Issues after installing the 2.3.2.32 firmware.

[Master Kief]

I’ve only had the XR500 router for about a month. Unfortunately, so far I’m not at all impressed with the main selling feature that is DumaOS and I’m frustruated to the point of potentially exchanging it for a different make and model. Luckilly I purchased the BestBuy’s extended warranty.

The router was running the previous 2.3.2.22 firmware mostly fine. However, I was unable to setup my USB printer for a network share and devices connected to the 2.4Ghz network were randomly getting disconnected completely off of the WiFi for a few seconds. As I was using the devices I would see the WiFi icon turn gray and dissapear, just to reappear back solid a second later.

I updated the fimware last night to the latest version 2.3.2.32 hoping that the printer and WiFi issue would have been resolved. This is where the issues really start.

Immediately after the upgrade installed I lost the internet access on all devices. I could still get into the XR500 admin page to monkey around with the settings but I could not get online with anything in the house. I couldn’t even get to the modem admin page or even ping its 192.168.100.1.

I power cycled both the modem and the router several times and everytime the DumaOS would tell me that I was disconnected from WAN. That’s when I decided to factory reset the XR500 router.

After the factory reset it took the router a bizzarely long time to auto configure the internet access before it redirected me back into the main GUI, but eventually I was back online. Strangely, in the internet configuration settings, if I changed the “use the PC MAC address” to “use XR500 default MAC address,” I would immediately lose internet access and no amount of power cycling would fix it until changing the setting back to the “use the computer’s MAC address.” I left all QOS settings stock.

My internet speed is usually slightly over 200/10. With the newest firmware update my download speed is now a consistent 60-90 download. The upload hasn’t changed; however. Direct connection to modem tests fine at 200 down and 10 up. Disabling all router’s QOS settings doesn’t help.

I still can’t connect my PCs to a laser USB printer even though I had no issues with my previous ASUS router. I still get random disconnects on WiFi.

I was reading on these forums that firmware updates get published every 3 months. Is there a chance that these issues might get resolved sooner since they so severely cripple the router’s functionality? Is there an easy way to downgrade the router’s firmware to the previous version? I didn’t purchase a $300 Gaming Router just to get my download speed get cut more than half.

Thanks.

[Guest Killhippie]

8 hours ago, OlegP said:

I’ve only had the XR500 router for about a month. Unfortunately, so far I’m not at all impressed with the main selling feature that is DumaOS and I’m frustruated to the point of potentially exchanging it for a different make and model. Luckilly I purchased the BestBuy’s extended warranty.

The router was running the previous 2.3.2.22 firmware mostly fine. However, I was unable to setup my USB printer for a network share and devices connected to the 2.4Ghz network were randomly getting disconnected completely off of the WiFi for a few seconds. As I was using the devices I would see the WiFi icon turn gray and dissapear, just to reappear back solid a second later.

I updated the fimware last night to the latest version 2.3.2.32 hoping that the printer and WiFi issue would have been resolved. This is where the issues really start.

Immediately after the upgrade installed I lost the internet access on all devices. I could still get into the XR500 admin page to monkey around with the settings but I could not get online with anything in the house. I couldn’t even get to the modem admin page or even ping its 192.168.100.1.

I power cycled both the modem and the router several times and everytime the DumaOS would tell me that I was disconnected from WAN. That’s when I decided to factory reset the XR500 router.

After the factory reset it took the router a bizzarely long time to auto configure the internet access before it redirected me back into the main GUI, but eventually I was back online. Strangely, in the internet configuration settings, if I changed the “use the PC MAC address” to “use XR500 default MAC address,” I would immediately lose internet access and no amount of power cycling would fix it until changing the setting back to the “use the computer’s MAC address.” I left all QOS settings stock.

My internet speed is usually slightly over 200/10. With the newest firmware update my download speed is now a consistent 60-90 download. The upload hasn’t changed; however. Direct connection to modem tests fine at 200 down and 10 up. Disabling all router’s QOS settings doesn’t help.

I still can’t connect my PCs to a laser USB printer even though I had no issues with my previous ASUS router. I still get random disconnects on WiFi.

