10-15 second signal drops hourly with R6700v2 V1.2.0.88_1.0.1 firmware

[mr-bonkers]

I always keep my firmware up to date, and am at the latest V1.2.0.88_1.0.1.

For the last few months, every Zoom call I'm on, every IPTV program I stream, etc. experiences a 10-15 minute WiFi signal drop, and on Zoom once the signal recovers I get the familiar "Your internet connection is unstable," and on IPTV I have to switch channels on the STB to force it to reconnect and start streaming again.

Very annoying. I suspect the WiFi signal as I enabled WiFi logging on macOS on my MacBook Pro 2020, and see this in the logs:

Tue Nov 2 16:58:14.964 Roam: <airportd[488]> ROAMING PROFILES updated to SINGLE-BAND, SINGLE-AP for 2.4GHz on en0
Tue Nov 2 16:58:15.018 Roam: <airportd[488]> ROAMING PROFILES updated to SINGLE-BAND, SINGLE-AP for 5GHz on en0
Tue Nov 2 16:58:33.008 Roam: <airportd[488]> ROAMING PROFILES updated to AC POWER for 2.4GHz on en0
Tue Nov 2 16:58:33.013 Roam: <airportd[488]> ROAMING PROFILES updated to AC POWER for 5GHz on en0

There is little documentation about macOS airportd or "ROAMING PROFILES" but from what I could determine it does this based on signal strength.

[FURRYe38 · Accepted solution]

I wonder if only a factory reset was needed in the first place. 

Glad you got it working. Please mark your thread as solved so others will know. Be sure to save off a back up configuration to file for safe keeping. Saves time if a reset is needed.
https://kb.netgear.com/24231/How-do-I-back-up-the-router-configuration-settings-on-my-Nighthawk-rout...
Enjoy. 📡

[FURRYe38]

What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?

What channels are you using? Auto? Try Auto and 48 on 5Ghz. Or try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update?

[mr-bonkers]

CableModel: NetGear CM500-100NAS

ISP: Xfinity Home Internet

5GHz channel: 149

2.4GHz channel: 11

I use various WiFi analyzers (iOS based, Android based, Windows based) and pick channels that seem best to pick, as "auto" causes a lot of interference since it doesn't actively monitor/change channels when it detects interference.

I'm in a single family home, so yeah there are neighbors all around. I get 5-10 SSIDs offered to me from neighbors, though usually their signal strength is weaker:

SSID BSSID RSSI CHANNEL HT CC SECURITY (auth/unicast/group)
chaplin52-2.4 XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX -87 157 Y US WPA2(PSK/AES/AES)
MIMOn XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX -62 1,+1 Y -- WPA2(PSK/AES/AES)
ConovanLn XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX -54 6 Y US WPA2(PSK/AES/AES)

These are some of my neighbors

[FURRYe38]

Also try turning down the power output of the RBRs wifi radios from 100% to 50% and see if this changes anything. Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

[mr-bonkers]

Okay, reduced power to 50% on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz radios. Let's see if it makes a difference.

Out of curiosity: why would that help?

[FURRYe38]

Having some wifi nieghbors may cause noise in the area and thus the router maybe having problems with it. Lowering the signal output can help reduce the foot print so that signals don't get some much noise interferences. 

[mr-bonkers]

Okay in the last hour I had 2 Zoom brownouts again, so reducing the power to 50% didn't help

[mr-bonkers]

Also, I'm just wondering if something has regressed with somer recent firmware updates. I have had this router for a few years now, and the issues only started occuring in the last couple of months.

The only 3 factors that have changed that I can think of:

1. NetGear R6700v2 firmware updates

2. Changed Cable Modem from 10+ year old Ubee DOCSIS 3.0 to NetGear CM500

3. Changed ISP from Comcast Business Teleworker (12mbps plan) to Xfinity Home Internet (100mbps plan)

[FURRYe38]

You can try downgrading FW back to what had been working and see...

[mr-bonkers]

Here is what seems to be holding up at least for the past couple of hours. No Zoom brownouts in my last 2 Zoom meetings.

1. Downgrade firmware to Dec 2020 version

2. Hard reset the R6700v2 and set up new device

3. Use NetGear Nighthawk app on my phone to apply suggested update back to current firmware version

4. Change DNS servers to CloudFlare/Google ones instead of the defaults from NetGear

[FURRYe38 · Accepted solution]

I wonder if only a factory reset was needed in the first place. 

Glad you got it working. Please mark your thread as solved so others will know. Be sure to save off a back up configuration to file for safe keeping. Saves time if a reset is needed.
https://kb.netgear.com/24231/How-do-I-back-up-the-router-configuration-settings-on-my-Nighthawk-rout...
Enjoy. 📡