Extremely disappointed in Netgear's customer service. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER.

Question

I purchased Nighthawk's to place in my rental properties. I have one for my home as well. Yesterday, I go change the wifi password as I have new tenants coming in. I make my changes, reboot the router, and I haven't been able to get back in since. I enter in the IP that I've always used, on all of my routers. 192.168.1.1. I reboot the device, power off, unplug, etc, cleared cache on my browser, tried again, to no avail. Finally I give up and call Netgear and explain my issue. The guy says to me, 'Did your warranty period end in November? I can't help you. The reason you can't get back in is because the security features and firewall that was free for the first two years has now expired, and if you want to fix the security issues you have to speak to our tech department, but there will be a charge for that.' So, I told him how unhappy I was that it seems that I'm almost being hijacked with ransomware. 'Give us money to get access back to your device.' He basically laughed and said that I have to pay if I want help. I told him that they're not extorting any more money out of me and I'll share far and wide about how terrible their service was. He thought that was funny too and told me to go ahead and tell anyone I can. It's really sad that they allow their employees to treat customers like that, after they can see how many registered products I have with them. He was a patronizing jerk and I'm sorry I've ever spent a penny on them. So now, I can't manage my router by web, nor the app. I didn't do a full reset yet but I'm sure that won't work either. Jerks.&nbsp;

michaelkenward · Answer

Are you here seeking help with your router?
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If so, tell us something about the device, what it is and what it uses to connect to the Internet, The modem etc.
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You can help people to help you by providing the information suggested in this forum's header:
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Subject (Include model number and brief summary)Model (Recommended - Helps the community give the best answers)Body (Include additional detail including model version, firmware, OS and environment where relevant.)
They are there for a good reason.
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If you just want to complain that Netgear does not provide free lifetime support for every device it sells then there's isn't much help that anyone can give here.
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This is essentially a user-to-user forum, with some input from a small band of Netgear techies. You can try the official channels for support, but be warned that, as Netgear explains when it sells stuff, after 90 days it will want money before talking to you. Much easier to try to sort it out here before you open your wallet.
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Contact Us | MyNETGEAR
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DioRox · Answer

My specific model wouldn't come up in the Associated Products, but it's... Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Smart WiFi Router, Model: R6900v2

OS on my device is Windows 11. I can't tell you the firmware version of the router, because I can't log into it anymore. I'm not aware of how else to find that information. I can say that I'm sure it's fairly current, as I do keep that updated. The environment is simply a residential home network.

Would I like help? Sure! But I also think it's important for people to hear customer experiences. Having a Netgear tech basically laugh at me was discerning. I'm not going to open my wallet to them ever again. I should have never switched from TP Link. At any rate, I know they won't talk for free, but I was very taken back when he explained to me that the 'securities' they put in place would quit working and knowingly prevent me from accessing my router any longer after a 2 year period. I think it's a pretty deceitful practice. I still haven't received the call back from a supervisor I requested. So.....

I made some changes to passwords, my SSID, rebooted it, and can't get logged back in. The app won't connect to it either. This is in a rental of mine, so I change passwords between tenants. I'm not sure what else I can share. IP of 192.168.1.1.

Thanks.

FURRYe38 · Answer

Have you factory reset the router and setup from scratch using a wired PC and web browser?&nbsp;
https://kb.netgear.com/22697/How-do-I-install-my-NETGEAR-router-using-the-router-web-interfaceRecommend setting the default DHCP IP address pool range to the following after applying and a factory reset: 192.168.#.100 to 192.168.#.200.https://kb.netgear.com/24089/How-do-I-specify-the-pool-of-IP-addresses-assigned-by-my-Nighthawk-routerhttps://kb.netgear.com/25722/How-do-I-reserve-an-IP-address-on-my-NETGEAR-routerI would power OFF the ISP modem for 1 minute. Factory reset the router and power it off. Power ON the ISP modem and let it sync. Then power ON the router and walk thru the setup wizard again using a wired PC and a web browser.Press the back reset button for 10 seconds then release.&nbsp;https://kb.netgear.com/9665/How-do-I-perform-a-factory-reset-on-my-NETGEAR-router
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What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?

michaelkenward · Answer

DioRox&nbsp;wrote:
My specific model wouldn't come up in the Associated Products, but it's... Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Smart WiFi Router, Model: R6900v2
OS on my device is Windows 11. I can't tell you the firmware version of the router, because I can't log into it anymore. I'm not aware of how else to find that information. I can say that I'm sure it's fairly current, as I do keep that updated. The environment is simply a residential home network.&nbsp;
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The firmware is also visible in the Nighthawk app, but that probably doesn't work for you either.
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The first challenge is to work out why you can't login to it.
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The most important missing detail is the make and model of the modem/ONT/gateway that sits between the router and the Internet.
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You also don't tell us what happens when you try to login to the router. If this is a Windows PC and it is blocking you, that may not be anything to do with the router.
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DioRox&nbsp;wrote:
Would I like help? Sure! But I also think it's important for people to hear customer experiences.

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By all means tell the worlds what you think, but 90 percent of the large slab of text you posted had nothing to do with your technical issue. Nor was it obvious to me if you wanted help.
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Having a Netgear tech basically laugh at me was discerning. I'm not going to open my wallet to them ever again.
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Are you sure that it was someone at Netgear? Many complaints like that here turn out to be from people who did a web search and ended up with one of the crooks who try to con people out of their money.
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How do I identify an official NETGEAR website or social media account? - NETGEAR Support
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DioRox · Answer

I have not factory reset the router, as I didn't have time. It was just a simple password change that I would do regularly. I frequently log into my routers, at my rentals and at my home. I have port forwarding set up, etc. Never had any issue like this after a reboot. I had a new tenant moving in later that day so I didn't have time to reset it and reconnect all the devices before they would arrive. I have electronic/wifi locks on the doors and it's not a timely thing getting those reconnected. So, yes, I still need to try a reset. But now I will have to wait until this tenant leaves, which is not until March. The modem is provided by Spectrum, it's a Docsis EN2251.&nbsp;

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Extremely disappointed in Netgear's customer service. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER.

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