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Forum Discussion
Why no firmware updates for C7800 Nighthawk
Netgear website says no firmware available for C7800 (AC3200) Nighthawk cable modem/router. Why not? Thanks.
Because Netgear does not control firmware on cable modems.
If your firmware is outdated, you cannot manually upgrade your cable modem’s or modem router’s firmware. You must contact your Internet service provider (ISP) to upgrade your firmware.
While the updates to a modem/router are pushed out via the ISP, the software update *comes from* Netgear. The R7800 standalone router had security updates as recently as May 2018 it appears. My C7800 is up-to-date per Netgear documentation but has not been updated in the last 6 months as far as I know. When was the last C7800 update? If not as recently as R7800, why not? A lot of security vulnerabilities have been discovered recently...
Did you read the firsr reply?
ISPs control firmware updates on cable modems.
There is nothing that you or Netgear can do about it. The ISPs don't want anyone else messing around with hardware on their networks.
If you have fears about the security of your internet connection, talk to your ISP.
Or, to take back control of your security, buy a router and work out how to put your C7800 into modem only (bridge) mode.
Please pay attention. I know firmware updates are rolled out by the ISP. But the updates themselves come from the vendor-- Netgear in this case-- and are rolled out when the vendor provides the ISP with a new update. I have confirmed this with both my ISP (Comcast) and Netgear.
The question is whether or not Netgear is PROVIDING AS TIMELY UPDATED FIRMWARE for newly discovered router vulnerabilities for these modem/router combos, as it does for standalone routers. If Netgear can't or won't keep them up-to-date, Netgear should not be selling them, period. This is totally Netgear's responsibility-- the ISP is just the conduit.
That is not true theISP will not do firmware upgrades on third party modems only theirs!
dmac1026 wrote:
That is not true theISP will not do firmware upgrades on third party modems only theirs!
Funny that people have reported that their Netgear cable modems got updated. Perhaps they imagined it.
But here's the official, line to remind people.
If your firmware is outdated, you cannot manually upgrade your cable modem’s or modem router’s firmware. You must contact your Internet service provider (ISP) to upgrade your firmware.
- I contacted xfinity and they said they can not upgrade any firmware unless it is their modem. They don’t have the capability to do third party modems. I don’t know about other isp but xfinty/Comcast can not do upgrades on firmware.