DGN2200v4 - how can I edit Device Names so they identify the device to me

[grumpyxch]

Over the time I have had this router, the number of devices attached that either have no Device Name, or the Device Name is gobbledegook (eg something that starts ANDROID and then goes into some alpha-numeric identity code) has grown to a ridiculous level. My old DG834 I could edit them to something meaningful to me (eg Freds_phone) Why can I not do that on the DGN2200v4? Or is it a case that I can edit them but the process is hidden deep within the instructions?

Thankyou to anyone that can answer this

[grumpyxch · Accepted solution]

Hello Michael,

Good news - success. I tried the link you had at the bottom of your most recent post (the one that ends NETGEARGenie-install.exe), and that resulted in the Genie being installed on my pc.

It shows the devices that are attached, and uses their device names, except for those that don't have such things, in which case it shows its IP address. I have been able to edit one of the latter so that it now shows a name rather than the IP Address. I haven't found how to do the same to devices that aren't at the moment connected, but as the owners of those devices aren't able to visit due to Covid, connection wont happen for some time.

Since then, I have tried logging in to my modem, using the instructions in the modem user manual. It still doesn't show the device names I have put in using the genie, so I'm not sure I am that much further ahead. Still it is progress of sorts.

I think I'm not going to find a solution to what I wanted to acheive, so I think I will stop at this point.

My thanks to you for all your help and patience

[michaelkenward]

You don't say where you are looking for this. Have you been into the browser graphical user interface (GUI)?

• Attached devices
• Click device
• Device Name

The DGN2200v4 is a bit long in the tooth, with its roots back in 2011, so it may not have all the bells and whistles of newer stuff., but it may support the Netgear Desktop genie.

Have you tried using that?

Visit the support pages:

Support | NETGEAR

Feed in your model number and check the documentation for your hardware.

That page will also have any software and firmware for your device, if they exist.

[grumpyxch]

Hello Michael. Thankyou for your help. The DGN2200v4 may be long in the tooth, but it replaced a DG834 which was even older and I could reidentify devices on that one. The DGN2200v4 does have the genie, but the nearest that genie seems to get to being able to do what I want is show me what devices are attached. Genie doesn't seem to show me how to edit the name - but I could be wrong.

I don't know if I am correct, but it looks like Netgear forgot to include the feature I require, but at least the modem works reliably.

As for going into the GUI, I wouldn't know how to do that, plus I have searched for guidance on the Netgear website but found nothing that helped

[michaelkenward]

Check the manual (see link above) read the section Use NETGEAR genie after Installation.

That is how you can get into the router's controls.

Also this:

How do I log in to my NETGEAR wireless router? | Answer | NETGEAR Support

and this:

If you cannot login to your router | Answer | NETGEAR Support

These are basic operations. You should master them before trying anything more complicated.

[grumpyxch]

Hello Michael. I'm afraid you misunderstand the problem. I can log onto the router, and I have the User Manual for this device. Its just that I cannot find any way of editing the Device Name. I can select a Device Name, and I can type in the name I want, but the change gets lost

[michaelkenward]

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@grumpyxch wrote:

Hello Michael. I'm afraid you misunderstand the problem.

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That's because you did not explain it until this message.

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@grumpyxch wrote:

I can select a Device Name, and I can type in the name I want, but the change gets lost

---

That is not what you said in the first post.

---

@grumpyxch wrote:

I can log onto the router, and I have the User Manual for this device.

That too is new information.

Unfortunately, I am not mind reader.

I would repeat my advice to use the desktop genie app, but you have probably done that too.

[grumpyxch]

Hello Michael,

I'm sorry I didn't mention being able to log on to my modem, nor that I had the User Manual for it. I too am not a mind reader.

The User Manual talks about a genie, but it doesn't mention how to use it to edit device names. I didn't know about any desktop genie, but after a lot of searching the Netgear website, I think I have found one for Windows, and it is in the list of software downloads under my modem model. Unfortunately, it refuses to download to my pc. I have no idea why that should be, unless it doesn't like Windows 7. It comes back with the message "updates1.netgear.com took too long to respond" then suggests I run Windows Network Diagnostic, which I do but it doesn't find anything. Can I have a Firewall set somewhere that I dont know about (or its been there so long I have forgotten it exists)?

Perhaps I'm doomed to a life of not being able to edit device names unless I replace an otherwise perfectly serviceable modem with something more modern.

