing, there is got to be something wrong with the R7000.

---

It should not be a surprise.  While it is a pain, the repair value of a firmware default reset far exceeds the pain it causes.

The design of the R7000 is several years old and many of the machines have thousands of hours of run time on them.  Like anything electronic, it ages.  Heat, voltage spikes, and power surges all take a cumulative toll on the device.  Many many R7000's are still running fine and providing good service.

[Popo99]

Thanks @FURRYe38. Was just about to wrap up my story.

OK. With the Asus setup, I moved to factory reset my R7000. Yes it then worked as expected. I ran Speedtest on my PC, got 100%. (If you believe Comcast Business Speedtest, the speed exceeded my cable limit.)

Because I did not do much to my R7000 configuration (other than block sites and traffic monitor), I am really puzzled. I tried between the two sets of configurations (by reloading, not going through factory reset), the results are pretty consistent: my old configuration just won't work, the new one does). But it probably isn't worth the time to figure it out why.

One last thing that drives me crazy. Now when I run a Speedtest on the Nighthawk App, which, again, is supposed to run on the router, not an end PC, I see the results much slower, even slower than with my old R7000 configuration.

To repeat, I have this now fixed, the firmware has been updated to the latest, without any other controls (QoS, traffic, parental, blocked sites etc,. Just did not touch anything):

Xfinity => CM700 (modem) => R7000 (router) =(wired)=> PC

When I run Speedtest on the end PC, I get 100%*500Mbps=500

When I run Speedtest on the Nighthawk App, I get 40%500Mbps=200

I try different speed tests on the PC, believe I am really getting 100%.

Thanks to all who help.

[FURRYe38]

We've seen problems with those listed features causing problems or slowdowns when enabled. Use them as needed with the understanding about this. 

We've seen inconsistent speed results of the NH app. I tend to use w wired PC and speed test app on the PC and test thru  the PC and router to get most accurate results.

Glad you got it working. Please mark your thread as solved so others will know. Be sure to save off a back up configuration to file for safe keeping. Saves time if a reset is needed.
https://kb.netgear.com/24231/How-do-I-back-up-the-router-configuration-settings-on-my-Nighthawk-rout...
Enjoy. 📡