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Forum Discussion
coyote3
Jul 26, 2019Guide
RAX120 spontaneously disabled wifi & router password
My RAX120's wifi and router password (including the default password "password") suddenly stopped working. So I reset the router password (with the serial number); when I then tried restoring the...
Christian_R
Jul 29, 2019NETGEAR Employee Retired
Hi coyote3 - Thanks for getting back so soon! Feel free to reach out if I can be of any assistance.
~Christian
coyote3
Jul 30, 2019Guide
I discovered how to replicate(ish) the issue.
(I remembered that the first time, it started after I very very gently moved the router from one spot on a shelf to another. Instead of doing this, today my experiment was to give the router a very very gentle /shake/. Just a bit, really, just gently as to to approximate the original gentle repositioning. Then I made sure all cables were firmly connected...)
This time the issue was expressed a little differently. First I noticed that I had no Internet connection. Not just to computers connected by ethernet, but also for my wifi devices (which this time remained on wifi, but with no Internet).
So I turned off and rebooted, in order, my cablemodem, my RAX120, and then my computers. Still no Internet. So I logged into my RAX120 (this time not just the settings but the password also persisted), and found Internet wasn't connected; so right when I got in on the Basic tab I clicked the (IIRC) Red "Internet not connected" button and it connected after a couple minutes.
So. I think something is loose inside, and was when I got it because it's nothing I did, I treat my devices with ridiculous gentleness. I hope I can get Netgear to send me a new one then send this lemon back (since my last router died).
- coyote3Jul 30, 2019Guide
p.s. Wow this is frustrating; when I called for an RMA, because it's a "Premium Product" they need to transfer me to "Premium Support"; they've been trying to transfer me for 2 hours now and I'm losing hope. They also seem flumoxed by the unorthodoxy of my ('something lose inside') issue and seem unwilling to not run through a canned set of (thus irrelevant) troubleshooting steps.
- coyote3Jul 30, 2019Guide
Wow this is weird. (Now it's 4 hours after I got on the phone with Netgear Warranty Support, and...)
A Level 2 Support rep phoned me back and let me grab a beta firmware V1.0.1.89; now when I jostle the router the issue does not replicate!
(And beause I am so astonished that flashing any firmware could resolve an issue I had been able to replicate by jostling, I jostled/shook the router quite firmly for a good while. And will make sure to again from time to time over the 250 days remaining under warranty.)
In my lifetime as an IT Pro this is one of the weirdest device troubleshooting episodes I've ever had.
- Christian_RJul 31, 2019NETGEAR Employee Retired
Hello coyote3,
Thank you for the updates. Glad to hear you were able to get in contact with support and grab a beta firmware. How's the router doing so far? Looking forward to hearing more updates on this!
~Christian