G34/G36 Intermittent Connectivity On Xfinity Network

so, i have the G34 with a 2 year history on xFinity on their 1gig service.  G34 has been bulletproof.  the 1.05 update was pushed out to me and now i have to reboot 5 x’s per day.  here is what the update is:

Software:  AR01.05.020.04.01_083123_735.NCS.20

Firmware:  01.05.020.04.01.NCS

xFinity is coming out tomorrow to check everything up to my owned G34.  i already know what they are going to say.  something like, “...yep, we’ve confirmed everything is good on our end.  sorry about your luck, but we have this brand new shiny white vertical brick of a gateway modem dripping with 1.2gbps speed and all the trimmings...would you like to touch it?  would you like to feel it?  would you like for me to plug it in so that you can see all the pretty lights?...”

what a racket!  after effectively obsoleting most if not all other modems with their move to 10G (which really isn’t), they have a proprietary / not-for-sale modem that mitigates all the issues.  how convenient!

SURFboard Support wrote:

Thank you to the community members who have reported intermittent connectivity with their G34 and G36 devices on their Xfinity Internet service.  Recent Service Provider upgrades to their network for DOCSIS 3.1 higher upstream capabilities as well as preparation for DOCSIS 4.0 deployment have created possible issues with certain devices on certain upgraded networks – across all DOCSIS device manufacturers – that are impacting stability and performance. 

 

We are committed to resolving this matter.  We are working with Xfinity on a long-term solution to update the firmware and will provide an update when this is completed as soon as possible. 

 

In the meantime, the current workaround is to power cycle the G34 or G36 device to regain Internet connection.  We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work through this.

 

UPDATE 11/16/23: Xfinity is pushing firmware update version 01.05 to G34 and G36 units that are impacted by their network upgrade.   We expect the update to complete by the end of November.  You can find your firmware version on the Login page listed as Software Image Name.
 

 

Thank you for your patience.  

I don’t understand what the note about firmware means. I’m unclear of action I need to take as  Powering off and on the modem does little good…

I’m having the same issues as everyone else with my G36, however I restarted my device and now have no connectivity at all.  This has been going on for 12 hours now.  Any tips? I’m at a loss. 

This is maddening.  Can’t stay connected.  Video calls dropping constantly.   I haven’t gotten the new firmware update (and apparently you can’t force it to happen / do it yourself, and Xfinity doesn’t even think they can do it …. because the customer support people don’t know anything about it) and from the discussion above it might not even fix the issue??!!!!  Xfinity definitely seems to be forcing people to pay $200/year before they will take any responsibility for this garbage.  What a scam.  This router was advertised as working with Xfinity and it does not.

when cycling power on my G34, i noticed how warm / hot the plastic housing was on top.  it wasn’t quite roasting hot, but it was hot.  i hadn’t noticed that before.  so….i did a little experiment.  suspecting the shutdowns were due to a thermal issue (the G34 does not report temps in its admin GUI), i enabled bridge on the G34 and passed all traffic through to my wireless router with DHCP NAT enabled to let my router handle everything.  all i can say is that the G34 is running noticeably cooler since it really isn’t processing anything, and i haven’t had a connection drop in over 24 hours now.  i know that xFinity hasn’t done anything to the line or adjusted levels, so….. there’s this.  have any of you guys running full modem-router mode put a secondary external fan pointed at the G34/36 to see if there is any difference in connectivity running as modem/router mode, albeit at cooler temps?  i might be crazy, but i also might be onto something here.

i wonder if surfboard has any information or history with thermal issues specifically on their G34, G36, and S33 units?  curious minds would like to know.

so...me + G34 + xFinity/Comcast = a maybe

ok, i’m stumped, and please forgive me for replying to my own comment above, BUT i talked with arris and reported the problem i was having using the modem/router (vs ‘bridge enabled’ mode) combo function on my G34.  since the unit was still under warranty, they sent me a replacement.  i chatted up xFinity and they provisioned the new modem, i plugged it in, xFinity initialized the modem, pushed the 1.05 soft/firmware, rebooted it on their end….and voila...i am back up and running.  during my setup on the G34 (tweaked DNS, turned off UPnP, etc...), i tried it out with all features...modem + providing both 2.4 and 5 GHz networks...and everything worked fine and the modem didn’t get hot.  it worked just like it should.  i went ahead and switched to ‘bridge mode’ enabled since i run a small network on my router after the G34 (avoiding double NAT in the process).  i am 24+ hours into the uptime statistic and i have had zero drops or problems connecting.  hopefully, the brand new replacement modem will be reliable.

conclusion(s):  there were too many variables (xFinity remote support, xFinity on-site tech came out, arris remote support, replacement of modem) for me to be able to draw any firm conclusions.  all i know is that i now have a great connection.

