EX6200 drops 2.4GHZ connection every day or so

[nickambrose]

But isnt this a supported mode of the extender ?

I originally set it up with 5GHZ to the router and 2.4GHZ extended out (as I have older devices) but perf was not looking good so I switched to extending both

When the 2.4GHZ is dropped, I went into the router status page and I believe the router still thought it was up!

[Babylon5]

It is a supported mode, it’s the basic mode of operation of the extender, but it’s a bit of a performance hit.

My preference would be to use one of the Fastlane options where the connection to the base station is only made over the 5GHz band, and distant client connections to the extender use the 2.4GHz band.

I realise that's not really an answer to your issue, but it might be worth investigating to see if it works reliably.

[DigitalMaestro]

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@Babylon5 wrote:
OK, I will contact Netgear to see if they are aware of this issue, but I would suggest that it is not as prevalent as you may think, otherwise we would see many more users with the issue posting in the forums. As described it’s pretty fundamental and should be picked up quickly in any test / review. I for example have an EX6200 set up at a relative’s house where only 2.4GHz is used and it’s been operating flawlessly in that mode for months now. Now I don’t deny that you have problems, and I’m not suggesting that you are the only people with this problem, but I’m more inclined to think that it’s a hardware fault with the EX6200 or a compatibility issue with the base station. Could you all please tell me the manufacturer and model number of your base station? Metzger, I do have the EX7000, though I use it as an AP rather than an extender, but for many weeks I tested it in extender mode and had very few issues with it. As an AP it hasn’t failed me yet.

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My base station is a Netgear R7000.  I'm running the EX6200 in Fastlane mode using the 54Ghz as the backhaul to the base station and the 2.4Ghz to the clients.  Rather than dropping every day, the latest beta firmware provided by Netgear would drop every 7-10 days or so.

It's odd that the problem is not more widely reported since I had this same issue across two brand new EX6200s.  Both were setup in Fastlane mode using standard options.  I'm not using the USB port or any of the other features of the EX6200 except for Fastlane yet the problem occurs.  It would seem that it should occur for at least those users with Fastlane.  I seem to recall that I had the same issue when I extended withotu Fastlane as well.

[nickambrose]

Was there ever a response from Netgear on this ? 

[Metzger]

No, nothing. I disabled the 5 GHz network on the router and am living with that solution until I can upgrade the one laptop in the house that won't support it.  

[nickambrose]

OK trying the fastlane (5G extender => router, 2G to device mode)

Hope this works better. if not I guess I will just extend the 2G and disable 5G and not buy Netgear next time.

Although sadly I already had to return another vendors product because I couldnt even connect to *its* Wifi! Specifcally bought it because it was *not* belkin .... then discovered it was a re-badged Belkin ....

Are there *any* good manufacturers of consumer stuff left ?

[noboundaries]

Did we get a reply from NETGEAR on this issue.???

I have updated to latest firmware, and still the 2.4Ghz drops every few days.

It is bloody annoying

I am going to take it back and get my money back. I hate it when they burry their heads and hope it goes away, READ you forums, ths is not a isolated issue NETGEAR...

[nickambrose]

Yeah it sucks that they wont even acknowledge but I guess thats the way of it.

I found that going to Fastlane with 5GHZ extender -> Router and 2GZ device -> Extender seems to have it stable for now.

I still get periods of time when internet stops working for 10-30 seconds but its now impossible to say if its the extender, the Wifi Router, the cable modem or the Monopoly (Comcast)

[Martinello]

My EX7000 is running in access point mode (a wired connection from my router to the EX7000). And when initially set up, both 5.0GHZ and 2.4GHZ are working fine.

After a few days the problem first occurred that the 2.4GHZ connection didn't connect any more. The 5GHZ connection worked fine.

Since then a reset of only the EX7000 solves the 2.4GHZ problem, but this isn't a workable situation. Since the connection drops every day!

My EX7000 is configured to get an IP address from the router. The router's wifi is disabled and there are no other broadcasting devices on the wifi channel.

So, I'm not happy about the product either. Not exactly the same device, but exactly the same problem as described in the topic...

[Babylon5]

I also use an EX7000 is AP mode and have never experience any drops. I’m running with firmware version 1.0.0.32, what are you using?

There aren’t many settings that can be changed that might influence how the extender WiFi operates, other than maybe the ‘WiFi Coverage’ option in the ‘Do More’ area. Have you tried changing that option to adjust the WiFi power level?

It’s possible that you have a hardware issue, and in that case you would need to contact Technical Support who will ask that you run through a series of checks, and if they agree may then offer an RMA replacement.

[TechnoNerdDad]

I have an EX6200 that I've recently purchased from Amazon (as new) and put into service in AP mode as of 9/20 and was working great and then I began using a cheap passive gigabit POE unit from Amazon 9/25 and used an old U-Verse battery backup unit as the power supply. 10 days later (yesterday) I found devices on the 2.4Ghz band dropping until finally nothing would connect. I had manually set the channel to avoid my neighbors and set it back to auto. After the setting save, even 5Ghz devices wouldn't connect until I powercycled the EX6200 and then all started working again.

