RAX120 constantly dropping WiFi until reset

[Christian_R]

Hello Nighthawk AX Community, 

If you're on firmware v1.0.1.118, may you try reverting to the previous firmware version (1.0.1.114) and let me know if there are any improvements. 

Thanks,

Christian 

[JLinc]

Thanks for the suggestion. That was the first thing I tried.

Eventually, the combination of downgrading firmware to 114 + factory reset + changing DNS servers + upgrading back to 118 Hotfix is what worked for me. Had to rebuild all my other settings from scratch rather than a prior config.

So far I’ve only had one reset in the last 24 hours (down from 5-6), though I think the issue was more my ISP connection (possible maintenance or transient service disruption) at the time.

Much more stable than the prior week, but hopefully will improve with time and a firmware update in the future.

[Kicks10]

For me, I was originally on firmware 114. I upgraded when I started having issues to 118. There was no change. I change DNS settings and that's where I first saw improvement in not having to reset the router as much. Within half a day of that, the router had the same issue where it stayed connected but no internet. Checking the internet within the app showed speeds at 280 Mbps but still no internet coming through WiFi. Interestingly, my home NAS also had no interruption as it is hard wired from the router and I was able to grab files remotely from my phone using cell service. I reset the router and when I did this time the router reset itself to factory default. Not sure why this happened. The router has been stable after that.

[Christian_R]

@JLinc - Happy to hear! Thanks for sharing what has worked for you! 

@Kicks10 - Thanks for taking the time to update the thread! Please feel free to provide further updates. 

Thanks,

Christian 

[RivanK]

My problems began while still on v114. Upgraded to v118 and still having the same issues. Constant disconnection from internet service on bothe wireless and wired device plus the random factory resets....
Paid a lot of money for this router to be having this much issue with it so often.

[ntimbol]

Okay I can sense everyone's frustration .  Let me add mine on top of all that.  My situation seems to be a combination of some of the situations shared in this thread.

I had an older version of the firmware (can't remember exactly what version) and had a message on my mobile Nighthawk application to upgrade.  I did that so now I am on V1.0.1.118.  That is when all the problems started.  Here is the sequence of events that led to where I am currently at.

When the upgrade completed my RAX120 factory resetted!  I had to reconfigure from square one and had to add all my IoT devices one at a time so that they start getting back online again.  Once I got them all added everything seemed back to normal until I started losing SELECTIVE internet connections via wifi.  I can be working next to my wife and her laptop maintains the connection while I would lose mine.  The manual router resets that I have to do now are becoming more frequent.  Definitely cuts down on everyone's productivity while working from home.  

So other than the manual router resets, i.e. powering it down then up, other things I've done (desperate enough to try anything!) are disabling the QoS and enabling Smart Connect.  As of this writing the connection seems to be stable for the last 30 minutes.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way.  If it goes down again I was hoping to roll back the firmware to previous version but I don't know how to do that.  Can I please get assistance from anyone who has step by step instructions on how to do that and see if it helps clear my issues with my RAX120?  Appreciate any help.  Thanks.

[Sethers]

I have the same problem where it started 4 days ago. Internet suddently cut out i rebooted the touter then it went again. i called net gear and they informed to roll back the hardware to previous version. which i did but still not working, is worse now it use to just cut out now it randomly resets to default. anyone have a fix? i told the suport about this post here but she does not admit that netgeat knows about this problem. anyone help? i do wish they can fix this. 

[Kicks10]

---

@ntimbol wrote:

Okay I can sense everyone's frustration .  Let me add mine on top of all that.  My situation seems to be a combination of some of the situations shared in this thread.

I had an older version of the firmware (can't remember exactly what version) and had a message on my mobile Nighthawk application to upgrade.  I did that so now I am on V1.0.1.118.  That is when all the problems started.  Here is the sequence of events that led to where I am currently at.

When the upgrade completed my RAX120 factory resetted!  I had to reconfigure from square one and had to add all my IoT devices one at a time so that they start getting back online again.  Once I got them all added everything seemed back to normal until I started losing SELECTIVE internet connections via wifi.  I can be working next to my wife and her laptop maintains the connection while I would lose mine.  The manual router resets that I have to do now are becoming more frequent.  Definitely cuts down on everyone's productivity while working from home.  

