FEEDBACK - Rogers Rocket Wi-Fi Modem Firmware Trial

[RogersMargaret]

Hello Community,

We are currently offering our users an exclusive opportunity to participate in an upcoming trial of the new firmware for our Rocket Wi-Fi Modem (CGN3ACR, CGN3AMR and CGN3ACSMR) and Rocket Gigabit Wi-Fi Modem (CGN3552 and CODA-4582). For details of this program, please see this thread.

This thread will be used for feedback regarding the firmware.  We've invited @RogersSergio, @RogersSyd & @RogersBob from our Networking team to participate in this thread.  Your feedback is very valuable and will be used to enhance the firmware before it is released publicly.

Thank you for your continued feedback and support.

[WBarras]

@Hwaiting I got a lot of help with the mods here regarding that exact same router which I have. Unfortunately Netgear routers do not support ICMP packing for what I remember them saying. I have looked for answers and possible fixes and requests to enable it from Netgear support and they've just stated it isn't in the timeline and they have not changed their mind on their stance. Netgear seems to think it's a security hazard enabling it. 

So yeah, regardless what settings you do on the r7000, Hitron or anything else, it won't work reliably.

[noziel]

Did you default reset your modem? If not do so.

[Hwaiting]

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@WBarras wrote:

@Hwaiting I got a lot of help with the mods here regarding that exact same router which I have. Unfortunately Netgear routers do not support ICMP packing for what I remember them saying. I have looked for answers and possible fixes and requests to enable it from Netgear support and they've just stated it isn't in the timeline and they have not changed their mind on their stance. Netgear seems to think it's a security hazard enabling it. 

So yeah, regardless what settings you do on the r7000, Hitron or anything else, it won't work reliably.

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@WBarras Thanks for the reply.  I started reading about this issue across here, DSLReports and the Netgear forums.  It's hard to believe this is happening to such a well received router.  Have you tried a 3rd party firmware like Merlin or Tomato?  I think I read somewhere that it fixes this issue. I haven't dipped into 3rd party firmware yet but this may prompt me to do so.

I did factory reset my modem twice.  Maybe as a trial I'll try using the Hitron as a router (gasp!) for a week just to see how it compares.

[Datalink]

@Hwaiting, your R7000 Auto Config for IPV6 sounds correct, however, as has been pointed out IPV6 on Netgear routers seems to be a no go.  Here's a couple links that points to that:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/IPv6-ICMP-Filtered/td-p/1088538

https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=netgear%20router%20filte...

You could try Xwrt-Vortex, which is the Asus-WRT ported over to the R7000.  With that loaded you should be able to run IPV6 or disable it, depending on what you want to do.  The only concern that I have is that its hosted on a Russian server, however, there are others on the forum that use that firmware:

http://xvtx.ru/xwrt/

[WBarras]

I have been pushed by a few to do so, however, I'm not to smart with this tech stuff, just the real basics of changing settings. I feel doing a 3rd party firmware update I wouldn't know what to do with everything and how to set up. Stock is pretty simple, and I've used it for years now so I know the ins and outs of their setup process.

Having said that, I can confim Merlin can from at least 6 users in the Netgear forums saying it brings them 20/20 on the test, as well as DD-WRT. Tomato I can't say though. I believe @Datalink was the one that helped me through all of this and he also said I could go the 3rd party firmware to fix it, he also stated I don't really need IPV6 atm so I'm in no rush.

It sucks for sure, I've had this router about a year or so after it came out. It's incredible, and this I personally believe is its only real fault in it's package. Seems like the ASUS routers everyone recommends here have no problems with this, shame Netgear can't look into the benefits for themselves. Glad to help @Hwaiting!

[Hwaiting]

Thanks @Datalink.  I think for now I'll just run stock and without IPv6.  At this time I can get by without it.  When it becomes an issue I'm sure by then I'll be in the market for a new router or perhaps Netgear will decide to release a fix for it by then.  I just tried using the Hitron in gateway mode and surprisingly for all the bad stuff I hear about it, signal strength was not that bad (not as good as R7000 but not that far off and not as bad as I thought it would be).  I attached a 4GB USB HDD and that worked flawlessly as well.  Unfortunately, the Hitron doesn't do DLNA (although the specs from Hitron says it does - I guess it was taken out for the Rogers firmware), which is a deal breaker for me.

[Datalink]

You can always run the R7000 as a wifi and wired access point and turn off the wifi on the modem.  If there is a mode selection, as in Router mode, Access Point mode or Bridge mode, then selecting Access Point mode should allow you to run the R7000 without any setup other than the wifi parameters.  The modem would be in charge of DHCP for the entire network.  The real hiccup would come from port forwarding and NAT which can be a pain in the Hitron modems.  That's what usually drives users towards a separate modem.  

