problem installing AX4 (RAX40). Cannot get to internet

I haven't sent it back yet but am close to doing so ! I will give that a go tomorrow, having had enough of it trying most of this afternoon with no success. But yes, I'm suspecting some issue with the firmware (given these WiFi-6 routers are new off the line).

It's quite annoying that I (and I assume you as well when you had it) can't even access the router settings page. Using the default 192.168.1.1 address immediately throws up a 'Before you can complete the installation, you must click agree' page. Clicking agree then moves directly to 'detecting internet connection' at which point it fails...and the rest is history, as you are well aware of. And it needs repeating again for any 'experts' reading, it doesn't matter how the sequence of plugging, power cycling etc goes, even with a full set of green LEDs, it fails to detect the internet. (my ISP requires dynamic DHCP in case anyone was wondering but that's a moot point because I can't get into the AX4's settings to change that if that was one of the problems !

I am trying to think of things that were different with this installation. For the first time I used the Netgear app. It seemed similar to the ring app where it makes a private/public wifi connection outside of the standard wifi network. And then maybe it stuck open.

But, even when I used the paperclip to do a hard reset of everything and uninstalled the app from my phone it still would not work.

And, yes, I always saw the "detecting internet connection" deadend.

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theagg wrote:

But yes, I'm suspecting some issue with the firmware (given these WiFi-6 routers are new off the line).

 

Remind me, did you try an older firmware?

You are right about these AX boxes. Netgear seems to have embarked upon an extended beta programme, using customers to do the work.

That's what you get by roaming the bleeding edge of technology.

Well, I can point out one difference, that being I'm not trying to set this up via the mobile phone app, since I don't have a mobile phone that can do that (high end tech everywhere else but an old basic mobile!) so my setup has all been via PC and browser.

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michaelkenward wrote:

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theagg wrote:

But yes, I'm suspecting some issue with the firmware (given these WiFi-6 routers are new off the line).

 

Remind me, did you try an older firmware?

 

You are right about these AX boxes. Netgear seems to have embarked upon an extended beta programme, using customers to do the work.

 

That's what you get by roaming the bleeding edge of technology.

 

 

 

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Not tried older firmware, principally because I can't get into the settings page. The default, new out of the box proceedure for 'installing' this router seems to be, that upon attemtping to log into the router (192.168.1.1), it opens up a 'Terms and conditions' page, requiring you to click 'Agree'. Upon doing that, it then immediately attempts to 'detect the internet connection' and fails...After that it cycles through various "did you check this, do that, try this" pages in the browser, trying at each to 'detect the internet connection' and failing each time.

And goes round in circles at this point, the actual settings pages never opening. This auto setup wizard which keeps deadending is effectively running ahead of reaching any log in page, so no way to check or install other firmwares.

Day 2.5.

Unplug WAN cable. So now the AX40 is connected to PC by LAN and nothing else. (internet side fully disconnected). Attempt to login and...

Agreement page appears, click 'Agree', Router tries to automatically detectinternet, fails (of course) and brings up screen with two options.

They are 'Try again' or 'manually configure internet' Select manual with 'next' button which brings up page to set up password and two security questions.

Enter those details and click the 'next' button.....

Next button doesn't work (not in any of the three browsers tried)....dead end ?!!

Hello hpw2408 - Thanks for your post. Have you gotten a chance to contact our Support team regarding your issue? 

https://www.netgear.com/support/default.aspx
 

~Christian 

I did not even bother. I have never had good luck or any good effort from netgear support. I have an arlo camera that was having a problem. Here is a copy of my last post regarding the camera to which I never received a response.

Hi hpw2408 - I can assist with support reaching out to you. If you wish to be contacted, please send me a message with your contact info and serial number. 

~Christian 

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hpw2408 wrote:

I did not even bother. I have never had good luck or any good effort from netgear support. I have an arlo camera that was having a problem.

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Arlo and Netgear have been separate companies, with separate stock market listings, for near on a year now.

Their techies don't talk to each other. Your experiences with Arlo have no bearing on anyone's dealings with Netgear.

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theagg wrote:

 

And goes round in circles at this point, the actual settings pages never opening. This auto setup wizard which keeps deadending is effectively running ahead of reaching any log in page, so no way to check or install other firmwares.

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A bit of a bugger, but have you tried the most basic approach to attacking your RAX40?

There is a way to get around the dead ending.

Disconnect the RAX40 from anything else on your network, especially the modem.

Connect a PC to the RAX40 and nothing else. So no Internet.

Then try to login to the router through the graphical user interface (GUI).

Tell any wizards that try to get in the way to scram.

Use this as a guide on how to sneak up on the router:

If you cannot login to your router | Answer | NETGEAR Support

If that doesn't work, then give up and return to seller.

