Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
Reply

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app

schumaku
Guru

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app


@Mysetdancer wrote:

It appears that there is no Windows version of the "new" Nighthawk application.


Correct, and there is no intention visible that Netgear will introduce one. 

@Mysetdancer wrote:

And since the "Genie" app does not function, and support has been dropped, it leaves me with a decision:


For the moment, the Windows Genie desktop version is still workable (on legacy as well as on current 32- and 64-bit Windows 10). For how long is hard to say. Netgear made it clear that they are not fixing or enhancing anything - the Apple MacOS Genie desktop version for example does no longer work reliably (if at all) on the current MacOS. 

However, these utilities are not required to set-up and operate these routers in general. The Genie desktop "App" was a little "giant", inheriting various add-on features which were still in the router marketing and documentations, this includes eg. the Airprint capability for "any" (non-Airprint-)printer (more for the Apple Mac and iOS/iPadOS users), a DLNA server (buggy as the identity does change with every re-start of the program or the desktop), .... 

Some features have been removed from the routers with recent firmware updates over the year 2019, in favour of adding stuff like Circle and Armor.(both require paid licenses for full capabilities). Here again, you need mobile Apps (iOS or Android) to operate these features.

 


@michaelkenward wrote:

Many people happily use these two separate programs side by side. One for PCs, the other for mobiles.


Leaving the desktop program vs. App nut-picking alone: Many users experience different behaviour when dealing with the Nighthawk App vs. the Genie desktop program vs. the router Genie Web UI - always depending on the router model and the firmware. 

Message 176 of 242
schumaku
Guru

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app


@MauleGuy wrote:

Ok, I don't really give a damn if my adroid is updated.  If the Genie tool for my Windows 10 desktop works that is fine with me.


As long as the prop keeps turning pilots don't sweat, right?

 

The router has it's job, and most users are not keen to play or spend resonable time with it. 

 

Fly safe!

Message 177 of 242

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app


@MauleGuy wrote:

Ok, I don't really give a damn if my adroid is updated.  If the Genie tool for my Windows 10 desktop works that is fine with me.

 


If you want the desktop genie for Windows start here:

 

genie Landing Page | Apps | Discover | Home | NETGEAR

 

You may have to dismiss an annoying pop-up that tries to push a mobile app down your throat.

 

I find this much more useful than anything Android.

 

Let's hope that Microsoft does not do anything to break it in Windows.

 


@MauleGuy wrote:

The Nighthawk app, which I have since removed, tells me that I need to update my firmware, but when I log onto the update check on the direct connection to the router....router login... I am told I am up to date.  Firmware version V1.0.3.10_10.0.38

 

The best way to update firmware is to do it manually with a browser.

 

How do I manually upgrade firmware to my NETGEAR router? | Answer | NETGEAR Support

 

Message 178 of 242
Brothergrymm
Aspirant

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app

Geez, what a mess. Well after reading this thread (which took way longer then I wanted and even skipped a few pages!) This is what I have understood...
Netgear can give a F*** what the people with money want and need. They refuse to participate with these people and they ignore real problems and prefer to "Age" out devices in order to not support what customers want/need.....
In this age of cybersecurity bad move. Personally I would worry about a law suit/class action much like Ring suffers. But guess it is time to move on from netgear. Disappointed truly. I could survive without either app. But the disregard for customers and lack of responsibility to their own products. No thanks. All of you remember you hold the $$$ it's the only thing they care about... so let them hear your problems by buying from a competitor maybe then they will listen but no one will be talking... because the customer will have moved on and netgear can consider ALL the issues resolved as they file for chapter 11.
In this age instant gratification cuts the other way also.... instant profit loss
Message 179 of 242
schumaku
Guru

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app

Hi @Brothergrymm some clean sweep over the consumer product management, OEM, and QA would be sufficient.

Message 180 of 242
Newbees
Aspirant

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app

 @michaelkenward, thank you for the link you provided for the desktop version!  It is active, however, when I go to this site and attempt to download this to a new PC I recently purchased it tells me this app, from the Google Play store, is already installed... on my tablet!  There is no option for me to install it to my new desktop.  Any ideas how to get a copy of this on my desktop?

Message 181 of 242

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app


@Newbees wrote:

...when I go to this site and attempt to download this to a new PC I recently purchased it tells me this app, from the Google Play store, is already installed... on my tablet!  There is no option for me to install it to my new desktop.  Any ideas how to get a copy of this on my desktop?


