D7000[v1] (V1.0.1.70_1.0.1) Frozen

[antinode]

   After about a month of continuous operation since the update to
V1.0.1.70_1.0.1, my D7000[v1] was discovered today, frozen solid --
normal LED indicators, but static; no response from the web server; no
response from the Telnet server; no response from the Telnet-enable
server.

   Cycling the power seems to have restored normal operation (for now).

      https://community.netgear.com/t5/x/x/m-p/1469773

      Apparently, this thing has no (effective) watchdog timer, [...]

Apparently still true.

[antinode]

    Made it two months, this time.  Same symptoms.

[antinode]

    Made it about two (perhaps three) months, this time.  Same symptoms.

   I'll try V1.0.1.74 next, but based on the (typically useless) Release
Notes, there's no particular reason to expect any improvement from that.

[w3wilkes]

Don't know if you've tried it, but there is 3rd party firmware available for the Netgear EOL D7000[v1] modem router. I don't have a D7000[v1], but I do run 3rd party firmware on my DGND3700[v1] and it is heads an shoulders above what Netgear gave us for both reliability and function. From What I hear this is also true for the 3rd party firmware for the D7000[v1]. If you get tired of "testing" Netgear's you can find the 3rd party firmware here;

https://github.com/negan07/ancistrus/releases

[antinode]

> Don't know if you've tried it, [...]

   I haven't, but I have seen it mentioned.  Thanks for the reminder.

[antinode]

   Made it almost two months with V1.0.1.74.  Same symptoms.

[antinode]

    Made it about two months, again, this time.  Same symptoms.

[antinode]

    Made it almost one month, this time.  Same symptoms.

[tominwi]

I am on the Ancistrus build of .74 and my router went down in the early morning hours today. The last time it failed was in early November and it was at that time a true ISP outage--I guess I didn't log the previous time it froze, but like you it seems to be almost monthly but more like every two months.

FWIW this is beginning to feel to me like something the ISP does is confusing the Netgear. I mean, presumably the ISP does routine maintenance or SOMETHING periodically to cause a hiccup with the DSL--maybe it is of a nature that the D7000 chokes on. An uncommon event at a DSL would at least be one reason why Netgear has not been able to find & fix this.

It's too bad it doesn't have any built-in failsafe, i.e. "Reboot on loss of pings". In the meantime we are left to restart the thing occasionally, and in my case since I leave this house sometimes for weeks at a time, I think I'll invest in this IP gizmo:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00LLVQ9OI/?coliid=I18FEVP6EPHR70&colid=3QR9LJVWP9GE6&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_l...

[antinode]

   On advice from Netgear support, shortly after the previous failure
(2019-12-17), I replaced my primary D7000 with my spare D7000.  Same
firmware (V1.0.1.74_1.0.1), settings restored from the primary unit's
saved-settings file.

   It froze today, almost one month later.  Same symptoms.  This time, I
was awake and using a web browser when it failed.  The first symptom
observed was a loss of connectivity with a wireless client.  ("ping
<D7000_LAN_IP Address>" failed.  Disconnect+reconnect failed.)

   Initially, Internet connectivity from a wired computer persisted
("ping 8.8.8.8"), but that was lost within a few minutes.  As usual,
everything recovered after a restart (power cycle).

   To me, this suggests a firmware problem rather than a hardware
problem.

[t1m_]

I have upgraded to the .74 firmware after the chrome security issues with previous firmware and am also experiencing the freezing after a random period of time, could be days could be weeks. Makes it really difficult to access services on the home connection when i'm away from home. 

This is the last straw for Netgear firmware, i'm changing to the third party fw.

[michaelkenward]

Did you reset the router to factory settings after the firmware flash?

New firmware sometimes introduces changes that are not compatible with the old configuration.

So while it isn't guaranteed to fix problems a factory reset is the first thing to try if you have issues with new firmware.

This is a nuisance because you then have to reconfigure the device all over again.

You can backup your settings before you reset and restore them later. But that may just bring back the fault. Then again, at least you will know if the reset fixed the problem.

The factory reset is more a "witchcraft" move than a technically informed solution, but it does seem to fix problems, especially on the wifi front.

---

@t1m_ wrote:

This is the last straw for Netgear firmware, i'm changing to the third party fw.

---

Good luck. I have never seen third party firmware for a modem/router.

[antinode]

> Did you reset the router to factory settings after the firmware flash?

   Waste of time and effort for a D7000[v1], in my experience.

> Good luck. I have never seen third party firmware for a modem/router.

   I see that you've read this thread about as carefully as usual.

> Just another user.

   Of a D7000[v1]?  I thought not.

[antinode]

> New firmware sometimes introduces changes that are not compatible with
> the old configuration.

