New XR500 hotfix firmware for drop outs

[xlr8r]

still getting random internet disconnects.

did a full factory reset last night and setup from scratch.... internet disconnected 2.5 hours later....why ?

still no solutions.....

[Netduma Alex]

This is an issue which we're working through with Netgear to get to the bottom of. Thanks for your patience!

[xlr8r]

14 hours ago, Netduma Alex said:

This is an issue which we're working through with Netgear to get to the bottom of. Thanks for your patience!

thanks

ill keep updating my original post with each disconnect. I've ruled out it being anything to do with the modem as i replaced it, and same things happens.

 

[LastReaction]

I had the same issue as you did @xlr8r. I can tell you right now that it comes down to two issues:

1) The router is having issues with DHCP when it comes to assigning local IPs to devices in your network, thus causing it to disconnect everything.

2) The router is having issues with DHCP when it comes to leasing a new IP when your ISP decides to change the IP address to your network from the modem. A lot of ISPs work on dynamic IP addresses, which means that every so often, your IP lease will end and your IP address will either be renewed, or get changed entirely from their end to your modem.

Once I said, "Screw it!" and got an EdgeRouter from Ubiquiti, I used the Nighthawk as a simple access point, and the internet has been working perfectly fine. This leads me to believe that one of the two things I listed above are the issue with the Netgear Nighthawk router disconnecting all the time. I believe its most likely my second point, simply because when it does disconnect, I reboot the router and then it has problems getting an IP from the modem period. It tells me that the cable is disconnected and to check the modem to see if its working... I have to reboot the router a few times, plug the WAN cable out and back in for the router to get an IP from the modem again.

[xlr8r]

On 12/6/2019 at 8:14 AM, xlr8r said:

thanks

ill keep updating my original post with each disconnect. I've ruled out it being anything to do with the modem as i replaced it, and same things happens.

 

 

[xlr8r]

On 12/7/2019 at 7:10 PM, LastReaction said:

I had the same issue as you did @xlr8r. I can tell you right now that it comes down to two issues:

1) The router is having issues with DHCP when it comes to assigning local IPs to devices in your network, thus causing it to disconnect everything.

2) The router is having issues with DHCP when it comes to leasing a new IP when your ISP decides to change the IP address to your network from the modem. A lot of ISPs work on dynamic IP addresses, which means that every so often, your IP lease will end and your IP address will either be renewed, or get changed entirely from their end to your modem.

Once I said, "Screw it!" and got an EdgeRouter from Ubiquiti, I used the Nighthawk as a simple access point, and the internet has been working perfectly fine. This leads me to believe that one of the two things I listed above are the issue with the Netgear Nighthawk router disconnecting all the time. I believe its most likely my second point, simply because when it does disconnect, I reboot the router and then it has problems getting an IP from the modem period. It tells me that the cable is disconnected and to check the modem to see if its working... I have to reboot the router a few times, plug the WAN cable out and back in for the router to get an IP from the modem again.

yes you could be onto something there alright.

I managed to get my daily dropouts down to once or twice a week now by completely disabling QoS...

initially i just disabled Smart Connect in the wireless settings which helped, but with disabling QoS I only get maybe 1 internet drop a week now....

as you can see below, now rocking it for 4 days 15 hours and 46 glorious minutes .... 

 

[xlr8r]

have just noticed another funny quirk ...

if i goto the router settings and do a "reboot"... approx between 2 - 4 hours later, the internet will disconnect then reconnect 5 mins later, and then the router will stay connected for several days ....

(this is still with Smart Connect and QoS options disabled. With Smart Connect and QoS enabled, it disconnects at least once or twice daily) 

just thought id mention it as i've done this 3 times in a row now and it happened on each occasion....weird but true...

   

[xlr8r]

Right... i've thrown the towel in and RMA'd this paperweight router.

nice of Netgear to charge me £20 for the honor of sending mine back....!

will sell the new one they send on eBay and put "the pennies" I make off it,  towards a "decent" router....

