Netgear RAX200 - Strange fan behaviour and awful fan noise
I am using a Netgear RAX200 router.
The router typically has about 50 devices connected, although the majority are IOT devices like lightbulbs which don't have high data or bandwidth demands.
The issue I'm having is that the fan keeps coming on my router every few minutes. It'll turn on and I'll hear the whiney sound that puny awful fan makes for about 20-30 seconds then it'll switch off. A few minutes later it's back on again.
This could be normal, but here's the thing: It only exhibits this fan behaviour some of the time.
What I've noticed is that if I reboot the modem, the fan will NEVER operate. For days and weeks it will happily operate with no noise.
Now, if I open the Nighthawk app on my phone, even one time, this seems to cause the fan on my router to start coming on every few minutes indefinitely until it is rebooted.
Whilst I can reboot the modem to get it back to its quiet state, it does make me wonder: Is the router acting normally that the fan comes on every few minutes? Or alternatively, is my router overheating when it's in the "quiet mode"?
In either case, I've noticed that I can use the hidden debug page to view CPU load, but it seems to be showing about 1 percent in either case so it doesn't seem like the fan is coming on in response to high load.
To be honest, for a high-end router, with advanced config, it's disappointing that there is no temperature displayed to users or fan control control settings, whilst many other high end routers do.
Additionally, the acoustics of that fan are horrible, hence this post. There should be an option to run the fan longer at a slow speed.
Re: Netgear RAX200 - Strange fan behaviour and awful fan noise
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. CAT6A STP is recommended.
Does this happen with both wireless and wired devices? What channel configurations are currently set on the router?
Do you have Smart Connect enabled or disabled.
Does this happen if you say change the PW to something different temporarily. Then apply the change and only connect say your phone or pad to the router? Does the fan keep turning OFF and ON? Change the PW back to what you had before after checking this.
Re: Netgear RAX200 - Strange fan behaviour and awful fan noise
Thanks for the response. It'll take me a while to go through all the steps, particularly the full factory reset. Great suggestion on temporarily changing the password too. This should help me to rule out the possibility of my devices causing high load.
I'll follow up but too answer some questions so far: - it's on latest firmware 1.0.6.138 - it's connected to a BT homehub 4 ISP router - I'm not sure of the network cable standard. I will look at replacing it with the standard you suggest, but I'd have a hard time believing the issue could be related to this. - smart connect is disabled - three bands are enabled - channels are Auto for 2.4ghz (currently channel 1+5), 44, 100.
On the prospect of an external fan; I'd hesitate to add an external fan as my router is in my living room and that would affect both the noise and aesthetic.
Also, I suspect that the fan issue is not temperature related for these reasons: - it seems to come on and off at regular intervals (I'm going to time it when I get a chance to see...) - Even in low ambient temperature the fan still comes on and off at the same intervals as it did in the Summer time when the ambient temperature was much much higher. - Having looked at the debug.htm page in my browser, CPU usage is always low (as an example, this is what it looks like with 45 devices connected: CPU1: 1.48% CPU2: 1.40% CPU3: 0.94% CPU4: 0.94%. I don't think the CPU usage is high enough here to be causing excessive heat...).
I'd also be interested if anyone else with this router can reproduce this issue. All I need to do is open the nighthawk application on my phone, and as soon as it connects, this is what seems to place my router into "noisy mode" where the fan comes on every few minutes and continues to do so indefinitely.
I do think it's whatever way the nighthawk app is connecting to the router, is inducing some bug. I'll do some additional hunting...
Re: Netgear RAX200 - Strange fan behaviour and awful fan noise
@geowars2 wrote: Thanks for the response. It'll take me a while to go through all the steps, particularly the full factory reset. Great suggestion on temporarily changing the password too. This should help me to rule out the possibility of my devices causing high load.
- I'm not sure of the network cable standard. I will look at replacing it with the standard you suggest, but I'd have a hard time believing the issue could be related to this. - smart connect is disabled - three bands are enabled - channels are Auto for 2.4ghz (currently channel 1+5), 44, 100.
On the prospect of an external fan; I'd hesitate to add an external fan as my router is in my living room and that would affect both the noise and aesthetic. Then fan I suggested has speed controls and is fairly quiet. Would sit under the router.
Also, I suspect that the fan issue is not temperature related for these reasons: - it seems to come on and off at regular intervals (I'm going to time it when I get a chance to see...) - Even in low ambient temperature the fan still comes on and off at the same intervals as it did in the Summer time when the ambient temperature was much much higher. - Having looked at the debug.htm page in my browser, CPU usage is always low (as an example, this is what it looks like with 45 devices connected: CPU1: 1.48% CPU2: 1.40% CPU3: 0.94% CPU4: 0.94%. I don't think the CPU usage is high enough here to be causing excessive heat...). Ya, Wouldn't be doing that. Lets try a FW update after a factory reset to check this.
I'd also be interested if anyone else with this router can reproduce this issue. All I need to do is open the nighthawk application on my phone, and as soon as it connects, this is what seems to place my router into "noisy mode" where the fan comes on every few minutes and continues to do so indefinitely. Your the first reporting this kind of fan behavior.
