Re: New R7000 Firmware Version 1.0.11.100

Bill_ · ‎2020-04-08

I got a cheap Asus RT-AX58U from BestBuy as that was the only router that was in stock and available for pickup and I needed a working router so I could continue to work from home.

My first, second, and third choice in order was the AX89X, GT-AX11000, and AX88U

shoman94 · ‎2020-04-08

Now I can't even go 10 minutes without losing it. What a piece of crap. Back to 1.0.9.42 untill I get my new Non-Netgear Router.

Portwey84 · ‎2020-04-08

@shoman94 Bizarre isn't it? You and others having nothing but problems and an unkown number of us not having any issues at all. Maybe your router is borked somehow and obviously if this is happening all the time, then there clearly is a problem, either a firmware issue, internal component issue or something entirely unrelated to the router itself. I'm assuming the modem isn't the cause of the problem or your cabling to the router itself?

I can completely understand if you're having problems all the time that there comes a point when you just have to sack it off and move on. Here's hoping my own R7000 keeps going without problems.

Thornado · ‎2020-04-08

I think I will go for ASUS RT-AX56U.
- Wi-Fi 6
- Quality hardware
- Great speed
- Many features
- MU-MIMO
- Greater wireless coverage

- FW seems to be updated frequently

https://techcyn.com/reviews/asus-rt-ax56u-review-the-best-entry-level-wi-fi-6-router-for-2020/

spcrick · ‎2020-04-08

@Portwey84 I think the underlying issue is that all the FW before .42 worked fine and there wasn't much issues (at least for me). For any FW past .42, for some reason the 5Ghz band seems to break either momentarily or for long periods of time. I think if you're using most of your devices on the 2.4Ghz band, you probably wouldn't noticed this issue as much.

Portwey84 · ‎2020-04-08

@spcrick I wasn't suffering any problems at all on v.64. I didn't bother with the firmware that followed v.64 but decided to upgrade to this newest firmware purely because of the security fixes that have allegedly been incorporated. I generally only have a maximum of 10 devices on the 5g band and as I've said a few times now, I don't get any dropouts. This could be entirely down to the fact that there are only two of us in the household.

I did a full clean install of Windows 10 on my laptop yesterday and as a result, my WiFi software was completely updated to the latest Intel drivers (I checked on the Intel driver update site) so I believe I've mitigated any issues by ensuring that everything else is up to date. Of course this could all be down to the luck of the draw!

shoman94 · ‎2020-04-08

I lose it on all 5g devices.... Laptops, Macbooks, Tablets and Android Phones. I wonder if it has something to do with WPS. Usually when it happens I can go in using 2.4g and I see WPS showing "Not configured" or something of that nature but once I reboot is shows configured. I don't know.

I am able to disable WPS in .42.

spcrick · ‎2020-04-08

@Portwey84 That actually might be the reason... I'm thinking it might be crashing due to out of memory issues that were supposed to be addressed on this update. It can't be coincidental that half of the people that have the R7000 router are having issues past the .42 firmware.

shoman94 · ‎2020-04-08

@spcrick wrote:
@Portwey84 That actually might be the reason... I'm thinking it might be crashing due to out of memory issues that were supposed to be addressed on this update. It can't be coincidental that half of the people that have the R7000 router are having issues past the .42 firmware.

I don't understand it....How do I go from 3 days solid to 1.5 days solid, then 6 hrs this morning and then losing it every 15 minutes....

shoman94 · ‎2020-04-08

@Thornado wrote:
I think I will go for ASUS RT-AX56U.
- Wi-Fi 6
- Quality hardware
- Great speed
- Many features
- MU-MIMO
- Greater wireless coverage
- FW seems to be updated frequently

https://techcyn.com/reviews/asus-rt-ax56u-review-the-best-entry-level-wi-fi-6-router-for-2020/

I looked at this as well but there wasn't enough sites giving top reviews for this model.

What irritates me know is the availability of routers are dwindling for some reason.

shoman94 · ‎2020-04-08

I was able to get a good deal on a Asus ac88u from Amazon warehouse for 153 bucks.

additude · ‎2020-04-09

@shoman94

"I don't understand it....How do I go from 3 days solid to 1.5 days solid, then 6 hrs this morning and then losing it every 15 minutes...."

That is a very interresting observation....

In the qwest to further localise the cause of the issue you can try this.

I know that what I am about to say is based on a "Lab" environment type of troubleshooting and it is definately outside the scope of what should be expected of a purchaser and I myself, am just a purchaser like your self and I'm really curious...

So I present:

Do you have any type of fan that you could direct at the unit to force cooler air over it just to see if the unit is possibly having heat issues?

Have you tried a "Prescribed Schedule" of powering the unit off then on again. Set an alarm to remind your self to reboot it or maybe you can have a spare wall timer device designed to turn lights on and off automatically turn it off and on. Just see if a scheduled reboot diminishes the problem. I'd start with once every 12 hours just before peak times like 4am and 4pm and monitor that the equipment is functioning properly prior to each reboot.

