D6400 AC1600 Password reset fails

[PaulK101]

Hi All

Don't often log in to my Router but am having Broadband issues here at the moment so thought id log in to check it out.

I had forgotten my password so went through the recovery process (to which i know the answers)

So it gives me a temp password.

-------  "@newdig"  ---------- (without the quotes)

So i enter the username "admin" 

and this new password but authentication still fails.

Any ideas out there,..?

Kr

Paul

[michaelkenward]

Looks like an odd temporary password. I would not expect non-alphanumeric characters.

If you can't get in, you may have to resort to this:

How do I perform a factory reset on my NETGEAR router? | Answer | NETGEAR Support

[PaulK101]

Yeah Tried every browser last night

Using developer mode, in-cogneto mode clearing caches different permutations of uppercase + lowercase even changing to american keyboard and using Shift + 2 for the @ symbol... The whole 9 Yards.

Spent this morning rebuilding the router from factory reset, Which isn't really a fix its just a last ditch effort when someone (Netgear) have released such rubbish code. (the forums are full of this "Password Reset Loop" issue) and again i read hundreds of posts all over the web.

Guess what the recommended and most successful "FIX" yup... Factory reset DOH !

Ive re-flashed the Firmware and spent today rebuilding the router.

Netgear, if you are out there and read the forums; hundreds of different models are having this same issue bad code and even worse QA....

Not impressive at all..

P

[michaelkenward]

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@PaulK101 wrote:

(the forums are full of this "Password Reset Loop" issue) and again i read hundreds of posts all over the web.

That is only when people are trying to use password recovery when they have not set answers to the questions. You should not get sucked into that loop if you have have set up password recovery and provided, and remember, the answers to the questions.

I have not seen "closed loop" messages from people who have set up password recovery.

The "reset" advice is for people who have not set up password recovery and have forgotten the admin password they set.

Over the years, Netgear has tightened up the set up process for new devices and now tries to force people to set up password recovery. That step then creates complaints from people who don't want to protect themselves from amnesia.

Netgear can't win, no matter how much it tries to make life easy for users.

In my case, the first thing I do is turn off password recovery. I have ways of not forgetting passwords.

[stevecoh1]

Uh, no. Something is broken. You need to acknowledge it.

I try to get in.

It doesn't take my password (default: password). This has worked many times before.

It then takes me to a page where I have to enter my serial number.

That takes me to a page where I must enter a new password - twice, and then answer provide answers to some security questions. I don't think I set up password recovery so it isn't clear to me whether I am being asked to provide answers to security questions previously provided or answers for the first time.

I click on this and it tells me that recovery was successful and my new password is "@newdig" - which is NOT the new password I just provided. Neither @newdig or that new password works, and soon I am temporarily locked out of the router.

I'm not an idiot. Something is wrong here. Stop putting it on the users.

[stevecoh1]

@PaulK101

I am having the same problem. It looks like I may have installed a firmware update some months back which is producing this password reset loop and this bogus "@newdig" password.  Even pressing the reset button didn't help.  I am supposing that the firmware update causes it to reject the default "password" and immediately put you into this loop from which exit is impossible.

There are posts that blame it on the browser. This is wrong. I've tried from Windows and from Linux using Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. All produce the same results.

Not a happy camper. Netgear needs to answer this.

[stevecoh1]

@PaulK101 How do you reflash firmware at all, and especially if you can't log into the router?

[michaelkenward]

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@stevecoh1 wrote:

Uh, no. Something is broken. You need to acknowledge it.

---

I did acknowledge it when I said that the password response you got doesn't make sense.

I was just trying to understand what is going on and to correct your misunderstanding of previous conversations.

You need to acknowledge that.

---

@stevecoh1 wrote:

I'm not an idiot.

---

No comment.

[michaelkenward]

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@stevecoh1 wrote:

I am having the same problem. It looks like I may have installed a firmware update some months back which is producing this password reset loop and this bogus "@newdig" password. 

---

As I said before, that is seriously odd.

You do have the D6400?

---

Not a happy camper. Netgear needs to answer this.

---

Netgear can't answer anything without decent information to work on. Rants don't count on that front.

You should know that this community is essentially a user-to-user venue with some input from a small band of Netgear techies.

Most of the answers come from fellow users who have no connection with Netgear. They just have a lot of collective experience and are familiar with the sort of problems that turn up here.

I was trying to get some sensible answers to questions that could help us to pin down what is happening. Then I have ways of getting the details into the Netgear system.

As I explained earlier, the "password loop" is usually down to a modem/router and how it is set up.

If you are trying to use the "password recovery" option, there is a bug in Netgear's implementation of password recovery on some devices. You can get locked into a closed loop.

