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Solved
Amber Power LED
My AC1750 WiFi router has worked flawlessly for a couple of years. All of a sudden WiFi connections were dropping with more and more frequency.
I noticed that the power LED was sometimes amber during the drops and the other LEDs were now often lighted even though the router is configured for only the power LED to illuminate.
The rouer is being powered by the OEM AD/DC adapter plugged into a fairly substantial surge protector power base where other routers, printers and NAS devices are powered. This behavior just started recently but really ramped up today to the point where WiFi is no longer usable.
I removed the Netgear power supply from the surge protection power base and plugged it directly into the wall outlet. As of now, this has been the longest period of time that the internet has been stable. I am not comfortable powering the router directly from the wall outlet, but for now, at least I have internet.
Initially I thought I would be headed to the store for a new WiFi router, but is seems the amber power LED and my test plugging the power supply directly into the wall outlet discount the possiblity that I need a new router. Could the power suddenly go "dirty" from the surge protector power block? I even tried another power strip, with the same negative results. For now, I'm leaving it plugged into the wall outlet directly so at least I can have the internet, but I don't wish to leave it that way for long.
gkski wrote:
Can I make the unit reinstall the firmware without resetting first to factory defults? That would save me from an extensive reconfiguration.
Sure can. That's actually the recommended strategy.
How to update firmware on your NETGEAR product | Answer | NETGEAR Support
And
How do I manually upgrade firmware to my NETGEAR router? | Answer | NETGEAR Support
gkski wrote:
Thing is, it is working flawlessly now, even when unplugged from the wall outlet and plugged into a simple surge protection strip such as those used at the office.
I'd be tempted to sit on the thing until it begins to play up again. Just get yourself prepared for when it happens! Have all the files to hand, just in case the Internet dies at a crucial time.
10 Replies
gkski wrote:
I noticed that the power LED was sometimes amber during the drops and the other LEDs were now often lighted even though the router is configured for only the power LED to illuminate.
Visit the support pages:
Support | NETGEAR
Feed in your model number and check the documentation for your hardware.
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 years ago and people sometimes miss the downloads.The amber power LED is usually a sign of corrupt firmware. What firmware version do you have on the device?
A number is more useful than "the latest". (It may not be by the time people read this.) There can also be newer versions, or "hot fixes", that do not show up if you check for new firmware in the browser interface.Thanks, Mike.
Installed firmware is V1.0.4.106_10.0.80 and that appears to be current according to the support website.
12 hours later and everything is stable with the router still plugged directly into the wall outlet. I have read the relevant troubleshooting section for the power LED and I am reluctant yet to do the recommended factory reset as I assume that will remove all of my settings, MAC address table etd.
gkski wrote:
12 hours later and everything is stable with the router still plugged directly into the wall outlet.
It could be firmware that was corrupt rather than completely broken. Reinstalling it can mend things.
gkski wrote:
...I am reluctant yet to do the recommended factory reset as I assume that will remove all of my settings, MAC address table etd.Trouble is, those settings could be causing the problem. A reflash would not wipe those out.
You can reduce the hassle of reconfiguring all those settings by creating a backup of your settings before you reset. Then if something is still broken after the reset, and the new firmware has not fixed it, you can restore the device to its pre-reset state.
You could even try restoring the settings even if the new firmware has fixed the problems, but be prepared for the restore to also bring back your problems.