Oh, it might be a good idea to factory reset the RAX40 before you try this. Even better, download, save and unzip a copy of the latest firmware to your PC before you try this. Then you can update the device without needing to go anywhere near the Internet.

Then you can set the creature up and reintroduce it to the network.

If all of that works and you still can't make it work, something else is going wrong in the setup process.

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michaelkenward wrote:

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theagg wrote:

 

And goes round in circles at this point, the actual settings pages never opening. This auto setup wizard which keeps deadending is effectively running ahead of reaching any log in page, so no way to check or install other firmwares.

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A bit of a bugger, but have you tried the most basic approach to attacking your RAX40?

 

There is a way to get around the dead ending.

 

Disconnect the RAX40 from anything else on your network, especially the modem.

 

Connect a PC to the RAX40 and nothing else. So no Internet.

 

Then try to login to the router through the graphical user interface (GUI).

 

Tell any wizards that try to get in the way to scram.

 

Use this as a guide on how to sneak up on the router:

 

If you cannot login to your router | Answer | NETGEAR Support

 

If that doesn't work, then give up and return to seller.

 

Oh, it might be a good idea to factory reset the RAX40 before you try this. Even better, download, save and unzip a copy of the latest firmware to your PC before you try this. Then you can update the device without needing to go anywhere near the Internet.

 

Then you can set the creature up and reintroduce it to the network.

 

If all of that works and you still can't make it work, something else is going wrong in the setup process.

 

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That's the first thing I tried this morning (no internet, no WAN, just a single ethernet to a LAN port) and likewise, no luck, the PC could not access the router. This time after trying the intial login, it gave two options, 'try again' or 'set up internet manually'. Both failed.

However, I ca now report success but here's what I had to do..

Yesterday, as all efforts then were to get it working via hard wired LAN to PC, today I dug out my tablet and installed the Nighthawk app and had a go via wifi. Result...success ! Woot ?!! However, it wasn't a smooth success.

At first, when starting the Nighthawk app, it checked cable connections, tick. Then checked internet connection (the stumbling point via PC and LAN) and amazingly found the internet with no issue. The app then asked did I want to set up the router (or skip)..Choosing 'set up router' it opened the password and security questions set up page and once these were filled in and 'next' was clicked, wait for it, it failed with a 'configuration error', stating it could not apply the settings. (A 'Check wifi' message came up etc)

At this point since it had at least found the internet in the Nighthawk app via wifi (where the PC LAN had failed), with the Nighthawk app still running (green ticked internet connection) and my PC still wired up by LAN, I went back to check if the PC could now see the internet. Sadly no, the web page login attempts on the PC stil failed. LAN could not see through to the internet, where WiFi could.

Back to the Nighthawk app then and restarting that, it once again checked cables and internet, green ticks to both. This time though instead of setup router I chose 'skip setup', which opened up the main sections selection page and immediately a message popped up saying 'new firmware update available'. That downloaded, installed and the AX40 rebooted.

Following this, the 'setup' screen now worked om WiFi but more importantly, going to the other room to check, the PC via LAN could now see the internet and access the routers settings pages!!

Basically then, this whole problem seems to have been caused by problematic firmware as exists straight out of the box.

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theagg wrote:

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Following this, the 'setup' screen now worked om WiFi but more importantly, going to the other room to check, the PC via LAN could now see the internet and access the routers settings pages!!

 

Basically then, this whole problem seems to have been caused by problematic firmware as exists straight out of the box.

 

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To me those symptoms smell more like a problem with the PC LAN to router link.

These are rare but not unknown, especially on a Windows 10 PC where the security settings can block devices from getting on to networks that it deems suspicious. You can end up with the public/private network clash which blocks all internet access.

One thing I did not specify was the need to start things in the right order. Turning the PC on should be the final step. At least, that is the pattern when booting a network.

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michaelkenward wrote:

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theagg wrote:

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Following this, the 'setup' screen now worked om WiFi but more importantly, going to the other room to check, the PC via LAN could now see the internet and access the routers settings pages!!

 

Basically then, this whole problem seems to have been caused by problematic firmware as exists straight out of the box.

 

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To me those symptoms smell more like a problem with the PC LAN to router link.

 

These are rare but not unknown, especially on a Windows 10 PC where the security settings can block devices from getting on to networks that it deems suspicious. You can end up with the public/private network clash which blocks all internet access.

 

One thing I did not specify was the need to start things in the right order. Turning the PC on should be the final step. At least, that is the pattern when booting a network.