If password recovery is enabled, but you have not set the answers to the questions, it keeps sending you back to the beginning of the process. If you haven't already given the thing your personal answers, they are not in its memory and it has no way of knowing if they are correct.

If the standard factory password (password) does not work, then you will have to factory reset the thing to get back to that. Then either disable password recovery (check the manual for your device) or provide some answers to those questions.

How do I perform a factory reset on my NETGEAR router? | Answer | NETGEAR Support

But you say that you have tried the reset.

When you did the factory reset, did you give it a long press?

Did you try this with the D6400 disconnected from the Internet. Standalone and just plugged into the PC?

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There are posts that blame it on the browser.

---

No one is "blaming" the browser, just pointing out that browsers have memories that can make life difficult. Nothing to do with routers, just a universal "try this" response whenever people are using a browser to do things.

(Netgear does blame Safari in some circumstances, which is explains in its manuals.)

I have a D6400 sitting next to me. I can try to reproduce anything that you like.

But it helps to have details beyond "it doesn't work".

Have you tried using the appropriate App to get into the thing?

Is this device in modem/router, modem only, router only or AP mode? (You will get nowhere in AP mode.)

Which address are you trying to get into the D6400?

Do you know which firmware you have on the device?

I'm on Firmware Version 1.0.0.104. (Mine sits on a shelf doing nothing most of the time.) I have just gone in and updated the relic. Firmware Version 1.0.0.114 seems to work just fine.

If you want to experiment with older firmware, you can always try FTFP:

How to upload firmware to a NETGEAR router using Windows TFTP | Answer | NETGEAR Support

[michaelkenward]

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@stevecoh1 wrote:

@PaulK101 How do you reflash firmware at all, and especially if you can't log into the router?

---

How to upload firmware to a NETGEAR router using Windows TFTP | Answer | NETGEAR Support

Among a few other options.

[stevecoh1]

@michaelkenward

Thanks for this detailed reply, and my apologies if I came off as rough on you. I'd been fighting this stupid thing all afternoon. Including a bout with a "Tech Support" chat on what I thought, maybe incorrectly, was the Netgear tech support page. Soon I was on a phone call with a sketchy-sounding dude who wanted me to install something that would let him control my PC. I hung up on him. I was not in a good mood. Sorry again.

>> If password recovery is enabled, but you have not set the answers to the questions, it keeps sending you back to the beginning of the process. If you haven't already given the thing your personal answers, they are not in its memory and it has no way of knowing if they are correct.

Logical and completely consistent with what I'm seeing. I don't think I ever gave those answers.

>> You do have the D6400?

No, it's an R6400 v2.

>> Is this device in modem/router, modem only, router only or AP mode? (You will get nowhere in AP mode.)

Know nothing about these modes. I assume it's router only - that is the only function I ask of it.

>> Which address are you trying to get into the D6400 R6400?

http://routerlogin.net or http://192.168.1.1

Same results either way.

>> When you did the factory reset, did you give it a long press?

Maybe not long enough. I held it long enough to have the lights flash. Was it seven seconds? Not sure. Is that long enough?

>>If you are trying to use the "password recovery" option, there is a bug in Netgear's implementation of password recovery on some devices.

Thanks for acknowledging the bug, which seems to be what I'm seeing. I'm not trying to use the 'password recovery' option, I'm trying to log in, but "it" is forcing me into the password recovery option. What is "it"? I think it can only be the firmware, as the pattern is completely consistent across browsers and OSes. Where else would the @newdig be coming from? Since my last post I found the same issue with the Nighthawk app from my IPhone. I believe you asked about that too.

So I guess it's down to this:

Try the factory reset again with the long press. Do you know if factory reset will overcome this password loop problem. If it doesn't then it's bad firmware. If that doesn't work I'll have try to install new firmware. But that looks a bit complicated, so a last resort.

Thanks again.

Steve

[stevecoh1]

@michaelkenward

A long press didn't solve the problem. 😞

>> Do you know which firmware you have on the device?

No, alas. 104 is what is offered on Netgear's site. I suppose that's the latest which may not help me.

[michaelkenward]

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@stevecoh1 wrote:

@michaelkenward

A long press didn't solve the problem. 😞

>> Do you know which firmware you have on the device?

No, alas. 104 is what is offered on Netgear's site. I suppose that's the latest which may not help me.

---

For the D6400 that started this conversation, the latest on the website is actually newer than that:

D6400 Firmware Version 1.0.0.114 | Answer | NETGEAR Support

With two more between that and the one you have.

The website offers firmware that goes back to the original D6400, the one that started me off, six years ago.