I think that AFTER this update my g36 on xfinity stopped working properly, at least on the wifi. Ethernet connection is perfect at 1000mbs and no drops.

But the wifi is borked. Both the 2ghz and 5ghz have slower speeds and intermittent drops. Interestingly, the 2ghz is faster at ~50mbs down vs the 5ghz at ~15mbs. I have random ping spikes and disconnects on both.

In attempting to narrow down the issue, I’ve tried all the a/b/g/n/ac/ax settings. Specifically when set to ax, none of my devices are able to connect to the 5ghz (but still can to the 2ghz). This used to work fine, and was the reason I bought the g36 as ax is wifi 6e if I’m not mistaken. 

Before the update, I was getting 300+ mbs on 5ghz with a silky smooth connection. After, and currently, it’s borked 90% of the time. I’ve tried restarting, manual channel selection, etc etc etc. but the wifi only stays stable for maybe 30 minutes, usually less. Someone else on the forum seemed to have luck with a full factory reset which I’ll try tonight.

after i did a ‘factory reset’ on my old modem and enabled bridge mode to an older 2.4/5 GHz wifi router i had, my drops went down to about once per day.  i really think the intel p6/7 chipset (intel) that arris uses in both of these modems (G34 / G36) is the real culprit on being able to function as robust all-in-one modem/wifi routers.  mine was getting hot, as i mentioned above, and really think there were always thermal events going on (22 connected devices) due to load.  is your modem running hot?  also, do you have a router that you can run behind your G36 with bridge mode enabled to see if the number of disconnects decreases?  otherwise, get in touch with surfboard via chat for a replacement, assuming your modem is still under warranty.  otherwise, i would move on down the road to a broadcomm chipset modem with proven reliability.  that arris is still using intel puma chipsets is waaaayyyyyy beyond comprehension.  there is lots of good and recent info out there as to how bad these chipsets.

Hello @eellerto,

Some of our G36 users also experienced intermittent connectivity issue on their 5GHz SSID.  It was resolved by manually changing the 5GHz Wi-Fi channel to the least used channel.

https://arris.my.salesforce-sites.com/consumers/articles/General_FAQs/G34-G36-Changing-the-Wi-Fi-Channel

If Changing the 5GHz channel doesn’t work, try resetting the Wi-Fi to defaults.  As the last resort, do a full factory reset of the gateway.

Hello @rbleistein,

We’re sorry to hear about your experience with ARRIS support.  We normally provide a call back immediately after the call is disconnected if we’re able to gather your contact information.  Feel free to send me a private message if you need further assistance with your case.

Manually setting the channel to the least used did not solve my issues.

I did try the full factory reset and that _did_ solve the issues, at least so far. A couple days running without issue.

Thank you for the update.  I’ll ask other users to factory reset the Wi-Fi settings before the full factory reset.

Hello @JohnnyMacQ, thank you for the update.  We’re glad to see some positive outcome with your G34.

@SURFboard Support how do i send you a private message?

=============================================

Hello @rbleistein,

We’re sorry to hear about your experience with ARRIS support.  We normally provide a call back immediately after the call is disconnected if we’re able to gather your contact information.  Feel free to send me a private message if you need further assistance with your case.

How am I supposed to get the latest update when I have no internet connectivity at all since the last update?

The modem connects to the Internet and will get the latest update after a reboot.

Hello,

I'm seeing the same issues with Cox that was mentioned with Xfinity. Have had a G36 since January 2023 and for the first month worked great. Then the issues started, almost on a daily basis with a connected, no internet error. Arris support mentioned it was upstream power levels being too low and to have Cox increase those levels and re-register the G36.  

Tried multiple times and Cox sent techs to my house on two separate occasions. No luck and everything showed nominal from Cox's end. Went back to Arris and they sent me a new G36 as part of the warranty. New G36 again worked for a month and now I have to power cycle every other day when connection fails.  

This failure occurs on 5ghz and 2.4ghz. Both on wired and wireless connections. Have tried updating to different channels that are least used. Nothing works and have the issue at least every other day, typically in the middle of my work day.

Is this a known issue with Cox as well like it is with Xfinity? Anyone have additional information or how I might be able to finally fix issues with the G36?

Thanks for any help that can be provided, 

I purchased my Arris G36 in January of 2023. I have had intermittent connectivity issues that have progressively gotten worse and worse, especially within the last several weeks.

Reading these forums is pretty disheartening.

I spent over $300 on this modem, as a multi year investment. It was recommended by Xfinity, and I had previously used another Arris gateway, so i felt confident in my purchase.

