Loss of 2.4 ghz bandwidth after August 2019 fw update. R8000 X6

[Kodakwest]

Having a bandwidth issue with my 2.4 band only. All devices in close proximity are limited to ~ 50Mb/s.


the 5ghz band is intermittently dropping the connection to my Ex8000 extender which has been working perfectly for years in the position it is in. However the bandwidth on the 5ghz network(s) is working as expected

I have gone through all the usual steps including but not limited to multiple factory resets on both devices. issue still persists.

The only other delta is a new cable modem from my ISP which I verified is firehosing a solid 500mb downstream connection.

[Krethys]

Same here, my 5GHz is limited to 300Mbps. 

2.4Ghz is from 50 to 100Mbps

Wired to the modem is 600Mbps

Wired to the router is 600Mbps

I have the R8000p though and customer support basically told me to fork over $100 for their mistake. I took back my CM1000 Netgear modem and bought an Arris because of that because Amazon had a DOCSIS 3.1 on sale for $114. Netgear support is A$$

[Kodakwest]

That's interesting. Your 2.4 should be able to operate higher than that. Prior to yesterday my 2.4 would average between 80-110Mb

Today it struggles to hit 45-50. While my 5ghz is well over 300


I hate updating firmware with this company. Makes me feel like an idiot for clicking the update button

[Kodakwest]

I want to add that I cannot go back to the previous firmware version as the connectivity issues I was experiencing with the new modem were far worse. at least my network is up even with a junk 2.4

[Krethys]

Yep, speeds should be 750Mbps with 2.4

1625Mbps with the 5 dependent on leased line from ISP of course. 

I reverted to stock firmware too and it didn't help at all. QoS is just a pretty radio button that does nothing it seems too

[Kodakwest]

Direct from the modem it's getting 550+ even the 5ghz struggles to hit 3-400

I was really excited these products when I first got them. Over 500 bucks on all this netgear stuff that is not even quality enough to last 2 years

Very sad. My network was so reliable for a year or so. Now reboots and factory resets are as common as rebooting windows. My 6 year old knows it's happening when I walk over to the router


Ohhh no internets going off again..

Are you gonna fix it this time dad???

First world problems. yes. But its infuriating.

[Krethys]

Dang man, I feel your pain tremendously on that. I wish I knew beforehand of all of these issues that NETGEAR has under their belt. Did they do anything to help you? I too get super fast ethernet speeds but we live in a wireless world and that's why I bought a wireless router lol. I knew what I wanted, the price tag that came with it but not the god awful support and hardware. If you ever upgrade, let me know what you get! I am looking into Arris WiFi 6 mesh routers, they reach 6000ft and are 400% faster than AC too! 

[Krethys]

meant to say super fast speeds to modem

[Kodakwest]

Yes support insisted I factory reset after already having told her that I did. Hour later it was worse than the previous reset. (You know how when something is broken but you mess with it enough to get it workable enough to function) I was pissed. Then she said I must have a virus or a worm and to subscribe to the bitdefender thing and see if that fixes it.


Specrum is coming out tomorrow I'll probably be using an ISP issued setup for a minute

Arris is good. I might even look at asus or linksys/Cisco

[Krethys]

Lmao, that is a terrible customer support response. The chances of having a virus or worm on your router is slim to none. Most of those are computer targeted and you'd have to be a VIP of a big name company for them to even target you with something that serious. My ISP is coming out tommorow too since I just moved. After arguing, they let me do the initial setup and they are still coming out lol. I will just ask them to test their router too and see. Good luck man!

I messed around with the WiFi modes of each channel where it says "Up to ...Mb" and decreased it by one option on each. It slowed the speeds of the speedtests after it came back up. YET STILL not reaching the speeds I set it too. That is SO weird... I may go into PuTTY and see if I can change anything that way to fix the speeds.

