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handca01's avatar
handca01
Aspirant
Oct 10, 2021

AC1200 (Model R6120) Router’s “Internet LED” light is green, not amber

So my apartment building’s Internet went down due to a storm yesterday, and then was restored. Before the outage, the light next to the “Internet LED” icon on my router was always an amber/orange/red color, and my phone and computer always connected just fine to the WiFi. Now, after the outage, the “Internet LED” light is green, and the WiFi won’t work on either of my devices. Both my phone and computer state that they are connected to the WiFi, but they can’t do anything that requires WiFi when I try. My Nighthawk app is connected to the router, but states that my internet is “offline.” The light briefly turned amber for about 10 seconds today, during which the WiFi worked, but it quickly turned green again and the WiFi stopped working. I would really appreciate any help; I’m getting really desperate and am quite sick over this because I am a student who needs WiFi for my schoolwork. Thank you very much for any help!

4 Replies

  • michaelkenward's avatar
    michaelkenward
    Guru
    Oct 10, 2021
    handca01 wrote:
    So my apartment building’s Internet went down due to a storm yesterday, and then was restored. Before the outage, the light next to the “Internet LED” icon on my router was always an amber/orange/red color, and my phone and computer always connected just fine to the WiFi.

    There are two lights next to the Internet LED. The one on the right is for an Ethernet port, the other LED, on the left and next to the power LED, is for the wifi.

     

    The color of your wifi LED is odd. It should have been green if it was the wifi LED.

     

    handca01 wrote:
    The light briefly turned amber for about 10 seconds today, during which the WiFi worked, but it quickly turned green again and the WiFi stopped working.

    Which light was that? The wifi one?

     

    Manuals are always a good place to start.

    Visit the support pages:

    Support | NETGEAR

    Feed in your model number and check the documentation for your hardware.

    That page will also have any software, firmware and drivers for your device, if they exist.

    Check the section in the manual Troubleshoot With the LEDs.

    You may have done that already. I can't tell from your message.

    I mention it because Netgear gave up on supplying paper manuals and CD versions some years ago and people sometimes miss the downloads.

     

     

     

     

    • handca01's avatar
      handca01
      Aspirant
      Oct 10, 2021
      Hi there, thanks for the response! The light I refer to throughout the post is in fact the “Internet LED”— this is what the manual refers to it as. The WiFi LED and the Ethernet LED are on either side of it, but I am always referring specifically to the “Internet LED.” This is the third LED from the left on the router. This “Internet LED” is the one that was always amber before the outage and now is green.

      I did as much as I could by checking the manual, but unfortunately my tech abilities are very limited, and the manual doesn’t say much about the “Internet LED” other than identifying it.

      Basically, I am trying to figure out if my issue lies with my router, or with my building’s internet in general. Like I said, my phone and laptop are connecting to my WiFi network just fine, they just can’t do anything that requires WiFi. Also, my Nighthawk app states “Internet: Offline.” To me, this indicates that my router and devices are doing everything they need to do, and that the issue might be with the internet throughout my building still not working.

      I really hope that all makes sense! Thanks again for the help!
      • michaelkenward's avatar
        michaelkenward
        Guru
        Oct 10, 2021
        handca01 wrote:
        To me, this indicates that my router and devices are doing everything they need to do, and that the issue might be with the internet throughout my building still not working.

        Sounds like you are right there.

         

        It might have been easier had you said in your first message:

         

        handca01 wrote:

        Basically, I am trying to figure out if my issue lies with my router, or with my building’s internet in general.

        Have you tried rebooting the router?

         

        Not knowing what sort of Internet they deliver, and how they expect you to login to it, it is hard to diagnose what might be going on.

         

        What do other people in the building say? What about the people who run the Internet service?

         

        It doesn't seem that there are any problems with your router. So there's not much anyone here can do to fix things.