Re: RAX 200 slow LAN and Wireless

mlotov83 · ‎2019-10-24

Hello team,

First time on here. I purchased a RAX 200 and have had slow issues with LAN connections of not being able to obtain full downloadspeeds through the router. It cuts to half of my 1gig plan. Today is also the second time this month where we have woken up to no internet over WIFI. LAN still worked but WIFI was down. I also have the matching extender. One service call with tech was down about 2 weeks ago and still have LAN speed issue. Please help.

agfagv · ‎2019-10-24

Presume LAN speed issue is inherent to this device. My 1GB AT&T Wifi is brought down to 300 Mbps both ethernet LAN and Wifi (on a Killer AX 1650 card). Called Netgear support. After a routine latest firmware manual update, factory reset. Results were all the same. Eventually suggested replacing the device and got Amazon to replace the device. Replaced one isn’t any different either. Called Netgear support again. This time round suggestion was to have a previous firmware updated and reset to factory setting. Did all that but nothing changed from a speed delivery perspective. Now I’m clueless if even a firmware update would rescue or if the speed issue is tied to the underlying hardware limitation.

mlotov83 · ‎2019-10-24

Our tech call a couple of weeks ago sugested I change all sorts of settings within the router which led to slower speeds. The following day another 2hr call with a tech resulted in a factory reset. The change worked for about a day and now it's back to half speed. About 450-500. When I run speed test from within the router I do get up to 980 Mbps so I know the router is receiving it, but it's not passing it through, either through WIFI or LAN. I just updated my phone to the newest iPhone Pro Max which should take advantage of the new WIFI X band and my speed is the same. Since I got the modem to pass through speed for a day, may it's just bad software within the modem. Do you have a link the first firmware? Maybe the 1st one is the best one and all others have killed the device.

agfagv · ‎2019-10-24

Here's the link.

http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RAX200/RAX200-V1.0.1.6_1.0.38.zip

I find it a bit unstable if you are using VPN (not the router inherent one but office VPN etc). Latest is good with that.

Try your luck.

mlotov83 · ‎2019-10-24

Thank you! Let's give it a shot.

YoungSpicket · ‎2019-10-25

I got the same exact behavior when I had the router. It makes it unusable and slower than a cheap router from years ago. I tried all the firmwares on tap and I encountered a hard cap of 500 on each. There is definitely some automatic QOS going on thats unaccounted for. I do not know how the router is testing well in reviews.

mlotov83 · ‎2019-10-26

I have not been able to resolve the issues. Still capped at half my speeds. I'm thinking unit is defective.

agfagv · ‎2019-10-26

Called up Amazon yesterday and was planning to return the unit. Apparently, they were able to connect me over to an L2 Support at Netgear. L2 Support connected remotely and were able to see for themselves. Now it’s escalated to Netgear Engineering team. I was told that Engineering team may be getting back to me with an updated firmware for my device. Guess we are literally doing the beta unit testing for this device at this point. Anyway, I will give few days of next week and if nothing happens, off it goes back to Amazon.

GristlyBear · ‎2019-10-27

RAX200 with Firmware Version V1.0.1.8_1.0.3

I purchased a RAX200 today from BestBuy. After setup, in it's own QoS menus it showed my speed at 898/210 Mbps. However, any and all wired network speed tests maxed out at 606-620/208. So it appears that you are not the lone user with this issue.

This is severely disappointing as the same wired speeds for the Orbi it replaced were all in the 895/210 range.

mlotov83 · ‎2019-10-27

Please keep us updated with your results. I will be calling the tech team tomorrow as well to see what sort of outcome. Otherwise I will be asking for a refund. I also purchased the matching extender. Can't say the extender is an issue until we first find a fix for this router.

agfagv · ‎2019-10-28

Quite unlikely that the extender would turn out to be the culprit here. In my case, don’t have any extenders involved. Besides, as you mentioned you were able to get a matching extender, is that an AX11000 extender that you got hold of?

