WNDR 4300 loses 2.4GHz Radio daily

[steveincolorado]

I purchased a 4300 router in November of 2013. Soon after purchase I had to reboot the router daily to keep the wireless working. Tech support provided a new firmware update which solved the problem. Fast forward to December 2014 and the router started dropping the 2.4GHz band radio weekly. Now I had to reboot daily or I lose those devices that lack a 5GHz radio. This is very frustrating, I can't seem to keep Netgear routers up and running.
My router's current firmware is 1.0.1.60 and when I do a check for new firmware the router reports No new firmware version available.

I'm at my wits end with this router which replaced a WNDR 4000 that had similar issues then died altogether in under 18 months. There has got to be a way to keep my Router up and working.

Anyone possibly has any ideas on how to correct this issue?
Thanks in advance.

Steve

[steveincolorado · Accepted solution]

The issue was never about the Cable Modem. I fixed the issue by swapping out the Router for someone else's and so far it's been rock solid.

Thanks anyway.

Steve

[steveincolorado]

UPDATE:
Now I'm having to power cycle the router ever 90 minutes. I lose connectivity on both radio's (2.5GHz and 5.0GHz) as well as over the Ethernet LAN ports.

This router powers my phone besides my regular Internet. I need this to work and work reliably. The router is only 13 months old.
Any suggestions?

Thanks
Steve

[grandpa_]

I am having same exact problems, why? I did firmware update to latest version but still lose wifi radio every single day. The Genie "can see it" my 2.4 and 5.0 wireless but I can't connect. I am tired of daily reboots and I just bought this router because Netgear was recommended. My prior router ( a Linksys) worked flawlessly for about 6 years before it died. :confused:

[Fairytail]

Please check the modem. Connect your computer directly to the modem and observe the connection. If the modem disconnects then you need to call ISP but if the connection is stable then you should contact NETGEAR again.

[steveincolorado · Accepted solution]

The issue was never about the Cable Modem. I fixed the issue by swapping out the Router for someone else's and so far it's been rock solid.

Thanks anyway.

Steve

[thadguidry]

I also get the same issue where the Wireless Radio and Lan lose the connection.
And have done extensive testing.

The wireless iPad is able to see the SSID, but when clicked it gives a message "cannot connect to network". When I turn my computer on and look at the network connection, the LAN connection shows the troubleshooting sign.

I am able to simply reboot the Netgear WNDR4300 and both my devices then connect to the internet.

My thoughts are that perhaps something IS happening to our ISP, but then quickly resolves itself...but the Netgear WNDR4300 does not automatically resolve the ISP connection again. Is there a missing option that needs to be added or checked somewhere ?

[Kloas]

Same problem here. Problem seems to be related to latest firmware.
Netgear??

[Fairytail]

Please create a ticket for support team. 

[mrayn5]

I am experiencing the same issue, although I only lose the 2.4Ghz band. Wired connections and 5Ghz stay connected to the router and the internet. Only a reboot of the device gets the 2.4Ghz connections to re-establish. Not sure what has changed, but it sure seems like something has.

[Babylon5]

Is there any pattern to the loss, is it daily, random, roughly how frequent, after a reboot does the problem reappear quickly?

It’s possible that the 2.4GHz band is being affected by interference from non-networking wireless devices like video senders, baby monitors, security cameras etc. These are often high power wideband devices so can affect you WiFi network even if they are in a nearby neighbours house.

[mrayn5]

For me, it's random. No pattern that I have found. I do not have any new non-networking wireless devices. For that matter, there have been no hardware changes at all... same computers, phones, iPad, etc that we have had for quite a while.. everything has been the same in the house for some time.

The only change I can think of is the Apple IOS updates that have been installed as they have been released.

[Babylon5]

Do you have neighbours nearby who might possibly have any of those devices I mentioned, they can often have ranges of hundreds of feet?

[peteymit]

I bought an N750 based on the Consumer Reports suggestion and this happened to me already. The router wasn't running for 48 hours and the 2.4Ghz signal went completely out after working for about the previous 24 hours. I changed just about every setting imaginable without rebooting and it made no difference. Rebooted and it's back on now. Hopefully that helps diagnose.

