Netgear RAX120 Firmware

[MrBenz]

Hi,
There are some custom firmware stable for this model of netgear rax120 ?
Thanks

 

[microchip]

Not yet

 

[MrBenz]

Thanks for your answer

 

[avtella]

Probably not till the end of this year in terms of ATH11K WiFI drivers according some on OpenWRT forums. Even then it will probably take another 6 months to a year before it’s stable. Probably some time next year for a workable OpenWRT and I’m guessing DD-WRT.

 

[Gar]

Would be awesome if @Voxel did f/w for these too!

 

[Voxel]

Would be awesome if @Voxel did f/w for these too!

I am thinking of this. But this gadget is expensive. And I have at least two negative feedbacks from owners now.

P.S.
This stuff is interesting for me. ARMv8. 64-bit. Support of AES (CPU)...

Voxel.

 

[Trip]

I would wait until the boys over at OpenWRT, including Kong himself, get ath11k drivers stabilized and push an official image out for it. Once that happens, it's officially game on. That said, it's going to be a bit of wait. I wouldn't be surprised if it took until 2021.

 

[rafale77]

Can't wait for this to happen... the netgear firmwares, including this week's are a disaster...

 

[Newfie]

Can't wait for this to happen... the netgear firmwares, including this week's are a disaster...

What issues are you experiencing with .136?

 

[rafale77]

The main problem is a drop in client throughput occurring some connection time. Every client seems to be subject to it and the limit reduces over time.
For example one client would at one location would hit 500mbps/450mbps up/down and after a while only get 30/50mbps. I would have to disconnect and reconnect the client to go back to the initial speed for a few seconds before the limit comes back again. To resolve this I need to get the client disconnected for 1min minimum and come back. Then it seems like the throughput is maintained much longer.
It looks like a QOS issue but I have QOS disabled and am running it in AP mode.

Another problem is the fact that the client/mac access control doesn't work at all.

 

[Newfie]

Have you performed a factory reset then set up as new and see if this solves any of the issues you have?

 

[rafale77]

The unit is brand new and started from a factory reset condition. Unless I am told what setting is getting changed by doing this, I am not doing it again. Even if it fixes it, it isn't an acceptable solution because it doesn't explain how it came to be and what the reset does and how to prevent it from happening since, as I said, I started from a factory reset condition. I am taking the unit down and replacing it with a much more reliable and configurable engenius EWS377AP....

 

[Newfie]

I’m guessing when you first setup it installed .136 as the shipping firmware would most likely be a different version.

I've learnt over the years after any update to firmware it’s best to reset and there’s an article from Merlin found on these forums that explains why it’s best to do so. A reset clears low level code that can create issues when updating firmware.

I know and understand your disappointment but it’s worth trying.
ive not encounter issues apart from a log issue and finding the QoS is not great, apart from those my 120 runs well and just sits and feeds my devices.

 

[rafale77]

I see, I will give it a shot but I am still not accepting this "low level code". I want to know what it is and why it needs to be reset. I don't accept a black box answer. If it is not accessible and not manually changeable then I don't want anything to do with the device. Since when has a factory reset become an acceptable solution to a problem?

 

[L&LD]

No one said it's a solution. But it is a method to make it behave as expected, assuming it is not hardware or power supply issues.

 

[Killhippie]

I see, I will give it a shot but I am still not accepting this "low level code". I want to know what it is and why it needs to be reset. I don't accept a black box answer. If it is not accessible and not manually changeable then I don't want anything to do with the device. Since when has a factory reset become an acceptable solution to a problem?

This may be a good read on the subject of factory resets from Merlin who is from this site. https://www.snbforums.com/threads/faq-nvram-and-factory-default-reset.22822/

 

[Killhippie]

I would agree the QoS is not great but my RAX120 has no speed losses it just ticks along and I do a reset after each update, I turn off auto updates and always update via browser and Ethernet connection to the router. My router kicks out about 645Mbps tops on an Wi-Fi 5 iPad at 15-20 feet so I'm happy, its been running pretty well apart from a few minor bugs here and there for my usage for a year now.

 

[rafale77]

I am seeing these speeds as well with the device. I don't have a performance issue per say. I have a rate limit issue which comes when a device stays connected on its wifi for some time.

Thanks for the link on the factory reset. I am actually an engineer in the semiconductor industry. I am very familiar with these and while this could be acceptable for a custom firmware like the Asus Merlin, it is definitely not for a factory firmware. When one designs the firmware upgrade, if there are low level settings to be changed, they should be done during the firmware update. I am sorry but this is just horrible firmware management. I have better things to do than to do a factory reset and to redo all my configurations every time I have a problem. If I am going to reconfigure, I will do it on a different device. It's not hard to have these hardcoded "low level code" activated or reset by the upgrade script. It is also not so hard to design a migration tool inside the firmware to migrate configurations from one firmware version to another.

I just replaced it and much happier now with a much more detailed and complete firmware which is fully functional. Coverage is a tiny bit smaller but speed from my wifi5 clients is the same. I am really hoping for a DD-WRT or openWRT firmware to try it again.

 

[Killhippie]

I am seeing these speeds as well with the device. I don't have a performance issue per say. I have a rate limit issue which comes when a device stays connected on its wifi for some time.

Thanks for the link on the factory reset. I am actually an engineer in the semiconductor industry. I am very familiar with these and while this could be acceptable for a custom firmware like the Asus Merlin, it is definitely not for a factory firmware. When one designs the firmware upgrade, if there are low level settings to be changed, they should be done during the firmware update. I am sorry but this is just horrible firmware management. I have better things to do than to do a factory reset and to redo all my configurations every time I have a problem. If I am going to reconfigure, I will do it on a different device. It's not hard to have these hardcoded "low level code" activated or reset by the upgrade script. It is also not so hard to design a migration tool inside the firmware to migrate configurations from one firmware version to another.

I just replaced it and much happier now with a much more detailed and complete firmware which is fully functional. Coverage is a tiny bit smaller but speed from my wifi5 clients is the same. I am really hoping for a DD-WRT or openWRT firmware to try it again.

I have had no issue with loss of throughput with my devices and never have, possibly its a hardware issue? Have you contacted Netgear for a replace under warranty?

 

[rafale77]

I have contacted Netgear opened a ticket and posted on their forum. This problem is widely reported there. The tech who responded to my ticket asked me to do the same thing you did to which I responded the same way: It's not an acceptable answer. I don't even care whether it works or not. It is a ridiculous and unprofessional troubleshooting path because it doesn't explain how it got there and how to prevent it.
I don't think this is a hardware issue. I think a lot of people just don't know they are having this problem because they don't test for it. If you just connect a client and run a throughput test, you will not see it. If you roam around or allow your device to sleep, intermittently disconnect and reconnect a client, you will not see it either. It is only if you have a wifi client constantly on, without going to sleep, for a few hours and then run a test that you will be able to see the issue.

In any case, I have taken the router down and already replaced it with the engenius AP which is half the cost and doesn't have this problem.