[crawlgsx]

1 hour ago, xlr8r said:

Right... i've thrown the towel in and RMA's this paperweight router.

nice of Netgear to charge me £20 for the honor of sending mine back....!

will sell the new one and put teh pennies towards a decent router....

Probably the smartest choice. We'll be on entirely new standards (and many revisions later) before they patch bugs with this router.

[xlr8r]

1 hour ago, crawlgsx said:

Probably the smartest choice. We'll be on entirely new standards (and many revisions later) before they patch bugs with this router.

since I was acting here on behalf of the person I sold this router to initially, i feel obligated to offer them a more reliable substitute ...

(yes, i dumped this router long ago for the ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 but its overkill for what my mate needs)

do you have any suggestions/recommendations for a router (make/model) that has similar "gaming attributes" of the XR500 , abilities that actually work that is.... and around the same price ?

thanks  

 

[Netduma Fraser]

Thanks for the extra information and sorry to hear that you've decided to go elsewhere. I do hope you continue to follow what we're doing and potentially consider another DumaOS powered router again in the future.

[xlr8r]

On 12/11/2019 at 6:25 PM, Netduma Fraser said:

Thanks for the extra information and sorry to hear that you've decided to go elsewhere. I do hope you continue to follow what we're doing and potentially consider another DumaOS powered router again in the future.

thanks Fraser, maybe one day when Netgear actually produce a better version (that works) it might be an option somewhere down the road.

thanks to all the DumaOS guys who have tried to help with all the issues , and have so way better than Netgear themselves have done. 

I might give the replacement XR500 a weeks trial before sticking it on eBay.... so you never know lol!

it would be interesting that, after i test the "replacement" it then exhibits the same issues.... that would prove it all to be an OS issue....

 

thanks again 

[zmon]

On 12/5/2019 at 11:39 AM, Netduma Alex said:

This is an issue which we're working through with Netgear to get to the bottom of. Thanks for your patience!

That's good to hear at least. I started random disconnects that last about a second on ethernet only within the last week for some reason. I'm already on the latest firmware, but I re-updated it anyways with no help. Not sure why it only started within the last week, but it's frustrating wondering why a webpage won't load for a second, or a random freeze in a game. Again, no dropouts with wifi, only ethernet, so it'd be great to figure out why it started doing this all of a sudden. AFAIK, I haven't seen any Win10 updates that may have done something installed within the last week. I installed the latest ethernet drivers from Intel for my motherboard today and that didn't mitigate it either.

Looked through my logs and didn't really see anything besides the occasional DOS/ACK scan and "[DumaOS] Error parsing line in ARP table: '"

[GazCBG]

I feel let down by Netgear with the updates of the DumaOS.
As I presume it is Netgear that decides if to add the updates from DumaOS in to the updaes.
This is the last Netgear router I ever buy and am now on the look out for a new router.
I think if NetDuma had more say over the Netgear routers XR500 and other models, that uses the DumaOS it would be better.

[Netduma Fraser]

On 12/13/2019 at 5:21 AM, zmon said:

That's good to hear at least. I started random disconnects that last about a second on ethernet only within the last week for some reason. I'm already on the latest firmware, but I re-updated it anyways with no help. Not sure why it only started within the last week, but it's frustrating wondering why a webpage won't load for a second, or a random freeze in a game. Again, no dropouts with wifi, only ethernet, so it'd be great to figure out why it started doing this all of a sudden. AFAIK, I haven't seen any Win10 updates that may have done something installed within the last week. I installed the latest ethernet drivers from Intel for my motherboard today and that didn't mitigate it either.

Looked through my logs and didn't really see anything besides the occasional DOS/ACK scan and "[DumaOS] Error parsing line in ARP table: '"

The fact is only lasts a second and doesn't occur on WiFi indicates it may not be an issue with QoS or anything like that. Do you have a spare ethernet cable you could try with? Also try a different port on the router as they could both cause something like this.

