How Do I Escalate My Netgear Router R7000 Case 46391511
I've spoken to the same Support Agent several times over the past few weeks with the hope of remedying the issue of "slow router speed" i.e., the router appears to be converting 900mbps received through the modem to below 300mbps. Before contacting Netgear my provider sent a technician to my residence to troubleshoot my internet connection. It was established at that time that the modem wasn't at fault. Netgear initially agreed and sent a replacement router. Unfortunately, the replacement did not resolve the issue.
I reconnected with Netgear and advised Support of the situation and requested help. Based on the Support script, which appears all the agents must follow ad nauseum rather than establishing the systems experience level of their customers, system tests involving the switching out of equipment connections were performed as well as associated speed tests. The issue was escalated within Netgear and each time I was requested to perform the same tests again and again i.e., data was captured and reported by me but the agents did not document the results to pass them along.
By the time I reached the current Support Agent I was extremely frustrated and that frustration was aggravated even more by his condescending attitude. I do not mince words so I informed him of my dissatisfaction with his approach several times. Our first call lasted over 6 hours. During which time tempers flared. The agent advised he would send all the data collected to the Engineering Team. He has followed up with requests for additional information and that information was provided.
Today the Support Agent contacted me by phone asking me to provide the model #s for the attached devices stating it was at the request of Engineering. I immediately said no and was asked to keep quiet until he could explain the reasoning behind the request. He explained they could only determine the needs of each of the attached devices i.e., bandwidth by having the model #s. Then I was told, I could speak. At which time, I advised him the request was unreasonable and a waste of my time. (Note: currently there are 15 devices attached to my router). I also advised I would no longer use Netgear products or renew my Support Services Contract because of his attitude and the lack of resolution to the situation, which saddens me since I've had several Netgear routers over the years ,which worked beautifully, and the support was very satisfactory.
I then proceeded to conduct additional research to confirm my understanding of what is needed to perform such analyses and found I was correct and only IP and Mac addresses of the attached devices are needed. I gathered this information from several sources including Netgear itself.
I proceeded to compose a response to the Support Agent to memorialize our conversation and my subsequent findings, plus suggest it might be beneficial if Engineering would use its time to update the Admin Dashboard to include the Received and Sent Packet data for the benefit of all Netgear customers, but when I clicked Submit, the screen just kept cycling and the message was lost. Again yet another frustration piled on top of frustration after frustration.
So what I need to do now is escalate this case to the proper level. However, I've not been able to find any information as to how to do that. Can anyone help?
Re: How Do I Escalate My Netgear Router R7000 Case 46391511
Thanks for suggesting that!
To clarify...are you proposing I create a new post with a subject line like
Need Suggestions as to How to Resolve Reduction in WiFi Speed?
Then explain that the modem's direct connection was tested on a few devices and is delivering 900mbps, but once the modem is connected to the NightHawk R7000 the delivery speed to those same devices drops by two-thirds. Additionally when the router is connected directly to two PCs that were in the initial tests (android laptops), the speed continued to reflect a two-thirds drop.
Netgear Support Agents remote accessed the router's administration panel and made a few tweaks to the settings, but those adjustments didn't resolve the issue. But because it was suspected the equipment was failing, the initial solution provided by Netgear was to swap out the router. Unfortunately, the situation continued even after the replacement was connected.
Re: How Do I Escalate My Netgear Router R7000 Case 46391511
Or you can continue here.
Seeing that you have given some information, lets ask you a couple of questions.
What Firmware version is currently loaded? What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too? Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6 is recommended.
What wireless devices do you have connected to the router?
How are you testing speeds? Speed test apps on these devices?
How do you have the Basic and Advanced wireless settings configured? WMM, Beamforming or any MIMO features enabled?
Is Smart Connect enabled or disabled?
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?
Be aware that most wifi devcies on 5Ghz AC with this router will not see anything near 900Mbps on wifi speed tests. Due to limitations of devices, design and support and what 5Ghz AC can do, Most speeds will top out at any where from 300-600Mpbs, depending on device design and support. Yould should see near 900Mpbs with a ethernet connect PC however. What I got with my R7000:
Re: How Do I Escalate My Netgear Router R7000 Case 46391511
Hi,
Thanks for the follow-up and the questions. Here are the answers.
What Firmware version is currently loaded? V1.0.11.136_10.2.120
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too? Xfinity is my provider, but I own my own modem which is compatible with their system per the list they provided. It's an ARRIS T25 DOSIS 3.1
Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6 is recommended. Yes. CAT6 is the LAN cable connecting the modem and the router.
What wireless devices do you have connected to the router? There are 20 devices attached. They include 5 smart tvs, 2 laptops, 2 samsung cell phones, MyQ garage opener app, a tv remote control, 2 denon receivers, 2 kindles, 1 ipad, 1 bing doorbell and 1 bing bing doorbell chime, 1 canon printer and 1 hp printer
How are you testing speeds? Speed test apps on these devices? I'm unable to check the speed on all the devices, but those I have e.g., laptops, cell phones, I've used a couple of different apps like speedtest.net and speedtest xfinity to confirm that the speed results weren't a result of the app being used. I have connected the laptops directly to the modem and then directly to the router. The speed from the modem is 900mbps and drops to 250-300mbps even when directly connected to the router. I've checked the speed for the cell phones using the same apps and typically receive the 250-300mbps results. I say typically, because over 20 tests have been run over several days and the results vary within those parameters.
How do you have the Basic and Advanced wireless settings configured? WMM, Beamforming or any MIMO features enabled? Both Basic and Advanced wireless settings appear to be configured. WMM and Implicit beamforming is enabled. MIMO should be on the same page as Beamforming, but I don't see it. I followed the directions provided on https://kb.netgear.com/000064619/How-do-I-enable-or-disable-MU-MIMO-on-my-NETGEAR-router
Is Smart Connect enabled or disabled? Disabled
What channels are you using? Auto? The router is set on Auto and 153 on %Ghz. I tested the combinations you suggested (i.e., 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.) and used 2 devices to test speed through speedtest xfinity for a total of 30 tests. Initially Auto/48, 1/48 and 1/157 appeared to be strong, but after several repeated tests on each and a retest on Auto/153, the initial setting won out with a steady performance of 236 and 232mbps.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many? 7 networks appear to be available. 6 are secured xfinity is unsecured.
Re: How Do I Escalate My Netgear Router R7000 Case 46391511
I would factory reset the router and setup from scratch with a wired PC. Power OFF the modem for 30 seconds then back ON. Walk thru the setup wizard then when you get to the home page, log off and use Ooklas installable speed test app on the wired PC and run a speed test with out making any other changes to the router. Don't enable Access Controls, Armor, Circle or Traffic Meter.
Post your results. Try a different PC to compare if needed.
You might enable Smart Connect and set manual channels to 1 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 or 149 on 5Ghz.
Change Co-existence to 40Mhz only.
Enable any Beamforming options as well, under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
Set DHCP IP address range 192.168.1.100 to .200 instead of using the default factory range.
