ex7000 frequently stops working; not providing internet connection
I'm super frustrated right now.
A) My Netgear Nighthawk EX7000 frequently stops working, as in it prevents connection to the internet (wifi connection is still being broadcast, but internet connection isn't available)
B) I can't contact Netgear to resolve this issue that I've been having since I got it (back in May). I mean, it's their product, I should be able to get technical and customer support on it!
I have my Nighthawk AC1900 EX7000 setup as an extender (not an access point) to extend my wireless network; the router is on a different floor on the other side of the house.
I have confirmed that the extender is getting more than adequate signal from the wireless router (3 out of 4 bars) on both the 2.4 and 5.0 GHz.
I have 2 kids in the basement doing their school (at home school, thanks Covid). They're young, not computer or internet saavy, I just wanted them to be able to wander around the house with their iPads and connect to either the wireless router or the extender automatically, depending on which gave them the better signal. So, initally, I had the extender set up to extend both the 2.4 and 5.0 GHz bands with the same SSIDs as my wireless router. I found that the kids (and my laptops that I tested) would frequently have internet connection issues. They would remain connected to the wireless SSID, but no internet connection.
After experiencing this several times, I factory reset the extender, and re-did the setup. This time I set it up to receive on one band, and transmit on the other. I set it up with still using the same SSIDs as the wireless router. I set up the extender to broadcast out on the 2.4 GHz band (same SSID as the wireless router), and to transmit back to the wireless on the 5.0 GHz band.
This had frequent internet connection issues as well. Well, in order to troubleshoot this better, to determine if this was the wireless router or the extender, I gave in and am now using a different SSID for the extender's 2.4 GHz band. I factory reset the extender, redid the setup, and now have it broadcasting out on 2.4 GHz band with a different SSID, and transmitting back to the router on 5.0 GHz.
Still having connection issues! My kids seem to be connecting to the internet fine on the router's 2.4 or even the 5.0 GHz band (news to me, previously wasn't getting any 5.0 GHz that far away from the router), but no internet if they connect to the extender's SSID.
This hasn't been a permanent lack of connectivity. It seems that the internet connectivity via the extender drops after being in use for 3-4 days. It seems to work ok for those 3-4 days and then, bam, wake up in the morning, no internet connectivity. Often times it is fixed if I unplug and plug back in the extender, but if I'm at work when this happens, the kids don't know what to do.
Also, all my devices that are connected to the router (cell phone, tv, laptops, and PC) have never had internet connectivity issues, even when the extender is having them.
SO. DANG. FRUSTRATED. What can I do to fix this?
Model: EX7000-1AZNAS|Nighthawk AC1900 WiFi Access Point
Re: ex7000 frequently stops working; not providing internet connection
Commenting to bump this topic. The most recent post I can find with a solution is from 2019, and the solution is to restore to an older firmware and perform a factory reset. I'm having the exact same issue with my extender as you are, with almost the same setup. The extender is on a different floor on the other side of my house, but it has full bars for 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Internet consistently goes out and I have to power cycle to get it working again. I've also tried using the fastlane both ways 2.4 -> 5 and 5 -> 2.4, with no luck. The only difference is that when the extender isn't connecting to the internet it does affect my wireless devices. Pretty ridiculous that I can find threads about this going all the way back to 2018 and there's still no fix for it. Seems NETGEAR is more focused on selling their products than maintaining them.
Model: EX7000|AC1900 Nighthawk WiFi Range Extender
Re: ex7000 frequently stops working; not providing internet connection
Looks like I have the exact same setup with modem on one floor and the extender on another. I guess compared to some I've been pretty lucky I only loose the internet once maybbe twice a week, I see that some people have it happen way more often. I saw the post that is suggesting that the firmware be reverted back to a previous version and the extender will become more stable but without some of the new features in the newer firmware.
Seems that this has been an issue for a long time, and it seems to be pretty much narrowed down to a problem in the newer firmware, it is disappointing to see that it is a known problem and pretty much narrowed down to when it was introduced and Netgear seems to have left it at that.
I'll try the reverting back to an earlier version of the firmware over the weekend and see what happens.
Model: EX7000|AC1900 Nighthawk WiFi Range Extender
