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RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

Hi...

 

I recently switched to a new ISP, where the ISP is using DHCP, VLAN and have IPv6.

 

My former ISP didn't have these settings.

 

After I changed to the new ISP, my WIFI signal randomly drops, and my devices reconnect after 2 seconds or so.

 

I've tried every possible setup, to see if the annoying WIFI drops stops. They don't.

 

The router has been hard reset and are using the latest firmware.

 

Do you guys have any suggestion to what is happening? Is it a bug or what is going on?

 

Thanks in advance.

Message 1 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

More information:

 

- Did your ISP provided the configuration?

Yes.

- How many devices were affected?

All wireless.

- How do you get the connection back, does it just reconnect automatically or does need to reboot such devices?

Reconnected after 2 seconds. No reboot necessary.

- What did you notice on the network before issue happens

Nothing

- like what's the usual activity you're doing on his network that might trigger disconnection?

None.

- When disconnection happens, what lights are lit on the router? Also, can you still access the GUI when internet disconnects?

The lights is on. No disconnect from ISP. Yes. I can access the GUI from my WIRED stationary computer.

- Modem manufacturer:

https://icotera.com/

- Internet Service Provider: www.hiper.dk


- Firmware Version of the router: V1.0.10.140_1.0.79

- What are the troubleshooting steps that you've done so far?

The stuff I wrote earlier. Read what I sent you.

"Also, I think you can just provide a screen shot of the router configuration then attach it to this case."

No I cannot send you every page of the configuration of the router. But you can get the front page of it.

Message 2 of 28
plemans
Guru

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

From looking at the basics of that modem, it has quite a bit of capabilities. mac flitering/limiting/etc

Makes me wonder what else its capable of. (their website required submitting details before they'd send it to me so I didn't)

Does the router work in access point mode? I'm curious if the modem has its own built in dhcp server

Message 3 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

What does the modem have to do with wifi drops?

Anyways, tried dropping the wifi speed to 2400 mbps for the 5ghz.

I have doubts about the router, if it can handle load from my new settings with regards to my isp.
Message 4 of 28
plemans
Guru

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

When everything was working fine prior and the change was the ISP, it makes us start looking at what changed. 

Double nat's usually don't cause much issues but they can. 

If you have 2x devices controlling dhcp/nat, it could be the primary router causing ip conflicts/issues and the RAX having to reassign the ip address. (simplified version) 

Worth checking out when everything worked fine before

Message 5 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices


@ThomasOMalley77 wrote:
What does the modem have to do with wifi drops?


Everything if it is a gateway.

 

Unlike @plemans I couldn't work out what your modem is from the link you provided. It took me to a page with a pile of different hardware. 

 

Don't jump to conclusions before you have all the details.

 

Can you explain what you mean by this?

 



I have doubts about the router, if it can handle load from my new settings with regards to my isp.

 


There's something odd about that sentence that makes it hard to follow.

 

What are you suggesting?

 

It is rare to find an ISP that requires settings that are beyond the capabilities of a router like the RAX200.

The suggestion from  @plemans  that you try the RAX200 in AP mode would be one way of troubleshooting conflicts between modem and router. 

 

Unfortunately, hiper has yet to appear in conversations here.

 

Search - NETGEAR Communities – hiper

 

There is a bit more traffic on your modem maker:

 

Search - NETGEAR Communities – icotera

 

Message 6 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

I think the router drops the WIFI signal, because it can't handle the work load.

I'll try my old R8000 tomorrow. See if that router has any issues.

I have 1gbps internet. Both upload and download.
Message 7 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices


@ThomasOMalley77 wrote:
I think the router drops the WIFI signal, because it can't handle the work load.

That would be a first.

 

Never seen any hint of that happening before, even with Gbps Internet, except when people are using QoS, Armor or some other add-on that strains the router's processor.

 

 

 

Message 8 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

Noted.

I'm not sure if I can use the router as an access point on my fiber box. I believe my isp requires a have an actual router connected.
Message 9 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices


@ThomasOMalley77 wrote:
Noted.

I'm not sure if I can use the router as an access point on my fiber box. I believe my isp requires a have an actual router connected.

So, we suddenly have "fiber" in the picture. In other words, you are connected to an Optical Network Terminator (ONT)?

 

That's the first mention here of the "f" word.

 

I wonder if there are any more hidden details.

Message 10 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

You don't have to be rude. If you aren't here to help, then move a long. I don't need your passive aggressive output. Thanks.

I had no idea it could an issue if I have fiber or not. Nobody asked.
Message 11 of 28
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

What is the model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too? Which one of these do you have? 

https://icotera.com/products


Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem/ONT and router. CAT6 is recommended. 

