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

Forum Discussion

laceoak's avatar
laceoak
Aspirant
May 08, 2020
Solved

Nighthawk model R6700.3 Red indicator light

When using my PC, the #1 device indicator light on the router is white.  Normally, when the PC is in sleep mode, that indicator light goes out.  Now it won't go out...it changes to red.  Does anyone know what this means, and how to determine what the problem is?

Thanks to anyone who can help.

  • No, the colored light (red/orange) indicates there's a connection at 10 or 100 Mbps. White indicates a 1 Gbps connection. The only conclusion is that the network chip is active while in sleep mode. As I said, this is needed for WoL. My NAS also goes into red color when I turn it off and when I want to turn it back on, I just send a magic packet (WoL) to it and it boots up

7 Replies

  • Your device goes in low-power mode on the NIC which can be used to Wake On LAN (WoL). You can turn that functionality off in the BIOS of the PC (look in PCIe options if in UEFI mode or WoL when in BIOS mode)

    • laceoak's avatar
      laceoak
      Aspirant

      Thanks for the reply. I appreciate your help.

       

      • microchip8's avatar
        microchip8
        Master

        No, the colored light (red/orange) indicates there's a connection at 10 or 100 Mbps. White indicates a 1 Gbps connection. The only conclusion is that the network chip is active while in sleep mode. As I said, this is needed for WoL. My NAS also goes into red color when I turn it off and when I want to turn it back on, I just send a magic packet (WoL) to it and it boots up

  • > [...] R6700.3 [...]

     

       "R6700v3"?  Look for "Model" on the product label.  Firmware
    version?  Connected to what?

     

    > [...] Normally, when the PC is in sleep mode, that indicator light
    > goes out. Now it won't go out...it changes to red. [...]

     

       Apparently, something about your (unspecified) "the PC", or its
    "sleep mode", has changed.  Or your memory is faulty.

     

    > [...] Does anyone know what this means, [...]

     

       People who have read the R6700v3 User Manual might have a clue.
    Visit http://netgear.com/support , put in your (actual) model number,
    and look for Documentation.  Get the User Manual.  Read.  Look for the
    LED descriptions.  I'll assume that that your "red" is what Netgear
    calls "amber".


       In many cases, a dormant-looking computer keeps its Ethernet
    interface active in a stand-by (lower-power, lower-speed) mode, which
    can cause the amber port-status LED on the router.  This allows the
    computer to respond to Wake-on-LAN requests.  Typically, there's no
    (other) activity in that situation.

     

    > [...] and how to determine what the problem is?

     

       What "problem"?

     

       If the amber LED on the router really bothers you, then you could
    insert a cheap gigabit network switch in the line connecting the router
    to "the PC".  That should move the annoying LED behavior from the router
    to the network switch (without adding any other value).

    • laceoak's avatar
      laceoak
      Aspirant

      Thank you for taking the time to reply.  I have read the user manual, however, this issue is not addressed.  It is a Nighthawk AC1750 Smart WiFi router, model R6700v3.  As you say, I'm not aware of any particular problem as a result of this, but the colored light seems to indicate there is problem that hasn't surfaced yet...like a warning light.  Other than a factory reset, I've tried everything else, so that may be required.  Many thanks.

      • antinode's avatar
        antinode
        Guru

         

        > [...] I have read the user manual, [...]

         

           I believe you.  Thousands wouldn't.  Page 12:

         

              Ethernet ports 1-4

         

              The LED color indicates the speed: white for Gigabit Ethernet
              connections and amber for 100 Mbps or 10 Mbps Ethernet
              connections.