I was reading on these forums that firmware updates get published every 3 months. Is there a chance that these issues might get resolved sooner since they so severely cripple the router’s functionality? Is there an easy way to downgrade the router’s firmware to the previous version? I didn’t purchase a $300 Gaming Router just to get my download speed get cut more than half.

Thanks.

Netgear normally do  (it can vary) quarterly update cycles unless having security issues or show stopping bugs. Also new routers will get more updates to begin with generally so they are stable, If an issue like this happens they will I am sure look into it as fast as they can, but you are better putting this on the Netgear Nighthawk forums forums and if you are within your 90 tech support contact them and file a report so they can reproduce this problem and help work on a fix. As to downgrading, go to the Netgear XR500 firmware page choose the previous firmware 2.3.2.22 and install that. You may or may not have to reset. Also be aware there are security fixes in the current firmware, and will be in future updates so take that into consideration.

 I dont get the speeds you get my line only supports FTTC 57Mbps down and 17Mbps up  and on my XR500 thats what I get with this update, no issues with speed at all down or up. I also after updating did a factory reset entered my settings by hand, not a backup and had no issues with connection either and have not since the update, so contacting Netgear would be a good move. I hope you get this issue sorted as fast as possible.

[Netduma Admin]

Hi Oleg - I responded to your speed question in your other thread, so I'm not too sure which issues are still outstanding for you. Could you bullet point them please and we will help. Most, if not all, are on NETGEAR / hardware side of things (not DumaOS) so we will do our best to assist.

Thanks

 

[Master Kief]

5 hours ago, Netduma Admin said:

Hi Oleg - I responded to your speed question in your other thread, so I'm not too sure which issues are still outstanding for you. Could you bullet point them please and we will help. Most, if not all, are on NETGEAR / hardware side of things (not DumaOS) so we will do our best to assist.

Thanks

 

Thanks fo the reply.

1. Internet download speed is cut nearly in half. Could have something to do with the fact that the router won’t work with its own MAC address. I don’t know.

2. WiFi devices connected to the 2.4ghz band get randomly disconnected for a few seconds. Very annoying when doing a Skype call.

3. Cannot add a printer connected via the USB.

[Master Kief]

Same, I get disconnects on WiFi but haven’t noticed any on wired.

[Guest Killhippie]

Is it possible to have OlegP posts in one thread? Its getting spread all over the forum, making replies harder as you have to keep skipping over two other posts. All I can say is I don't have your issues but as to why I do not know, but I reloaded my firmware at the beginning due to the speed test being a bit odd and factory reset the unit. My WiFi and wired speeds are what I pay for (I have my setting on detect high priority traffic only) but I am on a FTTC connection with 57Mbps down and 17Mbps up. Have you tried manually adding your upload and download speeds, you must be able to look at a history of your speeds on DSL and other sites and find the original good results I hope before your issues started, then just type then them in. Also as mentioned in another thread have you factory reset your router using the recessed button on the rear, held it for about 20 seconds and let the router reset itself? If needed try downloading a copy of the firmware again. If none of your these posts help this may need to go talk to Netgear I would imagine,  if Netduma cannot help. Have you contacted support? (If you are within your 90 days)

[Netduma Admin]

6 hours ago, Killhippie said:

Is it possible to have OlegP posts in one thread? Its getting spread all over the forum, making replies harder as you have to keep skipping over two other posts. All I can say is I don't have your issues but as to why I do not know, but I reloaded my firmware at the beginning due to the speed test being a bit odd and factory reset the unit. My WiFi and wired speeds are what I pay for (I have my setting on detect high priority traffic only) but I am on a FTTC connection with 57Mbps down and 17Mbps up. Have you tried manually adding your upload and download speeds, you must be able to look at a history of your speeds on DSL and other sites and find the original good results I hope before your issues started, then just type then them in. Also as mentioned in another thread have you factory reset your router using the recessed button on the rear, held it for about 20 seconds and let the router reset itself? If needed try downloading a copy of the firmware again. If none of your these posts help this may need to go talk to Netgear I would imagine,  if Netduma cannot help. Have you contacted support? (If you are within your 90 days)

I've moved this post and Oleg's previous one into this thread, so it can be managed in one place.

@OlegP - please could you read KillHippie's great advice above. The first step is to factory reset your router after the upgrade to see if that fixes your issues. 

Then could you bullet point the issues that are still present and we can take it from there. Thanks.

