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Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 incompatible with Android devices
I recently purchased a new router, Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 (Firmware Version
V1.0.4.28_10.1.54). However, as it turns out, it is incompatible with Android devices! The router does not appear in...
I got some help from Netgear Support, and it turned out that a hard reset of the router helped (use a sharp object and press the the countersunk reset button for one minute). After resetting, it took a good 10-15 min until the router had recovered (updated) fully. If I hadn't had Netgear Support online through this long-winded process, I would probably have thought I had broken the router....
After the reset and update, the firmware installed is the same as before: Firmware Version V1.0.4.28_10.1.54. According to the support guy, there are "rare cases" when updates fail to complete properly, but doing a hard reset apparently helps to resolve such states.
Now, the Android mobile connects happily - no changes done on the mobile.
Hello,
Thanks for helping. Please see answers inline below.
IrvSp wrote:
I've got a few Andriod stuff on my R8000, both phones and other device, all work.
Which firmware version are you using?
Your references are either quite old or solved... don't go by them.
Also you are NOT talking (unless a Moderator chimes in) to Netgear so don't expect a fix or refund.
If it is NEW, return it to place of purchase if you are convinced it isn't an Android problem.
The thing is that the Android mobile did connect to my old router, an Asus N56. And it connects to my shared mobile wifi hotspot from my iPhone.
Still you gave little information to go on? 'We' can't see what you did or what you were looking for? Simple stuff would help? What SSID are you talking about, the R8000 has 3 (unless you have Smart Connect Enabled). Can that device see ANY of those, or even others?
None of the SSIDs from the Netgear router are displayed in the wifi list of the Android mobile. I can see quite a few other wifi networks in the list, though, from the neighbours. The SSIDs of the Netgear router are new (different from old router), and named n2.4, n5-1 and n5-2. I guess one possible explanation would be that the Android phone cannot handle SSIDs including dots or dashes... However, if I share my iPhone wifi, with an SSID that contains both a space and an apostrophe (iPhone default), the Android phone displays that in its wifi list, and connects to it.
What did you have before to connect to the Android? Did you tell the Android to FORGET that network, even if you used the SAME SSID?
By the way, just what is that Android device?
I have tried connecting by manually entering the SSID into the Android phone, but every time it fails. It goes "Connecting...", "Saved", "Connecting...", "Saved", in an long loop, until in the end it says "Authentication problems". I have made sure it is the correct password, verified it using other devices, and displayed it in cleartext while entering it on the Android phone. The phone is a cheap model, ZTE Blade A320 with Android 7.1.1, but even so, it should be able to connect to wifi, and it does with other routers than this one.
Anything else you could share that would help here?
Not sure. Please ask if you need anything more.
Would you recommend switching to open source firmware instead of Netgear's own?
I've got a fairly new LG G7 and it is running Android Pie 9, but it worked on the prior one Ice Cream 8. Don't know about Nougat 7?
My 3 SSID's are all similar, xxxx2, xxxx5-1 and xxxx5-2, but the -'s don't seem to bother it.
Easy in the Browser GUI to change the SSID's as a test. Change one without anything buy 5 characters and see if it works. Does, modify the SSID's.
"None of the SSIDs from the Netgear router are displayed in the wifi list of the Android mobile."
This leads me to believe the problem could be in 3 places. All I'd think is a phone problem?
- First, mine came with McAfee installed. Is it possible you have a FIREWALL blocking the router, especially if it has a different IP Address than the old router?
- Next would be the SECURITY setting on the router, it could be one the phone can't handle? Some old PC h/w can't use WPA2-PSK [AES] and need WPA-PSK [TKIP] + WPA2-PSK [AES]. Easy to change, but you can also set the security to None as a test.
- Last would be the actual band being used. Old phone might not work on all bands in a SSID. In the GUI for WIRELESS move it to the LOWEST band on all 3 SSID's and test.
Test right next to the router too so signal strength is out of the equation.
If none of the SSID can be "seen" on air the suspicion comes up that all channels currently configured are not available on your ZTE mobile. We've seen in the past that some mobile devices intended to specific markets (and with older Android systems) are hard coded to the channel usage. Say such an US mobile will never see channels 12 and 13 on 2.4 GHz, European units will never see 149..161 on 5 GHz (as reserved for short reach devices), Chinese or Israel units will never see 5 GHz channels 100...144 (or up to 165).