You have lost me. What are you trying to install and where?

 

You have joined in on the end of a long and ageing conversation that covered many things.

 

If you want the desktop genie for Windows start here:

 

genie Landing Page | Apps | Discover | Home | NETGEAR

 

You may have to dismiss an annoying pop-up that tries to push a mobile app down your throat. Find the link for the operating system of your desktop. Download the file and install the program.

 

 

 

Message 182 of 242
MauleGuy
Apprentice

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app

Unless you want to do some fancy stuff, your router can be managed quite well, including updates, through routerlogin.net.  Default password and user name REALLY should be changed from default.

 

I don't see any real advantage to Nighthawk app or Genie for that matter on windows OS

 

TD

Message 183 of 242

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app


@MauleGuy wrote:

 

I don't see any real advantage to Nighthawk app or Genie for that matter on windows OS

 


There are one or two things that the desktop (Windows) genie does better than the browser graphical user interface (GUI).

 

To pick a few, the genie's network map is more intuitive and graphical. It is a map.The genie will also alert you when something joins the network.

 

The genie is also a quick way into Parental Controls, increasingly important now that the Nighthawk genie doesn't do it. Finally there is the "Send File" option to copy files between PCs on a local network.

 

There may be things that I have missed.

 

Maybe they are not a "real advantage" for some people,  but others could them helpful.

 

 

Message 184 of 242
Newbees
Aspirant

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app

@michaelkenward, Sorry!  I initially went to that link and only saw the App stores links available.  I failed to scroll down the screen and find the PC link for this program.  SMH.  THANK YOU for the reference, and the patience and persistence in providing support here!  Have an awesome day!

Message 185 of 242
Termina24
Aspirant

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app

Please advise how a can now manage OpenDNS settings on a device by device bases as the NightHawk app has no Network Map for setting restrictions on a device like the Genie app did and i need to change some settings ? 

Model: R7000|AC1900 Smart WIFI Router
Message 186 of 242

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app


@Termina24 wrote:

Please advise how a can now manage OpenDNS settings on a device by device bases as the NightHawk app has no Network Map for setting restrictions on a device like the Genie app did and i need to change some settings ? 


Not sure that I understand your question.

 

To manage your router, you can use the desktop genie for your operating system, or the browser graphical user interface (GUI).

 

You have joined in on an existing conversation that may or may not have anything to do with your problems.


There is also a good chance that the official support team is busily monitoring new conversations and may miss your addition to this one.


If you do want help with your problem, check previous stuff that may be related then start your own discussion.

 

Message 187 of 242
Termina24
Aspirant

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app

Hello,

So you are saying the Desktop Genie app is staying and i can manage OpenDNS settings that i have different settings for each device ?

Because the router GUI does not allow for this level of control with OpenDNS parental control 

 

Thanks James

Model: R7000|AC1900 Smart WIFI Router
Message 188 of 242

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app


@Termina24 wrote:

 

So you are saying the Desktop Genie app is staying and i can manage OpenDNS settings that i have different settings for each device ?


Yes.

 


@Termina24 wrote:

Because the router GUI does not allow for this level of control with OpenDNS parental control 

 


Not quite true. The GUI will take you to here:

 

NETGEAR Live Parental Controls - Your Devices

 

Message 189 of 242
schumaku
Guru

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app


@michaelkenward wrote:

@Termina24 wrote:

So you are saying the Desktop Genie app is staying and i can manage OpenDNS settings that i have different settings for each device ?


Yes.


Well, for now it does continue to work on Windows for now, while users with newer MacOS have lost this option, too. Unfortunately also the desktop Genie are on the no-longer supported side of things, not just the mobile Apps.

 

The only feature no longer available in absence of the iOS and Android based Genie App is the ability to use the bypass account.

Message 190 of 242
Termina24
Aspirant

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app

Hi, I was able to change settings on individual devises via the Windows Genie app thanks but if that is going to and no way to manage on a device level from Router or Nighthawk app what is a guy to do this is a backwards step from Netgear 

Model: R7000|AC1900 Smart WIFI Router
Message 191 of 242

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app


@Termina24 wrote:

Hi, I was able to change settings on individual devises via the Windows Genie app thanks but if that is going

 


Where have you seen that announced? There are still occasional updates to this software. A few tweaks last June, for example, after Netgear announced the death of the mobile genies.