I did notice when I first was first configuring the EX and had it sitting on the table next to me, it was clearly making a resonance noise when significate data was being transmitted. Then a couple days ago, I noticed the noise was a bit louder. It even got my dog's attention even though the EX was on top of the kitchen cabinets. Just an intermittent, almost squeeking, digital type noise. It was very apparent in a quiet room. I've concidered this is relavant to voltage drop with the POE unit, but will wait until another occurance before making a change to the power supply configuration.

BTW, these U-Verse battery backup units are excellent for things like cable modems, routers, switches, etc... They're outputting 12v@2.5A with center-pin positive. I've even seen them show up at the local thrift-shops for reasonable prices.

[Martinello]

Thanks for your reply Andy,

After my post I read the fix for the problem described in "EX6200 - Stops assigning IP Addresses".
That topic made me try to look for potential problems in my router.

The most significant step I took was: reconfiguring the router so that the EX7000 is having a static ip address.

The main reason I didn't try any of this before, was that there was only one device of all that connected to the EX7000 was experiencing this problem. So I suppose the DHCP settings of the router were the source of my problem.

If the problem comes back, I'll come back. But the device is working brilliantly the last three days in a row. My internet speed is much faster than before (all devices are connected via wifi), also for the 2.4GHZ network!

[Babylon5]

Thanks for the update Martinello, and thanks for your input TechnoNerdDad.

[MarkNC]

Same problem here. Right out of the box. I had to switch AT&T unite pro modem to 2.5GHZ only as some devices in house do not work on 5GHZ.  

[nhann]

Hi MarkNC,

Which firmware version is your EX6200 currently on?

Try updating to latest firmware:
http://support.netgear.com/product/EX6200

[MarkNC]

I did update to the latest firmware when installing a few days ago. Also checked it again just now through the genie. Still having same problem. I have to just shut off the 5ghz and run with the 2.5. 

[gmhyman]

My EX6200 has been replaced twice (!) under warranty - the first one was essentially dead, now the second is having this same problem as others - drops the 2.4 gHZ connection every day or so.  If I don't reboot in time, eventually the 5gHz connection drops as well.  I'm using a static IP, and am on the latest firmware.  It's becoming obvius that this model has substandard something - hardware, firmware or both.  A real stable solution would be most appreciated.

BTW - my 2 most recent support tickets were declined because it's a warrany box and therefore out of warranty for software issues - in other words, Netgear doesn't give a d**n about me as a customer, and probably not any other customer either!

[nhann]

Hi @gmhyman,

Please connect to your EX6200 via an ethernet cord. Login to mywifiext.net and upload the previous firmware version v1.0.1.60_1.1.98
http://downloadcenter.netgear.com/en/product/EX6200#searchResults

Once you download the firmware zip file, unzip the chk file and upload it to the EX6200. See the user manual page 81 of 124:

http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/EX6200/EX6200_UM_09Jan2015.pdf

[gmhyman]

OK, trying this.   Essentially what this says is that the latest firmware (_104) is in some sense bad.

The only problem was that these issues occured before I upgraded to this version, but time will tell ...

[gmhyman]

So far, going back to the V1.0.1.60_1.1.98 firmware seems to have stabalized the situation.  Much thanks.

Hopefully the dev staff knows what's going on and will have a better version than 104 sometime soon.

[IXY]

Hi I have had the same problem.  RMA'd one already and the new one is just as bad. It did update to .104 but i am going back fo .98.

I will see if that help.

I have a static IP address.  But i have quesiton for the DNS.  What is best practice for the DNS IP address?  In my home network, i have a Comcast modem, then a R7000, then the ex62000.  Shoud the IP be some public IP address, the comcast DNS one, the IP address of the comcast modem, or the IP address of the R7000?  It is currently the R7000 and works but thought i would ask.

Thanks.

[gmhyman]

.98 is not perfect, but it lasts 3-5 days at least, vs about 1 for .104.  in my situation.

[IXY]

That is still not acceptable IMO.  

Given mine and others poor experience with support.  Like denying support emails when it is still under warrenty and making it difficult to honor their promises.  

I am looking at other vendor solutions.  80% of the speed that is up all the time is better than what i have now.  Anyone heard if this issue is resolved in the EX7000?

Same question as before what is the best practice for setting a static DNS IP address?   

[gmhyman]

Agreed that this is still not right.

On the static IP, any address on your home network works.  The default LAN (i.e. inside) network on Netgear routers is 192.168.1.xxx so any IP address from 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254 will work (.1 is assigned to your main router).   I happen to use 192.168.1.125 which is above the range normally assigned automatically via DHCP since my home network as only ~15 devices, thus I don't have to worry about conflicts.  Do NOT assign an address outside your internal network - that will cut you off from accessing the management screens.

[gmhyman]

Misread your question. I set the DNS to the main router - 192.168.1.1 in my network, and it works fine.