NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
I just spent $400 on a new Netgear Nighthawk router
I just spent $400 on a new Netgear Nighthawk router only to find out it has the same problem as the old out of service RAX43 router. If it’s a Windows issue, I don’t think MS is too interested in ...
Netgear Router Complain
I just spent $400 on a new Netgear Nighthawk router only to find out it has the same problem as the old out of service RAS43 router. If it’s a Windows issue, I don’t think MS is too interested in fixing it. After all they would rather sell their cloud storage, One Drive. I would imagine that Netgear would have more of an interest in finding a fix as Readyshare only adds to the valve of the router. I am using One Drive more than I am using Readyshare, since my Readyshare access is undependable and random. But it isn’t just the Readyshare access that disconnects, it is also the access to the Router’s setting page. That may be why Netgear is now selling the idea of using an Android app instead of a PC.
Hellorobmartinez108,
Spending $400 on a new router only to face the same ReadySHARE and admin page access issues is frustrating. If both routers show similar behavior, it could point to a firmware or compatibility issue—possibly with Windows SMB settings. I recommend checking for the latest firmware updates and ensuring SMB 1.0 is enabled in Windows if required. Netgear support should address this, especially since it impacts core router functionality.
Best Regards,
Donna TaylorThanks for your reply. I’ve had SMB v1 enabled since before I purchased the new router. So, just for troubleshooting, I disabled SMB v1. Immediately, my connection to readyshare and the admin page was terminated. I got a slightly different error message attached below. This tells me that new Netgear Nighthawk RS600 routers are still using SMB v1. With SMB v1 enabled, I can get temporary access to readyshare. After about 20 minutes, the router drops my connection and that is when I get the error message that my local device is already in use. I did upgrade the new router to the latest firmware before I disabled SMB v1. My only hope now is that before the RS600 goes out of upgrade service, Netgear will fix the firmware so that SMB v1 will no longer be necessary for Windows 11 devices. That is, if it turns out that SMB v1 is causing the connection problems.
Please stick with one discussion thread.
While is it clear that you need to keep SMB 1 enabled, that is NOT the cause of your "device already in use". That is happening because the PC didn't fully close the session when the connection got dropped. So as far as it is concerned, U: is still in use by the old (failed) session.
I gave some advice on your other thread here:
That includes ways to easily access the share without mapping it to a drive letter.
Part of the puzzle here is why the connection is dropping. Some PCs (particularly laptops) will power down their network hardware during periods of inactivity. Is the connection dropping when you are actively using the PC? Or is it happening when you step away for a while?
Sorry about the other thread. It looks like I started it but I don’t know how that happened because I always use a bookmark to get back to this thread. But that’s how my experience with Netgear has been lately. As for when a computer gets dropped, it is always random. Sometimes it gets dropped when I am actively using it other times when it is idle. Sometimes after 20 minutes of booting the PC, sometimes after an hour of use. And other times right after booting the PC. There is no set pattern to when the PC gets dropped. I have tried both mapping the drive and deleting all mapped drives. It doesn’t make a difference. I prefer mapping the drive because it is easier to see when the connection gets dropped. As for using the IP Address instead of the drive letter, that doesn’t work either. I have been using Netgear routers for at least 20 years. I can’t pinpoint when this issue started but it was sometime after the Windows 11 24H2 update. I am now updated to version 25H2. Most of the time my computers are shut down until I bootup a single PC. After about 20 minutes of use, the PC will lose the connection to readyshare and the router admin page. That’s when the error message appears saying that the device is already in use. It happens even when only one Windows PC is turned on. There are a few ways I can reconnect. But I never had to do that before 24H2. One way is to manually change the IP Address of the disconnected PC. Another way is to switch from a wireless connection to a wired connection. Lastly, I can remove the USB drive from the router and plug it straight to the PC. But these work arounds are unacceptable after paying so much for an RS600 Nighthawk router. For months I have been asking questions to AI chatbots. They have suggested all sorts of solutions from deleting the Windows Credentials to readyshare to disabling the security requirement for SMB. It seems to me that the days of plug and play routers are over. But maybe this new information will give you a clue to what’s going on. At least, thanks for asking.
