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Forum Discussion
Nighthawk M6 Pro turns itself off a couple of times a day
I recently purchased an M6 PRO from Telstra to replace an AC800S that was an always-on service in our home. The AC800S battery swelled and exploded, nearly combusting in the process.... Luckily it dropped the cellular signal in the process, I lost internet, looked at the router and removed it from the house with a set of cooking tongs as it smouldered to death.
Both the AC800S and M6 PRO are used solely as the Internet connection/default gateway, with other network devices handling DHCP, WIFI, LAN etc. Cellular is much faster, better value for money, and more reliable than any other internet technology in my area.
The AC800S was fine for 3 years (until the battery issue) and replacing with the M6 PRO was to gain benefit from our local cellular towers being recently upgraded to 5G.
After some quick config it worked out of the box and has great 5G speed. However a couple of times a day the internet drops out, and when I go to look at the device I find it powered OFF. I have removed the battery from the device to run it is AC mode only (as suggested in the manual, and based on my experience with the AC800S...)
I've checked a couple of specific settings to ensure everything is set OK:
Power Manager > AC-Powered Only (No Battery) = Highlighted green showing it's active
Mobile Router Setup > Tethering > Use USB Port for "Charge Only" (selected)
At the time of writing this post, there is no newer firmware available, either online or via the firmware checker on the device's Firmware updater via the Administration page.
Firmware Version: NTGX65_10.01.38.00
Firmware Build date: 2022/05/05
If I pull the USB-C power cable out, and plug it back it, it boots up and works fine again. Sometime for 8-10hrs, and then just turns off again.
It's operating through a tested/compliant GPO (power point) using the AC adapter supplied in the box. There is no heat/temperature on the device or power supply, and they are both at room temperature.
Has anyone else had this same problem?
There would be no point taking the device back to Telstra shop as they have zero ability to provide technical support, and in my opinion it's either a firmware or hardware fault. Anyone from Netgear care to chime in, and provide support here?
53 Replies
Yes, I have the same problem! We have one at our house as a fixed internet solution because that's all we can get in the rural area we live. The previous model worked great until AT&T made it quit working. No problem. We upgraded to the 5G M6 Pro and it worked fine until it started powering itself down. The other issue is that some of the devices won't automatically reconnect when it's powered back up. Namely Google Nest products and Sonos. Not sure where to go from here. Netgear support has been very unhelpful so far and hard to understand.
wscholl you make a very good point, every time we power up the M6 PRO, all of our Google Home/Nest products need to be rebooted, as it's only those devices which do not reconnect. I have even tried setting a static IP to those devices, and it made no difference. And as mentioned, we are not using the M6 PRO for wifi or DHCP services.
Welcome to NETGEAR Community!
If there is no activity for a period of time, the device will power down to save battery power. You can change the WiFi standby time by doing the following:
Via Web UI
Access UI > General > WiFi band > change WiFi Standby to Disabled
Via Device LCD screen
Tap WiFi > Options > WiFi Standby > Disabled
Regards,
Blanca
Community TeamI have it set up to not use the battery at all. The instructions said to remove it altogether.
I too have this problem. I have spent hours on the phone to Netgear and it always ends up with the technician saying that everything is OK and you won't have the problem again. There is obviously a problem with my Nighthawk M6 Pro and Netgear seem incapable of accepting this. I run the M6 on mains power with the battery removed. It works fine until it powers down. I then have to disconnect and reconnect the power to restart. When it boots up everything is back to normal - until it powers down again. The M6 is less than 2 months old. It seems to me that there is no point contacting Netgear again when the M6 powers down as they will only ask me to start up again and everything will appear normal - They will then tell me the problem is fixed and it won't occur again. By the way I have done this. Other than buying another modem has anyone any ideas?
RIght out of the box this thing was garbage. The screen was somehow zoomed in on mine and I had to reset it just to power it on propoerly. The lcd screen is laggy as hell and is highly unresponsive most of the time.
Same issues that you guys have mentioned. I have had this M6 Pro for 3 days and I can't take it any longer. It just randomly shuts down, loses broadband connectivity, no internet. It will not save power settings either. Every time the device reboots the screen timeout resets to 1min. Ethernet port is terrible. Sometimes it's enabled, sometimes it's not. It only works half the time and then just stops working. I have 5 bars of service in my area and it keeps rebooting losing connection to the tower.
I thought that I might have purchased a bad unit... but sounds like you have the same issues. I am on the latest firmware. (unit updated the F/w automatically. was worse after the update).
jimsmithjojo wrote:
RIght out of the box this thing was garbage. The screen was somehow zoomed in on mine and I had to reset it just to power it on propoerly. The lcd screen is laggy as hell and is highly unresponsive most of the time.
Same issues that you guys have mentioned. I have had this M6 Pro for 3 days and I can't take it any longer. It just randomly shuts down, loses broadband connectivity, no internet. It will not save power settings either. Every time the device reboots the screen timeout resets to 1min. Ethernet port is terrible. Sometimes it's enabled, sometimes it's not. It only works half the time and then just stops working. I have 5 bars of service in my area and it keeps rebooting losing connection to the tower.
I thought that I might have purchased a bad unit... but sounds like you have the same issues. I am on the latest firmware. (unit updated the F/w automatically. was worse after the update).
Please check and make sure the device has been upgraded to the latest release.
Could you please advise your device SKU?
Thanks
Did you ever manage to find an actual solution to this problem?
My Nighthawk has been working fine since the firmware update.
- I have that issue with my M6 Pro, and firmware update hasn’t solved the issue. When I contacted netgear, they asked me to send it back & they sent a replacement. The replacement also had the same issue. I wonder if a fix to that problem is found. Coz that device should be the Rolls Royce of hotspots considering its price tag, but unfortunately it isn’t. I mean it gives impressive speeds, until it decides to turn itself off and everything goes down. And the only way to power it back on is to either remove the battery if you’re using it with the battery or to plug it off from power if you’re using it in AC mode…
- The firmware update fixed mine. It no longer shuts off. Make sure the new FW version is 10.04.22.00.
Good luck!Telstra purchased M6 Pro (MR6500) here. Dropping the Internet randomly and only get it back after a reboot or by making a config change. This unit is built into my 4WD and should be set and forget.
Went back to the Telstra shop, got a replacement unit doing exactly the same!
The 10.04.22.00 FW is not available for this unit?
For such an expensive unit I would have expected better!
When will the new FW be available in Australia?
Hi JohnPeng
I have a NightHawk M6 Pro with Telstra where in Australia.
Same thing keeps happening - turns itself off. Plugged into the wall, battery out.
Firmware Version : NTGX65_10.01.38.00
Data usage screen unavailable to give me information
I get an error when trying to check for software updates - "There was a problem updating your device, please try again later"
Pretty poor for such an expensive device that it keeps happening to everyone. Fully agree Telstra have zero ability to provide technical support, they hopeless (to put it nicely)..
What is the next steps to get a firmware update?
Thanks
how do I download the firmware
MR6150 Firmware Version 10.04.22.00
I tried to find download button but theres nod ownload button
