R7000P dropping connect connections randomly, what firmware

[WarnerYoung]

Hi,

I've recently started getting intermittent dropped Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections with my R7000P (firmware V1.3.1.64_10.1.36), and this only started maybe the last month or so. Sometimes I get 2 or 3 days with no problems, sometimes only 1. Restarting the router always fixes it for a while, but then it happens again.

I see a lot of others have similar problems. I saw one suggestion for the R7000 to downgrade the firmware to a specific version. The R7000P has different firmware versions than the R7000, so I can't use the exact version from that thread.

Has anyone 1) Run into this problem with the R7000P, and 2) downgraded to a specific version and solved this issue?

If so, what version of firmware fixes it? I don't want to mess around flashing every older version of firmware if it turns out someone has already done it and knows which one to use.

Thanks,

Warner

[plemans]

Here's the route I'd take. 

You're on older firmware (not always a bad thing)

I'd start with updating first before going back to an even older version. 

Update to version 1.3.2.126 over a hardwired conenction. Once update, factory reset the router and do a clean install (not from backup).  See how that works first. 

If that doesn't help, then the version I'd downgrade to would be version 1.3.0.20. Reason why is this is the version prior to netgear armor. Some of the devices struggled with armor. If you do downgrade, do the same downgrade, factory reset, and clean install.

I keep saying clean install because some times old settings can cause issues to. And with the R7000P getting the armor change, those old settings really can be an issue. And do firmware changes over a hardwired connection for best results. 

https://www.netgear.com/support/product/r7000p

[nphipps]

I had kind of the same issue and had been looking for responses here but none found just many people same issue. Basically my R7000P worked fine since I bought it almost a year ago. Then two weeks ago the 5Ghz wireless network stopped working, you would not see the SSID in any 5Ghz device (iPhone, new laptops, all which support 5Ghz), I tried upgrading firmware and downgrading firmware and nothing fixed it, I made sure the 5Ghz network was enabled and that I did not have SmartConnect enabled (Smartconnect shoes only one network and will choose the right one for the device). I check the lights on my router and they were Ok (blinking white for the 2.4 and 5Ghz lights which are the 3rd and 4th lights on the router) Finally last night I did a factory reset by pressing the reset botton for about 30 secs ( tried shorter time as it is supposed to be but did not work so I pressed and hold for about 30 secs), the router came back to factory settings and I configured from zero all I needed which is not really much in my case, that worked and my router seems to be working fine, DO NOT RESTORE FROM BACKUP, also before with the 5Ghz network not present the 2.4Ghz wireless network was really unstable and connections would drop and I would hear my kids complaining as they were doing their online classes and got interrumpted multiple times.

I did go to the latest firmware available on Dec 2nd, 2020 which was 1.3.2.126 and I disabled firmware auto update, I am not blaming the auto update for this but you never know as my router was working Ok and then out of the blue stopped working and I had auto update enabled. Now I will decide when to update and test if all good after.

Hope this helps someone.

[Rockman2]

How is that newest firmware working for you?  I have pretty constant disconnects with the PS4 and some lag on PS3.  Looking for ways to improve/fix that.  So far, I've tried about everything I can find EXCEPT downloading this newest firmware.  

[plemans]

@Rockman2 you can get it here: 

Nighthawk R7000P | AC2300 Smart WiFi Router | NETGEAR Support

[Rockman2]

I've already downloaded it to my computer but have not installed it.  I want to know if it has had any affect, positive or negative, on the router's performance.  Awhile back I was online with a Netgear tech who basically said if I wasn't having problems don't worry about installing it.  That's seemed a little strange to me.  

[WarnerYoung]

I didn't install any firmware, old or new. I did turn off the guest network, but more importantly, I found something else that might have been a problem. The NPT (time server) was pointing to something from Netgear, but it didn't seem to be working. The router thought the date was some time in 2015 or something. I changed it to point to a public NTP server pool, and so far, I haven't had any more of these disconnects.

I'm crossing my fingers that this was the problem.