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Ever since our purchase of this device, we have never been able to log into the router. We have contacted you on 2 previous occasions mentioning this, but - as the problem at the time mainly related to the Wi-Fi - we were satisfied with sorting out what the default password for that was. Now we know there is indeed a firmare update for it out but it cannot be done unless we log in. Have tried using the reset button on the back of the router and every combination of default login info possible (all lower-case, all upper-case, capitolized, etc.); nothing has worked. About to go buy a Lynksys again...
Ever since our purchase of this device, we have never been able to log into the router.
How are you trying to get at the router? Wired link from a PC? (The best option.) Using a browser or the desktop genie? Wifi from a mobile device? Mobile genie app?
What happens when you try to login with whichever device you are using?
....every combination of default login info possible (all lower-case, all upper-case, capitolized, etc.); nothing has worked.
"Nothing has worked" could mean many things. What happens when you try? (See above.)
Remember the wifi password is not the same as the router access password.
Finally, what modem sits in front of this router? That can be one reason why you cannot access the thing.
Me > Ever since our purchase of this device, we have never been able to log into the router.
Mike > How are you trying to get at the router? Wired link from a PC? (The best option.) Using a browser or the desktop genie? Wifi from a mobile device? Mobile genie app?
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Usually thru a wired link from connected PC running Win 10 Pro, latest version. Have tried both browser and Netgear Genie. Just installed the Genie on my laptop that connects via WiFi, still no luck with logging. In an attempt to log in by browser, I get as far as it asking me to reply to secret questions. No clue as to what those are supposed to be either.
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What happens when you try to login with whichever device you are using?
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see above
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me > ....every combination of default login info possible (all lower-case, all upper-case, capitolized, etc.); nothing has worked.
Mike > "Nothing has worked" could mean many things. What happens when you try? (See above.)
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see above.... If connecting by browser on either PC it will eventually take me to what I think is a password recovery or reset screen. Don't know answers to questions asked. (Asks for name of 1st school & mother's middle name) Have tried using info from both myself and my husband, but, again cannot get in.
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Mike > Remember the wifi password is not the same as the router access password.
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Quite aware of this.
Mike > Finally, what modem sits in front of this router? That can be one reason why you cannot access the thing.
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Whatever one that's been provided by our cable company here in Erie County OH (Buckeye Cablevision). It not only does the Internet but does our home phone. This one is at least a year old (older than router) and we have wondered if it needs replacing too.
> [...] what modem sits in front of this router? That can be one reason > why you cannot access the thing.
What possible effect could it have?
> [...] Have tried both browser and Netgear Genie. [...]
I'd stick with a web browser. (Less unreliable Netgear software that way.)
The usual remedy for a lost password is a settings reset (and manual reconfiguration). Visit http://netgear.com/support , put in your model number, and look for Documentation. Get the User Manual. Look for "Factory Settings".
> [...] what modem sits in front of this router? That can be one reason > why you cannot access the thing.
What possible effect could it have?
> [...] Have tried both browser and Netgear Genie. [...]
I'd stick with a web browser. (Less unreliable Netgear software that way.)
The usual remedy for a lost password is a settings reset (and manual reconfiguration). Visit http://netgear.com/support , put in your model number, and look for Documentation. Get the User Manual. Look for "Factory Settings".
Okay, user guide dosen't say what factory defaults are for secret security questions. Nor does hitting the reset button on the router change anything as you'll eventually hit that "enter the answer to these questions" screen. Have tried every combo I can think of to answer those, using either my data or my husbands, plus mixtures of all lower-case, upper-case, 1st letter capitolized and nothing works. So, as I said at the start of this, I can't login no matter what I've tried....
@IKraus wrote: Finally, what modem sits in front of this router? That can be one reason why you cannot access the thing.
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Whatever one that's been provided by our cable company here in Erie County OH (Buckeye Cablevision). It not only does the Internet but does our home phone.
Those "gateway" devices can be a problem. They may also masquerade as routers, which means that you can have a pair of routers on the network. That way madness lies.
That's why I asked about it.
Any reason why you can't tell us what it is? After all, a network is a chain of stuff. All the bits have to work together. So you can't troubleshoot one item in isolation.
I have other thoughts, especially on the "secret questions" thing, and it has nothing to do with a factory reset, but you seem to have garnered the attention of he who knows everything, so I'll leave it fester for the time being.
They can affect the Internet connection. I (still) fail to see how a modem and/or router on the WAN/Internet side of the router in question can affect access to the user interface on that router.
> I have other thoughts, [...]
Yow. Among grown-ups, I would not have thought that no answer plus a childish insult would be an appropriate response to a simple question.
> [...] user guide dosen't say what factory defaults are for secret > security questions. Nor does hitting the reset button on the router > change anything as you'll eventually hit that "enter the answer to these > questions" screen. [...]
How, exactly, did you "hit the reset button"? How, exactly, did the router respond? I'd expect a (successful) settings reset to restore the default "admin" password ("password"), and to clear any password recovery settings. If the router does not respond as expected to a proper reset request, then you might try it again, with nothing connected to the router (except its power adapter).
Then, a better description of what you did than "you'll eventually hit" might be helpful.
> [...] I can't login no matter what I've tried....
With my weak psychic powers, I have very little idea what you've tried, or what happened when you tried it/them.
They can affect the Internet connection. I (still) fail to see how a modem and/or router on the WAN/Internet side of the router in question can affect access to the user interface on that router.