2 hours ago, GazCBG said:

I feel let down by Netgear with the updates of the DumaOS.
As I presume it is Netgear that decides if to add the updates from DumaOS in to the updaes.
This is the last Netgear router I ever buy and am now on the look out for a new router.
I think if NetDuma had more say over the Netgear routers XR500 and other models, that uses the DumaOS it would be better.

Totally understand that and I'm sorry you feel that way. All we can do is try to improve on this in the future and our hope with DumaOS 3.0 is that we can sort a lot of the bugs that occur now out in one big swing will simultaneously bringing out exciting new features.

[xlr8r]

On 12/12/2019 at 8:30 AM, xlr8r said:

thanks Fraser, maybe one day when Netgear actually produce a better version (that works) it might be an option somewhere down the road.

thanks to all the DumaOS guys who have tried to help with all the issues , and have so way better than Netgear themselves have done. 

I might give the replacement XR500 a weeks trial before sticking it on eBay.... so you never know lol!

it would be interesting that, after i test the "replacement" it then exhibits the same issues.... that would prove it all to be an OS issue....

 

thanks again 

[UPDATE]

New XR500 router arrived Friday (brand new replacement sent by Netgear).

Setup from scratch and has been running sweet for 2 days....until this happened....!!

[Internet connected] IP address: 81.***.**.***, Sunday, December 15, 2019 16:42:28

[Internet disconnected] Sunday, December 15, 2019 16:39:07

So.... clearly the conclusion is, this is NOT a Hardware or Netgear issue, this is CLEARLY a DumaOS software issue!!!

result : Brand New XR500 now listed on eBay....

 

[Netduma Fraser]

That's unfortunate, sorry to hear that. It is something for Netgear to fix on their side and they are working on that.

[xlr8r]

23 minutes ago, Netduma Fraser said:

That's unfortunate, sorry to hear that. It is something for Netgear to fix on their side and they are working on that.

Fraser > good luck 🤪

[crawlgsx]

20 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

That's unfortunate, sorry to hear that. It is something for Netgear to fix on their side and they are working on that.

Are they really? I feel like we have heard that story for a LOOONG time now. I feel pretty convinced Netgear has moved on from this router and all we are getting at this point is smoke and mirrors. Netduma may be still invested, but what good is a new OS if we can't fix actual problems?

[Netduma Alex]

Well let's hope we can kill two birds with one stone. Netgear certainly hasn't moved on from this router.

[crawlgsx]

2 hours ago, Netduma Alex said:

Well let's hope we can kill two birds with one stone. Netgear certainly hasn't moved on from this router.

Facts and actions prove otherwise. Stating a router is supported doesn't make it so.

The internet disconnect issue was last "hotfixed" in April. The last firmware released was in August (with no fix for internet disconnects). Here we sit another 4 months later being told we aren't forgotten and the router is going to some day get fixed. This is well over a YEAR from the problem being revealed, in case anyone lost track.

They did however release several new XR routers and have released firmware updates for those routers.

Tell me again how they haven't moved on? 🙄

[Netduma Alex]

I know for a fact that Netgear haven't given up on this router because we're still in frequent talks with the team who supports the XR500. Unfortunately I can't say when, but there are big updates on the way, I guarantee.

In the end, as you say, actions will speak louder than words, and i'm sure you'll be very impressed with the new updates we're working on.

[Guest Killhippie]

17 hours ago, crawlgsx said:

Facts and actions prove otherwise. Stating a router is supported doesn't make it so.

The internet disconnect issue was last "hotfixed" in April. The last firmware released was in August (with no fix for internet disconnects). Here we sit another 4 months later being told we aren't forgotten and the router is going to some day get fixed. This is well over a YEAR from the problem being revealed, in case anyone lost track.

They did however release several new XR routers and have released firmware updates for those routers.

