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WAC 510 Firmware Upgrades
I have two Netgear WAC 510 acess points (AP) connected to a Nighthawk R7000 wireless router. My two APs are connected and powered by POE to a 48 port Netgear switch. Everything is working fine whic...
Why didn't the hardware automatically get those updates as they came out an apply them?
Might be because this is a commercial product (rather than residential) and corporate network managers prefer to have control over devices on the network. Page 187 of the User Manual desccribes the process to update firmware, and there is no mention of an "automatic" feature. Also, these Access Points are designed to be managed with the Netgear Insight app, which requires a subscription.
If it's not broke, don't fix it. Should I just leave things alone and wait a year until I am ready to upgrade to WiFi 7?
Good question. If "everything works fine", why look for problems?
If there is a reason to take on this firmware upgrade task (times two APs), is there an easier way to get from 4.0.7.3 to 9.9.6.8 than applying each update in order?
Perhaps it would be useful to open the Release Notes page for each of those 56 updates (OMG) and look for:
- Any indication that a firmware release was designed specifically to bridge a situation which prevented a firmware update from working correctly. (The original Orbi RBR50 firmware was programmed with a limitation on firmware size. Any firmware image larger than that size would be rejected. Netgear issued a special firmware update solely to fix that issue. Users wanting to update from very old versions had to apply that specific firmware and then they could jump "all the way" to the most recent.)
- An update that addressed a specific problem that seems important.
- As the User Manual describes, you could always attempt to "jump to the most recent" and if it goes bad, then manually reinstall 4.0.7.3
A lot of us are in a similar quandary. We have ancient WiFi5 systems and while those dozens of IoT gizmos could care less, our houses are filling up with phones, tablets, laptops, and even desktops that support WiFi6, WiFi6E, and even WiFi7. Since a change, even to WiFi6, is a "fork lift upgrade" (replacing the entire installation), it is a major decision.
Why didn't the hardware automatically get those updates as they came out an apply them?
Might be because this is a commercial product (rather than residential) and corporate network managers prefer to have control over devices on the network. Page 187 of the User Manual desccribes the process to update firmware, and there is no mention of an "automatic" feature. Also, these Access Points are designed to be managed with the Netgear Insight app, which requires a subscription.
If it's not broke, don't fix it. Should I just leave things alone and wait a year until I am ready to upgrade to WiFi 7?
Good question. If "everything works fine", why look for problems?
If there is a reason to take on this firmware upgrade task (times two APs), is there an easier way to get from 4.0.7.3 to 9.9.6.8 than applying each update in order?
Perhaps it would be useful to open the Release Notes page for each of those 56 updates (OMG) and look for:
- Any indication that a firmware release was designed specifically to bridge a situation which prevented a firmware update from working correctly. (The original Orbi RBR50 firmware was programmed with a limitation on firmware size. Any firmware image larger than that size would be rejected. Netgear issued a special firmware update solely to fix that issue. Users wanting to update from very old versions had to apply that specific firmware and then they could jump "all the way" to the most recent.)
- An update that addressed a specific problem that seems important.
- As the User Manual describes, you could always attempt to "jump to the most recent" and if it goes bad, then manually reinstall 4.0.7.3
A lot of us are in a similar quandary. We have ancient WiFi5 systems and while those dozens of IoT gizmos could care less, our houses are filling up with phones, tablets, laptops, and even desktops that support WiFi6, WiFi6E, and even WiFi7. Since a change, even to WiFi6, is a "fork lift upgrade" (replacing the entire installation), it is a major decision.
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