Night Hawk AX4 won't connect to internet without static IP

[dylanhierocles]

Following a power cycle of my modem and RAX35 router, I can't seem to get the router to properly connect to the internet. I think I may have narrowed down the issue to the DHCP server, but I'm not a networking expert by any chance. But here is what I'm experiencing, step-by-step:

1. Power cycle modem
2. Connect WAN cable to modem and power cycle the router
3. Connect LAN cable from router to laptop
4. Laptop cannot identify the network and has no internet access. Cannot connect to router through 192.168.1.1 or routerlogin.com
5. Run ipconfig and see that there's no default gateway showing up
6. Change the ethernet adapter settings to use a static IP configuration of:
   IP address: 192.168.1.10
   Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
   Default gateway: 192.168.1.1
7. Internet connectivity suddenly works and I can access the Nighthawk web interfance via 192.168.1.1

The modem I'm using is a Hitron E31N2V1 leased from Spectrum. If I connect the modem directly to laptop, it works fine. Right now, I'm using a cheap Linksys router out of the box, and it's working just fine. So the problem is definitely coming from the Netgear RAX35 router.

All of this started earlier this afternoon when my internet connectivity died and I tried power cycling the modem and router. I've tried factory resetting the RAX35 with no change. I couldn't even set it up without using a static IP to be able to connect to the web interface.

Any ideas what's going on? I've never experienced this issue with any router I've owned.

[dylanhierocles · Accepted solution]

Got the opportunity to try this again. Went through my whole house and turned off and unplugged every internet-capable device I could find, from Roku sticks to my PS4 and all cell phones. (I was disconnecting all LAN connections every time before, but I thought I might as well just completely unplug the PS4 and smart TV.)

I first tried just another power cycling, to no avail.

I then powered off the modem, and powered it back on and waited for 2 minutes. I then powered on the router and did a factory reset. After the router re-booted, I was able to connect to the default network and reach routerlogin.com. The issue is now resolved. Devices are being assigned an IP address as they should be, and can connect to the internet without needing to set static IPs.

[michaelkenward]

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@dylanhierocles wrote:

...I tried power cycling the modem and router.

You did all thnis in the right order?

Be sure to restart your network in this sequence:

• Turn off and unplug modem.
• Turn off router and computers.
• Plug in and turn on modem. Wait 2 minutes for it to connect.
• Turn on the router and wait 2 minutes for it connect.
• Turn on computers and rest of network.

[dylanhierocles]

Yes, I'm cycling correctly. To be safe, I did it again in that order. Still not able to connect to the internet or to the Nighthawk web interface at 192.168.1.1. Either through wifi or LAN, a default gateway isn't being set by the network. If I manually set that gateway to 192.168.1.1 and assign a static IP on my device (laptop), the internet works and I can access to the web interface.

This definitely isn't an order of operations issue. My Linksys router is working out of the box. It's an issue specific to the RAX35. For some reason, it's not assigning connected devices an IP address. Not even LAN connections work.

[dylanhierocles]

Based on the support documents, this is the relevant situation:

• If the IP address of your computer or mobile device is shown as 169.254.x.x, the
computer or mobile device could not reach the router’s DHCP server and the
Windows or Mac operating system generated and assigned an IP address. Such an
autogenerated IP address is in the range of 169.254.x.x. If your IP address is in this
range, check the connection from the computer or mobile device to the router, and
reboot your computer or mobile device.

Windows is definitely auto-assigning an IP in the 169.254.x.x range, per ipconfig. So for some reason, devices connecting to the router aren't able to connect to the router's DHCP server. This happens on both a wifi connection and a LAN wired connection, and across all devices (not just my laptop). I'm not powering on my laptop until after the router has powered on all LEDs are lit green, so I'm not sure what a device reboot would do.

[Topology]

Dylanhierocles, to clarify, did the RAX35 function properly prior to the event in which your “internet connectivity died”?

[dylanhierocles]

Yes, it had been working perfectly since I bought it on Black Friday 2019.

I don’t know if this might help solve the mystery, but there was something weird that happened after I power cycled both the modem and router. While none of the other devices would connect to the internet, my work laptop *could* until I disconnected from my corporate VPN. (When I did that power cycle, I neglected to turn off all the devices connected to the network at the time.)