Thanks and take care

[michaelkenward]

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@grumpyxch wrote:

I didn't know about any desktop genie, but after a lot of searching the Netgear website, I think I have found one for Windows, and it is in the list of software downloads under my modem model. Unfortunately, it refuses to download to my pc.

---

Netgear wants the desktop genie to go away and is making it hard to find.

I also have no idea why it won't download in Windows 7. (I ditched that as soon as I could on the grounds that it is now too dangerous to be allowed out on to the Internet.)

How about this link?

genie Landing Page | Apps | Discover | Home | NETGEAR

Get it while you can.

Your DGN2200v4 may be "perfectly serviceable" but Netgear does not support these things for ever.

However, the "app" does claim to support it:

Which NETGEAR home router models can I manage using the NETGEAR genie app? | Answer | NETGEAR Suppor...

The trouble comes in that there are subtle links between apps and firmware. The two rely on each other to work properly. Netgear has a habit of changing one in ways that break the other.

[grumpyxch]

Hello Michael

Thanks for the info you sent. I tried the first link that you put in your latest post, but the only place I could find for downloading the Windows Genie was when your link took me to the same place I had already been - the one when it refuses to respond in time (cannot remember my actual words - will have to look at the earlier posts)

[michaelkenward]

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@grumpyxch wrote:

the only place I could find for downloading the Windows Genie was when your link took me to the same place I had already been - the one when it refuses to respond in time (cannot remember my actual words - will have to look at the earlier posts)

---

Not for the first time, I don't know what you are doing or why it goes wrong. I cannot tell from that description what links you used and what you did.

This still works for me:

DOWNLOAD PC

It is from the page I linked to. Did you use that?

If that fails, then I would look for some other roadblock on your system. It doesn't seem to be a Netgear issue.

[grumpyxch]

I don't know whether this is a clue to why I cannot download Netgear software, but when I log onto the Netgear website, the website indicates I haven't got any Netgear products registered with them. I tried to register this modem, but I get the response that this modem is registered with some other person - it doesn't give any clue as to who that other person is, so it could be me with a typo in the registered name.

It does suggest I contact customer services at Netgear, which I have now done. Hopefully, it wont be weeks before that particular problem is solved, and then maybe the software download problem will also be solved.

Thanks for your help.

Incidentally I did indicate which link I used that just eventually led me to the same place I had tried before. Also I did try clicking on DOWNLOAD PC and it just ignored me

[michaelkenward]

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@grumpyxch wrote:

I don't know whether this is a clue to why I cannot download Netgear software, but when I log onto the Netgear website, the website indicates I haven't got any Netgear products registered with them.

---

There is no need to register a product to download software or anything else. 

So I have no idea what you are doing that throws up these messages.

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@grumpyxch wrote:

It does suggest I contact customer services at Netgear, which I have now done.

I hope it really was Netgear support that you contacted, and not some number or site you found in a web search. They have nothing to do with Netgear and exist to relieve you of money.

When it comes to Netgear responding, free support runs for 90 days after purchase. That won't cover your five-year old modem/router.

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@grumpyxch wrote:

Incidentally I did indicate which link I used that just eventually led me to the same place I had tried before. Also I did try clicking on DOWNLOAD PC and it just ignored me

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You could have fooled me. I just saw a passing vague reference to something that I mentioned, no explicit link. Unfortunately, your explanations and the results that you describe suggest that something is seriously wrong at your end.

http://updates1.netgear.com/netgeargenie/update/NETGEARGenie-install.exe

That links that work for everyone else fail for you is puzzling. But a 10 year old model of modem/router and a PC running on Windows 7 is getting beyond my experience.

[grumpyxch · Accepted solution]

Hello Michael,

Good news - success. I tried the link you had at the bottom of your most recent post (the one that ends NETGEARGenie-install.exe), and that resulted in the Genie being installed on my pc.

It shows the devices that are attached, and uses their device names, except for those that don't have such things, in which case it shows its IP address. I have been able to edit one of the latter so that it now shows a name rather than the IP Address. I haven't found how to do the same to devices that aren't at the moment connected, but as the owners of those devices aren't able to visit due to Covid, connection wont happen for some time.

Since then, I have tried logging in to my modem, using the instructions in the modem user manual. It still doesn't show the device names I have put in using the genie, so I'm not sure I am that much further ahead. Still it is progress of sorts.

I think I'm not going to find a solution to what I wanted to acheive, so I think I will stop at this point.

My thanks to you for all your help and patience