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Re: RAX80 is a giant piece of garbage

mfsinger
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RAX80 is a giant piece of garbage

I bought my RAX80 in May and have regretted it since. I have had a constant case open with support since. They want me to take time to collect data by turning on a packet sniffer and then doing various things. My response has been that they are MORE than welcome to collect any data they want, however, if they expect me to do so, they can pay me for my time. I'm sick of this. 

 

The first issues I noticed were with the speeds of data transfer between two devices. I have a WD NAS My Cloud that is hardwired. I will transfer files to the device from either my MacBook Pro or iMac which are both connected wirelessly. If I attempted to transfer files while connected to the 5GHz frequency, the speeds would be painfully slow. A 500MB file could take upwards of 6 minutes to transfer. As soon as I switch to the 2.4GHz frequency the files would finish in no time at all. Regarding distance from the router, my RAX 80 is about 20 feet away one floor down. However, it is an open stairway and I can see the device from the second floor. The signal strengths on both frequencies have been extremely strong. My house also sits quite a bit away from any other houses so I'm not worried about any interference or overpopulation of wifi devices near me. 

 

In addition to the data transfer issues, I started to notice that services related to Apple's iCloud would be affected depending on the frequency I was connected to. For instance, if I deleted some emails, I would see the message "moving xx emails" appear in the bottom of the mail client but it would just hang. As soon as I switched to the 2.4GHz frequency the message would disappear. For those that aren't familiar, you can forward text messages from your iPhone to your other iOS devices and Mac computers. Everything stays in sync. Except they stopped syncing very well. I would send a message from my iPhone while sitting at my iMac and it wouldn't sink up. Sometimes there would be a delay of a minute or so. Other times absolutely nothing would happen. Again, switching from 5GHz to the 2.4GHz frequency seemed to slightly remedy the problem.

 

Netgear replaced the router after I complained for two months straight. At first I thought the problem was fixed as I didn't seem to notice the issues. Then I realized that the problem had spread to both frequencies. Now this issue can occur on either 5GHZ or 2.4GHz channels. If I notice it is happening, I switch to the other wifi SSID and suddenly data is moving again. It is almost like the router can't handle everything going on so you have to switch frequencies to continue. FYI, smart connect is turned off. I discovered that it was garbage within a week of owning the router. With it turned on, my printers would disappear and I would have to reinstall them on my iMacs. That was an absolute nightmare as it was consistent. 

 

I have certain items hardwired for speed consistency. Two Samsung TV's, a PS4, Xbox One, two Apple TV's, WD My Cloud NAS and a Sonos Play 5 are hardwired. Because the router is on the first floor, I have an ethernet cable that runs to the second floor and connects to an 8 port gigabit switch. Out of the blue, I will get an error message on the TV's that no cable is connected. It's like the ethernet ports just forget they exist. It will last from a few seconds to a few minutes. This will happen on all hardwired devices as I've been disconnected from my NAS while working with files. It suddenly just disappears from my network. The one that causes me to go into a meltdown is when I'm playing music on my Sonos Play 5 and suddenly the app on my iPhone tells me it can't find my Sonos. This issue is obviously hard to pinpoint the cause as I'm connecting to a hardwired device from a wireless device. What's to blame? Is it the ethernet dropping out or is it the wifi? From experience, they are both to blame at various times. 

 

In addition to general connectivity issues, I often have extrememly slow load speeds of WAN based data. Internet stuff. I call it WAN based as it can be anything from web pages to data that loads into an iOS app like YouTube. If I am on my iPad Pro and can't get something to load, I will turn off wifi and the second it connects to LTE... BAM!!! Loaded. Now, before somebody says "that's your ISP"... it's not. I have tested my ISP (Spectrum) during these problems to see if it was lagging or just down. I have several devices that can connect to the internet via an ethernet cable including another iMac in the house. I have also paid for an external monitoring system to watch my connectivity for a 72 hour period just to see if Spectrum had any outages or hiccups. They have been consistent.

