RAXE500 Beta FW v1.0.9.78 is available for testing

[ChristineT]

Hello RAXE500 Community,

We have a beta firmware available for testing for the RAXE500 that we hope will resolve some of the instability issues that have been reported over the last few months.

Release Notes:

New

• Supports DHCP option 60/61 for European SKU

Fix

• Improves stability
• Fixes WiFi bridging not seeing the 4800Mbps mode
• Fixes block service will disappear after reboot

Firmware:

Firmware: v1.0.9.78 

I look forward to the Community's feedback.

Best,

Christine

[TWilson]

I see that QOS which was added in 1.0.9.72 beta has been removed from from this beta version. I assume there were problems with it. Will QOS be fixed and added back in a future firmware release? Was anything else rolled back?

[golways]

Hi Christine,

I just installed this new firmware v1.0.9.78 on my RAXE500 router.

I live in Paris, France, and I still don't "see" the 6GHz band network on my Samsung S21 Ultra 5G (Wi-Fi 6E compatible, french version firmware).

I bought my RAXE500 in the U.S. so the region is locked to "North America". Is it the reason of  the issue ? Is there a way to change it to "Europe" ? 

Best regards,

Franck

[Altsai]

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@golways wrote:

Hi Christine,

I just installed this new firmware v1.0.9.78 on my RAXE500 router.

I live in Paris, France, and I still don't "see" the 6GHz band network on my Samsung S21 Ultra 5G (Wi-Fi 6E compatible, french version firmware).

I bought my RAXE500 in the U.S. so the region is locked to "North America". Is it the reason of  the issue ? Is there a way to change it to "Europe" ? 

Best regards,

Franck

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>>>> S21 Ultra 5G might not support 6GHZ band in France. Did Samsung recenlty release new image to open 6GHZ band support?

[Altsai]

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@TWilson wrote:
I see that QOS which was added in 1.0.9.72 beta has been removed from from this beta version. I assume there were problems with it. Will QOS be fixed and added back in a future firmware release? Was anything else rolled back?

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>>> QoS will be supported in later release. 

[golways]

> S21 Ultra 5G might not support 6GHZ band in France. Did Samsung recenlty release new image to open 6GHZ band support?

6GHz is now authorized in France since the beginning of december. Samsung did not communicate on Wi-Fi 6E when they released December and January firmwares. I don't know if the phone supports now 6GHz band Wi-Fi networks and if the problem comes from the RAXE500...

That would be great if Netgear could confirm that the RAXE500 support now (or not yet)  6GHz band in France with this last firmware ! @ChristineT : can you get the information ?

[Ninjadrummer]

I live in  France, and I dont still have the IPTV with this firmware version ( my ISP is Orange)

[Altsai]

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@golways wrote:

> S21 Ultra 5G might not support 6GHZ band in France. Did Samsung recenlty release new image to open 6GHZ band support?

6GHz is now authorized in France since the beginning of december. Samsung did not communicate on Wi-Fi 6E when they released December and January firmwares. I don't know if the phone supports now 6GHz band Wi-Fi networks and if the problem comes from the RAXE500...

>>>> yes, France governement opened it since early Dec; however, as I know, samsung is yet to release image to unlock 6GHz support.

That would be great if Netgear could confirm that the RAXE500 support now (or not yet)  6GHz band in France with this last firmware ! @ChristineT : can you get the information ?

>>> yes, RAXE500 v1.0.9.78 supports 6GHZ band in France. 

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[Altsai]

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@Ninjadrummer wrote:

I live in  France, and I dont still have the IPTV with this firmware version ( my ISP is Orange)

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>>>> No, this version does not support France Orange specific VLAN config and DHCP options. I belive it will be supported later.

[FURRYe38]

Did some pre-liminary testing on a RAXE500 received last week with v78 loaded and with my Orbi 960 on 6Ghz. 

Looking better however still not seeing 4800Mpbs. 

This was at close range, 3 feet. 

More testing to come. 

[Tonkinite]

I applied this firmware to my unit this morning, it does seem somewhat better, but HomePods isolated to the 5GHz band stream successfully for 15 to 20 minutes, drop out for 10 to 15 seconds, then resume. That's only audio, not anything more bandwidth intensive.

I think you still have a ways to go.

[FURRYe38]

Has a power off for 1 minute then back ON with the ISP modem and router been performed since last update?

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

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@Tonkinite wrote:

I applied this firmware to my unit this morning, it does seem somewhat better, but HomePods isolated to the 5GHz band stream successfully for 15 to 20 minutes, drop out for 10 to 15 seconds, then resume. That's only audio, not anything more bandwidth intensive.

I think you still have a ways to go.

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[Tonkinite]

Yes, I properly cycled my CM1100 cable modem and my RAXE500 after the update.

No, I didn't factory reset my RAXE500 and then reapply the original settings, this being the second firmware image, that sounds like overkill. I've only had the unit for about 5 days at this point. Does the firmware update process not reliably flush out parts of the units flash memory? If not, why doesn't the factory reset process make this easier?

[FURRYe38]

A reset maybe needed to check for inconsistansies in your configuration to the newer FW. Save off a backup configuration for safe keeping then I'd reset and setup from scratch first. Don't apply the backup just yet. Check for any problems. If not seen, either apply old backup from file or generate a new one. Backups is what makes factory resets easier. 

[Tonkinite]

Based on a review of the router logs, it appears part of the problem is that IP addresses are being invalidated in mere minutes and reassigned to other MAC addresses, as if the DHCP lease time is seconds rather than the typical value of one day. As I restarted the router yesterday morning, this is not normal behavior, is there a way to verify the routers DHCP lease time? I can likely deduce it with packet tracing if not.

Second, I'm seeing a significant number of TCP sequencing and protocol errors that are often resulting in reset connections. This is something that you'd expect if some intermediary is attempting to do packet inspection and delaying some packets and not others. Most of the connections being reset are secure HTTP ones. I'm attempting to isolate this further. Does anyone know if the router might be doing this?

[mbc1965]

Is the Firmware for the RAXE500 the same as the RAXE450?

[FURRYe38]

Though FW versions seem to be the same, not sure if the actual model #s vs FW model versions will work. You can try loading it and see if the router refuses it. If it won't accept it it should let you know. 

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@mbc1965 wrote:

Is the Firmware for the RAXE500 the same as the RAXE450?

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[avtella]

It won't, there will be a different board id.

[mbc1965]

Thank you!

[Altsai]

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

Though FW versions seem to be the same, not sure if the actual model #s vs FW model versions will work. You can try loading it and see if the router refuses it. If it won't accept it it should let you know. 

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@mbc1965 wrote:

Is the Firmware for the RAXE500 the same as the RAXE450?

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>>> just rename from RAXE500 to RAXE450 that should work.

[mbc1965]

It worked! Thanks for the tip!!!

[FURRYe38]

Be sure to save off a back up configuration to file for safe keeping. 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...
Enjoy. 📡

[ryan6515]

this fixed my connection issues with Nest cameras.  Frustating it was so hard to find this BETA firmware - why isn't it available on downloads page in a BETA section.

This has been a constant issue for me with Netgear - push out "stable" firmware that is far from stable...typically with "security updates" as the only thing updated.

[ryan6515]

VPN connection is unstable with this BETA

[FURRYe38]

Would need more details on what your experiencing with VPN and this beta FW. 

Has a factory reset been performend since you updated and setup from scratch? 

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

What VPN are you using? 

How are you connected to the router? Wired or wireless? 

Does this happen on a different device to compare? 

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@ryan6515 wrote:

VPN connection is unstable with this BETA

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