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Hi all, so I recently purchased a Nighthawk AX2400 RAX30 router to replace my Vodafone Pro 2 'super hub' - because some of my IOT devices that operate on 2.4Ghz weren't able to connect, even when that router was set to 'compatibility mode' (separating out the 2.4/5/6 bands). I also wanted to be able to create some VLANs to segregate the network, for additional security.
Originally I planned to use the RAX30 as the main router on my FTTP connection, so I could ditch the Vodafone one altogether. However, I just couldn't get the RAX30 to register the internet connection - even when plugged directly into the openreach terminal, and having entered the PPPoE login details, provided to me by Vodafone. (For some reason, on the router management page the PPPoE email address kept getting cut short, every time I clicked 'apply' settings).
So after a lot of frustration, I decided to just set the RAX30 to AP mode, keeping the original Vodafone router in place - with WiFi disabled. I did the following:
- Disabled DHCP on the RAX30 - Assigned a static IP to the RAX30 of 192.168.1.2 - Excluded x.x.1.2 to x.x.1.10 from the DHCP scope on Vodafone router - connected with a Cat6 cable - set the same SSID and password to RAX30, so devices would automatically connect
At first everything worked well, and I was getting 500+ Mbps on 5Ghz and around 150Mbps on 2.4Ghz (I believe due to '20/40 Mhz Coexistence' being enabled, which I left in place). All my IoT and other devices connected effortlessly, and all seemed good in the world...
However - within a day or so, the WiFi signal had slowed right down on the RAX30 (not the Vodafone router). It took a couple of restarts to see the original speeds return. The devices I had connected via Ethernet seemed absolutely fine.
Now just another day later, it's difficult to even connect to the 2.4Ghz band, and when I can, speed tests show between 9 - 40mbps on 2.4Ghz. Again, in the 5Ghz band the connection keeps dropping completely, although when I can connect, it's showing full speeds.
I've tried some more restarts of the router, disabling 20/40 Mhz Coexistence, unticking the 'Enable AX - this mode allows features such as OFDMA'... All to no avail.
Any help appreciated, before I throw the damn thing in the trash!!
@Cheiro1 wrote: Hi all, so I recently purchased a Nighthawk AX2400 RAX30 router to replace my Vodafone Pro 2 'super hub' - because some of my IOT devices that operate on 2.4Ghz weren't able to connect, even when that router was set to 'compatibility mode' (separating out the 2.4/5/6 bands). I also wanted to be able to create some VLANs to segregate the network, for additional security.
Originally I planned to use the RAX30 as the main router on my FTTP connection, so I could ditch the Vodafone one altogether. However, I just couldn't get the RAX30 to register the internet connection - even when plugged directly into the openreach terminal, and having entered the PPPoE login details, provided to me by Vodafone. (For some reason, on the router management page the PPPoE email address kept getting cut short, every time I clicked 'apply' settings).
So after a lot of frustration, I decided to just set the RAX30 to AP mode, keeping the original Vodafone router in place - with WiFi disabled. I did the following:
- Disabled DHCP on the RAX30 - Assigned a static IP to the RAX30 of 192.168.1.2 - Excluded x.x.1.2 to x.x.1.10 from the DHCP scope on Vodafone router - connected with a Cat6 cable - set the same SSID and password to RAX30, so devices would automatically connect
At first everything worked well, and I was getting 500+ Mbps on 5Ghz and around 150Mbps on 2.4Ghz (I believe due to '20/40 Mhz Coexistence' being enabled, which I left in place). All my IoT and other devices connected effortlessly, and all seemed good in the world...
However - within a day or so, the WiFi signal had slowed right down on the RAX30 (not the Vodafone router). It took a couple of restarts to see the original speeds return. The devices I had connected via Ethernet seemed absolutely fine.
Now just another day later, it's difficult to even connect to the 2.4Ghz band, and when I can, speed tests show between 9 - 40mbps on 2.4Ghz. Again, in the 5Ghz band the connection keeps dropping completely, although when I can connect, it's showing full speeds.
I've tried some more restarts of the router, disabling 20/40 Mhz Coexistence, unticking the 'Enable AX - this mode allows features such as OFDMA'... All to no avail.
