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Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

cliff344
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

There's a new firmware release (.88).  I loaded it 2 days ago, and it's really working well.  By George I think they are on to something.  Everything is working well and stable after 48 hours.  No reboots or disconnects.  The only issue I've seen (minor), is the QoS bandwith utilization does not show bandwidth usage, and when using the Nighthawk app, some wireless devices show up as wired devices.  Other than those two things, I haven't seen anything else wrong.  I think I will wipe the dust off this brick now and finally get some use of it!  I've also tested and retested wireless speeds, and they have remained consistent.  My IPad has consistently ran at about 500Mbps real-time.  

Message 126 of 167
cliff344
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

I forgot to also note, I noticed also, the Nighthawk app is very slow to load and identify the router, and once in the app, you cannot use the switch to turn off internet access to a specific device.  Moving the switch does nothing, as the device will remain connected to the internet.

Message 127 of 167
GabboCH
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

Message 128 of 167
GabboCH
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

Seems they've added netgear Armor & Circle too ( no mention of wpa3 though).

Will wait for other peoples feedback before I get the space shuttle out of the cupboard to give it a try though.

In the current work from home environment, reliability is 100% important so I cannot accept wireless dropouts or lan connection problems.
Message 129 of 167
Orts001
Aspirant

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

Mine bricked after upgrade, I could do a factory reset but when trying to manually restore settings from a file, it bricked again... For now, this new firmware doesn't seem promising
Message 130 of 167
magfred
Guide

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

Mine did the same, had to load the latest firmware using tftp to get it going again. Tftp procedure 

 

It's been stable the last couple of days, even though the statistics table shows WAN dropping from time to time, I have yet to see the drops reflected in the logs. I do like the "stealth" addition of WPA3 though, and the visual tweaks are nice.

Model: RAX80|Nighthawk AX8 8-Stream WiFi Router
Message 131 of 167
GabboCH
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

WPA3 is included with the new update?
Message 132 of 167
magfred
Guide

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect


@GabboCH wrote:
WPA3 is included with the new update?

Indeed it is. I have no idea why they didn't include it in the release notes though....

Message 133 of 167
bostony126
Guide

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

That's too bad to hear it is bricking sht. I actually just mentioned to my wife the other day, with hesitation I was going to jinx it, that we haven't had any issues with it for quite some time now. I am currently still on Firmware Version V1.0.1.70_1.0.30 because I have no reason to upgrade yet. I'm going to see this through and have faith that Netgear gets their act together here. Its supporting my 40+ devices at the moment and things are good. I am near the city so I have 1gbs xfinity and the gear to support it. Wifi runs about 500mbps by the time it gets to the device.  Good luck! 

Model: RAX80|Nighthawk AX8 8-Stream WiFi Router
Message 134 of 167
SAM_the_GAM
Luminary

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

After I upgraded to 1.0.3.88 I was still getting LAN disconnects but not WAN disconnects for 2 days. So I decided to do a factory reset and reload my settings I have not received a LAN or WAN disconnect and the uptime is now 30 hours. My settings were done from scratch from the previous version 1.0.2.76 I had made adjustments to the 2.4 / 5 GIG OFDMA and backup the settings with 1.0.3.88 before I did the restore.

Model: RAX80|Nighthawk AX8 8-Stream WiFi Router
Message 135 of 167
cliff344
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

Well I was overly optimistic that things were working well after .88 update.  After about 36 hours of rock solid operation, it puked again.  Dropped all internal device connection to the internet.  Had been working real well.  They only suspicion I have now, is after about 30 hours, I reconnected my USB drives to the USB ports, and shortly after I had total LAN disconnection.  After first puke, I rebooted, but within 12 hours it puked again.  I don't have time to be a beta tester and experiment, so back in the drawer this POS goes!  I shake my head wondering how Netgear can continue to release updates to this router when most here have same failures.  Do they not leave them run for more than 24 hrs when testing?  How can this be acceptable?

Message 136 of 167

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

Interesting, their release notes don't acknowledge the fundamental issue that I saw when I used to own the router.  For me it went from locking up a few times per day, to several times per week requiring a hard reset.  It was never resolved other than Netgear finally refunded me and allowed me to return the router to them directly.  That process took 4 or 5 months.