Installing third party firmware usually isn't an issue.  Download the firmware, run a factory reset on the router with its current firmware and then point the upgrade path to the downloaded file to install the firmware.  The factory reset will wipe out the existing parameters and should ensure that the maximum amount of memory is available for the new firmware.  As usual, read the install instructions to avoid any hiccups.  It should be a straightforward process.  As I indicated, there are others who use that firmware in the forum, so they could offer some advice if you decide to go down that path. 

The only hiccup is the recent decision in Canada and U.S. to prevent anyone from loading firmware that can modify the available channels or output power.  Router companies are taking various approaches to the problem.  Asus for example has locked down recent firmware versions.  You can go forward as new versions become available, but you can't go back beyond the last two or three versions without resorting to a rescue procedure to load the firmware.  I don't know what scheme Netgear has employed, so, that might take some research to determine if in fact you could load third party firmware at the present time. 

The other point to consider is that to disable IPV6 when you're connected to the Hitron modem, you would have to do so in the connected device.  @RogersDave will have to confirm or deny the capability for tech support to disable IPV6 in recent modem firmware versions.  I don't believe thats possible at the present time, but that requires confirmation.  So, at the present time, when you are connected to the modem, you will have IPV6 up and running, regardless of whether you want it or not.  

[RogersDave]

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@Datalink wrote:

 The other point to consider is that to disable IPV6 when you're connected to the Hitron modem, you would have to do so in the connected device.  @RogersDave will have to confirm or deny the capability for tech support to disable IPV6 in recent modem firmware versions.

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It is not possible to disable IPv6, even for tech support and there is no plan for such feature.

Dave

[abel06]

@RogersDave 

sent you a pm just got a gigabit modem on 4.5.8.21 firmware 1A hardware (CGNM-3552 )need new firmware pushed to have chrome cast issues fixed, not worried about upload speeds maxing at 15-17mbs

look forward to hearing from you 

Thanks!

[abel06]

ooops i lied i sent it to community helps not you :S

[JSwizzle416]

I'm also interested in trying the beta firmware .27 for the CGNM-3552. I am aware of the maximum upload speed of 20Mbps and I don't think it will affect me since I'm on Rogers 100u plan with 10Mbps upload. Who would I have to message to get this firmware push to my modem? RogersDave or Community Helps?

[Hwaiting]

I ended up trying DD-WRT Kong Mod firmware on my R7000 but still couldn't get IPv6 to work. Factory reset the router and rebooted the modem but still no luck. 

[Datalink]

@Hwaiting post a question to the DD-WRT forum.  You should find someone to help you out.  

First thing to do is determine if IPV6 is working at your home, unless of course you already know this.  With the modem in Bridge mode, connect a pc directly to the modem and reboot the pc so that it picks up the correct IPV4 and IPV6 address.  After the reboot, go to ipv6-test.com which will indicate if IPV6 is up and running as it should be.  You should see at least 19/20.  If you do see 20/20, know that Rogers isn't supplying an IPV6 host name, even if there is one indicated.  If the test fails, as in 4/20, reboot the pc and run this again.  I've found that I have to run an ipconfig/release, ipconfig/renew sequence at a command prompt and then usually reboot the pc following that.  This is with a Windows 10 pc.  When you get a pass indication at that site, run an IPV6 trace:

tracert -6 ipv6.google.com

See if the trace runs all the way to google's IPV6 address and doesn't time out at some point and keep timing out, which would be a trace failure.  If that runs all the way to the end, then IPV6 is up and running and it would just be a matter of working out the bugs with DD-WRT.  

Here's a link to Dave's IPV6 settings for various routers.  Hopefully that might point out some of the settings that might not be correct in DD-WRT's IPV6 section. 

http://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/forums/forumtopicpage/board-id/Getting_connected/message-id/367...

[Makaveli99]

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@RogersDave wrote:

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@JohnBeaudin wrote:

 Now my question is, will DOCSIS 3.1 be as good as cablelabs describe it? in terms of ping for us online gamers?

John

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That is a complicated question and only time (and testers like you) will tell. Sorry for the below, this gets technical...

In DOCSIS 3.1, there are a few positive things. First, the gateway itself has to be more powerful and is not based on Intel Puma 6 which is known to exhibit latency issues. That will be the first major win.

DOCSIS 3.1 capable gateways are all backward compatible to DOCSIS 3.0. Before the introduction of the Broadcom BCM3390 and Intel Puma 7 chipsets (both DOCSIS 3.1 capable), the only gateways capable of operating at 32 channels were all based on the Intel Puma 6 chipset. By using D3.1 chipsets, even operating in DOCSIS 3.0 mode, it means that there will be far more modems capable of operating with 32 channels on the downlink.

Aside from that, DOCSIS 3.1 makes AQM mandatory. It is available in some DOCSIS 3.0 gateways but it is mandatory in 3.1 and that can also potentially help.