So other than the manual router resets, i.e. powering it down then up, other things I've done (desperate enough to try anything!) are disabling the QoS and enabling Smart Connect.  As of this writing the connection seems to be stable for the last 30 minutes.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way.  If it goes down again I was hoping to roll back the firmware to previous version but I don't know how to do that.  Can I please get assistance from anyone who has step by step instructions on how to do that and see if it helps clear my issues with my RAX120?  Appreciate any help.  Thanks.

---

Have you tried changing your DNS settings yet? Log into your router using your browser and change your DNS settings. Based on a post earlier in this thread, I changed mine to 1.1.1.1, and 1.0.0.1. That seem to bring stability for awhile till the factory reset. I would try the DNS settings first. If that doesn't help, I would factory reset your router one more time using the pin hold method. Good luck.

[Kicks10]

---

@Sethers wrote:

I have the same problem where it started 4 days ago. Internet suddently cut out i rebooted the touter then it went again. i called net gear and they informed to roll back the hardware to previous version. which i did but still not working, is worse now it use to just cut out now it randomly resets to default. anyone have a fix? i told the suport about this post here but she does not admit that netgeat knows about this problem. anyone help? i do wish they can fix this. 

---

I would try factory reset on your router. It worked for me. Don't just reboot, but use the pin hole method. 

[Sethers]

my device is factory reseting it self... i baught a new one and still do the same thing

[ntimbol]

After the last reset the performance seemed to have stabilized (fingers crossed!).  I will definitely try changing the DNS settings next time it degrades to see if that helps.  Still waiting to hear back from someone on the steps I need to do to roll back my firmware version too as another option to take just in case.  Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions!

[Newfiedrool]

---

@Sethers wrote:

my device is factory reseting it self... i baught a new one and still do the same thing

---

Did you reset the device after any updates and when setting up did you use a saved config.

[PigletRider]

uThe pin-hole reset (.118) worked for me.  I've been running fine now, no disconnects or speed degredation for about 2 weeks now.

To be clear, I went through all of the woes described on this and other threads.  I bounced between older firmware and .118.  I then decided that if I was going to debug these issues and try all of these settings, I would do this on .118.  After doing the pin-hole factory reset, once I had already upgraded to .118, every was fine and has been fine ever since.  I never changed my DNS.

This ought to be a significant data point for Netgear.  Their customers can't risk upgrades.  If they upgrade, they're likely to have all of these issues until some magical combination of downgrading and pin-hole resets corrects things.

It would really be nice if the upgrade simply worked as plan without factory resets.  Or at least we should be able to (1) backup our config, (2) upgrade, (3) pin-hole factory reset and then (4) restore from the backup config.  Minimally this sequence should work and save Netgear customers most of these hassles.  But doing this sequence doesn't.  You have to do various combinations and then, magically, the router becomes stable.

I've studied all of these post and the various combinations folks have tried to get this router stable.  There's no single silver bullet.  Different things work for different people.    But you'd think the sequence I outlined above would be the magic bullet, minus the config backup/restore.

Sigh...

[Jeremyd75]

Sigh this is a joke yesterday my router did a factory reset all by itself and had to go around and type my password not everything but some things like my phone tv sound bar what a f n joke netgear this is absolutely ridiculous I can’t believe a competent company would release a firmware that has destroyed a product and than release another version that does nothin but make it worst and than when we try to contact you you direct us to these community forums what a joke I’ll never ever by netgear again I’m finished I’m hooking up my old ass clunker Belkin again and old Motorola modem and using my netgear for target practice I’m not even gonna waste anyone’s money on postage on this garbage of a product

[Tjholbrook]

I have been having all kinds of issues I’m taking it back. I did not spend top cash for something that don’t work

[ironadam1120]

Hi! I'm having the same issue as others. On firmware 114 or 118, wifi drops out. on 84, it did not. I'm trying 108 now per tech support. The larger issues is that upon any reboot, the route goes back to factory settings and i have to start over, which is very frustrating. 

