Netgear Nighthawk R7000 randomly shutting off

[dmayott]

So I've had problems with my computer before. Back in January I had constant BSOD and through the help of some great people here I resolved it. I need your help again. A constant problem for me was my Wi-Fi. I spent a lot of money on a gaming desktop and I hoped to use it to its full potential. I bought a new $200 something router, and I hoped for the best... I even got the newest Modem from cable. When that was still very slow for me I hooked up a Cat-6 cable to the router and ran it through the walls to my computer. All was good, at least for a couple of days. starting two days ago I've been randomly disconnecting from the network. Thinking nothing of it I just used the "Fix Internet" option on Netgear Genie. That worked and I continued playing. Yesterday it happened again at about 3. I did the same and it went back on after a few minutes. Then at 3:15ish it happened again. I ran up to my attic where the router is and see it all lights on except a red light for the power light. I unplugged the power brick and plugged it back in 30 seconds later. After a couple more incidents I looked up the issue and almost every post said to plug directly into wall to see if it was the brick. That didn't help. I checked for latest Firmware, it doesnt overheat, and its happened at least 6 times today, once in a pretty high-risk tourament me and my friends were in. I honestly don't know what to do, and Netgear is not answering my questions to satisfaction. Please help me!

 

[plivin89]

its a problem with your router, can you downgrade the firmware ? or even update it ? I had a problem like that with my cisco router, after updating the firmware it was fixed

 

[Ra_V_en]

So you got an overpriced router which supposed to have a whooping speed WIFI but cant even work stable over the cable?
Is there any reason you are coming to TH instead of taking that brick to the shop with the problem description so they can test it and repair it?

 

[razor512]

If possible return it to the store for a replacement. The R7000, when not defective, is a very good router (have not need to restart mine for months), and does a little over 700mbit/s on wifi if you have an ac1300 client.

 

[dmayott]

So you got an overpriced router which supposed to have a whooping speed WIFI but cant even work stable over the cable?
Is there any reason you are coming to TH instead of taking that brick to the shop with the problem description so they can test it and repair it?

Yes I did. I know a bigger price doesn't always mean a better product, but I read many reviews and did my research before I bought it. Oh and I'm coming to TH because they were the only ones to help me with my first problems and I hope they can help me with this one. Also its not the brick, it does the same thing when directly in outlet.

 

[dmayott]

If possible return it to the store for a replacement. The R7000, when not defective, is a very good router (have not need to restart mine for months), and does a little over 700mbit/s on wifi if you have an ac1300 client.

I cannot return it, I bought it at Best Buy in January and the warranty is expired.

 

[plivin89]

I have the Linksys EA6900, its a pretty good router after I updated it, you should try it out

 

[razor512]

In that case, can you try connecting a flashdrive to the router, or external drive, and copy a large file to the router over wifi and see if that causes the issue to happen sooner?

and if it does, if possible, are you also able to measure the voltage on the power adpater while the router is on? if you have thin multimeter probes, you can stick them in between the rear vent to reach the power adapter solder points. (want to make sure that the power adapter is not failing). If you do not have a multimeter, then see if you have another 12V adapter, that can do at least 1.5 amps (do not connect any USB device is using 1.5 amp adapter)

If the adapter is fine and the USB transfer causes the issue to happen more rapidly, then I will recommend seeing if you can shine a light in one side of the router and look at the other side. for the wifi radio can, you should see a the heatspreader at the top dip down to about 1-2 mm above the shielding can, and to connect the rest of the way, will be 2 thermal pads. Make sure they are making proper contact. (the same can be done for the bottom heat spreader. If the issue still happens, then we can probably move onto more advanced troubleshooting by downclocking the router (CPU to 800MHz, and RAM to 533MHz (from the stock 1000MHz CPU, and 800MHz RAM )

 

[dmayott]

Ok I think I narrowed it down a bit. I stopped using skype all day and I had no problems. When I just turned skype on the router did it again. How can me using skype on my PC affect the router?!?

 

[razor512]

It is really strange that skype would cause that. Do you have a USB serial adapter and are you okay with taking the router apart to connect a few wires to the serial header? The serial output will also display error messages if any are spotted.

May look like this

If not, then without skype, try doing something that is stressful on the network, e.g., download a few torrents. Skype does not use a lot of throughput but it makes a few connections and if in a call, constantly sends and receives data (which over wifi, will keep the wifi radio in a full power state (if you are on wifi)

 

[dmayott]

I am 100% sure its has something to do with skype. I played BF Hardline for about 3 hours today with no problems. As soon as I joined a Skype call it shut off. Wtf how can Skype on my computer be causing the router to malfunction?

 

[razor512]

Try going into the router settings, and then disable upnp

The option should be located in Advanced > Advanced Setup > UPnP

disable it, then restart the router, after that, see if skype still causes the issue. (The main traffic that skype generates that is designed just for the router, is the UPnP)

If the issue still happens, then we can stress test the router. One good way, is to download a large torrent file, it makes hundreds of connections, uses small packets, so lots of management traffic just like with skype.

If you are unable to download torrents,then you can stress test the router using other methods, e.g., you can create a live USB for kali http://www.kali.org/ and then run the macof tool (It is no longer effectively able to DOS modern routers, but it can lag them and increase CPU usage)

 

[dmayott]

OK I think we're on to something here. I already disabled that in Skype and the problem persisted so I went to the settings and disabled in router. After a bit of refreshing it said "Unable to resolve the server's DNS address." and the router shut off. When it turned back on it said that UPnP was off. I'll test with skype now. I also reinstalled skype...