D6400 Firmware Version 1.0.0.22 | Answer | NETGEAR Support

Find them all here:

D6400 | Product | Support | NETGEAR

[michaelkenward]

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@stevecoh1 wrote:

@michaelkenward

Thanks for this detailed reply, and my apologies if I came off as rough on you. I'd been fighting this stupid thing all afternoon. Including a bout with a "Tech Support" chat on what I thought, maybe incorrectly, was the Netgear tech support page. Soon I was on a phone call with a sketchy-sounding dude who wanted me to install something that would let him control my PC. I hung up on him.

---

The dreaded support scam .

If you found them through a web search, it wasn't Netgear.

You did well to hang up. Too many people don't do that and end up with damaged networks and bank balances.

---

>> You do have the D6400?

No, it's an R6400 v2.

So, we are talking about completely different device from the one that kicked off this conversation.

There is a separate section here for "basic" routers:

General WiFi Routers (Non-Nighthawk & Non-Orbi) - NETGEAR Communities

[michaelkenward]

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@stevecoh1 wrote:

@michaelkenward

A long press didn't solve the problem. 😞

>> Do you know which firmware you have on the device?

No, alas. 104 is what is offered on Netgear's site. I suppose that's the latest which may not help me.

---

That is not firmware for the R6400 V2 mentioned elsewhere.

R6400v2 | WiFi Router | NETGEAR Support

Different devices have different firmware. So firmware the D6400, R6400 and R6400V2 are not compatible. Try applying the wrong one and if you are lucky the process will warn you off. If you are unlucky you can break the hardware, sometimes permanently.

Only the D6400 has anything recognisable as "104". (More accurately, it is D6400-V1.0.0.104_1.0.104.) That will not work on the R6400 or R6400V2 

[stevecoh1]

@michaelkenward
Sorry, you said D6400 and I said “close enough”.
Actually the firmware version I saw on the site for my router was 1.0.4-126 which is what I was looking at. You said 104 and I said “close enough”. I wasn’t going to install firmware for another router.

And the way I found you guys here in the first place under the wrong section for me was by googling “@newdig”.

So where are we? Factory reset did not fix the issue, so I suppose that does not override previous firmware upgrades. The last upgrade I did was, I think, sometime in the last 6 months to a year. Can I know if 1.0.4-126 contains the fix for this problem? How confident do you feel that this is the right approach now?

Thanks.

[michaelkenward]

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@stevecoh1 wrote:
@michaelkenward
Sorry, you said D6400 and I said “close enough”.

Sadly, close enough is no good. In fact, it can be dangerously wrong.

---

Can I know if 1.0.4-126 contains the fix for this problem?

---

I still don't know what "the problem" is at your end. Partly this is because you are asking about a device that is not the D6400 modem/router that @PaulK101  mentioned in the subject.

Your device is a simple router. That means that there are unanswered questions that mean very little when talking about the D6400.

For example, because you own a router, we know nothing about the modem/gateway that sits between it and the Internet. We need to know what that is because it may explain what is going on, which may not be the same "problem" that started this discussion.

As it is, there has been very little here to suggest that people have had problems with this router.

Search - NETGEAR Communities – R6400

If there had been serious problems this place would be awash with complaints.

This makes me suspect think that the problem could be at your end rather than anything on the Netgear router.

[PaulK101]

Mine is a D6400 AC1600 WiFi VDSL \ ADSL Modem Router 

Reset was to press and hold the red reset button for 35 seconds. 

Firmware was flashed when i had it flattened and i was back in using default admin\password creds.

Yes i had set the Password Reset Questions.

And yes I knew the correct answers. 100% drop dead stone cold certain.

Just spoke to my Service provider and getting one of theirs shipped, this routers going in to long term cold storage.

Just realised I'm actually 10Mbs slower than my package.

P

[michaelkenward]

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@PaulK101 wrote:

Just spoke to my Service provider and getting one of theirs shipped, this routers going in to long term cold storage.

Just realised I'm actually 10Mbs slower than my package.

---

If you are using the D6400 in modem/router mode, then you can, if you can get into its controls, turn it in a wireless access point. Or just plug it into the WAN port and use it as a router.

If you are using the D6400 as a router, rather then a modem/router, that could explain the problems that you have with logging into it. That is why I asked earlier which mode it is operating in.

Maybe you are not using the D6400 is a modem/router. There is no way on way your ISP can provide an Internet speed that is faster than the modem. The limit for VDSL services is usually around 70 Mbps. The WAN bit of the D6400 reckons to do 100 Mbps, both upstream and downstream, faster than any DSL services I have seen.