Tell me again how they haven't moved on? 🙄

The hotfix was in the .56 release that's why its not on the Netgear site there is no need to be using .40 that leaves you open to DoS attacks with two huge vulnerabilities. Netgear release hotfixes then release those rolled into the next firmware and they don't always mention it, I know because i beta test them. If you are still having issues look to Vlan tagging possibly your ISP, modem compatibility and Netgear +Netduma firmware. or real DoS attacks because you  are using very insecure firmware if using .40

[crawlgsx]

On 12/17/2019 at 5:55 AM, Killhippie said:

The hotfix was in the .56 release that's why its not on the Netgear site there is no need to be using .40 that leaves you open to DoS attacks with two huge vulnerabilities. Netgear release hotfixes then release those rolled into the next firmware and they don't always mention it, I know because i beta test them. If you are still having issues look to Vlan tagging possibly your ISP, modem compatibility and Netgear +Netduma firmware. or real DoS attacks because you  are using very insecure firmware if using .40

I have no idea how you came to your conclusion but I am not on .40. I am well aware that the hotfix was then rolled into the newer firmware. You made some pretty bizarre assumptions that make zero logical sense. I was talking about facts of their update process. I did not at any time state or imply that the hotfix was no longer available,  or that that fix wasn't still in play, or that I was running an old firmware. My XR500 is fully up to date (If you want to call it that).

All of that aside, the hotfix and patch did NOT resolve all disconnect issues for all of us and Netgear/Netduma have admitted to seeing the problems. They may have fixed ONE issue, but they haven't fixed all disconnect issues. See multiple threads here and on the Netgear forum (I'm sure you did already) as was my point that clearly I should have been more elaborate with for you.

[Guest Killhippie]

14 hours ago, crawlgsx said:

I have no idea how you came to your conclusion but I am not on .40. I am well aware that the hotfix was then rolled into the newer firmware. You made some pretty bizarre assumptions that make zero logical sense. I was talking about facts of their update process. I did not at any time state or imply that the hotfix was no longer available,  or that that fix wasn't still in play, or that I was running an old firmware. My XR500 is fully up to date (If you want to call it that).

All of that aside, the hotfix and patch did NOT resolve all disconnect issues for all of us and Netgear/Netduma have admitted to seeing the problems. They may have fixed ONE issue, but they haven't fixed all disconnect issues. See multiple threads here and on the Netgear forum (I'm sure you did already) as was my point that clearly I should have been more elaborate with for you.

Not really sure what your problem is here, .56 had the .40 hotfix rolled in but its not obvious to everyone and so therefore you explain that just in case its not clear to some people no offence was meant. .56 which patches a viable DoS attack on the XR500, I even listed the CVE from Netgears site elsewhere on the forum about this. Also Its not my fault if you don't make it clear what firmware you are using, I can only assume you are using the latest as that's what most people should be with the security fixes in .56 patching holes in their router. Not quite sure what you mean by bizarre assumptions as you didn't qualify your statement, but I'm not here to argue.

 This is a Netgear router primarily with Netgear firmware running all the base hardware features like WAN ports and Ethernet ports and LEDs etc and providing the Qualcomm drivers and security fixes, with DumaOS running along with it. The fixes for disconnects probably will come from Netgear as they are the hardware manufacturer. Some patches may of course come from Netduma in 3.0 if there firmware layer is causing any issues.  I'm aware .56 effects some people still, so no idea why you mentioned that, I guess you were assuming I didn't know. The continued disconnections are not great, but forums are where people with issues come , you don't see all those without issues posting how happy they are very often. Also .40 was not for WAN disconnections or Ethernet ones, it patched 802.11k (Assisted Roaming/Fast roaming) issues. Netgear has really not done a lot to fix much of anything last year with the XR500 firmware and Netduma didn't patch any of there major known bugs either, 3.0 should sort that out hopefully, and time will tell if Netgear get on top of fixing the other bugs related to the hardware.