Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
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Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

Scorpio123
Apprentice

R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

This problem happens at random intervals (about a week +) so difficult to track.

 

After manually upgrading the firmware to version "1.4.1.82_1.3.40_hotfix" the router occasionally locked up - all LEDS on front panel were fixed (not flickering) and not possible to connect via ethernet or wifi - nothing on the network on 192.168.1.1

 

After repowering the device started working again.

 

After second lockup there was a new firmware available so I upgraded to that 1.4.2.84_1.3.42

 

However, the R8000P has again locked up as above. Particularly annoying this time as it happened just as I was away from home for over a week and unable to connect to my Ring doorbell and cameras.

 

On return I repowered and it worked OK again.

 

This time I downgraded the firmware to a version which I had never had an issue with - 1.4.1.66_1.3.26

This was done on 1st Novemeber (3 days ago) and so far working OK but don't know if this will last.

 

Anyone else had similar issues?

 

John.

 

Model: R8000P|Nighthawk X6S AC4000 Tri Band WiFi Router
Message 1 of 21
plemans
Guru

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

I don't have that model to test but it seems like the last 2 versions of firmware for it have caused issues. 

Its lately been DNS issues. I haven't seen a whole lot of locking up issues. 

If your current version stays stable, great. If it doesn't, did you try a factory reset in any of your firmware changes? 

Message 2 of 21
Scorpio123
Apprentice

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

No I haven't yet tried the factory reset option in any of the FW changes. I'll give this FW a few days longer to try to validate the hardware and if OK then try reflashing the latest FW and do the factory reset. The later updates seem to have security patches so would like to update when possible.

 

Thanks.

 

John.

 

P.S. Do you know if it is valid to 'backup settings', do a factory reset and the restore settings or is this just as likely to cause problems as not doing a factory reset?

Model: R8000P|Nighthawk X6S AC4000 Tri Band WiFi Router
Message 3 of 21
plemans
Guru

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

OK, thanks for keeping us updated 🙂

Message 4 of 21
Scorpio123
Apprentice

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

Sorry updated my reply and then saw you had already responded.

 

Do you know if it is valid to 'backup settings', do a factory reset and the restore settings or is this just as likely to cause problems as not doing a factory reset?

 

John.

Model: R8000P|Nighthawk X6S AC4000 Tri Band WiFi Router
Message 5 of 21
plemans
Guru

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

If you have a lot of customizations, for sure. take a backup configuration and reset/reinstall with it. If you still have the issues, then try without the backup. it doesn't hurt to try. 

Or you can reset and try it in its default configuration. If it stay stable in the default but not when your backup is running, then you know its something in the old settings causing issues. 

Message 6 of 21
Scorpio123
Apprentice

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

On 10th November updated firmware to latest version again (V1.4.2.84_1.3.42) but this time did do a factory reset after upgrading.

 

Now 15 days later and it has not locked up yet ....... fingers crossed.

 

John.

 

 

Model: R8000P|Nighthawk X6S AC4000 Tri Band WiFi Router
Message 7 of 21
Scorpio123
Apprentice

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.


@Scorpio123 wrote:

On 10th November updated firmware to latest version again (V1.4.2.84_1.3.42) but this time did do a factory reset after upgrading.

 

Now 15 days later and it has not locked up yet ....... fingers crossed.

 

John.

 

 


Well it took a while but yesterday (47 days later) another lockout problem.

 

Lights on the router were flashing but it was not possible to connect to it either via ethernet or wifi.

 

Only option was to reboot after which all working OK again but not really satisfactory.

 

I am starting to lose trust in it...................

 

F/W is V1.4.2.84_1.3.42 reflashed with factory reset on 25/11/2021. This the current f/w available on site.



 

 

 

 

Model: R8000P|Nighthawk X6S AC4000 Tri Band WiFi Router
Message 8 of 21
Scorpio123
Apprentice

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

Just to add variety, the unit just reset itself for no apparent reason. Of course the log gives no clues as it was lost when it reset.

 

 

Model: R8000P|Nighthawk X6S AC4000 Tri Band WiFi Router
Message 9 of 21
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

Would be curious to see if you put a laptop cooler fan under the router, if it would continue to lock up. 

 

Was this version a good stable version or did it also exhibit this lock up? 1.4.1.66_1.3.26


@Scorpio123 wrote:

This problem happens at random intervals (about a week +) so difficult to track.

 

After manually upgrading the firmware to version "1.4.1.82_1.3.40_hotfix" the router occasionally locked up - all LEDS on front panel were fixed (not flickering) and not possible to connect via ethernet or wifi - nothing on the network on 192.168.1.1

 

After repowering the device started working again.

 

After second lockup there was a new firmware available so I upgraded to that 1.4.2.84_1.3.42

 

However, the R8000P has again locked up as above. Particularly annoying this time as it happened just as I was away from home for over a week and unable to connect to my Ring doorbell and cameras.

