NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.

Forum Discussion

NYCaribou's avatar
NYCaribou
Aspirant
Sep 15, 2020
Solved

R6300 v2: Updating FIrmware

 

I just got this Router (R6300 v2: AC1750 Dual-Band Gigabit Router) and I'm using Windows 10. I got a message that a firmware upgrade was available:

 

Current Firmware Version1.0.3.30
New Firmware Version1.0.4.42_10.0.93
Release Notes
 1.   [Enhancement] New WiFi driver to comply with FCC 5G new rule.
 2.   [Bug Fix] Security fixes.

 3.   [Bug Fix] Security fixes.

 

But when I try to install it, I get a message, "Firmware is invalid."

I downloaded the .zip file, unzipped it, and tried to upload the .chk file, and was told it was incorrect. Either way, I am blocked from upgrading the firmware. 

Can anyone assist?


  • I've just gotten off the phone with a Netgear tech support agent. He got to the root of the problem and I'm going to follow his suggestions.

     

    The router was bought on Amazon, and it's a refurbished model. Apparently the vendor, "flaknet," is not an authorized direct vendor for Netgear products, and used Amazon as a platform to resell a used router. The router was almost certainly provided by Charter/Spectrum, and they altered the firmware for the router, which is why none of the files available on Netgear are recognized as correct. It's also why the Netgear Genie keeps saying, "firmware invalid" when I used it to try and automatically install an update-- it's not saying that the firmware update is invalid, it's saying that the EXISTING firmware already on my router, is invalid.

    Spectrum will undoubtedly keep screaming in protest that only Netgear can fix the problem, when in fact they cannot, because the firmware was altered by Spectrum (Charter), which they will refuse to acknowledge responsibility for. 

     

    So... the solution?

    Just continue using the router normally. The agent strongly believes that, outdated as the firmware is, it doesn't pose a serious security risk to my network. Indeed, I never would have known that the firmware was outdated except for my Avast Antivirus (free version) giving me a popup when it detected the router being hooked up. I just need to click off whenever there's a popup. The reason I bought the router is so that I can have internet connections for both my Roku-compatible TV and my desktop computer at the same time. And I also have WiFi now if I ever would like to use it.

    So, my apologies for the over-wordiness, but apparently, even though the problem cannot be fixed short of returning the router and getting a different one... apparently I don't need to. I can continue using this one as I have been since I got it two days ago.

    My thanks to antinode and plemans, so much, for the help they provided. I'm going to mark this solved.

     

     

16 Replies

  • plemans's avatar
    plemans
    Guru - Experienced User

    You're jumping about 12 versions of firmware. You shouldn't have to do them all individual but try seeing if you can go to 1.0.4.2

    what browser are you using? 

    • NYCaribou's avatar
      NYCaribou
      Aspirant

      My default Browser is Google Chrome. But I do have Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Epic Privacy Browser as well. All at the latest version.

       

      • NYCaribou's avatar
        NYCaribou
        Aspirant

        I was able to access older versions and tried 1.0.4.2, 1.0.4.20, and 1.0.4.06. All resulted in "The firmware is incorrect."