   I have saved-settings files for my D7000[v1] dating back to "# FW
Version V1.0.1.48_1.0.1", and the differences between any pair of them
(other than my own explicitly set values) is, at most, slight.

> The factory reset is more a "witchcraft" move [...]

   Have you ever explained what that (nonsensical boilerplate) means (to
you)?  (I'm not sufficiently familiar with witchcraft to know.)  What,
exactly, do you think that it conveys to a typical reader?

[w3wilkes]

---

@michaelkenward wrote:

---

@t1m_ wrote:

This is the last straw for Netgear firmware, i'm changing to the third party fw.

---

Good luck. I have never seen third party firmware for a modem/router.

---

Yes, there is 3rd party firmware for the D7000v1 modem/router. Other users on these boards have posted that it works great. I run 3rd party firmware on my Netgear DGND3700(v1) modem/router that also works great and adds a bunch of features that Netgear should have put in the device like the ability to set DHCP lease time with seperate times for ethernet vs wifi connected devices and it adds back the support for VDSL that Netgear removed from the DGND3700(v1) firmware. This firmware just runs... I have 2 locations running this device, one is ADSL and the other is VDSL and both run flawlessly. The only time they ever get booted is when there's a power failure or I do a configuration change that requires a restart.

[michaelkenward]

Good to know. The last time I checked the usual places for third party modem/router firmware, a week ago, I found nothing. Of course, this community isn't the best place to look for advice on that sort of thing.

[w3wilkes]

---

@michaelkenward wrote:
Good to know. The last time I checked the usual places for third party modem/router firmware, a week ago, I found nothing. Of course, this community isn't the best place to look for advice on that sort of thing.

---

There's been 3rd party firmware available for the D7000v1 for months now and was announced on these boards. There's also 3rd party firmware for the DGND3700(v1). The 3rd party firmware for the DGND3700(v1) has been available for at least a couple of years and the thread on these boards regarding this 3rd party firmware is probably the largest thread on the DSL modem/router board.

[tominwi]

FWIW I'm running the v74 ancistrus firmware since about last Sept and while it seems to work a bit better i.e. does not lock-up quite as much it does still lock-up requiring reboot and it happened again just today. Very frustrating.

Given I take leave of this location for months at a time, I will have to implement one of those "keep alive" (actually "reboot on internet failure") devices before I depart again.

[antinode]

    Made it about one month, this time.  Same symptoms.

   Netgear support/engineering states that the D7000[v1] is now EOL, so
that no further engineering effort should be expected on it.

   The lack of NAT loopback on the D7000v2 is deemed intentional, so I
wouldn't expect a fix there, either, making it unsuitable to me as a
replacement.

[t1m_]

Well i've been running Ancistrus firmware on the D7000 for a month now with no issues. It works so well I purchased another used D7000 for cheap for a friend. They have also been impressed with the firmware.

Still great hardware crippled by buggy firmware. Ancistrus has extended the life of my D7000 for sure.

[antinode]

    It's that time of the month again.  Same symptoms.

[w3wilkes]

I guess you still haven't tried the Ancistrus 3rd party firmware to see if your problem goes away? Others on these forums speak very highly of it. And I wouldn't hold my breath waiting on Netgear to fix their software.

[antinode]

> I guess you still haven't tried [...]

   Still true.

> [...] I wouldn't hold my breath waiting on Netgear to fix their
> software.

   Nor would I.

   A friendly moderator submitted a formal support case on this problem
a while back, so I got to waste a bunch of time verifying that my spare
D7000 worked just the same as my main D7000, and reporting more problems
encountered when trying to load a saved-settings file after a reset.
Just as if I were a paying customer.  For example:

      https://ntgr.my.salesforce.com/sfc/p/#300000000xsV/a/0y0000004quX/_DyWZ6QGvyjPr0qsBG3cIHFZM5SIumPhnw...

   Also, the ADVANCED > Advanced Setup > LED Control Settings state
appears not to be saved (or, naturally, restored).

   In the process, I was advised that the D7000[v1] was "already EOL",
so firmware fixes were not expected.  I was offered a D7000v2 as a
replacement ("upgrade"), but the known problems with the D7000v2 (like
no NAT loopback) made that unattractive.  I was also told that NAT
loopback was not supposed to work on any D7000[vX] (or any Cxxxx or
Dxxxx), so I should not expect that not-a-problem to be fixed on the
(not-yet-EOL) D7000v2.  Of course, NAT loopback actually does work on
the D7000[v1].

   The support "Expert" did try, but with no actual engineering support
(or even valid information) to offer, only worse hardware with more
buggy firmware, the effort was doomed from the start.  It was
educational, if you like that sort of thing.

[antinode]

    Made it almost one month with V1.0.1.78_1.0.1.  Same symptoms.

[antinode]

    Made it almost one month with V1.0.1.78_1.0.1.  Same symptoms.