To my knowledge the latest EAX80 only supports 2 bands (this matches RAX80 or RAX120):

Band 1: 1.2Gbps @2.4GHz - 1024QAM

Band 2: 4.8Gbps @5Ghz - 1024QAM

Whereas RAX200 has 3 bands:

Band 1: 2.4GHz AX: 4x4 (Tx/Rx) 1024 QAM 20/40MHz, up to 1.2Gbps

Band 2: 5GHz AX: 4x4 (Tx/Rx) 1024 QAM 20/40/80/160MHz, up to 4.8Gbps

Band 3: 5GHz AX: 4x4 (Tx/Rx) 1024 QAM 20/40/80/160MHz, up to 4.8Gbps

So, one of your 5GhHz band wouldn’t get extended. I was expecting to see an AX11000 extender towards early next year but then if RAX200 is riddled with issues and if this has to go back, talking about AX extender becomes a mute topic.

mlotov83 · ‎2019-10-28

Hey there, yes I agree the extender shouldn't be the problem. I did spend about an hour this morning with tech support and we reinstalled the previous FIRMWARE version 1.0.1.6. That seemed to have fixed my hardwire speeds. As of right now hardwired I am able to get 868 down while my WIFI speeds are still at half my 1gig plan.

The extender I picked up is the new EAX80 which I have placed in my kitchen about 50 feet from extender that goes through several walls. I am pleased so far with it's performance as I able to go past the garage in the backyard and maintain decent speeds of 200-250mb down. I can only imagine how much faster it would be if I had full speed over wifi as advertised. My iphone pro which should take advantage of the X6 speed is only getting about 480mb down in the same room as the router.

agfagv · ‎2019-10-28

@mlotov83 wrote:
Hey there, yes I agree the extender shouldn't be the problem. I did spend about an hour this morning with tech support and we reinstalled the previous FIRMWARE version 1.0.1.6. That seemed to have fixed my hardwire speeds. As of right now hardwired I am able to get 868 down while my WIFI speeds are still at half my 1gig plan.

The extender I picked up is the new EAX80 which I have placed in my kitchen about 50 feet from extender that goes through several walls. I am pleased so far with it's performance as I able to go past the garage in the backyard and maintain decent speeds of 200-250mb down. I can only imagine how much faster it would be if I had full speed over wifi as advertised. My iphone pro which should take advantage of the X6 speed is only getting about 480mb down in the same room as the router.

Hey there, thanks for sharing outcome based on your latest interaction with tech support. Good that LAN speed is aligning in your case. Still waiting to hear from engineering team on my case. Probably will have to give them few more days but kind of skeptical.

Matrix7 · ‎2019-11-06

I'm having the same slow speeds both hardwire and wifi. Spent 3 hours with tech support with no solution.

catalambano · ‎2019-11-06

Try turning the dynamic qos on and off. For me it worked, although I have to repeat the operation every time I change something in the router menu.

YoungSpicket · ‎2019-11-08

That would mean the $600 router is broken my guy. Netgear should get everyone a refund as this is one of the most severe defects in a shipped piece of network hardware I can recall. Meanwhile the RAX120 is still on a “hotfix” to fix its severe issues.

GristlyBear · ‎2019-11-08

On Sunday, I dealt with 3 separate reps who wanted to walk me through how to fix "my errors" and were oblivious to this whole support thread. The assumption they make is "it's a user error" - not product defect. All the surveys Netgear has sent have this bias.

It took Netgear's support over 48 hours to get back to me - after midnight EDT. I had already returned the RAX-200 to BestBuy, after the first 24 hours. I don't believe in suffering with a $600 router that has hardware or firmware issues out of the box.

Perhaps they will design a better unit when they develop the next generation. Perhaps not.

I did see the "turn on / turn off" QoS suggestion. Interesting, but we haven't seen anything practical come from Netgear's support at all.

In thinking things over, the RAX-200 is essentially an expensive version of the RAX-80 - same processor, not the RAX-120. I don't see how they expected it to provide the same or better throughput as the RAX-120 with a lower horsepower processor.

