Nighthawk X4S D7800 Connection Issues

[a-brittis]

My problem is similar to past posts without any resolution.  Some devices - while connected to wifi - will lose their internet connection. Sometimes ALL devices will suffer this fate, other times, it's just one or two. Disconnecting and reconnecting the device doesn't help. It seems to happen more to devices that leave and return to the network (i.e. iPhone, Android Phone, tablet, etc.) Wired devices and devices that stay in the home seem to be more stable, but not immune. The only remedy is to restart the router. Very annoying for a $200+ piece of equipment.

Based on my specific experience, it seems like there may be a NAT or other lower-level communication issue between my Netgear router and my Xfinity cable modem running in bridge mode. Once this issue occurs, the only remedy is to restart the router.

A Fix?:
I recently installed a $15 unmanaged GB switch between my router and modem. This seems to fixed the issue. It has been in place for 2 days now without needing a restart. Prior to the switch I was restarting my router 2-3 times a day.

[plemans]

So you're having improvements by going modem (xfinity)---> switch--->Router? 

What do you have hooked to the switch?

If this is improving your connection, what makes you think that the router is the cause and not the settings on the xfinity device "thats running in gateway" mode?  Usually if the modem is truly in gateway/modem only mode, adding a switch between the router and modem only creates more issues and not less. If its helping the situation, I'd be looking at the xfinity device a little closer. 

[a-brittis]

It could very well be an issue with the Xfinity modem. Prior to the Netgear router, I was using an older dual band Linksys 802.11n router with the same Xfinity hardware in bridge mode without any issues. I can also use the built-in router of the Xfinity device without connection issues for days.

The common thread for me is the Netgear router. Rebooting the router also fixes the issue, but to be fair, so does restarting the modem. After purchasing the X4S and started having the connection issues, I did swap out the Xfinity modem and still had issues.

All this said, it could be a design or firmware issue with either device, but the bottom line is in my situation they don't play nicely with each other. The switch has been in place for 3 days now without the need for a restart. Prior to that, I was restarting the X4S 2-3 times a day.

Reading the countless reviews and forums, I can see that I'm far from the only one who has issues where restarting the router is the only solution without any analysis or fixes proposed by Netgear. Some people have success downgrading the router firmware, others don't. I have yet to see a post where someone had similar symptoms, and an RMA replacement fixed the problem. There is a closed thread on this forum discussing this exact topic with no resolution.

I've chosen to share my real-life experience here in hope that others may find it useful. If not, ignore it. I'm also hoping others will share their fixes if they found anything that worked for them.

[plemans]

thanks for sharing your info about what you have going on. I truly am glad you did. there have been people posting with similar issues so all the input does help netgear's teams see where the issues are. My statement wasn't meant to offend, just to clarify.

What specific xfinity device are you using? 

Have you ever tried going to just a specific modem and not a modem/router device? I've got xfinity and I know (in my area) they charge for renting thoe. the D7800 is a fairly competent device when you add a modem to it. Not sure what service you pay for but a modem can be picked up for pretty reasonable. If you go to strickly a modem and the problem resolves, easy fix and isolates the problem. If the problem doesn't resolve then you can return the modem and be back at the problem being the D7800. 

[a-brittis]

No offense taken.

I am using the latest Xfinity 'Xfi' telephony gateway/router. It is manufactured by Arris and the model number is TG3482G. I wish I could switch to a non-rented device, but I think I'm stuck with it for now given the fact that I have 1GB service, VOIP, and Xfinity Home.

My ability to diagnose is limited since I cannot easily switch out the modem. As I stated before though, i did swap the modem using the same model without any success in fixing the issue. The modem also seems to work well (albeit slowly) with my older dual-band n-router.

Hopefully someone else reading this thread that has connection problems may have more modem options and can contribute to the thread.

Also, to answer your other question, the switch just has the two devices connected. Modem in bridge mode, and the X4S.

Lastly, I don't know what Xfinity's definition of 'bridge mode' truly means. The Arris web interface is completely customized for Xfinity. While my X4S managed LAN is 192.168.1.x, the Xfinity device can still be accessed from the X4S LAN using 10.0.0.1, and the X4S considers its WAN address to be the external address as assigned by the ISP. I should hookup another computer to the switch and see what happens. I'm guessing I would get a 2nd WAN address assigned to that device.