 

I ended up buying a Nighthawk R7000P and that router has been rock solid.  I've never had to reset it even once in several months.  All of my network switches, etc are Netgear.  For some reason their quality on these RAX80 routers is atrocious, a shame really.

Message 137 of 167
cliff344
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

Im going to go back and re-try setting this up again. As I sat down and contemplated my test last weekend, I realized that this router was working very well until I plugged in both of my USB Western Digital Passport drives. I’m starting to think maybe that caused the lockup and disconnect. It was fine until then. After that, it locked up almost every 4-5 hours, when it had been running flawless for about 36 hours prior.
Message 138 of 167
cliff344
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

Ok, so my first test of the .88 firmware failed, after 2 days of operation. As with all the other updates, shortly after, it would loose all internet connectivity both to all wired and wireless devices. I noticed the last test, it worked well until I connected my USB drives which I use for both music/movie media server, and another for backup files. Once I connected them, within 1 day, it lost connectivity again. I originally gave up, but then decided to re-test and not to reconnect the USB drives this time. Has now been running for 6-days and working well. Pulling 600mbps wireless on some devices. I am going to wait a week, if it remains operational, I will then reconnect the USB drives and see if it fails. I truly think that’s now the issue. I will report back with my results next weekend. I use the very same USB drives with my Nighthawk R8500 and never had any issues. (WD passport drives) 2gb, and 4gb drives.
Message 139 of 167

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

I to have a Netgear RAX80 router and for the first 5-6 months it ran great. I make sure to keep up on the firmware and for the last few months I have been having problems with it kicking all devices of line. I will see that there connected to the router but have no internet access. First it was once or twice a week and I would have to pull the power cord, count to 30 and plug it back in, and it was working again. then as time passed it would become once every 2-3 days and I would have to hard boot it again. Now it happens sometimes as often as 2 or 3 times a day.

Then on Saturday night 6/6/20 I up dated to firmware 1.0.3.88, and by the next day the RAX80 disconnecting about every 2-3 hours. By Monday it was disconnecting so bad I could not even go online. I spent over 2 hours on the phone with my ISP and we were both thinking their modem had stopped talking to the RAX80 router and they sent me a replacement modem. After doing multiple factory resets and no luck.

I rolled the RAX80 back to firmware 1.0.2.76 and It started kicking everything off once every 2-3 hours.

So, I called up Netgear tech support as I am convinced that the router is having a hardware failure. The first tech support rep refused to help and only wanted me to sign up for a contract that would give me phone or email tech support. As if I am willing to pay for something that the hardware was still under it 1-year warranty. She claimed that this was a common problem and that they have a software fix for it. So, I said great, send me the fix and I would let them know if it works. But there was no way I was going to pay for something that was still within it 1-year warranty. She never sent me the fix. So, I called again and the next tech support went a try to do the same thing and sell me a contract for extra support, and also said they had a fix. But when I again refused to pay more money for something that is within its 1-year warranty and also cost me about $400.00 he hung up on my and closed the case.

So, by this point I am fit to be tied, and I hunted down the email address for Netgear CEO. I sent him an email out lining the details of what was going on, I got an email a few hours later saying that my case had a new case number and I saw in the email notes that my case was reopened per Executive Escalation.

So, I worked with another support tech and he said that I had done all the normal trouble shooting steps and that he said it sounded like I had bad hardware. But then he comes back and tells me his level 2 wanted more trouble shooting done. So now I have given them screen shots, driver information, copies of a firmware back up, and debug files. And I have not heard a word back.

So based on what I have seen online and what the support techs have said, Netgear knows there is either hardware problems or firmware problems, are unwilling to do anything about it other than try to charge the consumer more money and give them really bad customer service.

My old Nighthawk R7000 worked like a champ. So, I am very angry with Netgear over the RAX80 router, and unless they make this right, I will never buy another Netgear product again.

