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Solved
MR60 won't respond after a power outage
I’ve got a Nighthawk Mesh system with an MR-60 and two satellites. My cable modem connected to the MR-60 is a Netgear CM 400.
My home suffered 12-hour-plus power interruption. Unlike prior power outages, when the power came back this time, the wifi system didn’t come back up as well. The MR-60 and satellites are plugged in properly, but the MR-60 shows a flashing white LED.
(Firmware was set for auto-updates, and I don’t know what the most recent version is. Currently, I can’t get enough response out of the MR-60 to check.)
I tried reaching it via the Nighthawk app. Initially it wouldn’t connect and the error message directed me to shut off my phone’s cellular data, which I did via airplane mode on all but wifi. The new error message on the app is, “We can’t find an internet connection.”
Modem indicators looked sound, so I plugged a laptop directly into the modem and the laptop immediately connected to the internet. Replugged the ethernet cable back into the MR-60, saw a brief change to LEDs on both modem and MR-60, and then back to the flashing white LED on the MR-60. Tried unpowering both, letting sit for over 5 minutes, repowering the modem to allow it to reboot (all good, internet connected), then repowering the MR-60. White flashing LED still.
Also tried plugging laptop into the MR-60’s second ethernet port with the MR-60 still connected to the modem to see if the laptop could access internet through the MR-60 without resorting to wifi -- and it’s got no internet access. Laptop via ethernet cable straight into the modem again: Internet just fine.
Tried the Nighthawk app again (still on airplane mode, with only wifi on), “We can’t find an internet connection.” Tried reloading the app, just in case. Same result.
Resorted to hitting the factory reset button at the back of the MR-60. No joy. Repeated much of the troubleshooting above. No joy…still the flashing white LED.
I’m out of troubleshooting approaches, and can’t find any other options on Netgear's site. Two hours in queue on the chat line: no response. Not sure why the original power outage would cook the MR-60, but it’s not responding to the cel phone app, and I can’t get internet access through it even via ethernet lines. Suggestions? Is this two-year-old router toast?
Last resort to try on the initial MR60 is a 30-30-30 reset to see if it might recover it. If that fails, glad the replacement is working.
Please mark your thread as solved so others will know. Be sure to save off a back up configuration to file for safe keeping. Saves time if a reset is needed.
https://kb.netgear.com/24231/How-do-I-back-up-the-router-configuration-settings-on-my-Nighthawk-router
Enjoy. 📡
5 Replies
Please post a copy and paste of the CM modems connection status and event log page.
https://kb.netgear.com/30007/How-do-I-obtain-the-cable-connection-information-from-a-NETGEAR-cable-modem-modem-router
https://kb.netgear.com/30008/How-do-I-view-or-clear-the-event-logs-on-my-NETGEAR-cable-modem-or-modem-routerPossible that something with the modem or ISP service could be bad. Power OFF the CM modem for 30 seconds then back ON.
Can you disconnect the MR from the CM modem and then factory reset the MR by pressing the reset button in back for 10 seconds then release. Just have one wired PC connected to the MR. After about two minutes, can you access the MRs web page in MS Edge or Firefox browser at 192.168.1.1? If you can walk thru the setup routine and get to the home screen. By pass any process to have the MR check for internet. Select the manual setup option. If you can get to the home screen let us know the FW version seen here.
OldSteelBike wrote:
My home suffered 12-hour-plus power interruption. Unlike prior power outages, when the power came back this time, the wifi system didn’t come back up as well. The MR-60 and satellites are plugged in properly, but the MR-60 shows a flashing white LED.
The first thing to try after a power cut is the network reboot.
Be sure to restart your network in this sequence:- Turn off and unplug modem.
- Turn off router and computers.
- Plug in and turn on modem. Wait 2 minutes for it to connect.
- Turn on the router and wait 2 minutes for it to connect.
- Turn on computers and rest of network.
Unfortunately, your later moves may have messed up the system, especially the reset. After that you must go through the setup for everything process all over again.
If the power cut was down to a storm, lightning is good at killing electronics. If the Power LEDs on your router and modem aren't as expected – you don't say – you may be in deeper trouble. The sort of thing that storms can do, it means that your firmware is bust.
The flashing white LED is a bad sign.
You may be in TFTP country.
How to upload firmware to a NETGEAR router using Windows TFTP | Answer | NETGEAR Support
This isn't the easiest operation, so if you are forced to use it, you could try a web search to find videos that guide you through the process.
("Associated Products" line for this message chosen randomly, as the MR60 Mesh Router isn't coming up as an option.)
Thanks for the tips! I tried again unsuccessfully to reach the internet via a laptop wired into the MR60, with the MR60 wired to the modem and the modem showing an internet connection itself.
The ethernet cables are fine, usable in other capacities. A borrowed replacement unit responded promptly with everything else working.
The issue is within the MR60 itself; it's not seeing the internet out of the modem, and it's not recognizing the Nighthawk app via wifi. I simply can't reach it. A buddy with much more hardware experience had a go at reaching it and also gave up. You're getting this message through a replacement system.
The next inquiry asked after the source of the power outage, and my apologies for not noting that in the first message. A plumber was working just behind my residence among the roots of a 10-story-tall conifer. That tree was planted, ridiculously, next to most of the utility lines that feed part of my condo complex. (Cable connection to the modem and the modem and router themselves come to the building on the other side of the residence.) The plumber was trying to find and address a water leak, and had even marked out with the local gas and electric supplier where the adjacent power/gas lines were supposed to run. Except all that was 55 years ago, when the 10-story tree was a mere sapling placed in an incredibly stupid location. Today, the roots of that tree have gently nudged all those lines around, and the plumber went through the electrical line to roughly 60 units, as well as the gas line to my place specifically, in a hole in dirt that was saturated with water. Nobody was hurt, happily, but a platoon of utility crews got in some overtime. Oh, and it bricked my MR60 after 26 months' use.
Thanks for pitching in, FURRYe38
Again using a random product.
Just read my last reply as posted, and it looks nothing like the draft text. Really?
Short answer: The MR60 is bricked. A test replacement in the same setup worked fine, the MR60 in a different environment still could not be reached.
The power failure was a set of underground utility lines cut by a plumber, as a tree's roots moved them over 50 years.
A replacement unit is in and working fine now, and how I'm posting this message.