[Krethys]

Cisco is awesome, I work with their equipment all the time. Easy language to pickup on their equipment and I had an old N66U from Asus that was amazing and reliable. Those are excellent choices!

[schumaku]

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@Kodakwest wrote:

the 5ghz band is intermittently dropping the connection to my Ex8000 extender which has been working perfectly for years in the position it is in. However the bandwidth on the 5ghz network(s) is working as expected

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@Krethys wrote:

Same here, my 5GHz is limited to 300Mbps. 

2.4Ghz is from 50 to 100Mbps

...that much about the same...

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@Krethys wrote:

I have had 300Mbps for over a year and no issue, when I upgrade to half a gigabit and it can't get past 300, it kinda sucks and I am sure this issue was there before I was even able to tell.

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Ready to me like a wireless client limitation. To reach the ISP provided speed of 600 Mbit/s on the wired connection both ends have to run on a 1 Gbit/s link, e.g. a Fast Ethernet would lead to a lower speed.  Ever considered that your wireless clients are not decent 802.1ac class devices?

What devices are you testing with?

What are the clients wireless link rates negotiated, as per the wireless client and if available as per the router attached devices details?

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@Krethys wrote:

I opened a ticket last year about the 3.0 NAS port on the router with Readyshare and all they did was close it with no response. I am assuming due to the warranty period expiring or something. 

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Unlikely due to the 90 days suport window expiring - should not happen at all, of course. Create a new thread - no idea what you talk about a "3.0 NAS port" ref. ReadyShare here - convinced the community members are happy to help there, too.

[Kodakwest]

The R8000 is capable- and new windows 10 laptop hard with GB ethernet and wireless capability is my test device - both use cases: wired/wifi directly under the router/AP, and has at times reached 480Mb/s downloads just before cutting out on my 5GHZ- right now the 2.4 is ringing in at 48Mb/s --

Attached are results within 10 minutes of each other on the 5GHZ network

The connection completely dropped, access point reset - and it maxed out at 172 on 5ghz - same devices; same proximity

[IrvSp]

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@Kodakwest wrote:
Having a bandwidth issue with my 2.4 band only. All devices in close proximity are limited to ~ 50Mb/s.


the 5ghz band is intermittently dropping the connection to my Ex8000 extender which has been working perfectly for years in the position it is in. However the bandwidth on the 5ghz network(s) is working as expected

I have gone through all the usual steps including but not limited to multiple factory resets on both devices. issue still persists.

The only other delta is a new cable modem from my ISP which I verified is firehosing a solid 500mb downstream connection.

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Two questions?

Did it work fine before the cable modem switch?

The is another change, V1.0.4.4 is new f/w within the last week or so. Prior one was V1.0.4.28, so was it working OK before that new f/w was installed (might have been done via Auto-Update and you'd not know it was changed possibly)?

I'd try V10.4.28 as a test myself.

[Krethys]

My wireless clients are more than capable. Wireless throughput reach up to 880Mbps. All clients are AC and 5GHz capable as well. 

[Kodakwest]

Quick update;

Spectrum just left as stumped as I am - we tried a new router/modem combo - same issues persist; connection from spectrum is a firehose--- no problem there;

The only thing we can think of is an incompatability between the AP and the nighthawk R8000 ---

The model of the modem is:  Technicolor E31T2V1

Also wanted to add that my DHCP server reset to a new IP pool - previous was 192.168.1.x - now internal IPs are assigned 10.0.0.x

Could this have contributed to the disconnection errors?-- keep in mind it has only been a few minutes since the network has been up-- so I dont think anything is resolved-- just adding this in for context

2.4 is still sluggish creeping at 40-80Mb/s --

[schumaku]

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@Kodakwest wrote:

Also wanted to add that my DHCP server reset to a new IP pool - previous was 192.168.1.x - now internal IPs are assigned 10.0.0.x

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This is related to Netgear's smart a** idea for automatically changing the LAN subnet if the WAN/Internet subnet does match or overlap with the currently configured LAN subnet.