Model: RAX80|Nighthawk AX8 8-Stream WiFi Router
Message 140 of 167
cliff344
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

Okay, so my first hunch was absolutley correct.  I will explain my findings.  I pulled the router out and dusted it off again.  After update to the new firmware, (.88), I fired it up as I always have, but DID NOT connect the USB drives.  It actually ran flawlessly for 11 days without any attention needed.  This was a sucsess IMO.  So my next hunch was that it would fail if I were to plug in my Passport USB drive.  So after 11 days of sucsessful operation, I pluged it in without rebooting or changing anything.  As I thought, within 12 hours, I had WI-Fi issues and lots of things began to disconnect and loose connectivity.  So in conclusion, It looks like the issue is somehow related to the USB itegration.  Since I do have a netwo


@william_shreffl wrote:

I to have a Netgear RAX80 router and for the first 5-6 months it ran great. I make sure to keep up on the firmware and for the last few months I have been having problems with it kicking all devices of line. I will see that there connected to the router but have no internet access. First it was once or twice a week and I would have to pull the power cord, count to 30 and plug it back in, and it was working again. then as time passed it would become once every 2-3 days and I would have to hard boot it again. Now it happens sometimes as often as 2 or 3 times a day.

Then on Saturday night 6/6/20 I up dated to firmware 1.0.3.88, and by the next day the RAX80 disconnecting about every 2-3 hours. By Monday it was disconnecting so bad I could not even go online. I spent over 2 hours on the phone with my ISP and we were both thinking their modem had stopped talking to the RAX80 router and they sent me a replacement modem. After doing multiple factory resets and no luck.

I rolled the RAX80 back to firmware 1.0.2.76 and It started kicking everything off once every 2-3 hours.

So, I called up Netgear tech support as I am convinced that the router is having a hardware failure. The first tech support rep refused to help and only wanted me to sign up for a contract that would give me phone or email tech support. As if I am willing to pay for something that the hardware was still under it 1-year warranty. She claimed that this was a common problem and that they have a software fix for it. So, I said great, send me the fix and I would let them know if it works. But there was no way I was going to pay for something that was still within it 1-year warranty. She never sent me the fix. So, I called again and the next tech support went a try to do the same thing and sell me a contract for extra support, and also said they had a fix. But when I again refused to pay more money for something that is within its 1-year warranty and also cost me about $400.00 he hung up on my and closed the case.

So, by this point I am fit to be tied, and I hunted down the email address for Netgear CEO. I sent him an email out lining the details of what was going on, I got an email a few hours later saying that my case had a new case number and I saw in the email notes that my case was reopened per Executive Escalation.

So, I worked with another support tech and he said that I had done all the normal trouble shooting steps and that he said it sounded like I had bad hardware. But then he comes back and tells me his level 2 wanted more trouble shooting done. So now I have given them screen shots, driver information, copies of a firmware back up, and debug files. And I have not heard a word back.

So based on what I have seen online and what the support techs have said, Netgear knows there is either hardware problems or firmware problems, are unwilling to do anything about it other than try to charge the consumer more money and give them really bad customer service.

My old Nighthawk R7000 worked like a champ. So, I am very angry with Netgear over the RAX80 router, and unless they make this right, I will never buy another Netgear product again.



rk server attached, I will leave this drive unpluged for now until the next firmware "FIX" and see how it goes.  For now, I encourage you all to give it a try.  Seemed rather stable, and I checked wifi speeds daily and didn't have any degragation of signal or speed.  Everything worked well........Until I pluged in the USB drive.

Message 141 of 167
cliff344
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

I absolutely hate that you cant edit a post here once it's been posted.  Sorry for the added quote on the last post.  I some how screwed up the post and hit the quote button.  Another great feature of "Netgear".

 

Message 142 of 167
xjn
Apprentice
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

My RAX80 is fairly stable on newest firmware after backup settings and then reset & restore settings. There are still quite a few bugs remaining since purchase around February 2019, but I am not seeing any major issues.

 

I have SmartConnect disabled and as many devices hardwired as possible using two unmanaged switches. The WiFi devices are locked to either 5Ghz or 2.4Ghz. I put all important phones, tablets, and laptops on the 5GHz network and moved to 5GHz DFS higher 80 width channel to reduce interference.

 

I put SmartHome devices such as lights, Sonos Move or security camera on 2.4GHz lower 20 width lower channel since speed is not required and prefer range for those devices. I also purchased an EAX80 hardwired over Ethernet in AP mode to help spread the load so all Roku devices connect to it on 2.4GHz middle 20 width channel. I put non essential tablets and phones on 5Ghz DFS lower 80 width channel on EAX80 to also help lower interference instead of trying RAX200.

