NightHawk x10 r9000 wifi dropping issue

[xnsys]

I have, and makes no difference what-so-ever.

[focuspuller]

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@xnsys wrote:

I have, and makes no difference what-so-ever.

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I'll save the hassle of installing the newer version.

[damnre]

I don't get it i payed a lot of money for this crap box. Bought it for AD and what i'm hearing is AD on this router is useless since nobody is manifacturing usb dongles or mini pcie cards..
Is this a scam? Never will i buy another netgear product..

[schumaku]

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@damnre wrote:

Bought it for AD and what i'm hearing is AD on this router is useless since nobody is manifacturing usb dongles or mini pcie cards..
Is this a scam? Never will i buy another netgear product..

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All off-topic, and unrelated to the WiFi dropping subject some (not all) owners report:

At the time the Nighthawk X10 (R9000) was designed and launched on the market, 802.11ad was an upcoming, leading edge technology. Luckily, we bought some notebooks soon after, which came with 802.11ad interfaces. 

Similar to current and coming-up standard, 802.11ad is IEEE standardized, interoperability and promotion was done under by the Wireless Gigabit Alliance.

Of course, few 802.11ad interfaces exist, were built - but never became widely available on the market. The interface alone won't help you much, there is also a need of a tiny surface matrix antennae for this 60 GHz - and this beast does run hot.

Needless to say - 60 GHz is a pain. The cat behind the notebook or your GF walking through the line of sight between the computer and the router will kill or temporary stop the communication.

Intel provided the Tri-Band Wireless-AC 17265 and the Wireless Gigabit Sink W13100 "Maple Peak" - this line was declared EoL by end of 2017. Rumour says that Intel might continue to offer its Tri Band Wireless-AC 18265 "Oak Peak" controllers as well as the Wireless Gigabit Antenna-M 10101R products - odd enough, these were never certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

That much about "there are none" - afraid, you are wrong.  But yes, there are no new interfaces for the latest M.2 CNVio interface spec used in coming-up mobile systems.

SImilar things happened on other technology and computer interface development - some never became mainstream. 

When I see that a big German car manufacturer in model year 2018 still has DAB+ radios as optional equipment for the European market - considering FM transmission will start to disappear in the next few years in Europe, figure. Yes - some ten or so years ago DAB radios were offered and sold in the market - these don't work anymore today, because the standard was obsoleted. Same for what was brilliant some decades ago - Digitales Satelliten-Radio was showcased in 1982, introduced in 1989, .... 1994 the satellite emissions were stopped. That's the circle of technology life.

If you think this is a Netgear scam ... well. Read again.

[damnre]

Well my mistake was to trust a company that still sell's a router with advertising that it's the fastest router but in reality you actually won't be able to use the speed. I didn't buy this router 5 years ago. I did it this year! If I knew that even Netgear doesn't support their router I certainly wouldn't spend money on a router that is a 2600ac grade router.

[schumaku]

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@damnre wrote:
Well my mistake was to trust a company that still sell's a router with advertising that it's the fastest router but in reality you actually won't be able to use the speed.

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You can't make use of the SFP+ 10Gb interface if you dont have the 10 GbE infrastructure.

You can't make use of the port trunking capability if you do't have a switch or sysem supporting it.

You can't make use of 802.11ad if you dont have a client for this technology.

Years ago, we could not use 802.11a because there were virtually no 5 GHz clients around, too.

And many more examples. Wi-Fi is popuar for these...many new standards were useable much later. Some never made it to mainstream. Other functions never left the pre-standard status.

[xnsys]

Guess who had another wifi disconnect 38 minutes ago - and it took about 15 minutes after the disconnect for the 2.4GHz SSID to present itself to devices again.

Definately looks like an issue causing the WiFi radio to crash.

[xnsys]

Yet another WiFi drop - updated another thread as I have an escalation with Netgear, and made them aware of the issues

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/R9000-Firmware-1-0-3-6-Discovered-Issues/m-p...

[jonathan1683]

I have been having these issues for a long time I just never realized it was my router as I thought this was way too expensive to not be able to do basic wifi. Whatever device I have connected on wifi doesnt hold a stable connection it started with my apple TV. It would always say connection error and my shows would stop. I just put it on ETH and it's fine. Next I started having issues with my IP cameras nothing on wifi would hold a stable connection. So I blamed my cameras. I ended up installing powerlines in my house to use the cameras which now work perfect. Then I got a firestick to use upstairs and guess what? Also contant disconnections where it's imposible to watch TV. Then I tried to use KODI upstairs from my laptop and also connection drops all the time just connecting inside the network to my HTPC. It really got to the point that all these devices failed for me to realize this router has a major issue.

