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Forum Discussion
GrimOne
Oct 19, 2025Follower
Stuck in a dilemma in regards to Knighthawk configuration and management
After almost five decades of working in the comp tech industry I developed an eye condition limiting my ability to utilize technology. In particular, mobile tech. Besiides the fact that I have worked for far too long in tech to trust any mobile device. (Yes, I ran cfw on all my phones that could support it)
And just in case you are concerned that my device was the limiting factor, I attempted it on 5 different devices with 3 different OS's not including my wife's cell which is stock Samsung and still couldn't found the app unusable.
So, mobile apps are out as they are illegible.
Great, I attempted the alternative methods via web config and management on the PC. Yet there is a problem there as well. To get my PC screen semi-usable with my eye limitations it makes quite a few website features difficult if not impossible to use. (IE: on the http://www.netgear.com website, without fiddling around with the display settings, I can't see half the links at the top. "NETGEAR", Search, Account and cart don't exist unless I happen to float over them. Didn't even know they were there until I accidentally hovered over one of them and I saw it highlight.) Going to attempt to attach a screen shot so you can see an example of what I put up with just trying to do some basic things on a comnputer. This makes the web admin difficult to use as there are quite few options that the toggle or check box doesn't show or doesn't indicate when it has been activated even when it does show or links that I don't even know if they might exist.
Now that we have taken a basic look at my issue with continued use of technology (it's almost masochistic that I keep trying to use tech at this point)(I get a headache within an hour of two of trying to force myself to read a computer screen.
Genie, although not as streamlined at this point and currenlty discontinued, was at least usable and I would have probably continued to use if I didn't have to upgrade to Windows 11 (FU MS for not supporting slighter older procs even on a system that fully supported tpm 2.0), and also didn't have to upgrade my wi-fi router as my previous one EOS'd earlier this month.
So, main points:
Can't use Mobile App.
Web Admin slightly more usable but limited for monitoring as I would have to log in routinely as opposed to having an app on my pc to monitor and config
The app that was usable is dicontinued.
I didn't see anything for any form of third party standardized management such as SNMPv3 while going through the web admin. (did I miss it?)
Base overall query:
Any chance there is an updated "Genie" in the works?
Is there any other alternatives I should attempt to look at?
Barring a positive workable answer to the two previous questions, I will have to hunt for an alternative solution and circular file my most recent netgear purchase and discontinue my relationship with the company.
Thanks for your time, consideration and overall patience,
-G
P.S. if you look at the attached image, you shoudl see what I am referring to in regards to apparent missing links such as search, account and cart.
1 Reply
- CrimpOnGuru - Experienced User
When Netgear decided to remove Remote Management from WiFi routers in favor of the smartphone app, they did not remove OpenVPN access.
If OpenVPN server is enabled on the Nighthawk router, that makes it possible to use an OpenVPN client on a computer to gain remote access to the Nighthawk LAN. Being on the LAN enabled aess to the Nighthawk web management. I have used OpenVPN Client on smartphone, tablet, Windows Laptop, Linux laptop to access my Netgear WiFi router remotely.