 

Main issues I still see is temporary LAN disconnection once a day or so. I also sometimes see 5Ghz network disappear, but I think that is due to radar detection forcing router to move off of DFS channel sometimes. Usually switching to another DFS channel gets it back up running quick.

 

I also see the QoS prioritization levels for devices sometimes change from what I set them too, so have to periodically check to make sure certain devices are low priority such as SmartHome devices and keep Smartphones and tablets at high priority. I get faster speeds on wireless and WiFi with QoS enabled even though I have gigabit service.

 

Highest wireless speed I have seen was between 700 and 800... average speed for wireless is 500 to 600 depending on time of day and possible interference. Wired speed I routinely see 900 unless issue on Comcast's end.

 

I had some issues with IP leases being assigned to multiple devices, so took time to reserve an IP for every device on network since don't have many. I removed External HD from router in effort to offload the amount of things it has to juggle. I keep just a small thumb drive plugged in for temporary file storage.

 

I would like to get a Synology DS198 hardwired over Ethernet to use as NAS, but I don't really need it since I don't have a lot of files to store... until then I have been working on setting up headless Raspberry Pi to handle some NAS functions, smart home hub, DNS server, and possibly a VPN server.

 

I have two Pi setup for redundancy now since set the PiHole DNS servers in DNS settings of Netgear Router. I have not tried using Pi as DHCP server yet, but may give it a try in order to offload more functions from RAX80.

 

I don't use Parental Controls, traffic meter, internal VPN service, or Remote Management in RAX80. I have enabled AX, OFDMA, Beamforming, MU-MIMO, and WPA2/WPA3... I tried WPA3 only on 5GHz network since all my 5GHz devices support it but ran into frequent disconnects so switched back to hybrid WPA2/WPA3.

 

I also enabled the new Bitdefender Armor feature and have not seen drop in performance. Hopefully they will be able to fix remaining the issues soon. I have tried to be patient over last year since spent a lot of money on this thing.

 

I swore off buying more Netgear equipment at end of last year, but decided to try EAX80 to see if it would help since many of other competitors have issues too or less config options such as no manual channel selection, no DFS support, fixed DNS, single name 5Ghz & 2.4Ghz network, etc...

 

I originally was going to switch to Amplifi Alien, but after reading the Amplifi forum saw many issues similar to Netgear with less options to work around then due to lack of config options such as DFS or manual channel selection. Some Alien users even had RAX series and saw even worse speeds after switching, so seems like overall these new routers aren't finished.

 

All we can do is be patient it seems... I work in tech so understand it is hard, but just wish Netgear would communicate more with users so important issues can be resolved sooner. I don't have time to call tech support and seems like a waste since mostly firmware issues that only engineering team can fix. Hopefully Netgear employees following the threads can relay some of our findings and fixes so that a solution can be worked on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Message 143 of 167

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

Just a follow up. So Netgear finilly RMA'd my RAX80 router, after I raise all kinds of hell. My router by the way disconnected all devices 4 times today.

Now here is the part that worries me. They said after I get the replacement as they can't quarenty that It won't have more problems with the replacement. That they will need me to run another debug and give them those logs. 

So this is the way I read that. They are expecting it to fail as well and have problems, and they want me to be one of the people they are useing as test subjects so they can fix their firmware at the user's expence.

So, at this point I am crossing my fingers.

 

 

 

Message 144 of 167
GabboCH
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

Read the terms and conditions for the rma because likely you will get a refurbished unit rather than a completely new one.

There are already several users who have had their RAX80 replaced already only to find exactly the same problems.

Message 145 of 167
GabboCH
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

And yeah, that's modern software companies for you.... I like to call it the Google generation.

Now that we have OTA updates available, most companies reduce their testing to zero because their are millions of people who will do it for them & pay you for the privilege.

Why waste your own money on testing when there are lots of people who will spend hours finding issues, going through the open source code, etc
Message 146 of 167
xjn
Apprentice
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect


@GabboCH wrote:
And yeah, that's modern software companies for you.... I like to call it the Google generation.

