Was this ever resolved? I am having the same issue.
Address reservation is unreliable. Not only does it not honor it, but it also sometimes shows IP addresses that are definitely not assigned to the mac address in question (verified by access the web page of the device and it would be something completely different from what is expected but also from what is shown on the router interface-found the actual IP by doing a netscan). This adds a degree of uncertainty when troubleshooting and trying to find the root cause of issues. Willing to try an updated firmware or an older one that is known to be reliable. I wish Netgear would focus on reliability of basic functionality before trying to add what i consider IMO to be useless marketing features. Currently running V1.0.3.106_1.0.50.
Perhaps, and, when dealing with Netgear router firmware, almost any bug might be plausible, but a more likely cause would be the presence of another DHCP server on the LAN.
One behavior with the address reservation on Netgear routrs, is that they do it in a passive manner. For example soppose you do a fresh setup and all of your devices get an IP addigned by the DHCP server in the router. Suppose your NAS is set to get an IP vis DHCP instead of it specifying a static IP, and it gets an address of 10.0.0.3, and your TV gets an IP of 10.0.0.5.
Now suppose reserve IP 10.0.0.5 but for your NAS; the router will not take any action to stop the TV from using that IP, and you will effectively have to restart the router, or get the device to disconnect so that the IP can be freed up, and then for the NAS to release its DHCP and get a new address.
good idea about another dhcp server causing conflict. But in my case, the two other device that could offer DHCP are turned off (one pihole running in a vm and a netgear wifi extender.)
I will need to look into this closely but the range reserved for dhcp in my case does not overlap the one used for address reservation. In fact, I only have one device using dhcp and all other 36 are set to address reservation.
Now that I think about this a little more, there might be an Cisco OOEP device that I have no control over that was provided by my wife's employer. I wonder if DHCP service is enabled on it and causing issues. I have no idea how those work exactly but my understanding is that they isolate her computer from my LAN and connects it to her work network. I may have to contact them but I doubt they will be responsive.
As the OP, I have to say this issue is closed for me. I have given up on Netgear hardware/firmware. This is my 3rd rotten egg from them. I switched out and have found great success elsewhere. The tech support for netgear is horrible, the firmware updates are horrible. I'm glad to have put it behind me. I'm only sorry for the sunk cost in this hardware.
my RAX 20 is doing the same thing and im about to throw it out the window. waste of 150 dollars. and NETGEAR DOES NOT WANT TO SUPPORT YOU UNLESS YOU PAY FOR THEIR SUPPORT. WHAT A JOKE .
Not the most precise problem description possible. Firmware version? Connected to what?
> [...] a more likely cause would be the presence of another DHCP server > on the LAN.
Still my claim. But I'm open to any actual evidence that the router (any model or firmware version) is actually causing the problem.
For example, if the router were connected to exactly one client device (which is known not to be running its own DHCP server), and that device has a valid address reservation, and, after the router and the device are restarted, and the device gets an address which is different from that reserved address. Please exhibit all the relevant IP parameters for its network interface (address, subnet mask, gateway, DNS servers, ...)