I always buy high end anything in life because I dont like to have to deal with cheap stuff that doesnt work and end up spending twice the money buying cheap crap then buying the legit produt, and I feel I am wasting my time even writing here when I shouldn't have to. It's got to the point my router ports are FULL because I can't use anything on wifi besdies phones that don't require a stable connection.

I would call tech support, but last time I called they wanted like $150 just to talk to someone which is crazy especially since my hardware is still in the warranty period, so what do I do? Well wait everyone to make a big enough stink to figure it out and get it fixed via firmware or I just don't buy netgear in the future. I won't call I wont complain I wont make a scene about it. You just dont have my business in the future, that is all and no one will care so yea, anyways hope it gets worked out.

[xnsys]

I find that the disconnects tend to happen more when devices are further than 50% of what I would consider a reasonable WiFi range.

Sometimes rather than working from the bottom up, it's helps to work from the top down - it might not be a bad idea to drop the CEO an e-mail with regards to your complains (patrick.lo@netgear.com). The more people that do this and make them aware of the situation, the more likely you are to ensure that pressure is put on those that are in a position to resolve the issues.

I've got an escellation opened at the moment, and since doing the above they are exceptionally helpful...

[rrnyc]

If you don't mind me asking, what is the solution they gave you to fix these problems? I'm guessing the issues are fixed if you feel they were exceptionally helpful.

[xnsys]

Can't say as under NDA - issues are being looked into but no fix yet - but should be resolved soon.

[rrnyc]

Sounds about right to put NDA's on solving basic issues with an already released router. 

[AUTigerinBham]

@ElaineM how can i get support as I am experiancing the same issues.  It seems as if the only option I am seeing is paid support but I am still under HW warrenty.  The frequency of the wifif dropping has increased to multiple times a day now.  I work from home so I need a stable solution.

[yodogyodog]

I have seen this issue before. I believe there’s a couple things you can do to help mitigate some of the symptoms.

1. Turn off the 60ghz wireless AD radiator located in the advanced setup section under the tab called “wireless settings.” You uncheck the box that says “enable wireless router radio” which would be at the bottom end of the page.
I believe this router has a heat issue and IMO the 60ad radio enabled can only add to the problem. I’ve tested the Wi-Fi speeds for both 2.4 and 5ghz and they are identical or faster in speeds regardless if the 60ghz AD radio is enabled or disabled, and regardless if 160hz is enabled or disabled.

2. Buy a usb laptop cooling pad that has built in fans in it and put the r9000 on top of it using the USB port on the r9000 to power the laptop cooling pad.

3. Try unchecking (disabling) the Beamforming+ option located in the advanced setup —-> wireless settings —-> bottom of the page. Test and see but for my setup/devices it made the Wi-Fi dropping much less frequent.

4. If all else fails, install DD-WRT brainslayer/kong revisions or return it back to where you bought it.


I myself think I fixed the issue by adding the cooling pad. Good luck, cheers.

[AUTigerinBham]

I have tried all recommended solutions and it is still an issue.  Any other ideas?  This has been a consistent problem that I need to get resolved.

[rrnyc]

My WiFi issues stopped after I enabled the option "Enable Smart Connect" in Advanced, Setup, Wireless Setup. Not sure if this will work for anybody else, but it worked for me. I am still having ethernet issues though, as described in another thread.

[xnsys]

Enabling Smart Connect may seem to be helping with the disconnects, but it's an illusion because it presents both the 2.4 and 5GHz channels with the same SSID, allowing the device to check which channel is best and connect to that one.

Which means, if the 5GHz channel crashes, then the device connected will automatically switch to the 2.4GHz and vice versa - so it may still be disconnecting, just that you never truly notice.

[rrnyc]

Perhaps. But what's important to me it's that none of the devices I have get disconnected from WiFi and I can use them without interruption. And I'm happy with that. 

[rrnyc]

Based on speed tests, I get maximum speeds of 400 Mbps, which is what my ISP sends me, on all the devices that support 5Ghz. I don't see the Netgear people coming up with another solution. If you have a better one, let me know.