Now that we have OTA updates available, most companies reduce their testing to zero because their are millions of people who will do it for them & pay you for the privilege.

Why waste your own money on testing when there are lots of people who will spend hours finding issues, going through the open source code, etc

It's worse than that... some users test and report and many of the companies gaslight the users by blaming them or ignoring the issues. I gave up on Google Home products after running into so many issues and support doing nothing... issue I reported over year ago still isn't fixed even though many people reported it now. Saw a recent email from Google support asking people to try moving devices closer to router lol... as if no one with the issue uses Ethernet. Google is not the Google I grew up with anymore unfortunately.

Message 147 of 167

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

Another update, so Netgear sent me a replacement RAX80 (and believe it or not it wasn't a refurb) so I went ahead and set it up.

I went ahead and installed the lastest firmware  1.0.3.88 and within 2.5 hours everything disconnected. (I know, right?) so I did what one user posted and disconnected me 3 tb hard drive I had hooked to it see what happens.

But I also went though the log files, and I saw there was whole bunch of DoS attacks. I have my AT&T fiber modem setup so it acts as a passthou for the RAX80.

I also looked at the logs from the old RAX80 that I had rolled back the firmware to 1.0.2.76 and saw there ahd been no DoS attacks with that firmware. The one this that is different between those firmwares are Netgear pushing their new Armor which comes with Bitdefender anti-virus, anti-malware, and data protection, which I turned down as I saw it cost $69.99 per year and why would I pay for that when I already get McAfee for all our computers for free from my ISP.

So what it looks like is happening is if you turn that service down, Netgear drops the normal firewall stuff within the RAX80. But when you look at the setting they appear to be on.

So just to test this I turned off the passthou settings on the AT&T (BGW210-700) modem.

I then rebooted the RAX80 and looked at the logs again.
Guess what? No DoS attacks. Does anyone else besides me find that odd?

So, while I am wrighting this I checked the RAX80 logs again and still no sign of any DoS attacks, so it would now appear the AT&T modems firewall sinse I turned off the passthou is now potecting the RAX80.

 

Tell me what you guys think?

 

Thank you,

 

William

 

 

Message 148 of 167
cliff344
Apprentice

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

So I am back to report my 2nd test of the Rax80 using the new .88 firmware.  I first allowed it to run for 1 week without intervention or plugging in any USB drives.  Router ran flawless for a full week requiring no attention.  So I then plugged in my 2TB passport drive.  After about 6 hours, I began to have issues with the router as I suspected.  I then removed the drive, and rebooted.  Ran flawless for another week.  I then added a different USB drive which was my Passport 4TB drive. (a few years newer model)  After plugging it in, I have not had any issues and the router has not required any intervention. There are a few things still that need attention in the firmware, but for now and for the first time, I can actually use this router and not have to box it back up.  Some of the things I see that need fixed:  the Nighthawk app reports things that are wireless as wired, and has incorrect labeling of frequency on some devices.  The Speedtest in the Nighthawk app and in the Qos, seems to have difficulty communicating with the router and has a horrible lag in its function, unlike how it works with my R8500.  Other than that, I think it's working rather well.  Wireless speeds are consistently pulling 500+Mbps and I have not seen any degradation of signal strenth or speed.  The Qos seems to work well, and the OFDMA is working also from what I can tell.  I'm currently running over 39 devices and not any issues with any of them. So in conclusion, I think after almost 2 years, this thing is finally working.  Sad though that by the time it gets fully fixed the next generation of junk will be on the market from Netgear, and this will be on the End-of-Life list for Netgear. 

Message 149 of 167
Polaris_RZR
Guide

Re: RAX80 regularly disconnects devices, then they reconnect

Netgear,

What's being done to resolve this issue that's clearly plaquing many of your consumers?  I had the pleasure of talking to Netgear support who admitted it's indeed a Netgear router issue, only to turn around and offer me a wonderful $150-$200+ contract to assist me further.

 

So let me get this straight; I paid $400 for a router that barely works and I need to fork over more money?  Please tell me someone else besides me finds this incredibly unethicial and crooked.  Myself, and many others, purchased product with "x" expectations that Netgear marketed.  If Netgear can't live up to those standards, full support should be the very least, if not a product recall. 

 

 

 

 

Message 150 of 167
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