RAX120 V2 Constant Random Reboots

[FURRYe38]

Does disabling WMM change this? 

Does the router feel warm or extra hot when this happened? 

[_NDS_]

@FURRYe38In my experience the router never felt 'extra hot' enough to initate a thermal shutdown. The fan in mine was working as expected, kicking in when the router was warm to touch. With the Thermal Fan permanently on the router felt cool to touch and I have not caught it rebooting. But judging by what others said it still might reboot even when cool.

@DH27it would be worthwhile chechking if unplugging and plugging back in the power connector at the back gives your any prolongred uptime.

IF you decide to check please switch the router OFF with the button at the back prior to unplugging. 🙂

[muniz_ri]

I agree, heat has not been an issue. I keep the fan always on from the debug screen and that keeps the router cool.

I did more research today and read that the R700p has the same issue and the workaround was to disable mu-mimo: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/R700p-reboots-randomly/m-p/2073833/highlight...

Will try that next.

[muniz_ri]

@_NDS_ 

I received my ADS-65MI-19A AC adapter from Singapore today. First things that I noticed were 1) how much bigger it is than the adapter that came with my router. 2) It's a noticeably snugger fit into the router's power socket. 3) And last, the router rebooted much, much faster after I plugged in the new adapter and pressed the router's power button. This was encouraging.

I will let you know if it at least extends the interval between random reboots.

 

[muniz_ri]

**Update**

I was streaming TV on Roku just now and went to check the router to see if the fan was on and it sure was. This is the first time that the fan has started on its own based on the load and heat.

There is definately something to the theory that these units shipped with the incorrect/defective power adapter. The power adapter may not be the only cause of the random reboots, but the adapters that shipped with the router are definately suspect.

[_NDS_]

@muniz_ri 

Thank you for keeping us posted!. Could you please let us know if you are still using the beta firmware and whether you put your RAX120V2 back into the router mode.

In my experience too the thermal fan was working correctly on the router when powered with the ADS-65MIA-19 adapter. Moreover, when I kept the fan constantly on via the firmware debug page, the router was cool to touch even under load.

@FURRYe38when will we get any update from NG on the issue? They went quiet after dismissing the power adapter hypothesis.

[muniz_ri]

@_NDS_ 

Yes, I changed it back to router mode and still on the beta fw.

I have also been trying a couple other things that I came across like moving all devices to 2GHz and moving them one by one to 5GHz to see if any of them are causing the reboots. I also changed my SSID's to remove an underscore ("_") from the names. I read that using underscores in the SSID's used to be problematic, idk. And a couple other things.

Paid too much money and desperately trying to get this thing to work as it should.

[_NDS_]

@muniz_ri 

Just wondering how are you getting on with the ADS-65MIA-19? Any impact of the frequency of reboots with the replacement adapter?

Thanks in advance for the update!

[muniz_ri]

@_NDS_ 

All has been solid and I am going on four days without a random reboot. This is the longest stretch of time that the router has gone without a random reboot.

My current setup is using router mode with the beta firmware and the fan "always on" setting in the debug screen disabled. However, in addition to replacing the power adapter I have also changed my SSID's to remove an underscore. My SSID is now all lower case letters and numbers. I have also removed my iphone xr (work phone) from the network. I found a few posts online where the iphone caused routers to crash. Strange but trying whatever I can at this point.

I will update again if the router reboots and if does not reboot...I will update again in about one month. Hope that I didn't just jinx myself. We'll see.

[Topology]

@JFZoidberg, have you had an opportunity to test the model AD2003F10 power adapter with your RAX120v2?

Thank you.

[JFZoidberg]

@Topology, unfortunately not. NETGEAR Support told me they wouldn’t send me a different model, as the one they provided me with isn’t “faulty.”

I’ve avoided router reboots for a few weeks now, though. I have a laptop cooling pad underneath it and I’ve disabled WMM QoS for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. I’m still pretty pissed off overall, since I should be able to make use of these features without the router constantly dying.

[_NDS_]

@FURRYe38 

Hello again. Based on @muniz_ri experience it looks like the replacement adapter helps and my case is not unique. However it may not be a single root cause of the reboots. When we are going to hear from Netgear regarding the solution to this problem?

Thanks for replying.