[Fairytail]

Try this link.

Troubleshooting Intermittent Wireless/Dropped Wi-Fi Connections
http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23655

[Kloas]

Do you have Guest-wifi or 5GHz-wifi disabled?
My problem disappeared after enabling both wifi-radio's

[Nsharra]

I am having the same issue. Many times a reboot makes no difference. It seems the 2.4 cannot stay connected to anything anymore. The devices that can connect to both 2.4 & 5 always kick over to the 5ghz. The devices that cannot connect to 5, just disconnect altogether.
I updated the firmware, disabled and enabled wireless settings, and changed channels as well. Still makes no difference.
Help, please.

[Hooha]

Our household recently had this same problem and no immediately evident causes. In our case we bought another N750 for testing and also tried an older router. We are both techies (long time online gamers) but this was no simple troubleshoot. My husband was running a media NAS and the software had been crashing the router OS by spamming the network with dhcp (and other) requests. A reboot of router fixed everything until the next spam induced OS crash. This scenario had us stumped and frustrated until we stumbled across a forum post on the NAS software website and connected the dots. PS: We also have had problems with Comcast service dropping signal from modem if we owe them even pennies past due. I have Comcast on automatic bill pay and sometimes I forget to check the invoice and owe them a (small) past due balance. Each time I notice dropped/crappy signals and pay any outstanding balance - the problem miraculously is fixed instantly. This has happened 3 times in last 12 months. Food for thought.

[lurzan]

The WNDR4300 is having a new firmware update v1.0.2.78. If the router is not detecting the new firmware automatically, download and manually upload the new firmware from the link

http://downloadcenter.netgear.com/en/product/WNDR4300#searchResults
http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23960

After installing the new firmware. Make sure to take the backup of the current setting of the router and do a soft reset to the router and reconfigured

[rmbittner]

My router is three days old. And suddenly, on Day 3, it started crashing/rebooting constantly. It was impossible to connect to it for more than 30 seconds - 1 minute at a time before it went through the same cycle all over again. For two and half days, I thought this product was fine. But now I'm thinking I need to return it to Amazon; this is unbelievably bad service from a brand-new product.

FWIW, I did install the latest firmware update as soon as I unpacked the device and got it up and running. That was on May 13, so I'm assuming it was the absolute latest update. I can't verify the actual number, though, because I've had to take the Netgear router offline and put my (former) Linksys router back into service so I can have a connection.

If there's something more I can do on my end to fix the connection before returning this router, please let me know. Otherwise, it's going back and I'm changing brands.

Bob

[meanhacker]

My 2.4Ghz band also keeps dropping out almost every day. I have to reboot the router. I just updated the firmware from V1.0.2.78 to V1.0.2.80 and will see how this one works out.

[magna_elite]

How did the latest firmware work out for you?  I am also having the dropped wifi symptom, it's really frustrating.  

[Cameraman]

I have the same issue on my WNDR4300 (first rev). Problems started up as soon as I updated to 1.0.2.80.  2.4 gHz band goes into Wonderland mode after a few days.  Very irregular frequency but the 5 gHz band remains active.  I did have the 5 gHz Guest radio off.  I have enabled it now just to see if it makes a difference.

[Cameraman]

5 gHz Guest radio on for 3 days before 2.4 gHz band completely dropped out.  Signal strength is there but no connection to the internet at all. 5 gHz band still working but I need the 2.4 band working for other devices in my home. Looks like a premature replacement.

[DR5150]

Has anyone seen any good results on this?

I am on a WNDR 4300 v1 with 1.0.2.80 firmware.

I have used wifi analyzer to identify that channel 11 for 2.4 is not being used in my nearby area.

Still daily the 2.4 radio drops, while the 5 continues to function.

I have made sure that the guest networks are turned on

I am trying to revert back to firmware 1.0.1.42 to see if that helps

[ElaineM]

@DR5150 Try setting the Fragmentation Length and RTS/CTS Threshold to 2304 under 2.4Ghz settings which can be found under Advanced > Advanced Setup > Wireless Settings.

After adjusting the settings, reconnect your 2.4Ghz devices and observe your connection.

Let us know what happens.