There are other design defects lurking as well. For example, the admin logon to the router does not appear to support SSL/TLS. Basically everything you do to configure this goes over your network in clear text - including logon ID and password. I would have imagined they actually cared about security. Alas, I was wrong.

catalambano · ‎2019-11-08

About my suggestion on "active, disable qos", I must say that it does not always work. But I found a partial solution that always works: 1) activate the qos; 2) go to the "connected devices" setting in the simplified menu; 3) select the device connected by cable; 4) select (top) "change"; 5) change the priority settings to "maximum" (if they are already set to maximum, change them anyway "; 6) click on" apply ". doing so I measured a speed of 890 Mibit, close to that I usually reach, equal to 33933 Mbit; I believe that a little bit of the band keeps the qos in reserve. Unfortunately, after this operation, if I deactivate the qos the speed is halved again. I'm also very disappointed with the quality of the firmware. But I have an ASUS Ax 11000 in my closet and I have to choose which router to keep. The Asus has a good firmware, but the Wi-Fi performance is very bad, if there is a wall in the middle, while the NETGEAR in this is excellent (here in Italy the houses are all masonry). I really don't know what to do ...

catalambano · ‎2019-11-08

33933 is 933, of course.

mlotov83 · ‎2019-11-10

Long week at work this past week and havn't had a chance to catch up on the thread. I'm sad to hear that I am not alone on this issue. My current speed tests right now at at half my 1gig plan, both through speedtest site and through the router itself. I spent a lot of money in their equipment including the new AX80 extender to match the router. Per my last call with tech support I'm currently an older firmware version V1.0.1.6_1.0.38. This is after a full factory reset of the router.

I believe the issue is a firmware issue rather than the actual hardware itself. I've asked for a refund but I have yet to hear any word from Netgear.

agfagv · ‎2019-11-10

@mlotov83 wrote:
Long week at work this past week and havn't had a chance to catch up on the thread. I'm sad to hear that I am not alone on this issue. My current speed tests right now at at half my 1gig plan, both through speedtest site and through the router itself. I spent a lot of money in their equipment including the new AX80 extender to match the router. Per my last call with tech support I'm currently an older firmware version V1.0.1.6_1.0.38. This is after a full factory reset of the router.

I believe the issue is a firmware issue rather than the actual hardware itself. I've asked for a refund but I have yet to hear any word from Netgear.

Nothing happened to my case that went to their engineering team. They came back with request for more information like:

1. When you tested with your phone were you on 5Ghz or 2.4Ghz band?

2. Provide a screen shot from PC using Speedtest.net app installed and execute a speed test

3. Download 1GB file from net using ethernet cable and Wifi and suggest how long it takes

Apparently, Amazon doesn't hold off on their 30 days return counter for any engineers at Netgear. So made the best decision given current circumstance, returned it and got my refund back. Done with my part of RAX200 exploration.

catalambano · ‎2019-11-12

This is my last message to the Netgear Support:

"Hello, I still have additional information, which I kindly ask you to pass on to the engineers. I verified that, when the router renews the lease with the wired device, the speed is halved (this happens even if the lease is renewed manually from the "connection status" panel). In this case it is enough, with the qos activated, to open the "connected devices" panel, select the device connected by cable and simply click on "apply" (even without changing any settings) and the speed returns to maximum. However, at the first automatic renewal of the lease, the speed will be halved again".

This is the reponse:

"Hi Luca, Thank you for this another detailed information. I'll forward this to our engineers now. xxxxxxxxx Level 2 Support"

mlotov83 · ‎2019-11-12

Just got home. All my speeds are currently at less than half. Direct connect to PC is 925mb/s and through modem it's 458mb/s. @netgear can we please get some help? New firmeware in development?

YoungSpicket · ‎2019-11-12

I don’t understand how they are being silent for consumers giving them $600 a router.

mlotov83 · ‎2019-11-13

I'm hoping their selling a ton of them and we are the select few with a bad device. Netgear did pop up on my facebook page advertising the x6 router and I commented, and they replied today. Hoping I can escalate this for all of us.