Any help appreciated, before I throw the damn thing in the trash!!
Based on the steps you listed above (highlighted in bold), you have not successfully configured your RAX30 as an access point.
Go to the the downloads section above, feed in your model number (RAX30) and download the user manual. In the RAX30 user manual, start on page 70 for step by step instructions for configuring your device as a Wi-Fi access point.
The results you are experiencing are as expected with two routers cascaded in a double NAT configuration.
@Cheiro1 wrote: Hi all, so I recently purchased a Nighthawk AX2400 RAX30 router to replace my Vodafone Pro 2 'super hub' - because some of my IOT devices that operate on 2.4Ghz weren't able to connect, even when that router was set to 'compatibility mode' (separating out the 2.4/5/6 bands). I also wanted to be able to create some VLANs to segregate the network, for additional security.
Originally I planned to use the RAX30 as the main router on my FTTP connection, so I could ditch the Vodafone one altogether. However, I just couldn't get the RAX30 to register the internet connection - even when plugged directly into the openreach terminal, and having entered the PPPoE login details, provided to me by Vodafone. (For some reason, on the router management page the PPPoE email address kept getting cut short, every time I clicked 'apply' settings).
So after a lot of frustration, I decided to just set the RAX30 to AP mode, keeping the original Vodafone router in place - with WiFi disabled. I did the following:
- Disabled DHCP on the RAX30 - Assigned a static IP to the RAX30 of 192.168.1.2 - Excluded x.x.1.2 to x.x.1.10 from the DHCP scope on Vodafone router - connected with a Cat6 cable - set the same SSID and password to RAX30, so devices would automatically connect
At first everything worked well, and I was getting 500+ Mbps on 5Ghz and around 150Mbps on 2.4Ghz (I believe due to '20/40 Mhz Coexistence' being enabled, which I left in place). All my IoT and other devices connected effortlessly, and all seemed good in the world...
However - within a day or so, the WiFi signal had slowed right down on the RAX30 (not the Vodafone router). It took a couple of restarts to see the original speeds return. The devices I had connected via Ethernet seemed absolutely fine.
Now just another day later, it's difficult to even connect to the 2.4Ghz band, and when I can, speed tests show between 9 - 40mbps on 2.4Ghz. Again, in the 5Ghz band the connection keeps dropping completely, although when I can connect, it's showing full speeds.
I've tried some more restarts of the router, disabling 20/40 Mhz Coexistence, unticking the 'Enable AX - this mode allows features such as OFDMA'... All to no avail.
Any help appreciated, before I throw the damn thing in the trash!!
Based on the steps you listed above (highlighted in bold), you have not successfully configured your RAX30 as an access point.
Go to the the downloads section above, feed in your model number (RAX30) and download the user manual. In the RAX30 user manual, start on page 70 for step by step instructions for configuring your device as a Wi-Fi access point.
The results you are experiencing are as expected with two routers cascaded in a double NAT configuration.
Yes you're correct - there's an ONT which I tried plugging directly into when attempting router mode on the RAX30.
The Vodafone router does not allow for modem / bridged mode, sadly.
For some unknown reason, the RAX30 user interface wouldn't accept the Vodafone PPPoE login details - kept cutting the email address short and denying internet access.
Re the suggestions for AP mode - indeed, I've tried disabling AX mode, changing channels etc., and configuring the WiFi settings as per the manual. RAX30 is showing that it's got the full 500Mbps download speed and 70Mbps upload, and I'm hitting these numbers on the 5Ghz band. I don't believe it's interference as initially I was getting 150Mbps on the 2.4Ghz band, and on the Vodafone router close to 300Mbps.
Ideally I'd like to use the RAX30 as main router, but can't seem to fix the PPPoE login issue!
Thanks mate, appreciate all this. I have tried Vodafone directly, and they're not much help. They probably want to minimise the amount of people switching to their own router...
The setup wizard... Is that the same as the process that the Nighthawk app takes you through? If so, then yes, I used that. If not, then I probably should, as I'd much prefer to have full control and the benefits of the RAX30 over my network!
Will check out those links, thanks. I see that some others have had issues with the 2.4Ghz download speeds too... Time will tell!
A couple of general questions. What device, brand name and model number, are you using to test your 2.4 GHz throughput capacity?