Often disputed, the problem is because of the cable modem/routers default (even in bridge mode) of 192.168.1.0/24 before the ISP has provisioned the cable.modem. It can even happen after a power failure, where the routers are often booting faster then the cable modems are up and provisioned.

Of course, devices with static LAN IP config and even DHCP client can not follow this subnet change always and automatically - so some issues are predictable. 

[Kodakwest]

Thanks for this.

I am still scratching my head as to why either a firmware change or a modem swap could downgrade the performance of my 2.4 network by 50% - it makes no sense - multiple clients, all experiencing the same issue -

I have stumped adv. spectrum support, in-home techs, netgearheads, and geeksquadders - no idea; guess I will have to live with it

[Kodakwest]

Spoiler

Of course, devices with static LAN IP config and even DHCP client can not follow this subnet change always and automatically - so some issues are predictable.

Oddly enough, the LAN change seems to have fixed some of the issues with sudden connectivity interruptions -

The only thing I am diagnosing at the moment is the 2.4 drop in performance; which I am probably going to chalk up to a firmware issue

[Kodakwest]

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@Kodakwest wrote:

Spoiler

Of course, devices with static LAN IP config and even DHCP client can not follow this subnet change always and automatically - so some issues are predictable.

Oddly enough, the LAN change seems to have fixed some of the issues with sudden connectivity interruptions -

The only thing I am diagnosing at the moment is the 2.4 drop in performance; which I am probably going to chalk up to a firmware issue

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I am also going to pick up a new modem ro rule out equipment --- even though spectrum swapped it out, it is the same Technicolor E31T2V1  - any known compatability issues here?

[Kodakwest]

Update if anyone is following -

Was advised by Netgear tech support to return the AX120 -

I then drove an hour to Microcenter and purchased an ASUS RT-AX88U and could not be happier - more features than I know what to do with - easy set-up, and a full suite of tools and optimization software built right into the firmware - oh and my network connection is faster than ever --- Hitting 500Mb/s on my 5 and well over 120Mb/s on the 2.4

I cannot wait for my EX8000 extender to die (which it will since it is approaching 2 years in age) so I can buy another RT-AX88U and have a full AiMesh WIFI6 network.

Everyone I know will have an ASUS router by the end of the year--

Thanks for the memories Netgear....

[IrvSp]

Where did this come into play?

"Was advised by Netgear tech support to return the AX120 -"

First mention of that router?

[Kodakwest]

Apologies, have had a week -

R8000 situation has persisted - replacement was the only option after days of troubleshooting (assuming at this point hardware failure)

Purchased RAX40 as a replacement; was not enough to handle my network requirements; Upgraded to a RAX120- which worked phenominally for 48 hours -

BAM 2.4GHZ network crapped out (all clients dropped, buffered, etc...) Max Network speed was not even 10Mb/s | Wired clients started having issues with bandwidth, verified the cable>router connection is steady, had spectrum to the house (again)- troubleshooted with Netgear support for 2 hours, was advised to return the unit - wasn't going to leave with another netgear product.

[myersw]

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@Kodakwest wrote:

Apologies, have had a week -

wasn't going to leave with another netgear product.

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Totally understand. I left Netgear about a year ago now after crap and not getting better firmware. From my experience go to a level up from consumer grade. Think in the end you will be more happy. 

[JoeBabis]

I went through all the factory reset, latest firmware, previous firmware and my 2.4ghz remained useless.  My recommendation is to stop trying to fix it.  I personally spent days on this problem and got nowhere.  I ended up buying a tp-link AC750 WiFi Range Extender (RE220).  It allows you to connect it to a 5ghz router and it acts as a 2.4ghz access point.  I connected it to my second 5ghz radio so now I use 5ghz radio 1 for 5ghz devices and 5ghz radio 2 for my 2.4ghz devices via the RE220.  $25 on amazon with a $2 coupon.  Works like a champ.