[FURRYe38]

Though not complete root cause or resolution, I've asked @muniz_ri to revert all his changes back to his normal configuration to see if the router continues to work with the newer adapter or still sees a reboot. Need to ensure that under normal configuration, the router continues to work with out a reboot. I'll be bring this info to NG today. 

[muniz_ri]

@_NDS_ @FURRYe38 

I have reverted the changes except for the new power adapter and my new SSID's (it's too much hassle to change all of my devices). I will continue this setup for at least another week if no reboots and will then plug in the old power adapter to test. I will keep everyone posted.

[FURRYe38]

👍

[muniz_ri]

**Update**

I asked my wife this morning to re-connect her Samsung Galaxy S10e to the 5GHz network (she was still using the 2GHz network). As soon as she did the router rebooted.

I then changed the password to the 5GHz network and asked her to again reconnect to the 5GHz network. There was no reboot that time after she reconnected. She then left the house and as soon as she did, the router rebooted once again.

I then searched the web for other similar instances and found these posts:

https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/180710

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-Routers-with-WiFi-6-AX/Network-crashes-after-upgrading-my...

I will continue testing to see if I can reliably reproduce the issue by connecting and disconnecting her phone to the network to better understand what is happening.

[FURRYe38]

FYI, 

@muniz_ri NG wasn't able to see anything meaningful from yours logs. I passed along your experiences so far including what you posted a bit ago. Interesting that you one device seemed to cause a reboot. 

NG just released a new FW version which I recommend you load up and try.

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-Routers-with-WiFi-6-AX/RAX120-V2-Constant-Random-Reboots/...

I would factory reset and setup from scratch. Use your normal configuration and don't check the thermal fan or disable WMM work arounds. Lets try using your original configuration. Also please put the original Power adapter back online as well and test with it. The original PS should work that comes stock in the box. 

---

@muniz_ri wrote:

**Update**

I asked my wife this morning to re-connect her Samsung Galaxy S10e to the 5GHz network (she was still using the 2GHz network). As soon as she did the router rebooted.

I then changed the password to the 5GHz network and asked her to again reconnect to the 5GHz network. There was no reboot that time after she reconnected. She then left the house and as soon as she did, the router rebooted once again.

I then searched the web for other similar instances and found these posts:

https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/180710

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-Routers-with-WiFi-6-AX/Network-crashes-after-upgrading-my...

I will continue testing to see if I can reliably reproduce the issue by connecting and disconnecting her phone to the network to better understand what is happening.

---

[FURRYe38]

I've passed this on to NG regarding the possible differences seen between model# Power Adapters. NG didn't gleam anything from @muniz_ri debug logs that were sent so couldn't get anything from that. Possible that the reboot wipes out what caused the reboot. I asked them to take a closer look between the 19v 3amp power adapters to see if there could be any cause from these adapters. NG released FW yesterday and they said may have some fixes in this version for these reboot issues. Will need users to try this with there original power adapters and with out any work arounds to see if this version of FW doesn't anything to resolve that. Won't know if or when NG will give feedback to the power adapter review. 

@_NDS_ 

[FURRYe38]

Please try the new FW release:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-Routers-with-WiFi-6-AX/New-RAX120-RAX120v2-Firmware-Versi...

@JFZoidberg 

[FURRYe38]

FYI, New FW available. Please give feedback if this version of FW fixes or doesn't seem to fix this reboot problem seen on v2s:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-Routers-with-WiFi-6-AX/New-RAX120-RAX120v2-Firmware-Versi...

[muniz_ri]

@FURRYe38 

I just flashed the new firmware, reset the router, setup from scratch, and plugged in the original power adapter. Fingers crossed.

[FURRYe38]

👍

[_NDS_]

@muniz_ri 

How is everything going with the new firmware v.1.23.40? Everyone gone quiet after it was posted. I have installed it and all seems fine right now, but I am not sure if I want to put the unit back into full service yet.

[muniz_ri]

@_NDS_ @FURRYe38 

Unfortunately I had my first random reboot earlier today since installing it a couple days ago. Arrgh.

I'm having my wife connect her Samsung S10e back to the 2.4GHz network to revisit that theory.

[_NDS_]

Thanks for the update @muniz_ri, just to confirm - you are running your RAX120V2 with the original power adapter right now - AD2073F20?

Are you based in the USA?

@FURRYe38  I will keep mine running throughout the day today on ADS-65MIA-19 and will report back if experience a reboot or not. However, from the past experience, one day may not be suffcient to catch it.