Final point is regarding modulation. DOCSIS 3.1 uses OFDM which is more resilient to noise. Also, given the higher modulation schemes, there is better efficiency in bit/Hz which leads to more capacity. This will therefore alleviate congestion, where it exists, and help with the latency as well.

DOCSIS3.1 operation mode allows to operate in hybrid mode with D3.1 on the downlink and D3.0 on the uplink and this is what most operators will deploy first. The technology for D3.1 on the uplink is not 100% mature and will be ready sometimes in 2017.

Congestion on the uplink is far more prevalent than on the downstream. Once D3.1 is available on the uplink, that will increase capacity significantly both by increasing efficiency but also allowing cable operators to use lower spectrum, typically noisier, and that D3.0 couldn’t use. This will also help with improving the latency.

Hope this provides some answers to your question.

Dave

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Great post and thanks for the info.

[Makaveli99]

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@Datalink wrote:

@Hwaiting, your R7000 Auto Config for IPV6 sounds correct, however, as has been pointed out IPV6 on Netgear routers seems to be a no go.  Here's a couple links that points to that:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/IPv6-ICMP-Filtered/td-p/1088538

https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=netgear%20router%20filte...

You could try Xwrt-Vortex, which is the Asus-WRT ported over to the R7000.  With that loaded you should be able to run IPV6 or disable it, depending on what you want to do.  The only concern that I have is that its hosted on a Russian server, however, there are others on the forum that use that firmware:

http://xvtx.ru/xwrt/

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I've been using  Xwrt-Vortex for almost a year now and the firmware is fantasic. You couldn't pay me to go back to stock!

The firmware is also posted here for those that are super paranoid.

http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/asuswrt-merlin-on-netgear-r7000.71108/

With a enabled Rule for ICMPv6 in the windows firewall 19/20 on http://ipv6-test.com/

If you are running Windows 10 AU

IPv6 should also be set to this below in the firmware.

Auto Configuration Setting : Stateless

AU breaks it on Statefull

Hoping ms fixes that soon if they haven't already.

[Hwaiting]

@DatalinkThanks. I think I'm having 2 separate issues. The 1st issue is that Netgear firmware is filtering ICMP  which has been discussed and looks to be potentially solvable by 3rd party firmware.

The 2nd issued which you touched upon is whether IPv6 is even getting picked up correctly. In bridge mode, whenever my router was able to pick up an IPv6 address, everything pretty much worked (such as the IPv6 tests, the trace to Google...), but the IP address was always short lived.  Soon thereafter, I would lose the IP address and tests would return 4/20.
I decided to remove the router from the equation, put the modem back in gateway and connect to the network being broadcast by the Hitron and it's exhibiting the same problems. Actually, I'm not getting an IPv6 address.  Rebooted the modem/PC and no change. 

On a side note, I take it the IP address (from the DOCSIS WAN page) is supposed to be different than my Public IP address?

[Slipstream1982]

Hi Dave,

Would I be able to have .27 pushed to my modem?  I understand that the upload speed will max around 15-20 mbps, however if the ping for video games is reduced that will be crucial for me.  My ping went up since I upgraded to the new package and I want to get it back down very badly.

[JohnBeaudin]

@Slipstream1982

Your ping in video games won't be reduced with .27

It will stay the same, however in the next firmware it will probably be reduced with the improvements on UDP and Ipv6

[Hwaiting]

@Makaveli99 Thanks, I'll try Xwrt-Vortex.  I tried DD-WRT again and I was able to get IPv6 connectivity this time and so far been able to keep it (fingers crossed).  DD-WRT is nice but as a first time user I found it has a little too many options.  Had to play around with it just to get it performing on par with stock.  Once I get the hang of DD-WRT, I'll test out to Xwrt and others next.

[RogersDave]

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@JSwizzle416 wrote:

I'm also interested in trying the beta firmware .27 for the CGNM-3552. I am aware of the maximum upload speed of 20Mbps and I don't think it will affect me since I'm on Rogers 100u plan with 10Mbps upload. Who would I have to message to get this firmware push to my modem? RogersDave or Community Helps?

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Either or is good. In any case, be sure to mention in your message that you are already on the firmware trial and want to go to firmware 4.5.8.27 on a CGNM-3552 modem.

I just pushed the upgrade your way, it should be there in a few minutes.

Dave

[payam81]

I've recently changed my old Rocket AC modem CGN3AMR  with a new Gigabit CGNM-3552 4.5.8.19 and wow this new modem is just horrible. My 5GHz band maxes out at 350 Mbps  in the same room with the band set to AC only. I used to get 750+ with the old modem. And of course I have the hidden SSID beacon issue as well.

I've sent a PM to @CommunityHelps hoping to joing this trial to see if an update my help. Otherwise I guess I finally have to go shell out money for a router... I was really hoping to be able to just skip the .ac routers, and my strategy was working well with the old Rocket modem while not perfect, it was serviceable.