 

On return I repowered and it worked OK again.

 

This time I downgraded the firmware to a version which I had never had an issue with - 1.4.1.66_1.3.26

This was done on 1st Novemeber (3 days ago) and so far working OK but don't know if this will last.

 

Anyone else had similar issues?

 

John.

 


 

Message 10 of 21
Scorpio123
Apprentice

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.


@FURRYe38 wrote:

Would be curious to see if you put a laptop cooler fan under the router, if it would continue to lock up. 

 

Was this version a good stable version or did it also exhibit this lock up? 1.4.1.66_1.3.26


@Scorpio123 wrote:

This problem happens at random intervals (about a week +) so difficult to track.

 

After manually upgrading the firmware to version "1.4.1.82_1.3.40_hotfix" the router occasionally locked up - all LEDS on front panel were fixed (not flickering) and not possible to connect via ethernet or wifi - nothing on the network on 192.168.1.1

 

After repowering the device started working again.

 

After second lockup there was a new firmware available so I upgraded to that 1.4.2.84_1.3.42

 

However, the R8000P has again locked up as above. Particularly annoying this time as it happened just as I was away from home for over a week and unable to connect to my Ring doorbell and cameras.

 

On return I repowered and it worked OK again.

 

This time I downgraded the firmware to a version which I had never had an issue with - 1.4.1.66_1.3.26

This was done on 1st Novemeber (3 days ago) and so far working OK but don't know if this will last.

 

Anyone else had similar issues?

 

John.

 


History. AFAIR.

 

When I first got an R8000P, it was set to autoupdate and updated itself to V1.4.1.50. I had a problem with this (and from various other comments so did a lot of other people) in that it would not allow any further upgrades or downgrades of FW. After a lot of tooing and froing, Netgear RMAed the router under warranty with the R8000P I have now.

 

I think it came with FW 1.4.1.64. and I set it to not autoupdate.

I then went to 1.4.1.66,  1.4.1.68 and interim 1.4.1.82 hotfix which caused issues.

I then downgraded to 1.4.1.66.

I do not know how much of the issues was made worse by me not doing a factory reset after upgrading.

 

When a new release came out I upgraded to1.4.1.84 which it is currently on and included a factory reset.

I suffer from random lockups but also random reboots - I only really know when the reboots happen if I am looking at the box and see the LEDs go out.as the reboot sequence goes through quite quickly.

 

The lockups happen randomly and usually after a long period so it is always difficult to know if the problem is fixed or not.

 

I am going to try again downgrading to 1.4.1 66 and I will see if I locate my laptop cooler to try. Do you ask this question because you have experienced overheating causing issues yourself with these routers? The R8000P is mildly warm underneath but not as hot as my previous TPLink router which you could fry eggs on and had yellowing of the plastic case from the heat.

 

However I don't know how long to leave it at 1.4.1.66 to know if the problem is fixed or not because of the randmness of the failures. I assume the FW updates are done for good reasons so don't want to leave myself open to a security issue.

 

 

 


 

Message 11 of 21
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

Let us know if it still happens with v66 loaded. Was there any other problems seen with v66 loaded prior or did it seem to work well for you? 

I would loade FW and reset and start a fresh setup from scratch. 

Message 12 of 21
Scorpio123
Apprentice

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

I have reverted to FW V66 and full factory reset. To avoid too many variables I am not going to apply cooling at this time.

I do not know of any  problems with V66. It never locked up but I do not know if it randomly reset as this is hard to spot.

 


@FURRYe38 wrote:

Let us know if it still happens with v66 loaded. Was there any other problems seen with v66 loaded prior or did it seem to work well for you? 

I would loade FW and reset and start a fresh setup from scratch. 


 

Model: R8000P|Nighthawk X6S AC4000 Tri Band WiFi Router
Message 13 of 21
Scorpio123
Apprentice

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

This should now really be relabelled from 'seemingly lock ups' to 'intermittent no response from router / lack of connectivity'

 

I found I was unable to connect again today either via ethernet or wifi.

However rather than just reboot I tried a few things.

So now on FW66.

 

All LEDs active on the front. - network ones flickering - except for 5GHz -1 which is OFF.

Everything else solid including Internet.

Unplugging / plugging devices into the ethernet ports - the 'link' LEDs go out and come back on again.

The wifi button LED will not go out when held in - i.e. unresponsive.

 

Trying to connect via Wifi - gets an unable to connect error.

Trying to connect via Ethernet - gets an unknown network and no DHCP assigned IP address .

 

Perhaps the working LED functions happen at a hardware level so continue to function but the CPU of the device is not reponding.

Again rebooting returns operation to normal.

 

I now can't see how this can be FW related - I think it must be hardware. If I can find the fan I will try cooling - notr really ideal or reliable solution but may prove a point..

