RAX80 Hardwire downgrading my connection speed

[btruglio]

I have 100 Mbps coming into my house and am hardwired to my Nighthawk RAX80. But it seems to randomly downgrade that connection by a tenth. I work from home and check the connection each morning, sometimes it's 10 Mbps and sometimes it's 100 Mbps (In reality, of course, it's not that even, 9.xx or 90.xx). If it's 10 Mbps, I unplug it for a minute or two and plug it back in and sometimes that upgrades the connection. But this can take 5 or 6 tries some days.

I work from home alone and start working once the rest of my family has gone to school and work so the only other device accessing the router at this point is my phone and other appliances (thermostat, cable box, etc.). I tried turning off Smart Connect though that is for wireless connections to the router but no change. Does anyone know what the source of this direct connection downgrade might be and/or what the solution is to eliminate it?

AX6000 WiFi Router (RAX80) 

Hardware Version: RAX80 (AX6000)

Firmware Version: v1.0.10.140

Thanks!

[FURRYe38]

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. CAT6 is recommended. 

What is the brand and model# of the testing and general use devices, i.e. PC and Laptop that your using to work with and check speeds? 

Does this happen with ethernet connected devices? 

Does speed results good when directly connected to the ISP modem or ONT? 

Is Smart Connect enabled or disabled?
What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.
https://kb.netgear.com/23783/How-do-I-change-the-wireless-channel-on-my-NETGEAR-router
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

[btruglio]

What Firmware version is currently loaded?

As stated above, Firmware Version: v1.0.10.140

What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?

Netgear Cable Modem CM1000

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

LAN Cable: Cat6

What is the brand and model# of the testing and general use devices, i.e. PC and Laptop that your using to work with and check speeds?

MacBook Pro 16 inch 2021 M1 Max

Does this happen with ethernet connected devices? 

Yes, as mentioned above, the MacBook is connected directly to Router via LAN cable.

Does speed results good when directly connected to the ISP modem or ONT? 

No, as mentioned above,the whole problem is that it's directly connected and making rando downgrades.

Is Smart Connect enabled or disabled?

Smart Connect is not an option for directly connected devices but it is NOT enabled on other WiFi connected devices.

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.

Does not apply to directly connected devices.

Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Yes, but not relevant, not a WiFi problem.

[michaelkenward]

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@btruglio wrote:

What Firmware version is currently loaded?

As stated above, Firmware Version: v1.0.10.140

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These things can be a beast to track down. You just have to play around in the hope that you land on something that works.

For example, given the age of these routers and the fact that you are on the latest firmware, you probably updated it yourself. It shouldn't be necessary, but it might be worth doing the dreaded "factory reset":

How do I perform a factory reset on my NETGEAR router? | Answer | NETGEAR Support

The factory reset is more a case of "witchcraft" than a technically informed solution, but it does seem to fix problems. It is also the first thing that Netgear support is likely to recommend.

You can reduce the hassle of reconfiguring your router's settings by creating a configuration backup before you reset.

How do I back up the configuration settings on my Orbi WiFi System? - NETGEAR Support

Then if something is still broken after the reset, and the new firmware has not fixed it, you can restore the device to the pre-reset state.

You could even try restoring the settings even if the reset has fixed the problems, but be prepared for that to bring back your problems. If that happens at least you know what to do to restore sanity.

In this case, the latest firmware wasn't just the usual security fix. It lists various updates, so there may be some "under the hood" changes that have messed up your installation.

Have you tried rebooting the router rather than the on/off move?

The other "magic trick" is simply to see if different cables do anything. 99 times out of 100 this is a pointless suggestion, but every now and then it works for someone. Just try anything you have lying around before spending money that will almost certainly be a waste.

Good luck. You may need it.

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Just another user with time on their hands.

[FURRYe38]

Ya lets try a Factory reset and setup from scratch with a wired PC on the RAX router.

Be sure to not enable any Armor, SPC or traffic meter as well after setting up the router.

Might post the CM modems cable connections and even logs data pages for us to check to be sure the modem is working good:

https://kb.netgear.com/30007/How-do-I-obtain-the-cable-connection-information-from-a-NETGEAR-cable-m...
https://kb.netgear.com/30008/How-do-I-view-or-clear-the-event-logs-on-my-NETGEAR-cable-modem-or-mode...

@btruglio