 

How many devices do you have connected? 

Is Smart Connect, WMM, MIMO and any Beamforming features enabled? 

 

What channels are you using? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz. I use 1 and 40 or 161 mostly.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

 

Does the Router feel warm or extra warm to the touch on top? 

Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update?

 


@ThomasOMalley77 wrote:
I think the router drops the WIFI signal, because it can't handle the work load.

I'll try my old R8000 tomorrow. See if that router has any issues.

I have 1gbps internet. Both upload and download.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Message 12 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

Hi... thanks for a nice reply...

 

I think I have this fiberbox:

 

https://icotera.com/products/fiber-network-termination/p2p-ftth-i6900-series

 

How many devices do you have connected?: About 12.

Is Smart Connect, WMM, MIMO and any Beamforming features enabled?: All of them.

 

No neighbors near by with conflicting channels.

 

I tried switching channels to 6, 64, 128 before posting here. On the Nighthawk app, it says there's no conflicts.

 

The router is not very warm.

 

Yes. After the latest firmware update, a factory reset has been done and setup from scratch.

 

Hope the above helps.

Message 13 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

And I use the correct CAT6 cable to btw...

Message 14 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

Testing my R8000 right now. Seems stable. No wifi drops with the same possible settings.

 

Did a forced update on the RAX200 to the newest firmware.

 

Did a hard reset using the button on the router instead. Last time it was from the firmware.

 

Will try and use the Multigig port instead.

 

I'll keep you guys updated.

Message 15 of 28
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices


@ThomasOMalley77 wrote:

Hi... thanks for a nice reply...

 

I think I have this fiberbox:

 

https://icotera.com/products/fiber-network-termination/p2p-ftth-i6900-series

What does the RAX200 get on it's WAN port for an IP address? Public ##.##.###.### or a private IP address like 192? 

 

How many devices do you have connected?: About 12.

Is Smart Connect, WMM, MIMO and any Beamforming features enabled?: All of them.

 

No neighbors near by with conflicting channels.

 

I tried switching channels to 6, 64, 128 before posting here. On the Nighthawk app, it says there's no conflicts.

Try setting channels to 40 or 149 on 5Ghz

 

The router is not very warm.

 

Yes. After the latest firmware update, a factory reset has been done and setup from scratch.

 

I would not recommend using the MultiGig port on the RAX, since your ISP ONT doesn't have a port faster than 1G. Would not make good use of the MG port on the RAX. 


 

Message 16 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

I get a public IP address on both IPv4 and IPv6.

 

I use 6, 44 and 100. Can't go further than 128. I'm from Denmark. Part of Europe.

 

So far it works flawlessly on the Multigig port.

 

I think it was a hickup in the firmware. The hard reset and the forced firmware update seem to have done the trick.

 

Perhaps I'll try to switch to the normal internet port later.

 

Will test more tonight.

Message 17 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

I also disabled AIRTIME FAIRNESS. The router seems faster now.

Message 18 of 28
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

Ok, good to hear. 
Ya we've seen it were FW updates with out a reset seem to have problems after new stuff is applied. Resets maybe needed when problems are seen. 

 

Glad its working better. 


Be sure to save off a back up configuration to file for safe keeping when your fully satisfied. Saves time if a reset is needed.
https://kb.netgear.com/24231/How-do-I-back-up-the-router-configuration-settings-on-my-Nighthawk-rout...

Message 19 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices


@FURRYe38 wrote:

Resets maybe needed when problems are seen. 

 

That's generally the advice. Most firmware updates are trouble free.

 

But the first move if you have problems with new firmware has to be a reset, especially if you are jumping several versions in one go. Some updates even specify that in the release notes.

 

You can always save the settings before the reset. Then if that doesn't fix it you can recover the settings.

 

 

Message 20 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

Just had drop. 😞 Trying to disable MIMO to see if it helps.

Message 21 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

Reverted back to my R8000. Experiencing zero drops right now.

 

It makes me wonder if the RAX200 is faulty somehow.

 

The R8000 seems faster too... sigh...

Message 22 of 28
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

Are the top LEDs for the wifi still ON and WHITE when this happens or is there something different with any of the LEDs on the router when this happens? 

 

Has this problem been happening before you updated FW? 

How was the FW updated on the router? Manual FW load or using the auto update notification? 

Message 23 of 28

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

Was running the same firmware with the former ISP. No problems.
Message 24 of 28
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: RAX200: WIFI drops randomly for all my wireless devices

What version of FW? 

Message 25 of 28
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