Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
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Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

etcha
Aspirant

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

Same issue. Cancelled circle subscription today. 330 with circle disabled, 120 with circle enabled. Cant justify turning it back on with over half the bandwidth lost. Will just have to turn devices on and off manually using the nighthawk phone app.

Message 26 of 44
Thorz
Star

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

R7000 owner here.

I cannot express how disappointed I am with Netgear. One year since the OP started this thread, and we still don't have an answer to this issue.

I guess that the resource use of having Circle turned on is just too much for these routers. It is a pity but the Circle service on these routers is just a pure marketing trick. The R7000 just cannot handle the load Circle produces.

In my case having 1Gbps fiber connection I normally get 946/946mbps with Circle disabled, on Ethernet, with Circle enabled (and having chosen to not monitor the PC I am testing with in the Circle app) I barelly get 750-800mbps download and 700mbps or less upload speeds. This means that activating Circle is costing us 20% of the bandwidth or in some of the reported cases even more.

To Netgear: If activating this service on your product is going to degrade the throughput so much please do tell your costumers, don't just advertise this knowing that activating it is going to transform your internet experience into a crawl.

Message 27 of 44
KnightSi99
Tutor

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

Hi there, same issue here. I'm not sure if it was this thread or a different one, but someone had recommended resetting the device back to factory defaults after doing a firmware update each time and enabling Circle again. Although I feel we shouldn't have to do that, I really do like Circle so I figured I give it a go. So when I updated to FW V1.0.9.42_10.2.44, I did exactly that. I reset the router back to factory defaults and changed settings back to the way I had them, like setting DNS to use OpenDNS, enabling Smart Connect for my wifi, etc. So after doing all that, my download and upload speeds have been consistent to what my isp advertises now. I figured on the next FW update, I'll try updating without having to reset factory defaults and see how that goes. Anyway, just wanted to share my experience.

Message 28 of 44
Thorz
Star

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

I also like Circle and what it offers. What are your internet speeds with and without Circle activated?

Reseting the router to factory defaults and configuring everything manually again is a PITA. I have multiple IP reservations in the DHCP scope, static DNS, multiple static port forwards, this is going to take an eternity to configure again, and if this indeed work as you are posting and this has to be done after every single firmware update the cost of mantaining this solution in time is going to be really high.

Does anyone know of another product that offers time control similar to what Circle does and that doesn't involve the level of frustration Circle on Netgear devices has?

Message 29 of 44
TomBT
Guide

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

Once you get everything set under a stable release, you can stop upgrading the firmware and you won't have to upgrade every time a new one is released. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a stable release that works in OVER A YEAR!!!

I went to Tomato firmware and abandoned the Circle functionality. I want to get a new mesh system but will avoid Netgear at all costs when I do.
Message 30 of 44
Thorz
Star

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

Do not upgrade? Bad idea. New firmware is also about security and other fixes. To not upgrade your router to the latest firmware is definitely not advised.

I think that Circle works maybe better if one buys the extra hardware and doesn't rely on the router to handle the processing. I have not tested this.

Message 31 of 44
TomBT
Guide

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

Nope. The external hardware Circle uses ARP spoofing/poisoning which slows the system down as well, plus it also prevents your security software from monitoring if others are spoofing your site as well. Thats why I wanted the internal Circle functionality.

Not saying that not upgrading is ideal. But with the garbage Netgear is putting out these days, it is an option if you don't want to reconfigure with every new even-worse-than-the-last firmware release.
Message 32 of 44
dsims9wayne
Aspirant

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

Solution 

what i was able to do was turn circle off, then i turned Qos on and ran a speed test multiple times with nothing pulling data on my router while speed testing till i got the full speeds that my ISP provides me with which is 400mbps down and 20mbps up. Then in the Qos page i hit save settings. once i hit the save button the router rebooted. once it rebootedd i  turned circle back on and hit apply and i am now getting full bandwith and circle protecting the network. 400mbps down and 20mbps up most of the time it never falls below 80% of what my ISP provieds me with. hopefly this helps everyone. 

