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RAX40 - New Firmware has ruined it

agenovese820
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RAX40 - New Firmware has ruined it

This router has worked great for the past few months since I got it.  2 days ago I updated the firmware and a bunch of wireless devices fell off the network (about 30 out of 40).  I've been rebooting, disconnecting power, restarting devices without any luck.  I went on the website and saw there was a new firmware version (V1.0.3.62_1.0.1) than the one I updated so I manually updated that.

 

It hasn't helped with the disconnected devices.  What's strange is on some devices they'll say connected with a strong connection to the wifi but with no internet access.  Not sure what else to do, how long is the warranty on these things?

Model: RAX40|Nighthawk AX4 4-Stream WiFi Router
Message 1 of 4
plemans
Guru

Re: RAX40 - New Firmware has ruined it

Warranty is a year but you do have some options before going that route. As well as you have 90 days of free support if you're still within that window.

With as new as the RAX devices are, the firmware is almost beta firmware. Here's what I've found to help the most with stability. Start by after a firmware update make sure to factory reset the device and basically reinstall it. At the current time, you can backup and restore the configuration data but unless you have a bunch of devices, I'd just start fresh for the best results. 

Your other option is to downgrade the firmware. You can get the old firmware under the downloads page under +view previous version.

If you're changing firmware, make sure to do it over a hardwired connection and to reset it afterwards.  

Another thing you can try doing is disable wireless AX. There's currently only 4 devices (2 phones and 2 wireless chipsets that I know of) that support AX. Unless you have those devices, disabling AX won't hurt your performance and many older devices won't have as many issues. 

Here's the support site. 

https://www.netgear.com/support/product/RAX40.aspx

 

Message 2 of 4
tssmodder
Initiate

Re: RAX40 - New Firmware has ruined it

Same thing happened to me when upgrading to V1.0.3.62_1.0.1. Several devices failed to connect. Power cycling didn't help. Had to downgrade my firmware and power cycle to get everything to reconnect.

 

At this point, just about every other firmware update has introduced new, breaking changes. I've never been so disappointed in a router. Netgear needs to improved their QA testing and standards, because this product is embarrassing will likely be my last Netgear router.

Model: RAX40|Nighthawk AX4 4-Stream WiFi Router
Message 3 of 4
DarkMikaru
Tutor

Re: RAX40 - New Firmware has ruined it

I've got the RAX35 and have had similar issues from day one. Network doesn't stay up for much longer than 24 hours some days. Exactly as the above user has described. Might have internet all day, wake up the next morning to limited or no connectivity. Enabling or Disabling AX hasn't done a thing. So we can rule that out. 

 

I might look into a 3rd party firmware as after factory resets, updating firmware, using a cooling fan (maybe it was overheating)... nothing works. It's annoying that this thing can't outperform the uptime of the POS router AT&T gave me to start with. 

Message 4 of 4
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