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Forum Discussion
coyote2
Jan 08, 2019Aspirant
AC2300 R7000P Nighthawk auto-updates f/w?
Does the AC2300 R7000P Nighthawk router auto-updates f/w?
How long does Netgear commit to providing updates?
- Jan 08, 2019
Out of the box auto update of firmware is on.
Not sure about how long, but the r7000 has been out for several years now and still getting firmware updates.. Suspect you will want a new shinny router before Netgear stops doing updates.
michaelkenward
Jan 09, 2019Guru - Experienced User
Security issues are important, but so is the effective operation of the hardware. Visit the Orbi support zone and see the avalanche of complaints from people who have suffered grief when new firmware wrecked their installations. They do not have the option to turn off updates.
Orbi System: Disable automatic firmware updates - NETGEAR Communities
I monitor the support pages for my hardware. This is usually has the first place to receive new firmware, before it appear on the update servers. In the process, I also get alerts for other things related to my hardware.
I also subscribe to email alerts.
coyote2
Jan 09, 2019Aspirant
Thank you very much Michael, that's very good to know, I shall monitor updates too and wait a bit to see if they are OK.
Never thought of this since I've never had a router with auto-update, and also never had an issue with a router f/w update.
Perhaps that's why I still wonder if, for the 'nearly everyone' that will never update f/w without auto-update, if they also care about security then enabling the feature might be better than never updating.
- michaelkenwardJan 09, 2019Guru - Experienced User
Autoupdate is a recent development. Netgear has had it for a few years, especially on Orbi devices.
The move makes sense. As you said earlier security is important. If you want to simplify life for people, then it is safer to apply updates silently. In the UK, BT has always done this for the modem/routers it supplies.
In the case of able modems, users can't even update firmware manually. This is all in the hands of the ISP.