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Netgear Router
First time here. Looking forward to learning from others. Recently purchased this Netgear router on Amazon: NETGEAR Nighthawk WiFi 6 Router (R6700AX) AX1800, 1.8Gbps Wireless Speed, Dual-Band Gi...
Invest a few $$ in some color coded Ethernet cables. Make sure they are rated for Cat 6 or better.
The back of your new router has a Wide Area Network (WAN) port that is color coded yellow. The Ethernet cable connected to that port leads back to the output of your modem. Use a yellow cable for that connection and no other connection.
Because I am not currently using my new Nighthawk router to connect all my devices within my home, I do not know what firmware is loaded.
Frontier High Speed Internet is the owner of the separate modem which connects my devices to the Internet. There is no manufacturer listed on the label on the bottom, it shows only "XGS-PON ONT" and "Made in China." It also shows a serial number (FTRO2712FC2D).
When I initially set up my Netgear router, I did not use the Nighthawk app, I keyboarded all the information for adding a new network (network name, security key), and even though that information was not the same as the information for the Arris NVG443B router supplied to me by Frontier, I was somehow able to connect all my devices to the Internet.
It was using the Nighthawk app that, IMHO, messed things up, and they are still messed up. I uninstalled and reinstalled the app this morning, and I have not done anything with it.
I have followed the power off and on steps you have followed with the exception of unplugging the modem. I did that about a year ago, and when I plugged it back in, it did not connect to the Internet. When I called my ISP, they said the soonest they could send a techician out was in three weeks. I ended up getting a friend who is a retired computer programmer come to come and sort things out.
I am very unhappy that I have had so many problems with my Netgear router. I would not recommend purchase of one to anybody who asks. The documentation that comes in the box is not clear; the PDF files that can be downloaded with specification information is too wordy; and there is no online tutorial specific to the router that I purchased.
If I get it running and connected to my ISP, it will be because I personally know a computer programmer with forty years' experience, not because I have an app on my phone.
I appreciate your taking time to respond. I also appreciate information from other community members about the kinds of cables I should use to connect my router to my modem. The cables I have are top of the line flat grey cables that work with my Arris router very well and support 5G so that upload and download speeds are 500 Mb/s.
I am just disappointed that Netgear cannot provide average users like me with dead simple documentation that lists how to set a router up step by step without all the fancy bells and whistles.
For the sake of this discussion, I will say that my problem has been solved in terms of better understanding what all the issues are. And I will give kudos because you took so much time and effort to clarify what Netgear has not.
entwyf wrote:
The documentation that comes in the box is not clear; the PDF files that can be downloaded with specification information is too wordy
The trouble is that Netgear provides either the fat manual or an app for those with no knowledge of how routers work or interest in reading the manual. And the manual manages to hide the simplest of operations behind piles of mostly redundant junk.
I am just disappointed that Netgear cannot provide average users like me with dead simple documentation that lists how to set a router up step by step without all the fancy bells and whistles.
The key instructions take up just two pages in the 146-page manual. They are in the section Use a web browser to access the router.
There is an on-line guide that applies to most routers, but it is well hidden in a cloud of stuff for people who want to do things that are more fancy.
and there is no online tutorial specific to the router that I purchased.
The R6700AX isn't special. In most cases you don't need device specific they are the same.
How do I install my NETGEAR router using the router web interface? - NETGEAR Support
I fear that Netgear is not alone in this approach. All routers have to be introduced to the Internet and most take a similar approach.
Just another user with time on their hands.
michaelkenward, I appreciate YOUR clear writing and explanations. Thank you fo explaining what the official documentation for my router has not explained at all.
I wish there could be a way that Netgear advertising people and technical writers and designers could get together and truly create the seamless user experience their various advertisements hint at. Maybe some day.
I am now online for sure because, this afternoon, as I was sifting through all my papers, a phone number on a piece of paper fell out, a phone number I did not see until this afternoon.
I called the number and spoke with a tech support person named Leah. I started the whole setup process from scratch and was online in an hour and fifteen minutes. I won't have to stay up until one a.m. again.
Again, thanks for willingness of people in this forum to share what they have learned through trial and error.