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mamora's avatar
mamora
New Contributor

[N900 CG4500BD] WiFi keeps dropping

Hello!

First of all I'd like to thank everyone for reading this post. It helps out a lot!

I recently purchased a new N900 CG4500BD on Amazon for my house. Prior to this, I had the Ubee DDW365. It was working fine for the first week, but then I noticed the firmware for the actual modem/router combo changed itself. Ever since it changed, the WiFi has been dropped randomly, or under heavy use. This usually happens after dinner.

When I tried self activating it, it didn't give me the option for the CG4500BD, even though it's a cox approved modem. So what I did was chose the CG3000D and just put the serial number and mac address.

Things That I've Been Noticing

The first day I had it, the interface itself (192.168.0.1) looked something like this 

After a few days or a week, the interface changed to this (actual screenshot):

Ever since the interface changed (I'm assuming it's a firmware downgrade), my internet has been going down ever since. The interface does not give me an option to upgrade my firmware.

I've been noticing that this usually happens sometime around dinner time. But it also happens when its under heavy use (such as watching a movie, or running a speedtest). What happens is the lights on the modem stay the same, but both WiFi channels go down, and the only way to make it work again is to unplug the router and replug it back in. But then, the same cycle happens again.

I noticed that the Netgear Genie app no longer works and I no longer have the netgear genie interface.

What I have tried to do

  • I've reset the modem plenty of times.
  • I've power cycled the modem plenty of times.
  • I called Cox and asked them if they could change the modem that they have on file so that the firmware on the modem/router could change (read what I did with self activating above). They changed it to I believe a several other modems, such as the N450, RNC3700, and some type of AC model. It hasn't helped in any way.
  • I tried changing the channel on the 2.4GHz network to channel 1, 11, and 9. 
  • I tried changing the channel on the 5GHz network to any random channel.
  • I tried looking for firmware updates but I believe this isn't possible because the firmware on the modem/router itself is locked.
What I think will solve the problem
  • Maybe changing the firmware back to what it first started with will help. I had no problems with the firmware it first started off with, but once the firmware changed and once the interface changed, I've had problems ever since. Somehow I need to get this specific modem (N900 CG4500BD) on my account. What I currently have on my account is a RNC3700.
Thank you so much!
      n900 cg4500bd problems wifi going down

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      • mamora's avatar
        mamora
        New Contributor

        Used a WiFi channel analyzer, changed it to a channel that isn't used by other networks, but it still goes down.

        It only goes down after heavy use.

      • ChrisL's avatar
        ChrisL
        Former Moderator
        @mamora

        I checked the firmware and what is currently installed is the only approved firmware we have for that modem.  Have you check wired connections to see if they also drop?

      • mamora's avatar
        mamora
        New Contributor

        Seems like the wired connections are fine, but I haven't played with it long enough to see if it's stable.

        If the wired connections are fine, what are my options?

      • ChrisL's avatar
        ChrisL
        Former Moderator
        @mamora

        You could try signing into the gateway and experimenting with some of the wireless settings to see if that helps at all.  With the 2.4G radio in particular you may wish to manually set the channel to 1, 6, or 11 and disabling 40Mhz and see if that helps.

      • mamora's avatar
        mamora
        New Contributor

        I've changed the channel a bunch of times to non congested channels, but it still doesn't work.

        Seems like it's the WiFi actually because I'm hard wired into my desktop and I have no problems so far

      • ChrisL's avatar
        ChrisL
        Former Moderator
        @mamora

        Wifi is definitely more prone to problems than a traditional wired connection.  I'm not seeing the wifi noise now so the channel changes at the gateway may have helped some.  If the 2.4Ghz wifi bands are still congested however your best option would be to use the 5Ghz band if your wifi devices support that.

      • mamora's avatar
        mamora
        New Contributor

        The interface I'm using now doesn't give me the option to disable 40MHz. However, I don't think the problem stays with the 2.4GHz band. It does it with both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz band. I've changed both of the channels on both of the bands to channels that aren't being used around the area, but there still isn't any change. 

        The internet goes down on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz channel under heavy use.

      • pesmith79's avatar
        pesmith79
        New Contributor

        Hi,

        If you live in the Northpointe area of Pensacola you don't have internet right now. I just got off the phone with Cox tech support and it might be a few more days or so before we get our internet back. We've been out since about 10:00 am on Friday.

        The main stations on the television work but no On Demand or WiFi. Hopefully nobody is depending on their Homelife or Cox home phone because they are based around an internet connection.

      • ChrisL's avatar
        ChrisL
        Former Moderator
        @pesmith79

        I looked at your modem from here and all seems well with the connection as far as I can tell. If you're still having any problems I'd suggest trying a wired connection and see if that works.