Nighthawk X4S D7800 firmware issue and workaround: wifi schedule once setup unable to remove or edit

[ChrisBeee]

Posting this in case anyone else is looking for a way to get round an issue with the D7800 v1.0.1.56 firmware (current version as of this post) that relates to not being able to turn off / modify or delete the wifi schedule for turning the wifi on and off at set times.

# Background

• I only came accross this issue as I have recently installed a new mesh wifi network and wanted to turn off the D7800 wifi completely as it was no longer needed.
• Prior to installing the mesh wifi network I had setup a single schedule to turn off the D7800 5GHz wifi network every night and turn it on again first thing in the morning every day.
• Although I can manually turn off the 5GHz wifi on the D7800, the schedule meant it was just turned on again every morning.
• The option to disable / modify / delete the wifi schedule is greyed out in the browser admin pages for the D7800, so the schedule will always be active as things currently stand.

# Solution 1: D7800 admin web UI works in some browsers...but not others

• If you have IE11/firefox/opera browsers installed then this post suggests you may be able to get the web GUI to work properly for editing and removing the schedule:
  • https://community.netgear.com/t5/DSL-Modems-Routers/WiFi-Schedule/m-p/1514433/highlight/true#M22834
• I didn't find that post until after I tried the longer option below, but worth pointing out that if using a non Windows OS then IE11 is not an option, or you need to install another browser to get this to work
• I am on MacOS and the D7800 does not allow you to change this in Safari or Google Chrome

# Solution 2: Firmware downgrade / upgrade shuffle....

• This is the option I went with, and although more of a pain to do allowed me to remove the schedule completely (and you could edit/add/modify it as well). Also note the browser option would have been more of a pain for me as I would have had to download and install firefox on MacOS with no guarantee it would work.
• step 1: Backup your current settings for the D7800 to a file as insurance
• step 2: Download and unzip the V1.0.1.44 D7800 firmware file to your local machine (note that the V1.0.1.47 firmware seems to still have the same issue so was no good)
• step 3: choose the update firmware option and then the select the V1.0.1.44 firmware file. You will get a warning about this being an older firmware version, continue anyway. Then choose the upload button to apply the firmware to the router. Router will reload (may take a few mins)
• step 4: In the Advanced setup->wireless settings router admin pages you should now be able to add/modify/delete the wireless schedule as you need (I removed the schedule and then disabled the feature).
• step 5 (optional): backup your router settings so you have a copy of the latest changes.
• step 6 (again optional): Upgrade to the latest firmware again using the normal update firmware process. An upgrade message will show at the top of the router admin pages. I did this as I don't plan to use the wifi scheduling features as I am no longer using the D7800 wifi.

Usual disclaimers apply - all of the above undertaken at your own risk, I accept no reponsibility if you brick your router etc!!!

This is a really major firmware bug that has been around for a while now, and should be relatively easy to fix (better browser compatibility testing, and don't assume the majority of your users will be able to use an ancient browser like ie11!!).

My D7800 has been a good router and is a few years old now, and aside from this has been stable and relatively trouble free.

I don't hold out much hope of further firmware updates given the age of the D7800, but poor firmware testing / QA does put me off a company's products. Anyone can sell you something, but the best companies and products are the ones that support their products well after the sale.

Hope this helps someone else out.

[michaelkenward]

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@ChrisBeee wrote:

• I only came accross this issue as I have recently installed a new mesh wifi network and wanted to turn off the D7800 wifi completely as it was no longer needed.

An easy way to turn off the wifi completely is to press the wifi button on the top.

It may not be obvious – many people miss it – but the indicator (second from right) is also a button.

Are you saying that even when you turn off the wifi with the switch the schedule turns it back on?

That hasn't been my experience with the R7800, the router version of this box

[ChrisBeee]

Thanks - I'm aware of how to turn off the WiFi manually using the approaches you mention.

The problem as you correctly highlight is that as long as the schedule exists, the router just turns it back on again at the next scheduled "on" time. For me this was a major pain as the schedule was daily, so logging in to the router every day to turn off the WiFi again gets old fast.....

if you google the issue, quite a few people have come across it so I don't think I am alone with this issue.

The fact that the schedule UI seems to work correctly on some browsers according to other reports (IE11 and Firefox were mentioned), suggests that this is a relatively minor bug with the web UI behaviour, that for whatever reason has not been fixed. It also works correctly on the firmware 2 versions back, so it was working until relatively recently on all mainstream browsers.

Don't get me wrong - this is the first issue I have had with this router, so overall I consider it to have performed well over the last few years.

If it doesn't get fixed then hopefully at least this post gives people some options for disabling an unwanted schedule once it's been setup.

[michaelkenward]

Oh you pest. You have got me intrigued and I feel the urge to play with my own device, an R7800, to see if I can get the same behaviour.

Such fun.

[michaelkenward]

I don't use wifi on my R7800 much. I have an Orbi system for that. But this discussion intrigued me, so I decided to mess around with the R7800.

The wifi on/off system is certainly broken.

I set some schedules to control the wifi.

They seem to work. I could even use the button to turn the wifi on and off when the schedule was active.

But since then the thing has frozen. The schedule has stopped working and the button also does nothing.

Nor can I control the wifi from the interface.

"Enable Wireless Router Radio" is disabled.

To me this says this bug is not limited to the D7800 that kicked this off, but also to the R7800 at least. Maybe other stuff. It is also more complicated than originally suggested.

This is with  Firmware Version V1.0.2.68 on the R7800.

[michaelkenward]

A good way to recover yourself in these circumstances is to have a decent strategy for configuration backups.

It is a good idea to create core backup of your settings as soon as you have the device up and running, ands before you start any tweaks, like adding schedules for the wifi. Then if you get stuck in the hell hole that @ChrisBeee describes you can revert to that "clean" configuration. That will wipe out any wifi schedules and give you back control over the thing.