[michaelkenward]

You said earlier,

This definitely isn't an order of operations issue.

I am not convinced, especially after reading this :

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@dylanhierocles wrote:
... there was something weird that happened after I power cycled both the modem and router.

---

Your reason for dismissing the order doesn't add up either:

My Linksys router is working out of the box. It's an issue specific to the RAX35. For some reason, it's not assigning connected devices an IP address. Not even LAN connections work.

It tells us nothing about the network boot order.

Maybe you have done things in the correct order. That isn't obvious to me.

Why is this important? Because devices on the network take the lead from each other. What the router does during boot depends on what happened during the modem's boot process.

Throwing a VPN into the mix will only complicate the process.

[owenico]

I got the similar problem while starting the first set-up of my router. After I do the "factory reset" with patience waiting for the LED lights returned to normal. I could do the setup correctly, and all the attached devices could access the internet. 

However, I fould the router would drop the connection of internet occassioanl for a few second. It is so tricky!!!!!

[dylanhierocles]

I’m not sure I understand the helpfulness of your post, here. Even if the initial problem *was* caused by an incorrect power cycle order, your suggestion to power cycle in the correct order doesn’t solve the issue.

The VPN was not active during the last power cycle/— that laptop was never turned on. I have 2 laptops, 1 desktop, and 1 iPhone that all use WiFi. All of them were turned off when I did the power cycle as you suggested, in the order you posted. The problem persists, so the answer can’t be in the order of cycling.

[dylanhierocles]

@owenico: I had tried a reset before, but not while powering down all devices with WiFi. I’m going to attempt combining both a reset & power cycling in the correct order and report back if that works.

[michaelkenward]

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@dylanhierocles wrote:
I’m not sure I understand the helpfulness of your post, here. Even if the initial problem *was* caused by an incorrect power cycle order, your suggestion to power cycle in the correct order doesn’t solve the issue.

The VPN was not active during the last power cycle/— that laptop was never turned on. I have 2 laptops, 1 desktop, and 1 iPhone that all use WiFi. All of them were turned off when I did the power cycle as you suggested, in the order you posted. The problem persists, so the answer can’t be in the order of cycling.

---

This was not obvious from your previous messages. I went through them all again carefully to see if I could work out exactly what had gone on. No luck.

The exact details are important. You may know what happened, but the rest of us are left guessing.

[dylanhierocles]

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@michaelkenward wrote:

---

@dylanhierocles wrote:
I’m not sure I understand the helpfulness of your post, here. Even if the initial problem *was* caused by an incorrect power cycle order, your suggestion to power cycle in the correct order doesn’t solve the issue.

The VPN was not active during the last power cycle/— that laptop was never turned on. I have 2 laptops, 1 desktop, and 1 iPhone that all use WiFi. All of them were turned off when I did the power cycle as you suggested, in the order you posted. The problem persists, so the answer can’t be in the order of cycling.

---

This was not obvious from your previous messages. I went through them all again carefully to see if I could work out exactly what had gone on. No luck.

The exact details are important. You may know what happened, but the rest of us are left guessing.

---

I get that. Troubleshooting online is definitely difficult. My confusion, I guess, is if the problem was caused by an incorrect boot order, shouldn't a correct boot order have fixed it? I did follow the steps you posted exactly without resolution. And I'm following those steps with the Linksys router and it's working fine.

I'm unable to perform a factory reset right now, since I need an uninterrupted connection for work. But later today, I'll do the reset and then power cycle the modem and router in the order you posted, making sure all networked devices in my home are shut down.

[dylanhierocles · Accepted solution]

Got the opportunity to try this again. Went through my whole house and turned off and unplugged every internet-capable device I could find, from Roku sticks to my PS4 and all cell phones. (I was disconnecting all LAN connections every time before, but I thought I might as well just completely unplug the PS4 and smart TV.)

I first tried just another power cycling, to no avail.

I then powered off the modem, and powered it back on and waited for 2 minutes. I then powered on the router and did a factory reset. After the router re-booted, I was able to connect to the default network and reach routerlogin.com. The issue is now resolved. Devices are being assigned an IP address as they should be, and can connect to the internet without needing to set static IPs.