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Forum Discussion
WAX210 Firmware 1.1.0.34 Bug – SSID Password Complexity Incorrectly Enforced
Hi everyone — I’m seeing what looks like a firmware regression on the WAX210 after updating to v1.1.0.34, and I want to report it in case others are affected.
After updating, the AP now refuses to save any configuration changes (even unrelated ones like just renaming the Access Point). The UI throws this error:
SSID1: SSID passphrase length must be between 8 and 63 characters, and contain at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number, and one special symbol.
This happens even when the SSID password is not edited at all. The AP loads the existing (valid) WPA2/WPA3 passphrase and flags it as invalid due to a complexity requirement that didn’t exist before. This appears to be the AP Login Password complexity policy being mistakenly applied to SSID passphrases, which contradicts the official manual. SSID passwords for WPA2/WPA3 should only require 8–63 characters.
Reproduction Steps
- Update WAX210 to firmware 1.1.0.34
- Log into the web interface
- Make any change (example: AP Name only)
- Click Apply
The SSID password complexity error appears, even though SSID settings were untouched
Impact. The AP cannot accept any configuration changes unless the SSID password is replaced with a much more complex passphrase. This forces a complete re-key of all connected devices.
Expected Behavior
Per the WAX210 User Manual, SSID passphrases should be valid with:
- 8 to 63 characters
- No requirements for uppercase/lowercase/digits/symbols
- Those rules worked correctly in previous firmware versions.
Current Workaround
Rolling back to firmware 1.1.0.25 or 1.1.0.20 fully resolves the issue.
Request
Can Netgear please confirm whether this is a regression in 1.1.0.34 and escalate to the firmware engineering team? This issue effectively prevents configuration of the device.
I can provide:
- Screenshots of the error dialog
- A configuration backup
- A short video showing the issue
- Exact hardware revision and serial if needed
Thanks in advance.
16 Replies
Hi Brett / Dash16,
This was reported (by me) as Case Number — 49666138
- undefined
This definitely sounds like a firmware regression in v1.1.0.34. If the SSID passphrase was already valid and unchanged, the AP shouldn’t block unrelated configuration updates. It really does seem like the admin password complexity policy is being incorrectly applied to Wi-Fi SSIDs.
Good catch on testing older firmware versions too the rollback results strongly point to a bug introduced in .34 rather than a configuration issue. Hopefully Netgear can reproduce this quickly since your steps are very clear and consistent. Thanks for documenting the workaround as well.
The bug is present in WAX210 firmware v1.1.0.31 (as well a v1.1.0.34).
Reverting to v1.1.0.25 removes the erroneous restrictions on wi-fi passphrases, but then we're missing out on all the bug-fixes which were delivered in firmwares v.1.1.0.28, v1.1.0.31 and v1.1.0.34.
v1.1.0.34 alone introduced at least 16 different bug-fixes.
Netgear have published source-code for v1.1.0.28 and v1.1.0.31, but no Release Notes that I can find.
Do any Netgear staff look at this forum or are we just customers talking amongst ourselves?
Do any Netgear staff look at this forum or are we just customers talking amongst ourselves?
Once upon a time, senior community members (not Netgear reps) were involved in Beta testing of these Business and Business Essential APs.
Netgear does not care about the work we had done for free (resp. at the cost of a sample, and overseas shipping) anymore.
It's not the first time this (and very similar issues) appeared on earlier Business Essential APs. That's the price we pay for low-cost developers, non-existing QA, obviously carelessly implemented features, run by a awful OEM, and not controlled by Netgear.
The complete absence of Netgear engineering, QA, and customer support here says it all.
Have you tried going back to V1.1.0.25 be chance to see if this still happens?
Can we have an update on a fix for this, please Netgear? It's been nearly 6 months since this bug was reported here...
The V1.1.0.34 firmware has a lot of useful bug fixes which we can't benefit from because it also imposes this inappropriate restriction on wi-fi passphrases.
Hi, thanks for bringing this up - I am confirming the status of this internally. For issues like this we would always strongly advise to raise a ticket to ensure it follows the correct procedures and escalations internally. Please do let me know if you have sinces raised one so I can follow up with the support team.
Raise a ticket how?
Don't know what happened there. Feels almost like Netgear cancelled the contract with that OEM, because the were not able to fulfil the basic requirements.
Happened before on what was sold in the market as BR500 and BR200 (with just some functions removed, then renamed, and dropped finally in a very incomplete development state. And the customers were left back alone, with a tiny certificate update a while ago to overcome the Netgear Insight Cloud could no longer talk to these devices...
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