Message 33 of 44
Kyle_PHX
Guide

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

Does it persist? I've found the speed would be ok for a while after restarting, then degrade again over time. Do you have any/many custom rules setup, and how many devices?
Message 34 of 44
dsims9wayne
Aspirant

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

The speeds have been consistent 80% of ISP provided speeds. I don’t have any rules other than circle settings.
What modem are you using from your isp?
I had att fiber with a gateway modem/router that caused issues I was able to clear it up by turning of the firewall in the modem and used My routers firewall.
I’m currently with spectrum for ISP and so far no more issues with speed.
Also my wired devices to the R7000 has been 99% speeds provided by ISP.
My R7000 has V1.0.9.64_10.2.64 firmware.
Message 35 of 44
Kyle_PHX
Guide

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

Ok I'm trying it now. I have whatever modem CenturyStink included, cz1000 or something.
Model: R7000P | AC2300 Nighthawk Smart WiFi Router with MU-MIMO
Message 36 of 44
evil_mike
Apprentice

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

I have Circle running on Orbi, not R7000, but I have had almost no issues with it once I got it properly configured. A few tips:

 

1) In the Circle app, set any devices you do not need to be managed by Circle to Unmanaged. For example, I have my work computer set to unmanaged, because I'm the only person who uses it. Anything that is set as Unmanaged in Circle will be completely ignored and should not get slowed down at all.

2) On the router itself:  Disable IPv6.  This was an older recommendation, but it absolutely made a difference for me. I don't use IPv6, so disabling it didn't matter much to me.


Personally, I have a love/hate relationship with Circle. There's a lot that I would like to see enhanced in the Circle product, but TBH, I have not found a better parental control solution on the market (and I've looked).

EDIT: To be clear: I am getting at or above the speed I am paying for WITH CIRCLE ENABLED.

Message 37 of 44
dsims9wayne
Aspirant

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

I couldnt agree more on circle being about the best solution for clean internet for family.

The Circle Go would be the best for Smart phones but its easy to disable, if it would force to reconect every 30seconds then it would be the best smart phone soultion but since it doesnt Questodio for now is on top.

 

I have thought about getting the circle hub and conecting it to the R7000 to see if that would insure 100% speeds. thanks for the info.

 

Message 38 of 44
farbod
Star

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

I've been dealing with this issue since the latest update Firmware Version

V1.0.9.64_10.2.64 . Model: R7000|Nighthawk AC1900 Dual Band WiFi Router

As you mentioned, the speed drops off drastically 😞

Enabled Disney circle at Parental control. (basic service) Cable or WIFI Internet speed drops

 

Circle onCircle off

Message 39 of 44
evil_mike
Apprentice

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

If the device you're testing on doesn't need to be scanned by Cicle, set it to unmanaged and re-test. Also, disable IPv6 on the router.

Message 40 of 44
farbod
Star

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

I’ve already done what you asked me to do before posting.  The issue is definitely the firmware since the problem started right after the update.  These are what I have done so far:

  1. Upgraded to the new firmware 0.9.64_10.2.64.
  2. Factory reset the router.
  3. Enabled the circle and did speed test. slow speed
  4. Deactivated Circle, speed test.  Max, full speed
  5. Disabled internet traffic meter, disabled QS and IPv6 (by default = off) re-enabled saved, and on both cases, speed test same result, no change.
  6. Finally, connected the mac with the wire directly to the router, factory reset, re-downloaded the firmware from the Netgear, updated the firmware, factory reset the router. Speed test = max  Enabled the circle, speed = slow again did step 5 without any luck.
  7. Final attempt, in my cell, circle app. Unmanaged device = same result and also tried with cell and my pc without any luck againnnnn :-(. 
  8. Conclusion, firmware problem either with circle or the router. 
Message 41 of 44
farbod
Star

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

 
Message 42 of 44
Rayden666
Aspirant

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

How is this still not fixed?

Message 43 of 44
FalloP
Aspirant

Re: R7000 - Disney Circle - Internet speeds through router slowdown

I’ve the same issue. Disable circle get 3-4x the download speed.

Tried disabling all unused router features, logs etc. might of helped a small amount.

Backed up my circle account in the circle app and the reset circle (loosing all devices groups and configuration) and the router immediately works Way faster.

Restored config - back to slow as.

I had well over 100 devices and 10 groups which had slowly built up over time.

So I have started again with a reset circle with 15 devices and 3 groups and the speed is still good.


My guess is that circle gets busier the more objects it has to manage and eats CPU time or Ram on the router.

Purge your circle config people...
Model: R7000|AC1900 Smart WIFI Router
Message 44 of 44
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