R7800 went flakey

[Sizzlechest]

Well, it finally happened. My R7800 started giving me grief. The LEDs indicate that it's connected to the Internet, but it can't get an IP address on the WAN. All attempts to connect to the router eventually fail. HTTP, ssh, etc. A reboot fixes it, but it begins to fail after 10-15 minutes. I'm going to open it up and look for bad capacitors, but I'm not holding my breath. Yes, I did a factory reset. Yes, I tried setting up from scratch. No dice.

Is a firmware reset from the reset button using a paper clip all that's required? I seem to remember a more thorough reset option.

 

[Tech Junky]

Having had one of these int he past there's 2 options for the reset button IIRC.

Short just clears config and the long reset does something different?

I passed mine onto someone else because I got sick of all of the FW updates / bugs / performance issues. The unresponsive login seems like the CPU might be getting pegged but, if you can't login you can't look to see what the issue is. You might be able to pull the logs though post reboot and see if there are some clues. It's been a few years though since owning one but, it was alright for what it is compared to other options I had tried before settling on it.

If it's dying though it's a good idea to be looking around for it's successor. I went DIY though but, if I had to buy something off the shelf right now it would probably be an Eero 6E.

If you want to venture into splitting the router / wifi into 2 devices then there are some good AP options that provide strong coverage. It's up to you on how you want to setup things.

 

[Kitsap]

Well, it finally happened. My R7800 started giving me grief. The LEDs indicate that it's connected to the Internet, but it can't get an IP address on the WAN. All attempts to connect to the router eventually fail. HTTP, ssh, etc. A reboot fixes it, but it begins to fail after 10-15 minutes. I'm going to open it up and look for bad capacitors, but I'm not holding my breath. Yes, I did a factory reset. Yes, I tried setting up from scratch. No dice.

Is a firmware reset from the reset button using a paper clip all that's required? I seem to remember a more thorough reset option.

Is there a chance you have a bad or failing power adapter?

 

[fossil]

Is a firmware reset from the reset button using a paper clip all that's required? I seem to remember a more thorough reset option.

A thorough reset, as mentioned in kamoj's FAQ. Switching between 2 different firmware and running cmds:

nvram default
nvram commit
mtd erase netgear
reboot

Is this what you tried?

 

[Sizzlechest]

A thorough reset, as mentioned in kamoj's FAQ. Switching between 2 different firmware and running cmds:

Is this what you tried?

No! That's what I was looking for. I'll try that.

 

[Sizzlechest]

Is there a chance you have a bad or failing power adapter?

That's a good point. I doubt it's the culprit, but it's easy enough to swap it out.

 

[HELLO_wORLD]

Could it be corrupted NAND? Known issue with this router depending on the NAND manufacturer.

 

[RMinNJ]

Id try all the above mentioned things first for sure. With the internet and working from home now Im finding the home router is last place I want to have problems.... Used 7800s can be found fairly cheap if need be...otherwise its not a bad area to invest some money in for peace of mind.

 

[Sizzlechest]

I haven't done a complete test, but the router doesn't seem to be locking up anymore. I believe the

nvram default
nvram commit
mtd erase netgear
reboot

procedures with additional factory resets seem to have stabilized the router. I haven't connected it to the Internet and connected devices to it en masse yet. I have already bought a new router and will use it for now. I will try swapping the R7800 back in when I have time to experiment more.