I do think it's whatever way the nighthawk app is connecting to the router, is inducing some bug. I'll do some additional hunting...
Re: Netgear RAX200 - Strange fan behaviour and awful fan noise
Thanks again.
Apologies, I am already on the latest firmware (V1.0.10.140_1.0.79), not sure where I got the other version from.
The BT homehub router does not support a bridge or modem only mode. Given the docs you linked, I'll look into setting the Netgear to access point mode but I will read the docs first, as I don't understand its side effects well and don't want to negatively affect my IoT devices which generally work fine.
Fwiw, The routers are approximately 40-50cm apart and whilst I can disable the wireless radios on the homehub, I've actually chosen to enable the 2.4ghz radios on the opposite end of the spectrum in my ISP router, so that I can connect some devices it (currently there are 16). Unfortunately I have at least one device which refuses to work with the Netgear router, notably my Nest smoke alarm, so this forced me to do so. I then connected some additional devices to my ISP router for the purpose of spreading the load.
I'll look into the fan some more, so thanks for that. If I could look into using a noctua fan through a controller that would be ideal as I'm not, excuse the pun, the biggest fan of fan noise.
The BT homehub router does not support a bridge or modem only mode.
Yes. BT's hardware is best avoided. I have several still in their shrink-wrap.
Unless you are on BT's IP telephony service, other options are available. Even with that, you may find workarounds.
The Homehub 4 is a DSL modem/router. Is that the service you are on?
Unfortunately, Netgear, and most brands, abandoned the DSL modem market some time ago.
I got in just before that happened and switched to a pair of Netgear DM200s. (One of those was an open box resell.) I have used these alongside a raft of different Netgear routers.
If you are prepared to buy reused, the spread of BT's fibre-optic-to-the-home service has created a good market for second hand DM200s. Strongly recommended. That would be a great feed for the RAX200 .
Not sure if it would do much about the fans. Have you looked at:
I'll look into the fan some more, so thanks for that. If I could look into using a noctua fan through a controller that would be ideal as I'm not, excuse the pun, the biggest fan of fan noise.
I suspect that this is a red herring. The UK is not exactly tropical, especially now.
How old is your router? Less than a year and I'd be tempted to go for a warranty RMA.
Re: Netgear RAX200 - Strange fan behaviour and awful fan noise
I appreciate it.
An easy option for me to try right now is setting up my Netgear in access mode so I have completed that and things are working ok. I will see how it goes with this, before I jump to the factory reset and consider the other options like the DMZ stuff that I'm not too familiar with (sorry, not a networking expert!)
Since I had rebooted earlier the fan issue isn't actually presenting right now and there are over 40 (mostly iot) WiFi devices connected to the router. I will also wait to see if the fan starts spinning up before I change the WiFi password.
Re: Netgear RAX200 - Strange fan behaviour and awful fan noise
Thanks for the reply.
I'm mistaken, it's actually a BT Smarthub 2 I have.
To clarify, It's a fibre connection into my home, which connects to an Openreach Modem (ONT). That modem connects to the Homehub 5 via ethernet, and then my Netgear router is connected to the Homehub via ethernet.
I'm on the BT fibre to the home 900mb service and fwiw I actually can achieve the 900mb speed through my Galaxy S23 connected to the Netgear RAX200. I don't use the BT telephony service at all, and never will.
The homehub, despite being a basic modem/router, is still surprisingly reliable, And although I'll never get the speeds I can get through the Netgear, I've actually had better luck connecting some devices to it versus my Netgear.
I'd be open to using something like the DM200 but given the fact that a separate modem is used in addition to the smarthub, it may actually be possible for me to eliminate the Smarthub router completely anyway. I've just looked and this is actually possible.
This would be good as it would make things simpler and power consumption would be reduced. The things that gives me pause in doing this are : - If I remove the smarthub I will have all devices connected to Netgear which will be around 60 active connections (albeit most iot devices) - The fact that one or two devices I have simply will not play ball with my Netgear router.
The notable example is my Nest smoke alarm, which can connect to the router on an initial setup but then after the smoke alarm disconnects from WiFi (it does this by design because it's battery powered), it never connects ever again. I've had no issues when connecting it to the homehub! I could maybe try again with my Netgear in AP mode just to see if that could have resolved it, since I do understand that the "Double NAT" issue can cause compatibility issues.
On temperature: I'm in Ireland in a 1935 constructed house, so ambient temperature in the room with my router relatively low!
Lastly, my router is probably now out of warranty, having purchased it in August 2022.
I'm mistaken, it's actually a BT Smarthub 2 I have.
To clarify, It's a fibre connection into my home, which connects to an Openreach Modem (ONT). That modem connects to the Homehub 5 via ethernet, and then my Netgear router is connected to the Homehub via ethernet.
That makes all the difference. The DM200 would be useless.
Do you have anything else connected to the Homehub?
If not, it might be possible to leave it out of the mix and connect the RAX200 to the ONT.
You might get better advice over on the BT (or is it EE today?) community.
