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Forum Discussion
skyking22141
Jul 30, 2023Aspirant
RAX20 login timed out
I've tried changing the password several times, but those passwords do not work. The only way I can currently access my router is via routerlogin.net, but this log in does not give me the ability to...
- Aug 07, 2023
I did some more playing around, and I now believe that because the RAX20 is an older model of router, that Netgear Genie will no longer work as it was intended. I did login using "routerlogin.net" and have been able to get the password changed to one the router now recognized. I was able to get everything changed that I needed to, so I am happy about that. Thanks for all your assistance with this problem. You can close this ticket now.
Regards,
Paul
Kitsap
Aug 07, 2023Master
skyking22141 wrote:My computer is a desktop.
I have the WiFi set in router settings to auto connect, but I can't change that either
if I can't get the router to accept a password. When I reset the router to factory
default, shouldn't that have made the password "password" for router settings?
Thanks for explaining what the "sleep mode" actually does to WiFi. There has to
be a way to set the router setting password. I'll do some more research.
Progress is being made. Is you computer running Windows 10 or 11?
When you reset your RAX20, there is one password (password) used to access the user interface via a web browser. You will be prompted to change that on your first login. Before you can get in to the user settings, there is a password required to connect your computer to the router Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi password is located on the nameplate on your device.
On a recent manufacturer desktop computer, it is not likely you use a USB type Wi-Fi adapter. The power saving settings on your computer Wi-Fi are located in the control panel under device manager. This is a computer setting, not a router setting.
skyking22141
Aug 07, 2023Aspirant
I did some more playing around, and I now believe that because the RAX20 is an older model of router, that Netgear Genie will no longer work as it was intended. I did login using "routerlogin.net" and have been able to get the password changed to one the router now recognized. I was able to get everything changed that I needed to, so I am happy about that. Thanks for all your assistance with this problem. You can close this ticket now.
Regards,
Paul
- KitsapAug 08, 2023Master
Glad you got it working. Most likely the other way around, the Genie program is older than your RAX20.
- michaelkenwardAug 08, 2023Guru - Experienced User
skyking22141 wrote:
I did some more playing around, and I now believe that because the RAX20 is an older model of router, that Netgear Genie will no longer work as it was intended.
If anything, this is the other way round. The desktop genie predates the RAX range by a long way.
Netgear has tried to kill the desktop genies and has hidden the download in the depths of the website, well away from the support pages for individual devices.
Find the "latest" version here.
genie | Product | Support | NETGEAR
The genie still works. even with newer routers in the MK range.
There are though, and always have been, limitations in what the genie can do. Managing passwords is not something that I would throw at the genie.
I did login using "routerlogin.net" and have been able to get the password changed to one the router now recognized. I was able to get everything changed that I needed to, so I am happy about that.That has always been the best way to manage the router's settings.
The genie is good for things like the Network Map (clickable links even), which is better than anything the router itself can deliver, and managing wifi connections.
One fly in the ointment may be that the desktop genie hitches a ride on the link to MyNetgear. Who knows how this changed when Netgear killed ReadCLOUD, which also used that link?
- skyking22141Aug 08, 2023Aspirant
Thanks for the info on "end of life" for the Genie router. Netgear should have sent out a message letting users, who have "Network Genie" that it is no longer supported. That's a problem in today's world. Everything has a shorter "life cycle" so they make you upgrade to a new product rather than supporting the older ones. I worked in computers for 40+ years so I know that companies do not like to spend money on MAINTENANCE of equipment. They would rather just "junk it" and make the customer have to buy another one (hopefully) of their products.
Regards,
Paul
- michaelkenwardAug 08, 2023Guru - Experienced User
skyking22141 wrote:
Thanks for the info on "end of life" for the Genie router. Netgear should have sent out a message letting users, who have "Network Genie" that it is no longer supported.
I think they did that quite some years ago. The date on the final version of the genie is 2020.
Killing the desktop genie came after they euthanised the mobile genie and replaced it with the Nighthawk app.
Sadly, as you say, maintenance isn't a priority. When Netgear killed the mobile genie it failed to write the firmware updates needed for many routers to use the Nighthawk app.
- skyking22141Aug 09, 2023Aspirant
Two last quick questions. The recommendation from Netgear is to use the "Nighthawk App" for all access to my router. What is the life cycle of my RAX20, and when will upgrades cease on this router? Also, can I download that App to my desktop and access the App from my desktop, or does that App only work on a smartphone?
Again, thank you for your patience and assistance in responding to this issue!
Paul
- michaelkenwardAug 10, 2023Guru - Experienced User
skyking22141 wrote:
The recommendation from Netgear is to use the "Nighthawk App" for all access to my router.
That is the simple way of going about things. Experienced users, or anyone who knows how to use a browser, might do better to use the browser graphical user interface (GUI). It gives you more control over the device.
Also, can I download that App to my desktop and access the App from my desktop, or does that App only work on a smartphone?It depends on which app you have in mind (Android or iOS), what your operating system (Widows version?) is and how much you are prepared to play around.
There is no a desktop version of the apps, but there are ways to create a "virtual machine" environment to run Android apps in Windows 11. (At the moment it is a suggested way of getting using Threads on a PC.)
As already suggested (see above), depending on what you want to do, there is also the old (and pensioned off by Netgear) desktop genie.
Netgear is trying to kill this useful utility, but for the time being you can find it here:
genie | Product | Support | NETGEAR
Be warned that the genie installation file is wrapped up in a RAR archive that you have to decompress.
What is the life cycle of my RAX20, and when will upgrades cease on this router?You'll have to ask Netgear, but that isn't the sort of information that it is keen to hand out.