 

It is now out of warranty so I am stuffed. I may try opening it up to check for obvious problems (dried out caps, dry joints, signs of overheating etc) - [I am an engineer so I do know what I am doing 🙂  ]

 

 

 

Message 14 of 21
Scorpio123
Apprentice

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

I had got as far as looking at a replacement wifi router on Amazon (it's in my basket) and thought 'no - I have to take a look' inside.

 

I disassembled the unit and in manufacturers usual friendly way they hid one screw under the rear label so I had to make a hole in it to unscrew. The cover then slides off revealing the PCB with the antennae connections to it.

 

The PSU has all the nasty mains bits in it - before the health and safety critics pipe up about the dangers of opening up equipment 🙂

It also must have all the power supply smoothing in it as there seem to be  no signs of electrolytic capacitors on the PCB.

 

The board has a very large heatsink mounted on it attached by three soldered pillars to the main PCB.

There appear to be four 'devices' under the heatsink - 3 CPUs or processors of some sort and a networking module?.

I discovered on the rear of the PCB across various components near to these devices a grey substance (contaminant)
I am not sure what it is but it looks like solder paste!!

 

This 'could' have been making intermittent connections across the components - could this have caused my issues??
(I once had a problem with my oscilloscope which after 15 years of use suddenly lost one channel - intermittent no output) After a very long investigation I found a thin sliver of solder which had been sticking vertically up and over the years gradually bent over until it was shorting out the input FET)

 

I have removed the contaminant using a toothbrush and plenty of Isopropyl Alcohol.

The unit is now reassembled and reconnected so will now monitor it.

 

I will try to upload some photos of the board (if possible) showing the substance across the components.

 

Message 15 of 21
Scorpio123
Apprentice

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

The PCBThe PCBA small piece of the contaminantA small piece of the contaminantBig piece of contaminantBig piece of contaminantIMG_20220120_114115680_HDR.jpgFor an idea of scale these caps are about 5mm acrossFor an idea of scale these caps are about 5mm acrossIMG_20220120_112732757.jpg

Model: R8000P|Nighthawk X6S AC4000 Tri Band WiFi Router
Message 16 of 21
Scorpio123
Apprentice

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

It is now 13 days since I discovered the contaminant on the PCB and removed it.

 

The router seems to have been working 100% (i.e. no lockups and  no reboots AFAIK) since so I decided to update the firmware again today to the latest as I no no longer believe the F/W had any bearing on my problem.

 

Hardware VersionR8000P
 
Firmware VersionV1.4.2.84_1.3.42
 
GUI Language VersionV1.4.1.70_2.1.46.1

 

and will again continue to monitor ....................

Model: R8000P|Nighthawk X6S AC4000 Tri Band WiFi Router
Message 17 of 21
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

Wow, thats an interesting find. Makes me wonder how many other units may have this contamination. Smiley Frustrated

Message 18 of 21
Scorpio123
Apprentice

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.


@FURRYe38 wrote:

Wow, thats an interesting find. Makes me wonder how many other units may have this contamination. Smiley Frustrated


Could have been unlucky  and the 'flow solder' machine or whatever device they use these days dumped crud on my board or if the machine was faulty then it could have affected a whole batch until the issue was discovered and then no recall was done on affected units! or the faulty machine continued dumping crud.

 

Makes you question Quality Control as well. It is either done purely on a unit seeming to work OK and no VISUAL CHECKS or is there any QC at all except that done by the end user!!

 

 

Model: R8000P|Nighthawk X6S AC4000 Tri Band WiFi Router
Message 19 of 21
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

Ya, could be anything. Really shouldn't have got thru but...who knows. 


I've forwarded on to NG for review. 

Message 20 of 21
Scorpio123
Apprentice

Re: R8000P seemingly random lock ups.

Well I've had to admit defeat on this - I really can't waste any more time on it!!

 

Having cleaned all the visible contaminant from the board the reliability improved but it is NOT 100% fixed. There could be something underneath components which just can't easily be removed.

 

The final state now is it works OK for a few weeks then it loses internet connection The only way to resolve is to repower.

 

I am really not a happy customer!

 

This was an RMA  replacement unit for my original which would not update it's firmware. It appeared to be a brand new unit but it could have been recycled by Netgear after a return which because of the intermittent fault got sent out again????

 

I do not find Netgear a company easy to deal with for problems and support is very poor and it is appaling that you have to pay for extra for support from them.

 

I have wasted my time and money on this rubbish and have now purchased a TP-Link AX73 instead. It is cheaper and performance wise much better than the R8000P.

 

Time will tell on the reliabilty of this new router but it can't be any worse than the R8000P.

 

I will not be rushing back any time soon to buy another Netgear product. I have used them in the past and they were good. My personal opinion is they are now trading on their good name and selling second rate overpriced products.

 

They have lost this customer for good!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Message 21 of 21
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