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Youssef Coolidge photo
Thailand, Bangkok
1 Level
661 Review
61 Karma

Review on πŸ“Ά NETGEAR RAX15 - 4-Stream WiFi 6 Router: Fast AX1800 Wireless Speed (Up to 1.8Gbps), Ideal for iPhone 11, Samsung Galaxy S20, Covers 1500 sq ft & Supports 20+ Devices by Youssef Coolidge

Revainrating 1 out of 5

While it works, it's a great router.

I bought a Netgear RAX 15 router at the end of June to replace my 10 year old Netgear WNDR3700 N600 router. The old router was working fine when I took it out of service to install the new AX router. Wanted to take advantage of advances in router technology, faster WiFi speeds, and other AX improvements. Whether the router was replaced a few days after receiving a new one. I skipped the Nighthawk app and set up the new router manually using the GUI. Setup was smooth, apart from a few hiccups in the MAC access control interface - some garbling and inaccurate display - but I was able to work with it and the new AX router worked fine for the first few weeks. The Wi-Fi speed was excellent - on my phone I got 433 Mbps on the 5 GHz network and 260 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz network. The signals were strong everywhere in my house. I haven't measured the speeds on the Ethernet ports, but I've never noticed any issues with wired devices running across two 8-port switches. A few weeks after the initial setup, I noticed that the Smart TV in my bedroom was losing its internet connection. It was on a 5GHz network, I couldn't connect there, but I did connect to a 2.4GHz network. The next day I was troubleshooting and fiddling with the router and after a reboot I was able to connect to 5Ghz again. A few days later I noticed my phone going from 5GHz networks to 2.4GHz networks and would not connect to 5GHz until I restarted my router. Also note that although the phone couldn't connect to 5GHz, it said it couldn't get an IP address. My return to Revain was only a few days away so I tried opening a Netgear support case and sent a message to their support site (July 23rd). I found and installed a (beta) firmware update for the router on the Netgear website. Never heard of Netgear, but the router seemed to be working fine after the update (aside from the MAC Access List issue). Until Labor Day weekend. I've started dropping the 5GHz connection again on both the Smart TV and my phone. In a case I know of, the 2.4 GHz network failed. I also have a FireStick connected to 5GHZ, but I don't use it very often, so I don't know if it's disconnected or not. After playing around with the router and devices for several days, I decided to contact Netgear support again. I sent another message and when I sent it this time I got a page with some phone numbers. And I got an email reply with instructions, phone number and ticket number! I called the phone number and after less than 10 minutes of waiting a technician answered! He was only 1st level support and told me they have a dedicated team for this router. He transferred me and I waited on hold for maybe 15 minutes for another technician to pick up. I explained the problems with the router and he asked me to change a few settings and said he would keep the ticket open in case the changes didn't help and I could call or text back. As expected, changing the settings did not help. , and when I tried to reply the next day, the ticket was CLOSED on Friday! So I started over, got first level support and a new ticket number. He brought me back to support the escalation, she answered and I repeated the questions but we started having problems with the mobile phone, I tried to give her my landline number but she couldn't understand and ended the call . Sent several emails over the weekend, no reply. Decided to wait until Monday. Called support, waited 45 minutes, technician picked up, said I need a dedicated support team, tried to transfer again and after another 30 minutes I gave up. I sent another message. Then I decided to call Revane. It's been 2.5 months since Revain's return window expired but I figured what the heck I'll give it a try. My order summary had a handy button that said "Get Product Support". I clicked on it and saw another button that said "Call me". 30 seconds after pressing this button my phone rang. After a few keystrokes on my phone, Morgan picked up the receiver. I explained my situation. Morgan listened patiently and when I was done she asked me to wait while she conferred with her manager. After about 4 minutes, she returned to the line and said that an extension to return had been granted. A UPS return label was created for me. I said thank you, hung up and checked my mail. Three messages from Revain, including a prepaid shipping label. Life is good! I reconnected my old router to my network, restored the configuration backup, and was back to work in less than 15 minutes from the call. Yesterday I packed up an old router and took it to the UPS store and today the money was credited back to my account! Haven't heard anything else from Netgear so far. My theory on the RAX15 problem is that some RAX15 routers have a hardware or software issue that intermittently prevents DHCP from reassigning an IP address when renewing an IP lease on WiFi networks. This also happens when the connection is manually terminated due to manual network switching or device power failure, etc. Rebooting the router will reset the DHCP server and allow you to assign an IP address for a NEW connection. Never had problems with ethernet connections. Revain is AWESOME!

Pros
  • also understandable for the old
Cons
  • Only available in white