Check the logs frequently. Are the logs filling up and growing larger? Try disabling all of the log writing settings. Keep the log file as small as possible.

Do a complete FW upgrade following this procedure:

1. Factory Reset

2. Update FW via hardwired computer

3. Another Factory Reset

4. Enter all settings manually and in this case, just change the very absolute minimum amount of settings from default. Just see if you can get an extended period of time between lockouts with the absolute barest of connected equipment. If you can, then add settings individually one at a time and see if adding a specific setting causes the issue. Verizon just added 15GB of data to my phone for this pandemic. For the time being while you are testing minimal settings, maybe you could substitute your phones LTE Hot Spot feature...

The other things that I can think of at the moment are radio interferrance. Interferrance from possibly a microwave oven, any close proximity radio transmitting device, another WiFi router, a Ham radio, walkie-talkie, etc; possibly someone in the neighborhood or a secondary device that is transmitting the same SSID.

Another is take the router to a different location, a friends house, relative's house, brother, sister, Mom & Dad, etc. and set it up there in a completely unique and isolated from it's current environment and see if it behaves in the same manner as it does now. Be sure that if you place the router into a new environment that you do the FW upgrade outlined above. You can do step 1 & 2 & 3 locally before you take the router to a new location. Then boot the router and enter the new settings manually.

Like I related prior, these are just personal suggestions and I'll add that they are spurred on by the "Technical Troubleshooter Instinct" imbedded in me from past years, so if you just want to casually toss my ideas to the wind as frivilous, I will totally understand and you will not bruise my feelings.... I know that some suggestions are not considered "Fixes", but are just related to discovery. Like I said, I'm very curious.

Thornado · ‎2020-04-09

Final words:
Dear R7000, it's been a journey in good and bad times. But like any relationships lasting seven years, it's time to look for new opportunities. I wish the faithfuls to R7000 best of luck and hopefully you will survive with a stable and seamless connection.
Signing out.

Disclaimer: This was written in pure boredom during corona time and have no meaning to offend or judge anyone in a healthy relationship

Netgear R7000 - FCC approval date August 7, 2013

source: http://en.techinfodepot.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Netgear_R7000

additude · ‎2020-04-09

@ThornadoSir...

Before you sledge hammer that **bleep** Bass-Tard, I would love to accept it, even temporarily in order to exercise my proposed testing and see if it's possible to discover anything rationale'.

I promise to return it in the same condition I receive it, albeit FW updates, etc.

Would you consider it?

I already have a spare R7000 here that I am not using and that is a great opportunity for doing comparison tests.

What say ye?

shoman94 · ‎2020-04-09

@Thornado wrote:
Final words:
Dear R7000, it's been a journey in good and bad times. But like any relationships lasting seven years, it's time to look for new opportunities. I wish the faithfuls to R7000 best of luck and hopefully you will survive with a stable and seamless connection.
Signing out.

Disclaimer: This was written in pure boredom during corona time and have no meaning to offend or judge anyone in a healthy relationship

Netgear R7000 - FCC approval date August 7, 2013
source: http://en.techinfodepot.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Netgear_R7000

What did you end up getting?

spcrick · ‎2020-04-09

I think a lot of people (including myself) wants to move on from the R7000... but the problem is there are just too many options on the market. And to find one that was as reliable as the R7000 in the past may be a hit or miss... so even though i'm using a really old .42 fw with security flaws.. I will continue to use it until I can find a better solution.

shoman94 · ‎2020-04-09

@spcrick wrote:
I think a lot of people (including myself) wants to move on from the R7000... but the problem is there are just too many options on the market. And to find one that was as reliable as the R7000 in the past may be a hit or miss... so even though i'm using a really old .42 fw with security flaws.. I will continue to use it until I can find a better solution.

I think the Asus AC88U will check all my boxes. Too many broken things in .42. I can't even use QOS... device naming is all bunged up.... can't set prioritys.

We have a very busy network with 2 kids and us.

shoman94 · ‎2020-04-09

@additude wrote:
@shoman94

"I don't understand it....How do I go from 3 days solid to 1.5 days solid, then 6 hrs this morning and then losing it every 15 minutes...."

That is a very interresting observation....

In the qwest to further localise the cause of the issue you can try this.
I know that what I am about to say is based on a "Lab" environment type of troubleshooting and it is definately outside the scope of what should be expected of a purchaser and I myself, am just a purchaser like your self and I'm really curious...

So I present:
Do you have any type of fan that you could direct at the unit to force cooler air over it just to see if the unit is possibly having heat issues?

Have you tried a "Prescribed Schedule" of powering the unit off then on again. Set an alarm to remind your self to reboot it or maybe you can have a spare wall timer device designed to turn lights on and off automatically turn it off and on. Just see if a scheduled reboot diminishes the problem. I'd start with once every 12 hours just before peak times like 4am and 4pm and monitor that the equipment is functioning properly prior to each reboot.

Check the logs frequently. Are the logs filling up and growing larger? Try disabling all of the log writing settings. Keep the log file as small as possible.

