Netgear X6 R8000 radio failure

[Puffnstuff]

I just wanted to share my experience with the netgear nighthawk x6 r8000 router that I picked up back in March after my r7500 failed. That unit was under an extended warranty which took several weeks to complete so in order to maintain a home network I picked up the x6 r8000 from my local best buy. In the beginning everything seemed to be okay but now our cell phones were mysteriously consuming large blocks of data on our cell plans. Each time I checked the router/Wi-Fi network was up and our phones were attached to it so we wrongfully blamed our carrier and they even helped us out by crediting our accounts with free data to make up for the unexplained usage.

This morning I was curious so I used the Wi-Fi analyzer around the house to see if we were conflicting with any of the neighbors routers. Lo and behold while I was watching the 5ghz band the first radio (there are two 5ghz radios) signal weakened and then suddenly just went away. As I continued to watch it came back just the same way it disappeared. As I watched this cyclical behavior I realized what was going on with our cell phones. I also noticed that the router was pushing all wireless devices off the first 5ghz radio onto the second one and eventually began pushing them onto the 2.4hgz radio if not ditching them altogether. Unfortunately I was beyond the normal return period for my local best buy store so I couldn't get my money back on my cc, however after going into the store and speaking with customer service they refunded everything, including the geeksquad extended warranty, in the form of store credit which I gladly accepted since I shop there regularly anyway.

If you're contemplating buying an ac router please do yourself a favor and avoid this unit. A simple google search after I witnessed my radio going in and out revealed that many people are experiencing the very same issue. This is something that I didn't see prior to purchasing it otherwise I'd have avoided it like the plague. In the end even the 2.4ghz network was beginning to refuse to authenticate any device that attempted to connect to it.

 

[Fardringle]

I'm curious where you found these bad reviews for the router, because I honestly don't see more than the usual few "bad" reviews that are present for all consumer wireless devices. If they are out there, I'd like to see them since I actually have a Nighthawk x6 running as the router in a small business office of one of my clients, supporting around 60 total devices (usually around 50 wired and 10-15 wireless at any one time). It's been running for over a year under heavy load and has only been rebooted twice in that entire time, once for a power outage and once for a firmware update. Because of the success with that router in a heavy load environment, I have also installed several more in large homes and they easily cover the full home and even some of the grounds outside in every case but one that needed a repeater due to heavy stone and wood internal walls. None of them have ever had an issue of any kind with their routers.

That doesn't mean yours wasn't bad, but I just wanted to mention that at least in my case it has been a fantastic piece of equipment in an environment that really should have a commercial router but the owner doesn't want to pay for one..

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Thanks for sharing your experience Puffnstuff.

I'm curious where you found these bad reviews for the router, because I honestly don't see more than the usual few "bad" reviews that are present for all consumer wireless devices.

The top review on Amazon for the R7000 sounds similar to Puffnstuff's experience, and several replies confirm the issue. What's interesting is that more than one reply says DD-WRT fixes the issue.

I have been working with Netgear's engineers directly on the printer issue and 5Ghz connection issues everyone is talking about since last December (still no fix). It's a pain in the ass for certain, and this router is a performance monster when it does work. I have installed about 6 of these routers in offices/homes and from my experience the DD-WRT K3 custom firmware solves the router problems. I have communicated this with the engineering team and hope they are working on a standard firmware fix. It definitely has been a nuisance getting these rough gems working.

I have this router and experienced all the typical problems previously discussed. I flashed to the Kong DD-WRT firmware months ago and this router is absolutely worth the money! With the kong bios the R7000 is stable and resolved all the previous issues.

I wonder if/when/how Netgear is going to lock third-party firmware out like TP-Link did...

 

[razel]

The auto provisioning of devices to radios is beyond mayhem as smallnetbuilder has found out early. Luckily you can still turn that feature off and give each radio their own SSID and still enjoy a strong WiFi router.

By the way there is no one great router. I spend the past year trying different ones based on the distance/db signal test off smallnetbuilder. There is currently no ONE WiFi router with the strongest signal on both 2.4 and 5Ghz. It's either/or. The good news, the best ones aren't the most expensive. Here's a simplified chart I condesned if it helps you find a new one:

 2.4Ghz @63db 	2.4G @60	5G @42db	5G @39db	FREQENCY @ SIGNAL STRENGTH

 1.5		18		37		65		Asus RT-AC3200
 0		16		35		47		Netgear R8000 Nhawk X6
 0		14		32		43		Asus RT-AC68U FLAT
10		22		 0		62@36db		Asus RT-AC68U UPRIGHT
 0		22		 0		37		Asus RT-AC5300
 0		 7		 0		22@36db		OnHub Asus
 0		 2		34		53		TP-Link Archer C9
 7		24		 0		53		Netgear R7000
 7		13		 0		19		Linksys EA8500
 7		18		 0		17		Asus RT-AC87U

Also charts don't tell the whole story. I settled on both the ASUS RT-AC68U and RT-AC87U. Not much difference in my home, but it did improve signals outside... WELL outside my home. What surprised me is the Asus OnHub with very good 2.4 and decent 5 ghz was the best with signals inside the homes of 3 of the 4 houses I maintain WiFi for in my family. There are a lot of configuration limitations about the OnHub that prevent me from using it in my house, but for my family members, it's a no-brainer and I highly recommend it when it goes on sale @ the $160 range. I usually pick it up from others used off ebay/craigslist in the lower $100's.

You can also see that laying the AC68U down flat improves 5Ghz, but reduces 2.4Ghz. Therefore nearly all those routers will perform the same and simply moving it inches can make quite a difference. SmallNetBuilder tests includes rotating the router 360 degrees.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I found multiple reviews on amazon where the same issue existed and many people described the issue without identifying the 5ghz radio as the culprit. I'm very disappointed with the performance of that unit and the dismal netgear support response to it. I will probably buy an asus unit next time but I will certainly evaluate all models that are available at that time.

This flies in the face of my experience with my old trusty wndr4500 which was reliable for me. I am very disappointed with my experience and it will always be on my mind when I consider future routers or any other piece of networking equipment. Even the old R7500 has a better signal dispersion in the house than the x6 had and 5ghz is stronger everywhere even though it only has 4 antennas. Fortunately square trade replaced the failed unit with a new one which is working just fine and maintains its connection to our wireless devices.