As a router it says it does 1000BASE-T on the LAN and WAN, but you can knock a bit off that for "overheads".

Wifi speeds, of course, are very different animals. There it isn't the router that people have to worry about but the wifi clients, but the six-year old D6400 is several generations behind current wifi technology and won't go down well with the newest wifi clients.

[stevecoh1]

I still don't know what "the problem" is at your end. Partly this is because you are asking about a device that is not the D6400 modem/router that @PaulK101  mentioned in the subject.

Well, the first clue in my mind is that both routers have the problem with the strange "@newdig" password that the login page fires back AFTER the user types in a new password.  That indicates to me that something (I keep thinking it's firmware) common to both products has the same bug.

Your device is a simple router. That means that there are unanswered questions that mean very little when talking about the D6400.

For example, because you own a router, we know nothing about the modem/gateway that sits between it and the Internet. We need to know what that is because it may explain what is going on, which may not be the same "problem" that started this discussion.

Fair enough. My Internet is provided through a Chicago area ISP called Everywhere Wireless. In spite of the "fiber" in its URL, this service is delivered over a microwave transmitter and is only sold to high-rise residential and commercial buildings. Their advertising may strike you as hype, but I will testify to its quality, compared to Comcast, DSL, etc. Once the signal reaches the antenna in the building it is routed to each unit via Ethernet, terminating in one Ethernet socket into which I plug the router. Once it comes up, you're on the internet. As the ad page says, no modem is required. It is hard for me to see how this setup could cause the problem, especially since

1) The Internet itself works fine

2) I have previously, using the same setup, been able to connect to the router without this issue.

As it is, there has been very little here to suggest that people have had problems with this router.

Search - NETGEAR Communities – R6400

If there had been serious problems this place would be awash with complaints.

I wonder how many users of the R6400 go to the admin page.

This makes me suspect think that the problem could be at your end rather than anything on the Netgear router.

In view of what I said above, what do you think it might be?

Thanks.

[michaelkenward]

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@stevecoh1 wrote:

Fair enough. My Internet is provided through a Chicago area ISP called Everywhere Wireless. In spite of the "fiber" in its URL, this service is delivered over a microwave transmitter and is only sold to high-rise residential and commercial buildings.

Ouch. These freaky microwave services aren't common. So, like satellite networks, few of the regulars here have experience with that sort of service.

Unfortunately, the website is thin on details. Its shop, for example, "sells" all manner of kit that tells us nothing about the service. I mean, USB adapters? IoT toys?

I went there to see how the networks operates and what sort of hardware they suggest you use with the network. I am wary of claims like "With our proprietary network design",

Some of these hifi rise offerings come with a simple LAN socket that goes back to a router somewhere in the building. In that case, something like the R6400 needs to be correctly configured, usually as an access point. In that mode, the usual way into the router won't work.

[Raywm]

Netgear Nighthawk AC1750 Model R6400v2
Can not get out of the @newdig password loop.
Factory reset does not clear the @newdig loop.
Appears the last software update toasted any access to it’s setup pages. Where I do port forwarding, DNS setting, etc.
Google has many search hits for “netgear @newdig” but no fixes.
Any one have a solution?
At this point router will be headed to trash bucket.

[michaelkenward]

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@Raywm wrote:
Netgear Nighthawk AC1750 Model R6400v2

Any reason why you chose to ask your question on the section for DSL Modems & Routers?

Answers here may have no relevance to your problem.

For example, most routers have a modem/gateway in front of them. What sits in front of your R6400v2?

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Google has many search hits for “netgear @newdig” but no fixes.

---

With:

“netgear @newdig” - Google Search

I found this:

Your search - “netgear @newdig” - did not match any documents.

A local search isn't much more help:

Search - NETGEAR Communities – @newdig

Rather than latching on to an old conversation in an inappropriate section, you  might get better help if you started your own message in the right place for the R6400v2.

General WiFi Routers (Non-Nighthawk & Non-Orbi) - NETGEAR Communities

[Raywm]

Have set words to the questions. Still in @newdig loop!
My guess is the last netgear update toasted our routers. Lots of routers and not just one model. Mine is a AC1750 R6400v2.
Has a class action been started?

[shodan78]

Hello all,

yesterday I had same issue.

I think "@newdig" is a string pointer/holder that should be replaced on runtime by the new password, but unfortunately there is a firmware bug.

Anyway I discovered the password after the reset procedure is completed. New password is 'admin' ^__^

So once reset procedure is completed correctly D6400 web access data are as follow:

username: 'admin' - password: 'admin'

I had installed firmware 108. Yesterday once I accessed again I updated to 114 and I don't know if bug is fixed now or still.

Regards.