R6900 Nighthawk AC1900 - 5ghz drops every day

[jeffkillen]

I recomend you return the item to Costco and buy a different router somewhere else.  I have returned the same router 3 times now and the person at costco said the routers are junk. he also said that everyone returns that router so i imagine they wont carry it for much longer.  After about 12 hours the router stopped working everytime for me.   

[Maloha]

I'm past the return date - it's still working, with ocassional drops, but that only happens if I don't leave at least one device connected. I'm hesitant to do any firmware updates - it's working, so like they saying goes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".  Technically, it's broke, but I can live with an ocassional reboot for now.

[Guppy]

Just set-up my R6900p router from Costco a few days ago, experienced first spontaneous 5 GHz network drop-out, in which new devices can see the -5G SSID but cannot connect, and an existing laptop which connected (after waking up from sleep) was still listed as connected, but with no internet connection.  No problems with 2.4 GHz network during this time, connectivity on this band remained uninterrupted.  

Netgear WiFi analytics app on my phone shows zero 5 GHz networks other than my own in range.  

Updated firmware version from V1.0.0.58_1.0.50 to V1.0.1.14_1.0.59, appears to be working normally upon reboot, for now.

Anyway, would be interested to find out if anyone has noticed whether or not this drop-out behavior also happens when the Smart Connect feature is enabled (Both frequency bands share same SSID, router automatically assigns devices between the two).

[Damador490]

I had the same problem with mine when I first set it up. Extremely frustrating because you have to wait for days to get help from Netgear support. The other issue that has never been resolved by support is using a backup drive on the USB connection. Every time it backed up, it would crash the connection. It was an approved backup device I was using.
The problem I experience now is the router will just drop its connection to the modem and it takes 3-5 reboots to reconnect. In addition to this, I have a laptop and desktop running on windows 8 and they lose internet connectivity on occasion. They both give the error that the device (network adapter) is unmounted. I am 99% sure this is caused by the router. I no longer have free support from Netgear and I have no interest in paying for support to get a problem fixed that is solely their problem. I feel your pain. I done with all the frustration with the AC 1900. I will be returning the device to Costco in the near future. I also purchased a Netgear range extender so hopefully that will be compatible with whatever I end up purchasing.

[Guppy]

Update to my previous post - updating firmware to latest version did not change behavior.  Shortly afterwards, 5 Ghz band dropped out again, same behavior of being able to see the SSID, but not connect.

If I go into the router GUI (without rebooting), under Advanced > Administration > Router Status, I see a red circle-X next to the box for "Wireless Settings (5Ghz)", and there is an odd character in the place for the channel, like a straight vertical line with a zero touching it.  The box for the 2.4 Ghz has a green checkmark, and that band continues to work uninterrupted.  Screenshot attached:

 I decided to try changing my channel, from previous setting of 36 to 149, and when I hit Apply the page did not reload successfully, and the network connection dropped-out shortly after -- I could no longer see the 2.4 Ghz network SSID, and while the 5 Ghz network was still visible, I could still not connect to it.  Not sure if it was crashed or just taking a very long time to reset, but I rebooted it, and it is currently working fine with channel changed to 149 when I went back in the menu.

[Maloha]

I bought that range extender too - it didn't seem to make a hill of beans worth of difference, so I returned it.

I still have the problem with the dropped 5Ghz network, but rebooting seems to fix it. Until I can afford a bigger/better router or the problem isn't resolved with a simple reboot, I'm living with it. Not likely that I will buy another NetGear router though.

[Guppy]

R6900p 5Ghz band crashed again, so changing the channel did not improve anything.  However, this time post-dropout some more garbage characters showed up on the status page of the router GUI.

[Guppy]

Update: enabling Smart Connect appears to make no difference, the 5Ghz drops out and gives garbage characters in the status page's channel information also.

[Guppy]

Update - returned it and got another R6900p from Costco.  This time, I left it on the default factory firmware without updating, same behavior with 5Ghz becoming unstable then unusable.  Updated firmware to latest version, no change in behavior.  Same problems with garbage characters showing up in channel information field on the router status screen.

[JamesGL · Accepted solution]

Hi Guppy,

Try to reset the router to factory default. If same thing, I would suggest contacting support team.

[JamesGL]

Hi Guppy,

We’d greatly appreciate hearing your feedback letting us know if you need further assistance.

[Guppy]

Factory reset didn't help, the router became increasingly unstable over time, started showing additional weird problems -- in addition to the garbage characters in the router status screen, the Netgear WiFi analytics app showed the 5 Ghz band as being WEP encrypted, even though it was set as WPA AES in the setup; you couldn't connect to it anyway, assuming it was one of those moments when the SSID was even visible.  Eventually the router went into what looked like a continuous boot-loop judging from the pattern of the indicator lights, and wasn't fixed by power-cycling or by holding down the reset button.  

I had to return it to Costco, downgraded to a Netgear R6400 which has been much more stable.

[robertjamesftw]

I just installed a brand new R6900P that I bought from (you guessed it) CostCo. I cannot get it to permit a 5G connection. I continue to get incorrect password errors and "unable to join" messages with no other support information. I came out here this evening to see if I could get some ideas and am dismayed to see that I spent good money on a piece of junk that is clearly not being well supported. This issue seems to be pervasive and long standing. I'll be returning this asap, and replacing it with a different manufacturer.

Incidentally, I am a systems engineer who works from home, so I'm not incapable of troubleshooting, but I have no interest in wasting time on a device that should be reliably working out of the box.

[Maloha]

When you return it, don't bother with the comparable Linksys from Costco. It works right out of the box but the speeds are awful, which is why I kept the Netgear until I can afford a bigger better router

[WildBill7]

Got to love this formum.  Even after the person says a reset didn't solve the problem is marked as a solution.  Errrr...

(I have the exact same problem with a Costco R6900P.  5G worked when I bought the router.  I noticed a few days ago that it no longer works.)