What application are your using to test your throughput capacity? Recommend the native operating system application from Ookla. Available in your play store.
Since you have been making a lot of configuration changes, have you done a full power down of your network with a sequential startup to allow the connections to adjust?
Power down and pull the power cord on your ONT and all downstream devices. Wait a couple of minutes and power up your devices one at a time in sequential order from the outside in. Give each device ample time to fully boot and stabilize before powering up the next device in sequence.
Cheers for this... I've followed your suggestion and powered down the network from outside in - I was hopeful, but no difference I'm afraid.
I've tried multiple devices to measure throughput: Laptops - Lenovo ADA-15 and HP Elite book Phones - Oppo Find X5 Pro and Samsung S22 Tablet - Lenovo M8 All using the Ookla Speed Test app recommended by Netgear.
Would it be worth my trying another hard reset of the router?
@Cheiro1 wrote: Cheers for this... I've followed your suggestion and powered down the network from outside in - I was hopeful, but no difference I'm afraid.
I've tried multiple devices to measure throughput: Laptops - Lenovo ADA-15 and HP Elite book Phones - Oppo Find X5 Pro and Samsung S22 Tablet - Lenovo M8 All using the Ookla Speed Test app recommended by Netgear.
Would it be worth my trying another hard reset of the router?
Some configuration settings to troubleshoot the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band throughput.
Manually set the channel to 1, 6, or 11.
Make sure your SSID is different from your 5 GHz band (disable smart connect).
Thanks for these suggestions mate... I've plugged directly into the router to action them... However, nothing seems to have resolved the issue. Frustrating. I've read some people say that their 2.4Ghz speed issues stem from firmware updates, and I note that as soon as I connected the RAX30 last week (in router mode) it immediately updated it's firmware. Perhaps I'll try manually installing the previous release to see if that works?
@Cheiro1 wrote: Thanks for these suggestions mate... I've plugged directly into the router to action them... However, nothing seems to have resolved the issue. Frustrating. I've read some people say that their 2.4Ghz speed issues stem from firmware updates, and I note that as soon as I connected the RAX30 last week (in router mode) it immediately updated it's firmware. Perhaps I'll try manually installing the previous release to see if that works?
I always find it good practice to change one setting at a time and restart the router (pull the power cord), before launching into testing. If you add or remove a configuration check mark, hit save and instantly expect changes to take effect you will be disappointed. You also may have to restart whatever device you are using to test with.
For some unknown reason, the RAX30 user interface wouldn't accept the Vodafone PPPoE login details - kept cutting the email address short and denying internet access.
Just had a mad thought on this bit.
Expereinced users always bang on about setting up their devices using browser graphical user interface browser graphical user interface (GUI) rather than the android/iOS mobile app that Netgear tries to force on us.
But if the GUI fails, maybe the mobile app would work.
Hi, so I managed to go through the process you suggested, changing one setting at a time and rebooting to see if changes take effect... The only thing that has seemingly made a difference is putting 2.4Ghz back onto 'Auto' channel selection. I'm now getting 150mbps consistently on that channel with acceptable upload speeds. That said, it's still half of what I was getting using the Vodafone router (300mbps at least) - and pretty poor considering I'm on a 500mbps plan? I guess I'll keep playing around with things and see if I can improve the situation further - unless you have any further suggestions mate?
@Cheiro1 wrote: That said, it's still half of what I was getting using the Vodafone router (300mbps at least) - and pretty poor considering I'm on a 500mbps plan?
On 2.4 GHz 300 Mbps appears to break the laws of physics, or the 802.11n standard.
According to the highly respected guru on things wifi, @duckware, 300 Mbps is faster than the standard can accommodate:
Apologies Michael, I was confused by Vodafone's 'compatibility mode': I assumed it was separating out the 2.4Ghz from 5Ghz bands... But I just retested it and was mistaken. Apparently the 'compatibility ' element is the router separating out the different WiFi standards so older devices have a better chance of connecting. Standing next to the RAX30 now (on AP mode) I am managing 200mbps on 2.4Ghz - which I'm happy with now (seeing that this is actually very fast for 2.4Ghz in a cluttered home environment!). Next I will try with moving the RAX30 back into full router mode...