The issue has been acknowledge and still not corrected, several months later. The updates here are vague, misleading and often aren’t real solutions, effectively telling people to ‘unplug it’ or ‘change the channel’

The biggest issue with the response from Arris and Xfinity here is that it’s being treated like a cosmetic blemish on a product and not a complete faulty experience with the entire purpose of the product.

This should have been corrected over 6 months ago, and the fact that it hasn’t speaks loudly for the competence and goals of this company.

Recall your faulty product if you can put out a real firmware update to address this issue without having to tell customers “change the channel” over and over.

I spoke with Arris support over the phone today.  Performed a 2nd factory reset and Changed some settings in the modem and it has stayed connected but has a couple times slowed down.  They said the firmware version I have is wrong and I have to talk to xfinity to get the update.  We will see how it goes when I call xfinity.  I talked to xfinity once already.  I was told that I also need to talk to xfinity about some power level setting that is not high enough.  I didn't have problems before and I had no trouble when I connected my old modem back up.

Starting to seem like a he said she said and no one is taking responsibility.  I have spent hours this week working on this and still not fixed.

I saw the note about a firmware update available by 12/14/2023. What is the firmware version for this update so I can check to see if I’ve received it yet? Has it even been released yet? I have rebooted my router several times to try and force the update, but I am still experiencing issues with G34 and Xfinity. Have to reboot the router daily up to this point. It works fine for a bit after rebooting, but then gradually degrades throughout the day until I’m getting less than 1mb downstream speeds and I have to reboot again. This is on the 2.4 band. I can’t even see the 5g band on any of my devices that are compatible with 5g, even after rebooting the router.

Has this issue been resolved with Xfinity? It’s now 12/22 and I continue to have the intermittent outages and the main 5G network disappears still. I’ve tried restarting the modem and that works for a little while. This is disappointing as this modem was on the Xfinity it’s approved list. Can you provide another update please? 

Can we please get an update on the status of the December firmware update? Has it been sent to Xfinity/Comcast? I’ve rebooted several times and am still on AR01.05.020.04.01_083123_735.NCS.20 , which appears to be the previous update pushed by Xfinity in November 2023. 

Hello, I’ve had many consistent issues with my Arris G36 and Xfinity

I used to have an issue where the 5GHz Wifi would drop off, only leaving the 2.4GHz. I enabled band steering which seemed to resolve this issue. Now I am facing an issue that sounds more like this one, where the Wifi stays up, but the internet drops every 5-10 minutes. 

I’ve checked my firmware and it’s AR01.04.028.01.01_040121_724.NCS.20.X2, which I believe is the old version. Do I need to reach out to Xfinity to have it upgraded?

Any updates on the December firmware update will be appreciated.

SURFboard Support wrote:

Thank you to the community members who have reported intermittent connectivity with their G34 and G36 devices on their Xfinity Internet service.  Recent Service Provider upgrades to their network for DOCSIS 3.1 higher upstream capabilities as well as preparation for DOCSIS 4.0 deployment have created possible issues with certain devices on certain upgraded networks – across all DOCSIS device manufacturers – that are impacting stability and performance. 

 

We are committed to resolving this matter.  We are working with Xfinity on a long-term solution to update the firmware and will provide an update when this is completed as soon as possible. 

 

In the meantime, the current workaround is to power cycle the G34 or G36 device to regain Internet connection.  We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work through this.

 

UPDATE 12/12/23: With the recent update to the firmware of our SURFboard G36 gateway - specifically updated to Xfinity users,  a potential Wi-Fi performance issue has been seen. Under certain conditions, the 5GHz band is no longer seen by client devices forcing client devices to connect to 2.4GHz band only.  We are working with Comcast Xfinity service and all other service providers to address the issue. We expect an update to be rolled out by Thursday December 14.  If you encounter an issue,  please restart the device for the update to take place directly. 

 

UPDATE 11/16/23: Xfinity is pushing firmware update version 01.05 to G34 and G36 units that are impacted by their network upgrade.   We expect the update to complete by the end of November.  You can find your firmware version on the Login page listed as Software Image Name.
 

 

 

Thank you for your patience.  

29/Jan/2024 : I am still facing the issue. I have been struggling with Arris for last one year. Arris replaced the modem but no use. Today I spoke to Xfinity and asked them to upgrade the firmware, mine is till with 01.04, the answer was xfinity can not upgrade third party devices. As per Arris customer support re-provisioning the device could upgrade the firmware. Xfinity support team tried but it does not upgrade firmware. Either xfinity is lying or Arris is lying. I asked both of them to escalate, fingers crossed

Nothing is fixed. Currently, I am having this problem with Xfinity Internet in San Francisco -- intermittent dropped connection with the ISP. Truth is, he G36 is not truly compatible with Xfinity. I would like a rebate or discount from Arris.