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Did I make a mistake with NetGear $$$$$
Caution very long post seeking honest opinions. I am 68 and computer electronics, read the F---- manuals smart guy with a rural since 1994 dial up internet home network I am IT?NOC guy for. Curr...
fredvon4 wrote:
I already know I am hosed with NetGear because no support for Genie and I do NOT want MY NOC on a Android tablet or smart phone.
I have not tried using Nighthawk routers in AP mode with an app, but I do know that I can use an app to control an Orbi router in AP mode.
I can also control more than one router on separate Internet account by enabling remote management and using Anywhere Access.
Again, you may have landed yourself with extra problems through your choice of devices. Using purpose built APs rather than repurposed routers might have been better.
I suspect that other brands will land you in the some territory.
Sir I have read at least 200 of your advice so I deeply appreciate your opinions.
Perhaps with some more personal info you might feel comfortable directing me...at least with hints on where to google or explore.
I started my rural life with ATT dial up on d-link and later linksys WRT modems. Learned how to tweak internals to get reliable 256Kbps on voice twisted pair...frustrating in 1996~7 when urban families sent photo laden e-mails...bet you can relate.
My job after enlisted army was Operational Test Command Fort Hood as a test officer for enterprise software systems...Ironic as it were with a heavy aircraft maintenance background.
That said in the Army I was an anomaly in the early 80s because I was a computer building nerd with my own BBC. I could build a better Dos based computer for friends that the radio shack TRS 80 crap.
Command took notice and sent me to several schools...mostly to manage Intel 380 mini computers on Zenix OS for the Ft Eustice aviation school house.
Thus I was DOS 1.1 and Unix/Zenix/COBAL/FORTRAN versant much to the chagrin to any Army IT managment folk...me a lowly staff sergeant
A terrible amount of words to say I pretty much know about technology and security.
I am very pissed that today there is not a home turn key ISP WAN to complicated LAN set of management software and hardware for the typical dummy (that I am not)
Each system I explored has some fatal flaw. NetGear product sales seem to omit the flaws (I get it...sales) and I screwed up NOT finding this forum until I had $880 in product on hand.
The more I read the less confident I am to establish a home network I can see ENTIRELY and manage with the software tools provided..IE Genie/NightHawk app....and I am incensed that there is NOT a usable Win 10/11 Network managment GUI
Thanks for reading.....back to my weekly system backups
As plemans said "Are you having issues with it you need help with?"
We don't need to know your life history. Just a detailed but concise description of what is going wrong on your network.
The only useful information I can see it in your footer where it says:
R8000 x 2--Rx8000--dumb switch x2
If that is accurate, then I can see an obvious problem. But who knows?
We don't need to read your life experience. If you have problems, post a detailed description and technical info like firmware version, what you tried so far, etc
Fair enough. My rant is too long and my frustration masked that I have a 2011 LinkSys network that works. I am getting a new ISP soon with 100Mbps down and over last several years we have accumulated more and more IOT stuff and newer laptops/PCs. I bought NetGear devices NOT NOW set up to replace my LAN in next 60 days. In preparation for the new deployment I have tried to read Every thread about this Gear on Tom's Guide and here.
Due to the refurbished nature of two devices
I have bought, with GearHead 6 months support plan:
R8000----4MRE0878A1FC6 refurb
R8000----4MRF097LA2F78 new but mid 2021 purchase
EX8000---5001815K01BE8 RefurbWith out looking I know they do NOT have latest firmware.
I want to log into each and do the following:
1. Update firmware I have already downloaded to my desktop
2. Change device admin password to something unique for each of the 3
3. Change the SSID of each radio and assign WEP3 passwords
4. Disable WPS
5. Enable Guest and assign a password
6. Save copy of each configuration fileI prefer to disconnect the desktop from my network and attach to each new device with Cat6.
I have a Win 10Pro 64bit desktop with USB dual band WIFI dongle and internal Real Tech Ethernet port.
My initial attempts to do this fail trying 192.168.1.1 or 1.2
I have a registered Android app for Nighthawk. It needs to see the new routers on the internet
GearHeads tell me I must connect each device to the modem directly to access the device.
There is not a device or setup specific question. There is frustration that the App and each device has a LOT of problem questions here that you guys have been answering for many years now.
I am questioning the wisdom of selecting this Brand and my frugal choices. It seems before I even deploy, I have to scan all my notes to set the firmware to something other than most current. And it seems any choices between bridge or AP mode limit the ability for Nighthawk App to see or manage the entire network.
fredvon4 wrote:
I have bought, with GearHead 6 months support plan:
R8000----4MRE0878A1FC6 refurb
R8000----4MRF097LA2F78 new but mid 2021 purchase
EX8000---5001815K01BE8 RefurbAs I suspected from the footer to your earlier messages, you may have set yourself up for trouble.
Do you have two R8000s on one network?
That is a bad set up. It means you have two competing with each other.
Two routers on your network can cause headaches. For example, you can end up with local address problems. Among other things, the other router can misdirect addresses that the Netgear router usually handles, such as routerlogin.net or the usual IP address for a router, 192.168.1.1.
This explains some of the other drawbacks.
What is Double NAT? | Answer | NETGEAR Support
Unless you have specific reasons for using two routers, it is often easier to use just one router and then to set up the second router as a wifi access point. Netgear advises this, as does just about every site you will visit.
I want to log into each and do the following:
1. Update firmware I have already downloaded to my desktop
2. Change device admin password to something unique for each of the 3
3. Change the SSID of each radio and assign WEP3 passwords
4. Disable WPS
5. Enable Guest and assign a password
6. Save copy of each configuration fileYou will not be able to do those things with two routers.That's the "NAT" issue.
You can deal with the first problem, the firmware, one router at a time. You do not need an Internet connection to update firmware, just download the new version and update the firmware manually.
How do I manually upgrade firmware to my NETGEAR router? | Answer | NETGEAR Support
There is not a device or setup specific question.
I do not understand why you have come to that conclusion. You are trying to configure these devices in an incompatible way that the Nighthawk app was not designed to handle.
You van use two R8000 routers on the network, but you have to set them up correctly. The app can't manage that. It is designed to make it easy to set up simple networks that use the routers as designed.
To use two, you can put one of them into access point mode. You need to do that with a wired connection to the router. But do that and you lose some of the features on one of the routers:
Disabled Features on the Router when set to AP Mode | Answer | NETGEAR Support
That has nothing to do with Netgear's devices. All routers work in the same way and will hit the same brick wall.
There may be other issues on your network. For example, you haven't said what the modem/gateway is that connects you to the Internet. If that is also a router – many are – you are simply adding to the problems.
And it seems any choices between bridge or AP mode limit the ability for Nighthawk App to see or manage the entire network.
Again, you are trying to use the app to do something that it was not designed for. But you can manage both routers by tracking down their IP addresses – there are various ways of doing that – and using a browser to connect to the IP address of the device that you want to manage.
You can certainly create a network with your devices, although a bit more thought in advance might have led you to make different hardware choices.