Support was not helpful. they did not understand the main issue was going back to factory default settings on a reboot. they seemed to be fine when i explained my internet worked now AFTER downgrading firmware to 4 versions prior so i don't have to reboot to get wifi to work (and rebooting caused everything to go to factory default settings). Hoping someone here has better luck than I did. 

[MAG39Marine]

I was on 114 and rolling back to 108 and changing DNS didn't help.  Pushing in the reset button and re-setting up (which forced an upgrade to 118) seems to have resolved...2 days and no problems.

[Tjholbrook]

Helps to reset with the small button then reset it up this will be the last thang I try it seams to be working

[PigletRider]

As others have noted on this thread, bouncing back to an older release, followed by an upgrade to the latest release (e.g. .118), followed by the pin-hole factory reset, works for many of us.  I've been up for a couple weeks now with no resets, connection drops or speed degredation.  Admittedly this may not work for all.

This all has to be a GIANT clue for the developers at Netgear.  Your upgrade, reboot, reset processes are hosed.  Can you PLEASE white-box test these scenarios, find the bug(s) and release a firmware version with the fix.  Your customers should be able to simply upgrade to the latest release, via the app, without any issues, no downgrades or factory resets required.  Can you make that happen?

[undeadhaggis]

I am experiencing all the same issues as everyone else (router constantly dropping internet connection, automatically resetting to factory settings, etc.).  Now my router seems nearly compltely hosed....I can't restore any saved settings.  If I try to restore a saved config file it starts upgrading then sets things back to factory default (happens if updating from WiFi or hardwired directly to the router).  I also tried manually setting up all the config which worked for about an hour until it automatically set itself back to factory default settings.  No matter what I do I can't get the router to stay connected more than about 1 hour. I've also tried all of the above suggestions, but nothing seems to work longterm.

I'm still on firmware V1.0.1.118 and I seeemed to start having problems when I upgraded to V114 if I remember correctly.

This is causing EXTREME Frustrations for 6 of us all trying to work from home during the COVID-19 quarantine.  I purchased this extremely expensive router because I needed a stable connection in our home for all our devices (30-40 devices usually connected simultaneously). What a waste of money this has been.  It's a complete joke.

PLEASE FIX THIS ISSUE NETGEAR!

[Dameek]

I came home from work last night to find my RAX120 down again. This morning I rebooted and have continued to reboot every 5 to 10 minutes. I have given up and reinstalled my R9000 in place of the RAX120. This is a huge disappointment as I have installed WiFi 6 radios on all my laptops and desktops. Until Netgear delivers a definitve fix I will stay with the R9000. If no fix comes I will them look elsewhere for a reliable WiFi 6 router.

[undeadhaggis]

FYI, Netgear is sending me a replacement for my RAX120 after spending about 2 hours with them on the phone where nothing they had me try worked.  They said it must be a hardware problem so they're replacing it.  

In the meantime while I wait for them to shop me a replacement I started downgrading the firmware to see if I could stabalize things.  I kept experiencing problems when I downgraded to V1.0.1.114 (from V1.0.1.118) so I tried jumping all the way down to V1.0.0.84.  So far I haven't experienced any problems and it has been nearly 24 hours.  I haven't gone 24 hours without losing the Internet and normally getting set back to factory default config in weeks.  So far so good...  I haven't tried restoring my saved settings though....I'm afraid it will set everything back to factory default setting like before.

[undeadhaggis]

FYI, it looks like the RAX120 isn't the only router having these problems.  The R7800 is doing the same thing...

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/R7800-router-keeps-resetting-to-default-conf...

[xuzhe]

Do you guys having this problem set your "Access Control" to ON?

I have the same problem here. After wake up from sleep, the Wi-Fi are connected to the router stable and strong,  but there is no Internet Connections at all. 

When the problem occurs, I checked the router settings, it shows the device having this trouble are neither listed in "Attached Devices" nor "Access Control". That's why only this device is not able to connect to the Internet.

For now, the walkaround for me is turn OFF Access Control. But if you guys have same problem, we should contact NETGEAR and let them fix this.

[xuzhe]

Even turned OFF Access Control the problem still happend. Have no idea why a flagship router are so unstable. What are you doing NETGEAR?