Do a complete FW upgrade following this procedure:
1. Factory Reset
2. Update FW via hardwired computer
3. Another Factory Reset
4. Enter all settings manually and in this case, just change the very absolute minimum amount of settings from default. Just see if you can get an extended period of time between lockouts with the absolute barest of connected equipment. If you can, then add settings individually one at a time and see if adding a specific setting causes the issue. Verizon just added 15GB of data to my phone for this pandemic. For the time being while you are testing minimal settings, maybe you could substitute your phones LTE Hot Spot feature...

The other things that I can think of at the moment are radio interferrance. Interferrance from possibly a microwave oven, any close proximity radio transmitting device, another WiFi router, a Ham radio, walkie-talkie, etc; possibly someone in the neighborhood or a secondary device that is transmitting the same SSID.

Another is take the router to a different location, a friends house, relative's house, brother, sister, Mom & Dad, etc. and set it up there in a completely unique and isolated from it's current environment and see if it behaves in the same manner as it does now. Be sure that if you place the router into a new environment that you do the FW upgrade outlined above. You can do step 1 & 2 & 3 locally before you take the router to a new location. Then boot the router and enter the new settings manually.

Like I related prior, these are just personal suggestions and I'll add that they are spurred on by the "Technical Troubleshooter Instinct" imbedded in me from past years, so if you just want to casually toss my ideas to the wind as frivilous, I will totally understand and you will not bruise my feelings.... I know that some suggestions are not considered "Fixes", but are just related to discovery. Like I said, I'm very curious.

Many of the things you mentioned I have tried with previous firmware. One of my disconnects in the recent release was even at 4am when the whole house is asleep.

spcrick · ‎2020-04-09

Let me know if the Asus AC88U is better.. I need something that has good range if not better than the R7000. I don't use QOS because I have enough bandwidth to share among the household members and the naming on the devices doesn't bother me as much. I know every device that is connected to my network and I also keep a list of the mac addresses with devices on a excel spreadsheet if i need to look anything up.

additude · ‎2020-04-09

As I mentioned,

I already have an R7000 that for the time I used it presented no problems or issues....

The reason I quit using it was because of the limitation on the number of reserved IP's that I could configure.

spcrick · ‎2020-04-09

@additude There is a limit on the # of reserved IPs? What is the magic #? I only have one reservered and that's for a wireless printer and my gaming desktop.

shoman94 · ‎2020-04-09

I never heard that limitation. I'm currently using 5 static IPs currently.

This problem continues to only affect 5ghz wifi so its not difficult to find for netflex. I also things it related to WPS since when 5ghz drops I usually see an issue in the wireless setting screen that the WPS configuration is unknown or not configured.

spcrick · ‎2020-04-09

That's a very interesting find... can someone else confirm if they see any errors with WPS when their 5g band craps out?

iFrog · ‎2020-04-10

Hey guys, I've been looking through the comments here because I saw that Netgear finally released a firmware update. While I haven't had a lot of issues with my R7000, and mainly wnet back to my Airport Extreme because I've always liked the Airport routers. I was willing to try the firmware update to see if i noticed any different. In my case, I factory reset the Nighthawk before I put it away, so when I set it up it will be like taking it out of the box brand new. I just wondered if it was worth it at this point. The airport is still working fine, Apple's last firmware update that it's running is from may 2019. So while it's older, Airports typically don't have the security issues as most consumer routers, and they don't use WPS in the same way either. Most of my network is hard wired with a gigabit switch, so the only wireless clients are smart lights and mobile devices that don't have a wired option. Just wanted to get soem feedback.

Thanks

Portwey84 · ‎2020-04-10

@iFrog Well, here's the rub, how lucky are you feeling?

If you read some of the horror stories about the latest firmware and the 5g wireless dropping constantly, then you'd probably be put off from doing it. However it isn't affecting everyone the same way. I for instance, aren't having any issues with the new firmware whatsoever, it's rock solid on both 2.4 and 5g wireless bands, no dropouts, no problems, completely contrary to what others are reporting.

The only thing I would say is, don't bother trying to update over WiFi, use ethernet cable (I'm using Cat7 cable througout) and don't use the Nighthawk App to update, though I'm sure some have successfully ugraded their firmware using WiFi/App but I've always thought it best practise to do upgrade via hardwire.

I'd also say there's no need to do multiple factory resets or reboots either, which some users have stated they have done, probably out of personal preference. I just followed Netgear's advice of rebooting prior to initiating the update. I also disabled my anti-virus, disabled my VPN and unplugged my ethernet enabled devices, but most importantly in my armour of ensuring a problem free update, was disabling WiFi on the router prior to updating so that none of my WiFi enabled devices were trying to connect to the router during the update. That may well have been a totally unnecessary thing to do, but it made me feel better. Upshot was, I had a problem free firmware update, so you can take what you will from my own procedure. Don't get me wrong, there are a couple of GUI bugs which have cropped up, but nothing so far that is causing me any serious problem.

I've also this morning just added a Netgear GS105v5 switch to my system and that works absolutely 100 percent too, so I really haven't got a great deal to whinge about.