 

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Yes, I had already tried every permutation of device powering up sequences etc. None had worked. As I said, even with the AX40 completely disconnected from the modem and any other network peripherals (NAS drives), just the PC, a LAN cable and it, there were problems with the Netgear setup pages in the browser (buttons not working) So doubtful it was a PC issue.

And, of course, once the AX40 firmware had updated on the mobile app, without changing any cables etc, with no changes to the PC (it had been powered up all the time) the PC could then detect the internet. All points to a firmware issue.

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theagg wrote:
... just the PC, a LAN cable and it, there were problems with the Netgear setup pages in the browser (buttons not working)

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Permitting the wireless connection is properly established, or the Ethernet connection is negotiated to the max supported link speed (typically 1Gb nowadays), no odd MTU issues, and the Web UI correctly loading ... the impression comes up that some Internet "security" might interfere with the (very simple) Javascript usage.

Try a different (clean) system, try a mobile phone or tablet browser ...

Well, it's all working now but for the record, prior to the firmware update, the setup page in the web browser on the PC (hardwired via LAN) wasn't giving any kind of messages that suggested 'security' issues. The 'next' button just plain failed to work. This was in the 'set up internet connection manually' pages in www.routerlogin.net. Having chosen to set up manually (there were two buttons, one for 'try again' , ie for the AX40 to try automatically, or the 'manual' radio button), that brought up the admin settings page, for password, security questions etc. At the bottom of that page was the 'Next'' button.

And it was that one that failed to work. It was dead, it did not respond in any way to mouse clicks (ie clicking it did not start anything, change page, throw up any messages etc) it was just plain inactive. In every browser I tried. Not forgetting that over on the Wifi side, the Nighthwak app wouldn't even let me reach the 'setup router' page, throwing up a 'configuration error'  message in the app every time I tried that. So there were problems with the initial setup of the router both in the wireless Nighthawk app and the hardwired PC side. It was only when I selected 'skip setup router' in the Nighthawk app and got straight to the download new firmware that auto popped up, that things al started working.

Since I couldn't access the settings pages properly in either the Nighthawk app or the PC browser page before that auto update, I have no idea what version of the firmware was preinstalled out of the box. It would have been insteresting to know to see if there were known installation issues with some systems...

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theagg wrote:

Well, it's all working now but for the record, prior to the firmware update, the setup page in the web browser on the PC (hardwired via LAN) wasn't giving any kind of messages that suggested 'security' issues.

 

Unfortunately, past experience suggests that these security packages don't warn you. They just bring things to a grinding halt. That is why they can be so hard to diagnose.

Well maybe but I'm not convinced it was an issue with anything on my PC and nothing to do with the router :)

After all, if the issue was only with the PC, then why did it start working only after the AX40 firmware had updated ? The only way to test that would be to download an older firmware and reinstall that. If at that point the PC/LAN side was once again unable to detect the internet (and the Nighthawk app started playing up again), then that would doubly confirm an AX40 firmware issue. Maybe I will test that out some sunny day when I'm not too stressed out (if I can locate the required older firmware) but not now !

I am glad to see that it was a firmware problem. Maybe I will buy again in a year or so.

Ace4454 has done the right thing by starting a fresh conversation here:

AX4 WiFi 6 router connection problems and drop out... - NETGEAR Communities

That is probably the best place to deal with their issue. It may have nothing to do with this particular discussion.

I have just had exactly the same experience.  Modem to router to PC, all via ethernet.  Tried setup via the Nighthawk app - no internet found.  Via wifi on a mobile - no internet found. Via PC in web browser - no internet found.  No amount of power cycling or different configuration of connections would work.

Best I could acheive was setting up with no WAN connected.  That at least got me to the actual config page, but no internet no matter what I did.

Updated firmware as some other people have said seemed to have worked - still nothing for me

Contacted Netgear Tech Support after about an hour and a half.  Their solution - connect to the internet so we can remote in..... Really?  That doesn't help

This thing is going back in the box and getting returned tomorrow

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Daredevil77 wrote:

I have just had exactly the same experience. 

 

Possibly, possibly not, given how many different "experiences" people have described in this six-month old discussion.

There is a good chance that the official support team is busily monitoring new conversations and may miss your addition to this one.

If you do want help with your problem, check previous stuff that may be related then start your own discussion.

If you do decide to ask a question, you should provide more details and your own version of the information that the forum suggests that you provide. For example, as this is a router, it helps to know what modem you are using and the various things that you have tried to fix the problem.

The sort of missing information that could help people is the make and model of your modem.

You can help people to help you by providing the information suggested in this forum's header:

Subject (Include model number and brief summary)
Model (Recommended - Helps the community give the best answers)
Body (Include additional detail including model version, firmware, OS and environment where relevant.)

They are there for a good reason.

.