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Forum Discussion
maltiopr
Oct 20, 2025Aspirant
RAX40 SSID changed to "Netgear53" after firmware update
Tittle says it all. I had not used the router in a month. When I started it up, it wasn't connecting nor letting me access it. I performed a factory reset and that did the trick. I was able to change my admin password, but did not change the ssid nor the password for it. The app indicated that a firmware update was necessary. I downloaded it, but during its install, it started to flash red. That lasted for an hour. At which point I rebooted the router. It still was just flashing red. So I performed another fr. Everything looked great. Until I noticed that the SSID had been changed to NETGEAR53??? I noticed that there are other posts with the same problem and no relevant information to resolve this issue. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
8 Replies
- CrimpOnGuru - Experienced User
maltiopr wrote:
I performed a factory reset and that did the trick
Factory Reset erases all user settings and restores the WiFi credentials to those printed on the product label. If the label shows an SSID of NETGEAR53, then the WiFi password is whatever is printed on the label.
- FURRYe38Guru - Experienced User
FW update shouldn't change the custom SSID name to default. If it did, possible some odd behavior or maybe did a reset accidently or some unknown anomaly.
Doing any kind of factory reset on the router WILL change the SSID name from custom back to factory defaults. So NETGEAR53 would be default for your router that you have.
I'd save off a backup config to file after you have the router set up. Just in case something happens again, you can quickly get it set back up.
What version of the RAX40 do you have? v1 or v2? FW you posted is out of date and will be more recent versions of FW.
- maltioprAspirant
I purchased it in 2019. So I can only assume its v1?
- FURRYe38Guru - Experienced User
Might check into more recent versions of FW here: https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rax40/#download
- maltioprAspirant
Forgot to mention that the update was v1.0.3.62