 

It is worth noting that my previous router was an Apple Airport Basestation Extreme. It was the last model they made before abandoning wifi hardware. The reason I replaced it was due to the fact that I had a few spots in the house that weren't getting solid coverage. It had been working perfectly for many years. None of the problems I have now existed with my previous device. The ONLY problem was that a Nintendo Switch would have to be moved a bit closer when updates or internet was requred and my second floor iMac was just a bit outside of good wifi strength so it could struggle at times. The new router has amazing coverage which is fantastic. I can even sit outside now and get coverage... when it decides to work. 

 

I am losing my patience with this thing and I'm at a point where I'm ready to buy something that isn't a huge pile of garbage. It just hurts since I paid $300 for this junk in May. Netgear support actually told me that no other customers are experiencing the same issues that I am. How am I supposed to trust support when they tell me that and then I do a search for RAX80 issues and read all kinds of people complaining about the same thing? It is my opinion that Netgear needs a nice lawsuit brought against them. It seems to be the only option as this product is clearly garbage and what they want customers to do is buy extended support contracts. My time is valuable and I am wasting too much of it having to reboot the router or report issues to support or take calls from reps that I sometimes can't even understand. I have told them I will be glad to provide them with any data they want, however, Netgear will either refund the cost of the router or will pay me for my time to sit on the phone with their techs. I am not one to just throw my hands in the air and walk away when I feel wronged. Not when I've put out so much money. 

Model: RAX80|Nighthawk AX8 8-Stream WiFi Router
Message 1 of 8
GabboCH
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 is a giant piece of garbage

As you've discovered from the forum many people are having the same issues with Wi-Fi connectivity & to a lesser extent LAN connection.

In another post there is an acknowledgement that Netgear are aware of an issue and are investigating but no details of what issue or a possible timeline for a solution.

Many users seem to have just returned the RAX80 for a refund.
Message 2 of 8
mfsinger
Star

Re: RAX80 is a giant piece of garbage

I have tried to return it. I am way past my return period and Netgear won't do anything for me as they literally keep telling me that I'm an the only one experiencing these issues and they need to collect data. They want me to be willing to continue to allow them to call me and take up hours of my time gathering data. I'm supposed to recreate each issue and capture it. I'm honestly sick of it. I got angry a month ago and told the guy just close the case because I didn't really care. The next day I was experiencing issues so I went to report it as usual but could not as I didn't buy an extended contract. This made me angry so I left a review on Best Buy which got someone's attention and a new case was opened. The new case was handed to someone who spoke very little English and I could not understand ANYTHING he said. Then this guy had the nerve to leave me an email message saying he had tried to contact me several times regarding my case. He called at 4:05 PM and left a barely legible voicemail. He then called two minutes later. This consititued trying to call me several times. Thanfully the case was handed back to my original level 2 guy who I can understand but is the one telling me I am the ONLY person experiencing these issues. 

 

Just to add an update to my problems, I have spent the last hour resetting my Apple devices because I couldn't get the updates to work. I did to so because I needed to be able to say without a doubt that the problem was the garbage router the Netgear makes. Ironically, every time I turned off wifi, everything would start with no issues. The problem is that it would then say to connect to wifi as these updates have to occur over wifi and not cellular. While connected to wifi, I would watch the countdown go from a few minutes up to 12 minutes because data just doesn't want to flow from this router. 

 

The other problem I am having is if someone is watching a streaming service like Netflix, Hulu or an On Demand show via the Spectrum TV app, everything just slows to a crawl or dies. There's no reason for this. I have a 100MB pipe in. The previous router handled traffic without any problems at all. We actually had Netflix going on two different TV's while someone was browing the internet. This router is like going to the DMV. One single-file line and they'll get to you when they d**n well feel like it.

 

I spent $300 on this f'ing router ON SALE which is why I am having a very hard time just going out and buying a quality product. I am so angry that I am seriously tempted to smash this thing into a bunch of pieces using a sledgehammer and then mailing to corporate headquarters in California with a photo of my middle finger sticking up. The problem is that they still got their money. What they need is a good lawsuit. Either refund my purchase or let's go to court. The amount of time I spend on tech support calls with various companies is ridiculous. All just to prove that my router is the GARBAGE RAX80. 

