Firmware updated EX8000 keeps dropping Internet

[bobby_digital]

Very frustrated with this device. I'm having the same issue as everyone else where I have to restart it about once a day in order to reconnect to the internet.

This was way too expensive for such poor quality. Going to return it and buy something else

[joker7380]

I uninstalled the Netgear Genie from my computer and my dropped signal problem went away.

[johnsanc]

After struggling with this mesh extender for over a week I decided to pull out all the stops and try to figure out why internet kept dropping but my devices would say they were connected and appeared perfectly fine.

In short: The virtual MAC addresses the extender assigns are likely causing conflicts with your router's ARP table.

I decided to install pfSense on a micro-pc and use my RAX75 as an AP. The EX8000 acts as an extender for this AP. I noticed, like others have mentioned, that the wired connections work perfectly fine when the extender has WiFi connectivity issues. I also noticed that as soon as I unplug the extender my WiFi is fixed. I tried rolling back several firmware versions and I couldn't find a single one where this worked "properly". This alone really narrows it down.

I then did some digging around how the extender actually works, and its documented by Netgear that this extender (as well as many of their others) create virtual MAC addresses for the devices that are connected to it. So then what happens when I have an IP assigned to one device then the MAC address changes because I roamed to and from the extenders range? Answer: It chokes - Unless something tells the router that the device at that IP address is now at a different MAC address. Or rather 

This extender apparently does a horrible job at letting the router / AP know when it links the virtual MAC address to the IP the device was using. My fix is crude, but so far seems to work. In pfSense I created a tunable for "net.link.ether.inet.max_age" to set the value to about a minute. This basically means the entries in the ARP table (IP address <---> MAC address) expire after a minute. This sort of feature will vary by router, any many may not allow any sort of control over this. I suspect the "14 minutes" referred to earlier in this post may actually be a common ARP table entry expiration value.

I may not be 100% correct in my assessment since I am not a networking guru, but I do know that as soon as I deleted the ARP table cached entry for my phone's real MAC address, the internet worked again. And so far my shortended cache seems to have fixed the issue across all devices (so far, knock on wood)

[johnsanc]

Well that only temporarily fixed the problem. No longer worth my time - returned it to Best Buy and never buying another Netgear product again.

Lost a customer due to overpriced hardware, buggy firmware, poor support, and in this case a product that is flawed so badly it cannot even perform the primary function it was meant for.

[Kicoman]

After I converted my R9000 router running stock Netgear junk to running DD-WRT, my R8000 extender no longer drops because of the virtual MACS.

But Netgear OS cannot accommodate them.

[Kur7is]

I have to say, the original post was in ‎2018-05-17 09:16 PM. It is now 11th July 2020 and the issue is still persistent... Over Two years.

I purchased the EX8000 Extender as apparently, all the review sites suggest this as the most powerful extender. First device arrived, would randomly drop connections. Devices connected to the router (Virgin Media Hub 3.0) via wifi or ethernet router would stay online. Devices connected to the Extender via ethernet or wifi would randomly drop. I agree with the review sites in that the device is powerful, although they seem to have forgotten to mention it won't last and will cut you off at some point.

Went through two tickets with support and it was decided the device must be faulty. Got a new device sent across and judging by what I am experiencing with this one, all the devices must be faulty. Quite honestly have never had this many issues with any other device in my life.

Is there a single person on this forum who has this extender and does not have any issues with it? I should not have to go through this much trouble and research into a product to try and find a fix that is non existent as I can't find a single thread from Netgear that even acknowledges this seems to be a community wide issues for users of this device.

Can any of the members of this forum recommend a good extender (price is not an issue) that can match the speed that the Nighthawk X6S EX8000 Extender can provide without the constant dropping connections?

Just to note, I've been trying everything suggested in various threads and I am not going to spend more time trying to fix something that obviously cannot be fixed by the company that created the device or the experienced members of this forum.

[burneyfalls]

I went with the following WAVLINK.  This has been totally reliable for me and has qty 2 RJ-45 for cabled ETH connection.  Had it for probbaly a couple years or longer now.

https://www.amazon.com/WAVLINK-1200Mbps-Extender-Wireless-Repeater/dp/B07V7DN2GC/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1...

[fordianslip]

As a note to others, my now "stable" wifi connection still experiences ocassional drops, noticed by running ping tests. Can be as short as a single blip (which could be chalked up to congestion / volume of traffic), but also experience multiple "blips" in a row which is a sign of a more drastic issue.

I'm outside of my return window because Netgear took so long to diagnose, and now also outside their free support window, where they now request money to help me. This is the last $$$ netgear will receive from me. I'm going back to Linksys.

Stay away. This device is a **bleep** nightmare. When it works, it's f'n brilliant. But it'll make you tear out your hair at least twice a day if you need a stable steady reliable internet connection (say, for vpns or gaming).

[fordianslip]

Oh, also, since my post I switched it to AP mode and wired it in to the R7000 w/ a 50 ft ethernet cable... and I still experience drops.

[Kieran293]

Just for anyone else having the issues or looking to buy this device, please look elsewhere. I am having the same issues as those mentioned by people 2 years ago with no fixes present. This device simply does not work, will return it and buy an extender from a different company. I can now see why people say Netgear has gone downhill over the past few years.