Turn off blue dome light!?

I had this same problem. After several months after upgrading to 1.00.50, my router suddenly started doing exactly as was described: led antenna indicators flashed. When I depressed the dome light, it blinked repeatedly for a few minutes and did not shut off.

At the suggestion of scvenne, I downdraged to 1.00.38. I successfully shut off the dome lights. Then, I upgraded back to 1.00.50 and the lights stayed off. So if you want the latest firmware and to have the lights off, you will have to downgrade first and then re-upgrade. Note that for this to work, I had to downgrade first. Simply re-flashing the 1.00.50 firmware on top of itself did not work.

I did not notice a change in speed as Borthalomew noted upon downgrading or re-upgrading. I will repost if the lights come on again. Ok, now I will get back to life. Thanks for the thread, all.

~~~~nanobot

nanobot wrote:

I had this same problem. After several months after upgrading to 1.00.50, my router suddenly started doing exactly as was described: led antenna indicators flashed. When I depressed the dome light, it blinked repeatedly for a few minutes and did not shut off. At the suggestion of scvenne, I downdraged to 1.00.38. I successfully shut off the dome lights. Then, I upgraded back to 1.00.50 and the lights stayed off. So if you want the latest firmware and to have the lights off, you will have to downgrade first and then re-upgrade. Note that for this to work, I had to downgrade first. Simply re-flashing the 1.00.50 firmware on top of itself did not work. I did not notice a change in speed as Borthalomew noted upon downgrading or re-upgrading. I will repost if the lights come on again. Ok, now I will get back to life. Thanks for the thread, all. ~~~~nanobot

Ok, after posting this message, the repeat blinking pattern would start every 10 minutes or so and then stop. I went to the router manager > Advanced > Wireless Settings and under WPS Settings, placed a check in the box labeled Disable Router's PIN. (note, no other changes were made). This effectively disabled WPS mode, which I do not use. The router has not lit up since. If you use WPS, you might need to stick with the old firmware.

~~~~nanobot

I would like to turn it off, but my concern is the indicator lights on the front of my WNDR2400 N600. They blink irregularly and only the "1" lights up; 2,3, and 4 stay dark. What does this mean and what can I do?

nanobot wrote:

Ok, after posting this message, the repeat blinking pattern would start every 10 minutes or so and then stop. I went to the router manager > Advanced > Wireless Settings and under WPS Settings, placed a check in the box labeled Disable Router's PIN. (note, no other changes were made). This effectively disabled WPS mode, which I do not use. The router has not lit up since. If you use WPS, you might need to stick with the old firmware. ~~~~nanobot

Update 10/10/2012:

After about a week, the flashing started up again. Downgraded the firmware to v.38

nanobot wrote:

I had this same problem. After several months after upgrading to 1.00.50, my router suddenly started doing exactly as was described: led antenna indicators flashed. When I depressed the dome light, it blinked repeatedly for a few minutes and did not shut off. At the suggestion of scvenne, I downdraged to 1.00.38. I successfully shut off the dome lights. Then, I upgraded back to 1.00.50 and the lights stayed off. So if you want the latest firmware and to have the lights off, you will have to downgrade first and then re-upgrade. Note that for this to work, I had to downgrade first. Simply re-flashing the 1.00.50 firmware on top of itself did not work. I did not notice a change in speed as Borthalomew noted upon downgrading or re-upgrading. I will repost if the lights come on again. Ok, now I will get back to life. Thanks for the thread, all. ~~~~nanobot

Thanks nanobot! This worked like a charm! I was about to go with the duct tape route but I didn't like how tacky that solution was (pun intended). :p

To disable the WPS when this issue occurs, disable the SSID. Then reboot your computer. You will now have to manually input your id and password to access your network. Open your browser and router utility (Netgear Genie) and enable the SSID again. Your WPS willl remain off unless you turn it back on using the WPS wizard set up utility. You can now push on the router's WPS button and turn the light on or off.

Ian ;)

So for some reason my router reverts to factory settings every now and then. I have no idea why, but it happens so rarely, I just accept the fact and reconfigure it.

I do always have one big problem though. The blue dome lights. Annoying as hell!

Up until now I had just prodded and poked until eventually the damn thing went off, but I have always checked online and never found a solution before, as I assume when people get it to turn off, they just close their browser and get on with their lives.

So this time, I actually made note of what I did and I am gonna post a run through of procedures and outcomes, so it might hopefully help someone else who has this issue.

Press the dome down for longer than 5 seconds = Enables the wireless access thing for a couple of minutes. This just makes the light flash on and off for a short while before returning to normal.

Press the dome lightly once = Apparently this was the answer before the firmware updated, and I can confirm that it no longer works. It does nothing.

Press the dome lightly twice in a row = This was just pure guess work, I had hoped that the key might be simplicity, but it appeared to do nothing.

Press the dome lightly three times in a row = The light went off.

I have to admit, I have left the damn thing alone since it went off, so I haven't double checked to see if it works, but it appears to have done the trick.