Sorry for the log delay in responding but I am a disabled person with trouble getting around. Modem/Router are located in our home office, where I can no longer be for any length of time due to pain issues in back.
Contacted cable company today and they did confirm the router built into modem is indeed turned off as it should be. As an FYI, it is an Arris - TG2472 combining both Internect modem and home phone services.
> I have other thoughts, [...]
Yow. Among grown-ups, I would not have thought that no answer plus a childish insult would be an appropriate response to a simple question.
Not sure who this is addressed to, but as I'm a 60+ IT expert myself with 30+ years experience I tend to ignore childish jibs about my skill set. I will not engage or discuss anything with anyone who does not treat me (or others) with basic courtesy.
> [...] user guide dosen't say what factory defaults are for secret > security questions. Nor does hitting the reset button on the router > change anything as you'll eventually hit that "enter the answer to these > questions" screen. [...]
How, exactly, did you "hit the reset button"? How, exactly, did the router respond? I'd expect a (successful) settings reset to restore the default "admin" password ("password"), and to clear any password recovery settings. If the router does not respond as expected to a proper reset request, then you might try it again, with nothing connected to the router (except its power adapter).
This one is for me for sure, I hit the reset button on the back of the router several different times. Even going so far as to hold the thing in for a good 30 seconds in case that was what was needed to get it to trigger. Each time I watched the lights on the top and they never once flickered or did anything so my assumption was that the reset didn't occur. Yes, I had thought of this at the outset as I thought for sure it would wipe ANY data stored there in so far as secret questions and so forth.
Then, a better description of what you did than "you'll eventually hit" might be helpful.
Back to me again, here I was talking about attempts to login to router via browser. First item that comes up is normal UserID/password request. After about 2-3 tries in filling something in there I'm taken to the "secret question" screen.
> [...] I can't login no matter what I've tried....
With my weak psychic powers, I have very little idea what you've tried, or what happened when you tried it/them.
Back to me again, as I believe I have described a few times I have tried various ways of entering the admin/password combo in the initial screeens. That is, I've tried it all in lower-case as I've entered it here; also all upper-case letters and with 1st letter of each capitolized AND with all possible combinations of these 3 conditions (example: Admin/PASSWORD).
Same is true for responses to "secret questions," although in this case I'm working with the answers that would be based on my life or my husbands; again going thru all possible combinations in so far as case of letters. Got a scratch pad here tallying those up so as to ensure I didn't miss one. About the only thing I didn't try there is a combo of my own data for one and my husband's for the other answer as I know those had to have been answered by one of us.
So, again, I've tried everything I can think of to access the router and am not getting anywhere.
> [...] I hit the reset button on the back of the router several > different times. Even going so far as to hold the thing in for a good 30 > seconds in case that was what was needed to get it to trigger. Each time > I watched the lights on the top and they never once flickered or did > anything so my assumption was that the reset didn't occur. [...]
That sounds as if the reset did not work properly. I'd expect it (at least) to go through a restart, which should cause some LED activity.
> [...] If the router does not respond as expected to a > proper reset request, then you might try it again, with nothing > connected to the router (except its power adapter).
Did you try that?
> [...] I have tried various ways of entering the admin/password combo > in the initial screeens. [...]
As the User Manual says, "admin" and "password" (both lower-case) are the default credentials, which should work after a (successful) settings reset.
> [...] I've tried everything I can think of to access the router and am > not getting anywhere.
You need to get the settings reset. If it's thoroughly confused, and simply disconnecting all the Ethernet cables doesn't help with that, then you might try things like applying power while pressing the reset button (or other stuff like that which should not be needed). But I'd start by disconnecting all the Ethernet cables, and then pressing the reset button for about ten seconds. You should then see some LED activity. Then, when it wakes up, and you connect a computer with a web browser to it, you should be able to access its management web site using the default "admin"/"password" credentials.
Yow. Among grown-ups, I would not have thought that no answer plus a childish insult would be an appropriate response to a simple question.
Not sure who this is addressed to, but as I'm a 60+ IT expert myself with 30+ years experience I tend to ignore childish jibs about my skill set. I will not engage or discuss anything with anyone who does not treat me (or others) with basic courtesy.
That childish insult, as you so accurately describe it, was probably aimed at me. Some people do not understand basic courtesy and instead make it a hobby out of being obnoxious and belittling people with problems.
Sorry you got caught in the crossfire.
I didn't go into my "other thoughts" because we needed to get a bit further down the road in the troubleshooting process.
What I had in mind was the issue of those "security questions".
There is a bug in Netgear's implementation of password recovery on some devices. You can get locked into a close 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 because you can't answer the questions.
It may be that you have stumbled into this closed loop.
If the single-press reset thing does not work, which is surprising, then the next trick is to try to get into "recovery mode".
Press reset for 30 seconds
Keep pressing reset while removing power
Keep pressing reset for another 30 seconds while apply power
Stick with the wired connection and the browser when you do all this.
Quick message to let everyone know problem has finally been resolved. Had to do the reset on the router 2-3 times before it finally took. On the previous tries one or more of the lights were staying orange, so I kept trying until I got everything back to green. So, password's now been re-set, secret questions re-set and notes taken on all the above. Even better is that it immediately wanted to do the firmware update, so that's done too! Very happy camper again.
Thanks everyone for the help and patience. Took a while to get it done, but it IS done!