[Master Kief]

4 hours ago, Netduma Admin said:

I've moved this post and Oleg's previous one into this thread, so it can be managed in one place.

@OlegP - please could you read KillHippie's great advice above. The first step is to factory reset your router after the upgrade to see if that fixes your issues. 

Then could you bullet point the issues that are still present and we can take it from there. Thanks.

I’ve already factory reset once since the update totally killed the internet connection. I did the reset within the GUI. Is it a different reset with the physical button? I’ve manually punched in 200/10 under bufferbloat settings, but I still get less than 200.

[Master Kief]

Does Netgear provide some sort of a recovery tool in case a router is bricked during a botched firmware upgrade? Some routers have either a recovery mode or a software utility to do this.

 

The reason I ask is because I want to try directly flashing the image to the router as if it originally shipped with it, directly bypassing the GUI upgrade process. Maybe this will do the trick.

 

[Netduma Admin]

Hi Oleg - not that I’m aware of, no. I don’t think that will resolve the issue either. Have you downgraded to an older version yet and retested speeds? And what speeds are you getting when connected directly to your modem?

Apologies if you have already answered this - it’s been hard to track all the responses across two forums and four threads!

[Master Kief]

Hey, thanks for your reply.

No, I haven't gotten a chance to downgrade the router's firmware yet.

The issue literally started the night I upgraded the firmware.

Direct connection to modem yields the proper speeds.

Someone else on the Netgear's forums mentioned that he's experiencing an exact issue.

Both of us can't toggle the radio button to use the router's default MAC address without permanently loosing internet access. Perhaps this has something to do with the speed issue.

[Master Kief]

On 9/15/2018 at 2:06 AM, Killhippie said:

Netgear normally do  (it can vary) quarterly update cycles unless having security issues or show stopping bugs. Also new routers will get more updates to begin with generally so they are stable, If an issue like this happens they will I am sure look into it as fast as they can, but you are better putting this on the Netgear Nighthawk forums forums and if you are within your 90 tech support contact them and file a report so they can reproduce this problem and help work on a fix. As to downgrading, go to the Netgear XR500 firmware page choose the previous firmware 2.3.2.22 and install that. You may or may not have to reset. Also be aware there are security fixes in the current firmware, and will be in future updates so take that into consideration.

 I dont get the speeds you get my line only supports FTTC 57Mbps down and 17Mbps up  and on my XR500 thats what I get with this update, no issues with speed at all down or up. I also after updating did a factory reset entered my settings by hand, not a backup and had no issues with connection either and have not since the update, so contacting Netgear would be a good move. I hope you get this issue sorted as fast as possible.

I've posted about my issues on their forums but how in the blazes do I get a hold of some one to submit a ticket? I've registered on the site and registered my purchased router but cannot find anywhere how to contact them.

[Guest Killhippie]

6 hours ago, OlegP said:

I've posted about my issues on their forums but how in the blazes do I get a hold of some one to submit a ticket? I've registered on the site and registered my purchased router but cannot find anywhere how to contact them.

Though your login where you registered your router.

[Guest Killhippie]

13 hours ago, OlegP said:

Does Netgear provide some sort of a recovery tool in case a router is bricked during a botched firmware upgrade? Some routers have either a recovery mode or a software utility to do this.

 

The reason I ask is because I want to try directly flashing the image to the router as if it originally shipped with it, directly bypassing the GUI upgrade process. Maybe this will do the trick.

 

https://kb.netgear.com/19841/Reinstall-the-firmware-on-a-router-without-the-setup-CD-recovery-tool

[Netduma Admin]

8 hours ago, OlegP said:

I've posted about my issues on their forums but how in the blazes do I get a hold of some one to submit a ticket? I've registered on the site and registered my purchased router but cannot find anywhere how to contact them.

You can also go through here: https://www.netgear.com/support/contact.aspx

Register your product and you can then raise a ticket.

Let us know what happens if you downgrade. If it's resolved, then NETGEAR will need to get a debug firmware out to you to find the problem.

[Master Kief]

After about 30 minutes of troubleshooting, I can now confirm, without a doubt, that the latest (2.3.2.32) firmware is the reason my download speed has been cut in half. Here's what I did:

 

1) I manually downloaded the latest update .img file and then re-upgraded the router.