Message 3 of 8
Christian_R
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: RAX80 is a giant piece of garbage

Hello mfsinger, 


Thanks for taking the time to post your experience. We'd like to work with you and get your case to our Customer Care Team for review. If you're interested, please provide me with your case number and email address via private message. 


We look forward to working with you!

 

Respectfully, 

Christian 

Message 4 of 8
mfsinger
Star

Re: RAX80 is a giant piece of garbage

For the sake of warning anybody else that might think about buying one of these garbage dumps, I FREQUENTLY have to reboot this pile of s**t. I did it earlier today. About five minutes ago I got super annoyed with Hulu not being able to stream. It keeps giving me issues. This has been going on for 30 minutes now. I then realized none of my devices were connected to the wifi. The Apple TV that plays Hulu is hard wired so that is why it was able to get some spotty access to the internet. I tried rebooting the stupid router again but couldn't do it from the app as it wasn't connected to the wifi. Upon attempting to look for my SSID's, I noticed my guest network was active. I NEVER activated the guest network. I walked down to the router and pulled the power, counted to 30, and plugged it back in. Once my iMac connected, I opened a browser and accessed the RAX Garbage. It shows the guest network as being off yet it's still broadcasting the SSID. My 5GHz SSID is nowhere to be found and there is a yellow dot on the wireless status page next to the 5Ghz frequency. 

 

I have done NOTHING other than reboot this d**n piece of garbage twice today. My level 2 support person expects me to give them an EXACT time they can call where they will attempt to collect data by wasting my time having me do things. I told them they can call me after a certain time and if I'm free we will see what happens. Nothing. No calls. Yes I am being difficult becase I am tired of being a test subject for free. I told them to pay me for my time at this point and I'm quite serious. Why should we pay $300 for a garbage product and then be forced to play test subject for them? They've made a crap product. Own up to it. Others have noticed as well. Stop pretending like I'm the only one having these problems. 

Model: RAX80|Nighthawk AX8 8-Stream WiFi Router
Message 5 of 8
GabboCH
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 is a giant piece of garbage

It's probably worth subscribing to the other thread for the RAX80 which has many other users experiencing exactly the same thing who are also providing logs/feedback and becoming more and more frustrated at the lack of feedback, acceptance or ownership of an issue which is cleary no fault of the users.

Those who haven't already returned the product seem to be giving up any hope of a resolution & are switching back to their original router or purchasing another.

This seems to be the only acceptable solution to these problems unfortunately...
Message 6 of 8
mfsinger
Star

Re: RAX80 is a giant piece of garbage

I was out of town for awhile and didn't get this response until just now. What other thread? I am so freaking angry with Netgear I can't see clearly. I told them I was leaving and would not be updating the case for awhile. Then I said they'll probably take that opportunity to close the case to which they assured me they would not. Liars. Closed it. I've been home for about 5 days and have had three instances that were partially resolved by rebooting the damn thing. Three reboots in 5 days? Inexcusable. I even had Spectrum out just to verify and they installed a brand new modem for me. The Spectrum tech kept looking at the RAX80 because its design. I told him "Whatever you do, do NOT buy one of these or recommend them. Garbage. If anybody asks you for input, tell them to avoid this product and all of Netgear due to their absolute s**t support."

 

I'll look for the other thread but right now I'm just looking for input on what to buy. I can't deal with this. It's too much stress that I can't handle. It sounds stupid to say something like this is stressing me this badly but my mother and I are the only ones left. In the last 6 years, we've lost my sister at age 34, my sidekick and best friend, my stepfather at age 70, and my mom's sidekick and little buddy. Now she's slipping into dementia land and this f**king router is pushing me to my mental limits. We are leaving again for three months on January 1 so I'm hoping to find a good product by the end of March. 

Message 7 of 8
GabboCH
Apprentice
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