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Forum Discussion
phands
Oct 01, 2025Aspirant
Does the Orbi 970 series allow SSH or Telnet access?
Hi everyone,
I just got a new Wifi 7 setup - 2 970 satellites and an RBE971 router. I upgraded from some fairly old (5 year) Orbi models, and they have always been fantastic.
I'm used to being able to SSH or Telnet into the boxes via the hidden pages, but they no longer seem to exist for the 970 series.
Is my suspicion that it's no longer possible correct?
I'd love to be wrong!
Paul
When the WiFi6 product line was introduced, command line access to the router was not included as a feature. (not even a 'hidden' feature) Some time ago, Netgear removed telnet access from the WiFi5 models. (there is an unsupported 'hack' that restores telnet on those models.)
Like the WiFi6 products, the WiFi7 products also do not provide command line access to the router.
Bummer.
5 Replies
- CrimpOnGuru - Experienced User
Command line access (either telnet or ssh) is a valuable tool when trying to understand the router and when troubleshooting "issues". The only alternative appears to be opening the case, connecting the Terminal Pins on the circuit board to a USB-TL device, and using ssh. (For the RBR750 product, see this "How To":
Obviously, this is not something the casual (or beginner) user is likely to attempt.)
- phandsAspirant
I also imagine that opening the case and connecting the USB device would instantly invalidate your warranty! As my 970 setup is only 2 weeks old, I won't be doing that any time soon!
I'm sure there are some hidden pages for factory debug that we don't know about yet. I'm going to have to see if I can figure out how to see what's there with something like wget.
- CrimpOnGuru - Experienced User
When the WiFi6 product line was introduced, command line access to the router was not included as a feature. (not even a 'hidden' feature) Some time ago, Netgear removed telnet access from the WiFi5 models. (there is an unsupported 'hack' that restores telnet on those models.)
Like the WiFi6 products, the WiFi7 products also do not provide command line access to the router.
Bummer.
- phandsAspirant
Thanks for the quick reply! I won't really miss telnet, but SSH is a good way to explore the machines. It was also a good way to find hidden pages by inspecting the web server directory setup. I used that on the older boxes to add more device types and icons for connected devices such as air conditioners.
- FURRYe38Guru - Experienced User
Telnet was removed from all Orbi systems back in 2020/21 going forward.