 

2) I've then reset the router to factory thru the GUI option and once that was done and I was on the first setup wizard screen, I then again reset the router with the physical reset button on the back of the device.

 

3) While going thru the first setup wizard the router does an automatic speed test. Shockingly, it recommended me to set the proper speeds that I'm supposed to get 213/12. I selected "use these speeds."

 

4) I've noticed that in the Settings>Setup>Internet Setup, the Router Mac Address was once again auto selected to "Use Computer MAC Address," If that option is toggled to "Use Default Address" then I would immediately lose internet access and no amount of reboots would fix that until you set the setting back to "Use Computer MAC Address."

 

5) With both the QOS settings enabled and globally disabled I still get internet speed of about 100 down and 10 up. I'm using wired connections with every single device in the house disconnected from the router.

 

6) Direct connection to modem, bypassing the router, gives me the proper 200+/10+ speeds.

 

I didn't have this problem on the previous version of firmware.

[e38BimmerFN]

I would revert back to prior working FW and let us know if it resolve this for you...

[Master Kief]

30 minutes ago, e38BimmerFN said:

I would revert back to prior working FW and let us know if it resolve this for you...

Works just fine on the old version. I forgot to check the MAC address setting though before upgrading it.

[e38BimmerFN]

Might keep the old version until next FW update comes out...

[Master Kief]

26 minutes ago, e38BimmerFN said:

Might keep the old version until next FW update comes out...

I contacted Netgear support just like Netduma told me. Instead of just simply creating a bugtracker ticket for me, they want to troubleshoot this issue with me even more. I’ve litteraly done all of the hard work already and you can see on the forums that other XR500 owners are having the exact same problem just like me.

I’m so frustruated that I’m quickly giving up on the whole notion of keeping this thing. It hasn’t even been a whole month since I bought the device where the experience feels like an unpolished beta test that has a year to go before being stable enough for everyday use.

[e38BimmerFN]

Understandable. It's not always necessary to update fw as well. If the last version works, then keep that loaded. I know when I demo'd the 500 last year, I thought the initial version if FW was the best one. Something you can try as well. I now have a XR450 so even though a bit different, I'm not seeing any issues. However they haven't released the v.32 version for the 450 yet. I presume the may not since it's give the 500 issues.

[Netduma Admin]

I would downgrade back to the previous version. This new version was a maintenance fix, so feature wise you are the same.

Do you have a ticket number? We'll escalate it with NETGEAR. Thanks.

[Master Kief]

7 minutes ago, Netduma Admin said:

I would downgrade back to the previous version. This new version was a maintenance fix, so feature wise you are the same.

Do you have a ticket number? We'll escalate it with NETGEAR. Thanks.

Yeah, case #40493887. Thanks for your help.

[Master Kief]

Yeah I'm just using the downgraded .22 FW at the moment I guess. The speeds are what I'm supposed to get from the ISP and I can now select "Use Default MAC Address" without getting totally disconnected from the WAN and losing the internet access completely.

 

There's still a glitch with the .22 FW that I haven't noticed as much with the newer .32, and that is my WiFi devices get disconnected for a second or two on the 2.4Ghz network. Super annoying when you're on the Skype call.

 

I guess there real question is how long will it take for Netgear to publish a fixed firmware?

[Guest Killhippie]

12 hours ago, OlegP said:

Yeah I'm just using the downgraded .22 FW at the moment I guess. The speeds are what I'm supposed to get from the ISP and I can now select "Use Default MAC Address" without getting totally disconnected from the WAN and losing the internet access completely.

 

There's still a glitch with the .22 FW that I haven't noticed as much with the newer .32, and that is my WiFi devices get disconnected for a second or two on the 2.4Ghz network. Super annoying when you're on the Skype call.

 

I guess there real question is how long will it take for Netgear to publish a fixed firmware?

That depends on people contacting netgear supplying them with stats and running debug firmware possibly. Right now more people are not having issues than are. You need to pursue this with Netgear.  I myself have no issues at all with. 32 So it could take a while to sort this out. I wonder if its the modem type and the routers new software is having issues communicating  with it over PPPoE possibly, this could be why some may see it and some don't. In the end that's a guess though, so these are good reasons to stick with Netgear support who will figure this out.