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Forum Discussion

morrijas's avatar
Feb 06, 2026

New netgear firmware will brick your internet

 after the new firmware my 5ghz band was forced to 3 times slower and for the router to loose connection from the cable modem and no it is not the cable modem, the whole router would loose internet but if you look at the router all the WiFi bands are up, but the connection out is down.  Nothing has changed in the 6 months I have had this router now after the update this was the first time seeing the rs700s loose internet connection, the only thing that has changed was new netgear firmware update then all this crap started to happen, I was running perfect for 6 months tell the new firmware update, funny how combines say they test this but push out the bad firmware anyway.   It all was running perfect before the last update.  Netgear has some serious issues if they keep on pushing firmware that will not work on how the router is intended to work.  Issues with new firmware

  1. On the 5ghz band you can not go auto unless you want slow speed
  2. you have to choose new channel since auto now goes to slowest speed, I did not pay over $600 for 1/2 a router
  3. Loose internet connection at least once a day and even in the logs it is not recorded why

The router should last more than 6 months with only 40 devices connected, I do have a extra rs700s in the box unopened and if worse comes to worse I will replace my rs700s with the new one but turn off the updates because it jacked up my router big time

7 Replies

  • FURRYe38's avatar
    FURRYe38
    Guru - Experienced User

    What new version of FW are you using? 

    Current released FW 1.0.10.8 is working for my RS700. I use manual channels and not auto channels. 
    Use manual channels instead of auto. If you live in a wifi congested area or live near a airport, auto maybe selecting channels that are less noisy or to avoid airport radar frequencies. 

     

    When internet is lost, does the Internet globe on the router turn RED? 

    Brand and model# of the ISP modem or ONT the router is connected too? 

     

    Factory reset the router and setup from scratch if you loaded new FW. 

    Disable IPv6 and Protection Engine. 

    Use custom DNS for IPv4 like Cloudfare or Quad9. I use quad9 on mine. 

  • Have any of you heard this about netgear, now that you will be forced to buy the security and premium package to keep you router connected to the internet? It will cost everyone who has a netgear router is what netgear told me

    • JWS9518's avatar
      JWS9518
      Luminary

      I highly doubt that.   I agree with Crimpon , sounds like you were talking to a fake Netgear number, and they are trying to scam you.  Either that or you are just trying to spam the forum with multiple posts.

  • It was netgears number I called so it was netgear saying they are doing this to every router out there in 2026

  • CrimpOn's avatar
    CrimpOn
    Guru - Experienced User

    My guess is that you were not talking to Netgear.

  • Netgear said it is a security and wants me to pay $300 for the security and the reason why I loose internet is because I did not pay for the security option and they said my router will not work unless I pay more for the security and my router will be working like normal and they said every customer will have to pay extra for the security because their routers will do what mine has done