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RAX120 wifi clients slow down to a crawl, after resetting individual client -- speed is normal

sloppybear
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RAX120 wifi clients slow down to a crawl, after resetting individual client -- speed is normal

I have had this router for several months now and have consistently had this issue. On my desktop, which has a wifi 6 adapter, the wifi speed will drop to basically <1 mbps a few times a day. This speed drop affects both my access to the internet and my local network. Disabling and enabling the wifi adapter (on my desktop) fixes the issue and my speeds are back up around 800 mbps. I thought that this must be an issue with my wifi 6 adapter and have just put up with it.

 

But, now it also happens to my laptop (which has ac wifi). Same thing, drops to unusable speed frequently and requires a restart of the laptop's network adapter. 

 

My desktop and laptop both indicate that they are still connected to the wifi with full strength during their speed drops. They are only connected to the 5ghz (my 5ghz and 2.4ghz are separate ssids).

 

I have wired clients that get full gigabit speeds and never experience these drops. 

 

The speed drops seem to only occur when I am not using my desktop and laptop, I come back to find they are slow. I have changed the power settings on my network adapters to never turn off. 

 

I have even disabled ax wifi in the router settings and I still see the speed drops. 

 

Not all wifi clients seem to have this issue. My pixel phone, for example, never slows down noticeably while on the wifi.

 

 

 

Model: RAX120|Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi Router
Message 1 of 4
Christian_R
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: RAX120 wifi clients slow down to a crawl, after resetting individual client -- speed is normal

Hi sloppybear, 

 

We recently released a new firmware version. Please update to the latest firmware version linked below.

 

https://kb.netgear.com/000061861/RAX120-Firmware-Version-1-0-1-122

 

Christian 

Message 2 of 4
Lurksalot
Apprentice

Re: RAX120 wifi clients slow down to a crawl, after resetting individual client -- speed is normal

I am experiencing the same issue.

 

Over the weekend I performed a second factor reset (pinhole method). I updated my
Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 (AX201 160MHz) adapter to version 21.90.3.2 - dated 5/4/2020 (see link below). I continue to have the same behavior as original poster where my speeds are slow but go back to normal after I disconnect/reconnect to my Smart Connect enabled RAX120 with FW 1.0.1.122.

 

The Intel driver release notes has some interesting key issues addressed.

 

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/29520

 

Releas notes
https://downloadmirror.intel.com/29520/eng/ReleaseNotes_WiFi_21.90.3.pdf

Model: RAX120|Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi Router
Message 3 of 4
sloppybear
Initiate

Re: RAX120 wifi clients slow down to a crawl, after resetting individual client -- speed is normal

Yah, i've tried updating my wifi drivers, rolling them back, playing with power settings, the result is always the same. I even bought a different wifi adapter.

 

Finally gave up and bought a new router by a different company. It worked out of the box, i get a stable 1 gigabit on wifi, and I didn't have to mess around with settings except to choose the 5ghz channel. Speed never drops, never have to disconnect/reconnect. Wish i did that a year ago.

 

Now I have a $450 netgear router that i will hold onto to remind me to never buy netgear stuff again.

Message 4 of 4
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