RAX45 invalid firmware 1.0.17.144

The first firmware for this product was issued on 4/1/2020, which makes the router six years old.  Disappointing that Netgear has declared it End of Service, but C'est La Vie.  (You only got three years, but some customers got six.)

Something odd definitely seems to be going on.  Just recently, there was a post about firmware for the RAX43 being rejected as involid, and now you with the RAX45.

Invalid Firmware error | NETGEAR Communities

My sense is, "You're screwed."

• You cannot open a support case with Netgear
• The hardware warranty has expired

However, there appears to be no reason to panic.  As long as the system is working OK, spend some time investigating what you would replace it with when you feel "it's time."  For example, if you get new WiFi devices that support WiFi7 or the 6G WiFi band.

p.s. it is pretty obvious that this situation makes no sense.  When uploading a firmware file, the device performs some checks to see if it is acceptable, including things like (a) the total size of the file, and (b) perhaps one or more checksums. There are only two ways that a firmware update could be declared "invalid":

1. The file is actually damaged.  i.e. somebody made an error when assembling the file and the checksum is incorrect or some other check wasn't done correctly.  or...
2. The software in the device that examines the firmware file is faulty.  It looks at the firmware file and declares it invalid when it is is not invalid.

But, this makes no sense.  Even the most primitive Quality Assurance step would be to install the new firmware on an existing RAX router and verify that it loads.  This leads to a suspicion that (a) the firmware loaded correctly in the lab, but (b) when Netgear created the package for users to download, something went wrong. (and no one since Oct, 2025 has become aware of it!)