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XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

erlandday
Aspirant

XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

Been having some weird issues with this router after a firmware update recently. I upgraded to the newest firmware and my wireless now has speed issues. I'll list the troubleshooting steps I've taken so far:

 

1. Reset the router

2. Tried utilizing the Smart Connect

3. Tried to reload the old firmware version

4. After reloading the old firmware, I tried resetting the router

5. Enabled Smart Connect (awful choice, but at least I can occasionally get good speeds now). 5 Ghz does ok, the 2.4 Ghz is regularly horrible now

 

Router was working excellently before the firmware upgrade. Currently on 2.3.2.40. Issues started happening when I had upgraded to 2.3.2.66. Don't know what security changes happened when I upgraded, but my speeds were around 500-600 Mbs and now they will drop to 20 Mbs on the regular, and occasionally down to 2. With the Smart Connect enabled, I at least occasionally get 300. No offense, but a security update is useless if the router doesn't work at all. Although, I guess no connection equals no vulnerabilities. LOL, soooo most secure router I've ever had? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Model: XR500|Nighthawk Pro Gaming Router
Message 1 of 16
Netduma-Liam
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

Hey, thanks for posting!

Sorry to hear you're having issues with the new update.

 

Is QoS enabled? If so could you please disable it and test again just so we can rule it out.

Is the issue just limited to wireless? Are you having any isuses with the wired speeds?

Message 2 of 16
erlandday
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

Liam,

Thanks for the response. Disabled the WMM QOS and the anti-buffer float is set to never, but it still appears to be having issues. Also, this issue appears to only be limited to the wireless networks. Wired appears to work great.

 

Thank you,
Chris

Model: XR500|Nighthawk Pro Gaming Router
Message 3 of 16
Netduma-Liam
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

OK, so over wireless, is both 2.4 and 5GHz channels suffering slow speeds or is it limited to one or the other?

Message 4 of 16
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

Do not disable WMM and for QoS - in the Anti-Bufferbloat 3 line option menu (top left of the panel) disable QoS there fully.
Message 5 of 16
erlandday
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

Liam,

Both 2.4 and 5 appear to be having this issue. Speeds are around 20-30 Mbs on 2.4 and between 30-50 Mbs on 5. Speeds originally on 5 were above 500 and 2.4 was around 100 previously.

Thank you,

Chris

Message 6 of 16
erlandday
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

Fraser,

Thank you. I went ahead and enabled the WMM and disabled the QoS from the indicated section and confirm that the speeds are still not working correctly. Currently running on firmware version 2.3.2.40.

Thank you,

Chris Bolton

Message 7 of 16
erlandday
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

Fraser/Liam,

Interesting, after it's been up for a little, the 2.4 Ghz speeds are at 100 Mbs down and 100 Mbs up, which is closer to normal. 5Ghz is still around the 30 Mbs mark. Not sure if this is just a temporary speed since it seems to be widely fluctuating. I'll check it again in the morning. A little odd having the 2.4 faster. I'm only about 15 ft away from the router, just FYI.

Thank you,

Chris

Message 8 of 16
Netduma-Liam
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

OK, let us know how it performs in the morning.

 

It's worth noting you're still a couple of firmware versions behind, the latest is currently 2.3.2.66.

https://www.netgear.com/support/product/XR500#Firmware%20Version%202.3.2.66

Message 9 of 16
erlandday
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

Liam,

Tested. The speeds are all over the place. One minute it will be really good on 2.4 and then really bad, and the same with 5. I did originally update, but that's when I started experiencing the issues and tried downgrading. Should I update it again?

Thank you,

Chris Bolton

Message 10 of 16
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

Do you have any electrical or wireless devices (could be headphones etc) or even a microwave in close proximity to the router? I'd suggest using a WiFi analyzer to find the least congested channels in your area and change to those and see if that improves it.
Message 11 of 16
erlandday
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

Liam,

No electrical devices near the machine. Was working good for several months until the firmware update. Used a network analyzer and confirmed that network due to location is extremely healthy. Signal strength is at 100% in all rooms tested. I honestly think something in that firmware upgrade caused the issue. Speed issues happened right after the upgrade. I'm now downgraded, but still experiencing those issues. Don't know if it's somehow holding onto some of the security updates. That doesn't seem possible to me, but just my two cents.

Thank you,

Chris

Message 12 of 16
erlandday
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

Sorry, forgot to comment on the channels question. Changed my channels to ones that are different from the surrounding area. Speeds appear to have increased. I'll test it a few times between today and tomorrow and let you know if that fixed the issue.

Thank you,

Chris

Message 13 of 16
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

Factory resetting after a downgrade would be the best way to ensure the security version doesn't influence it. That's great to hear, keep us posted!
Message 14 of 16
erlandday
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

Fraser,

I did a reset after I downgraded the firmware, but am still having these issues. Checked today and those speeds seem to have been a fluke. Had good speeds for a little and then they're right back down to horrible again. Any other suggestions you can think of?

Thank you,

Chris Bolton

Message 15 of 16
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Slowness after Firmware Update

That's disappointing. What is ISP modem/router model? Is it a pure modem (no wifi) or a modem/router (wifi)?
Message 16 of 16
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