Starting about a week ago, which is when I think the latest firmware 1.0.12.120 was released, my internet connection across all devices has been very spotty. It will work 100% and then not at all after varying amounts of time. Restarting the modem and router would get it working, but for anywhere between 10 minutes and 8 hours. I’ve fully reset the router, have it on the latest firmware, and isolated the router to be the likely issue after having an ISP tech switch out the modem with a modem/router combo running a coexisting wifi network that has been stable.
In the router logs there are many repeated DHCP assignments to the same devices in very short spans of time for some reason. In the latest firmware notes it’s mentioned there’s a fix for some DHCP issues in certain environments, and I strongly suspect it introduced new issues. Prior to this week it has run flawlessly for months.
I suppose the next step would be to revert firmware, but I haven’t figured out how to do that yet. I’d appreciate feedback of any other steps to try before that!
*Unable to select Nighthawk AX5 RAX43 in “Associated Products”
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?
Is this seen in different browsers?
What devices do you have all connected to the router?
Has a power off for 1 minute then back ON with the ISP modem and router been performed since last update? Be sure to restart your network in this sequence: Turn off and unplug modem. Turn off router and computers. Plug in and turn on modem. Wait 2 minutes for it to connect. Turn on the router and wait 2 minutes for it to connect. Turn on computers and rest of network.
Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update?
I recommend setting a new default DCHP IP address range of .100 to .200.
I had been using my own Arris SB8200 modem along with the router for months until the problem started. ISP just replaced it with a modem/router combo Hitron CODA-5712 (1B) and has both routers coexisting so I can try to narrow down the issue, which is how I isolated the Netgear router. The new wifi network provided by the new router combo has been working consistently, but the Netgear still drops.
I had factory reset both the original Arris modem and Netgear router in addition to many restarts, including disconnecting the power cable for 1+ minutes.
One thing I forgot to mention is that the internet worked consistently via ethernet cable both from the router and modem, even when internet wasn’t being provided through the wifi connection (which still broadcast with 100% signal strength.
I recommend setting a new default DCHP IP address range of .100 to .200.
Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6 is recommended.
Avoid using the combo modem in router mode with the RAX in router mode. If you do, besure to disable the modems wifi radios and use the modems DMZ for the RAX. Or configured AP mode on the RAX router with the ISP Modem being the host router with it's wifi radios disabled.
I haven’t had an opportunity to disable/change the wifi radio settings as others are relying on the connection, but I did change the IP range as suggested to .100-.200.
The problem persists even though it’s assigning new IPs in the correct range, and I don’t think it’s affected by the new modem/router combo as the issue and logs are nearly the same as before. I’ve attached RAX logs from before and after IP range adjustment for reference.
Further testing showed the issue did actually happen with the ISP-provided router (it’s intermittent so I missed it before). Further digging revealed heavily imbalanced downstream channel power ranging from +0.4 to -11, which the ISP techs confirmed. They have traced the issue much further upstream than the house or local tap and are working on it now.
TL;DR
The router is not the problem and the DHCP logs were likely a result of normal reconnection attempts due to imbalanced downstream bonded channel power levels cause by ISP infrastructure issue(s).
Yet another twist. ISP acknowledge infrastructure issues on their end outside of the house, but after they fixed it my situation only improved marginally. This time the ISP provided a dedicated gaming Nighthawk router instead of the combo setup, and the problem was totally resolved. After reconnecting my own RAX43 to troubleshoot, the last thing I hadn’t touched was disabling the Dos attack logs after seeing the false positives coincide with interruptions.
Disabling those logs has resolved about 95% of the problem surprisingly, since CPU usage never showed any strain. Definitely something Netgear should look into (the false positives should have been fixed a long time ago anyway).
It seems the DHCP assignments were just a symptom of these interruptions. I’m going to disable other logs and see if I can iron out the last occasional hangups.
Edit: the ISP’s “fixes” didn’t end up lowering the power level range, which shifted but didn’t get lower in range (~+4 to -8). One tech said it was a problem, the last said anything +10 to -10 is fine… guess the latter was right.
