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Forum Discussion
R7960P firmware not upgrading
I have attempted multiple times to upgrade my current firmware, V1.4.1.44_1.3.5, to V1.4.1.50_1.3.10 and it fails. I have tried letting the router update itself and also downloading upgrade zip file ...
Finally received my new replacement router a week or two ago. After a bit of a back and forth through their online support system (I referenced this thread and included the URL in my response early on to state this is a major issue and many others are dealing with it as well), they finally sent me out a brand new router, same model as the original I got from Costco. They waived any fees or shipping (obviously as this was their fault) and just had me put in my credit card info on an order form clearly stating there is $0 charge for the new router. They use it as collateral in case you don't return the old one (which they give you a prepaid label to return). But I had no issues and was never charged as I shipped back the old defective router the next day.
Interesting enough, the replacement I received still had the older firmware on it, so I immediately went to test out the update and it worked no problem through the web interface and is now current with no issues in upgrading it.
Problem resolved for now. If it acts up again I'll take it back to Costco since I have a new box now, but going to give it the benefit of the doubt until I decide to possibly switch to a rack mounted router with access points in the future.
Well today my replacement R7960P from July 5th 2020, so a mere 3 1/2 months old, DIED. Supsect it was a refurb that died again. So now I have to pay to ship it back and they will replace it again, but this is getting old. Good thing I am kept my old router so I have something to work with.
Anyone else get a replacement that died? Not sure they make them anymore so guessing it will be another refurb.
- Pure junk. Had one smell and burn. NetGear support was awful. I took it back to Costco. Got another that failed after 3 months and would not upgrade firmware. I took it back. Costco’s comment was “we have had a lot of these returned!” Bought instead an Orbi. Works easily and fast. Thus far has not failed. Do not combine 2.5 and 5.0 MHz to one auto band. Do not use their security.
I didn't have any problems with my replacement. In truth, it's probably anywhere from 10% to 20% slower than my original R7960P, but it works, and I still get at least 140 MBPS wireless (i.e. my ISP is delivering about 225 MBPS. The old R7960P got as high as 180 MBPS regularly, but my new router has only hit about 160 MBPS. However, the firmware updates work fine and are always up to date.
Of course, I neglected to mention that I PAID for my "replacement" router, my Archer C4000 V3 router with the REFUND on the R7960P from Costco. After waiting 6 months for a fix from Netgear, I gave up after being a Netgear customer for at least 20 (maybe 25) years, returned it, and bought the TP-LINK unit from Costco to replace it. I miss the performance of the Netgear router, despite the fact that the C4000 specs look better than the R7960P, it's just not quite as fast.
However, with the benefit of fewer headaches with Netgear's hardware, their absolute and resolute refuse to acknowledge the defect, or to repair it, I'll take the lower performance and better reliability of the TP-LINK unit.
(One more "honesty" note: A Netgear representative DID in fact email me after about 25 of these posts, offering to resolve the problem, about 3 days after I had ordered the replacement TP-LINK unit. WAY too little, too late. I promise, this is the last Netgear Community post for me.)
Good luck with your R7960P routers, the replacements, the replacements to the replacements, and etc.. I wish you many months (or days, or maybe even hours) of trouble free performance.
Stinsonddog wrote:Well today my replacement R7960P from July 5th 2020, so a mere 3 1/2 months old, DIED. Supsect it was a refurb that died again. So now I have to pay to ship it back and they will replace it again, but this is getting old. Good thing I am kept my old router so I have something to work with.
Anyone else get a replacement that died? Not sure they make them anymore so guessing it will be another refurb.
Well I have to say this wasn't that difficult. They gave a full year warranty on the first replacement. It took 5 min online and one call for them to verify. I do have to pay to ship it there. I have a backup of the config file for when the new one comes and I just popped in my old one as reset one extender. I do agree that the C4000 for $129 looks good and would be fine for my speeds. This will be the last chance to get this right.
- I ditched the R7960P after losing months with a router that constantly kept dropping my devices. My camera constantly would go offline or cycle it’s connections ever few minutes. I went with the C4000. It’s been solid ever since I switched. I will say that the router is slower. I pay for 600 down. The Netgear used to get me 425-450. Now I get 350-400. But on for upside the C4000 has lifetime built in Antivirus. So that could account for some of the slowdown. I’m happy with the C4000. It hasn’t gone down once in 4 months. No need to reboot. I think for now, this will be more then sufficient. I have 30+ devices connected and no issues.