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Forum Discussion
Montagu
May 02, 2017Guide
Parental Controls - Checking Router Firmware
Hi We have bought a Nighthawk R7000 specifically for the Parental Controls feature. This is for a business who wish to block users from accessing certain websites during business hours. But, 2 us...
- Aug 01, 2017
Hello All-
It seems Netgear finally fixed this issue...or at least I was able to solve it:
First, download the new firmware, 1.0.3.48.
Loggin into my router through the web interface (198.162.1.1), it did not find the new firmware (go figure). I had to manually download and install it. It can be found here:
https://kb.netgear.com/000044717/R8000-Firmware-Version-1-0-3-48
Once you have the new firmware installed, you'll then need to activate Parental Controls. You can't do this through the web interface. If you try, it will take you to the Netgear page to download their awful Genie App. If you try to use the Genie app, it will tell you do not have the proper firmware!
To solve this, I used the iOS app to enable Parental Controls. I don't know why they were disabled...they were set before, but regardless, you'll need to enable them. In the past, the iOS Genie app would not allow me to log in to my OpenDNS account, which I had already set up. But this time it worked as expected. However, the filter settings I had already established were not listed, so I needed to reapply the filtering (Custom) settings. Once I checked the Enable button, I logged out, waited a few minutes for the settings to filter through, and finally, went to a website I knew should be blocked and it was.
Good luck!
Jamie_M
Jun 15, 2017Guide
I'm having the same issue and am unable to access Parental Controls for the same reason as the OP, whether I try accessing them on my Mac via Genie, or via iOS. Would really love to get to the bottom of this.
- DexterJBJun 19, 2017NETGEAR Moderator
Hi all,
The case is currently being worked on. We will provide an update once available.
Regards,
Dexter
Community Team
- Jamie_MJun 19, 2017Guide
Thank you Dexter. I really think there's a Firmware issue going here. I reset my R8000 to factory defaults over the weekend. Even still, I was unable to access the Parental Controls portion of the Genie app, getting the same
"Checking Router Firmware
We're making sure you have firmware that supports Live Parental Controls.
It looks like you might not be connecting to the internet through a supported NETGEAR router........."
message as others have reported, which is untrue as I was, in fact, connected to the internet. Again, this is with the latest Firmware, 1.0.4.36.
- TechsnifferJun 19, 2017Aspirant
Dexter,
And how long do you guys need to address this issue, it's literally been months and this tired canned response is getting old. We pay a premium price point for hardware and thanks to the horrible software we can't even access the router with it and functions are tied to certain checks, which are also rendered useless.
Why don't you provide a REAL answer, or better yet an actual timeline when this will be fixed, because this "It's being worked on" garbage has gotten really old.
- thrinowichJul 02, 2017Aspirant
I am having the same issue that has been going on for months as well. I was told that this is the "premium" router to purchase at Best Buy and I can't get acces to the Parental Controls. Are you kidding me??? Seriously, what good is it if basic controls are unavailable.