 


@Termina24 wrote:

...no way to manage on a device level from Router or Nighthawk app

 


What do you want to manage? It might be worth putting in a request/suggestion.

 

Idea Exchange For Home - NETGEAR Communities

 

 

Message 192 of 242
DucksoupSD
Tutor

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app

Just had to move to Windows 10 - too bad they left the Genie desktop program in a completely unusable state.  It uses YOUR COMPUTER'S WiFi card (if you have one - my desktop is hard-wired to the router) to check the local WiFi broadcasts, NOT THE ROUTER'S WiFi!  What good is a router configuration tool if you don't know what the ROUTER will see broadcast?  Do you need to crank up the broadcast power on your computer/device for the router to see it? Is the router overwhelmed by other broadcasts that your computer/device doesn't see? Who else is on your ROUTER'S WiFi? You'll never know using the Genie.  When it's time to upgrade, I doubt that I'll get Netgear again - it's clear they aren't interested letting us control the router.  😞

Model: WNDR4300|N750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router
Message 193 of 242

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app


@DucksoupSD wrote:

Just had to move to Windows 10 - too bad they left the Genie desktop program in a completely unusable state.


The desktop genie works fine here on three different Windows 10 PCs.

 


@DucksoupSD wrote:

It uses YOUR COMPUTER'S WiFi card (if you have one - my desktop is hard-wired to the router) to check the local WiFi broadcasts, NOT THE ROUTER'S WiFi! 

 

I don't understand that bit. The PC certainly has to be able to "see" the wifi before it can assess the state of its connection to your wifi network. But you don't have to have wifi active to be able to use the desktop genie or to see other wifi devices on the network map.

 

For example, my mobile phone is visible on the network map, along with other wifi devices, even though my PC does not have wifi active. The genie can even tell me about devices attached to a wifi access point when the router's wifi is turned off. It also gives me a separate map of my Powerline network.

 

So it is hard to understand what your issue is. None of the following fits in with my experience.

 


@DucksoupSD wrote:

Is the router overwhelmed by other broadcasts that your computer/device doesn't see? Who else is on your ROUTER'S WiFi? You'll never know using the Genie.  When it's time to upgrade, I doubt that I'll get Netgear again - it's clear they aren't interested letting us control the router.  😞


All of these features work here. Even with the router's wifi turned off, I can clearly see half a dozen devices using wifi to connect to my network.

 


@DucksoupSD wrote:

What good is a router configuration tool if you don't know what the ROUTER will see broadcast? 


 

Again, this is not what I see. The desktop genie clearly shows what the router will see broadcast. Channels, SSID and so on, even when its wifi is turned off. There is even  a QR code I can use to connect other devices to the network.

 

It may have something to do with the WNDR4300 you list in your footer. My router is the R7800. The WNDR4300, if that is what you are using, is, to put it bluntly, an ageing bottom of the range router. (Latest firmware update was around 18 months ago.) Nothing wrong with that, but you can't expect it to have the same features as something that costs three or four times as much.

 

One good thing about this device is that the lack of recent firmware updates means that it still supports the mobile genie rather than the Nighthawk app, which lacks some features that people like.

Message 194 of 242
DucksoupSD
Tutor

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app

@michaelkenward:The Genie app specifically stated across the top that my computer had to have a wireless card active in order for the app to display ANY [my emphasis] WiFi information.  I have several other devices that communicate well with my router and were active at the time - but the Genie app wouldn't let me see that because my desktop didn't have an active wireless card.  My computer isn't the only possible thing using my WiFi, so why is it the only device that MUST have it's WiFi acitve in order for Genie to display what the router WiFi activity is?  There is no reason, other than the Genie app using the computer's WiFi card, instead of data from the router.  My computer is not near my router (another reason for the hardwire), so it's unlikely that it's WiFi information would match what the router's information would be. I was able to see that there were other devices wirelessly on the network map in Genie, but that's all.

 

I realize my router isn't the newest (it works for me), but then the Genie app isn't new, either (a version came with my router).  I don't expect new features to be supported for my old router, but being able to view the router's WiFi information isn't a new feature. If Netgear is going to stop updates for an old app that was used for an old router, the least they could do is leave it fully functional before they dropped support, instead of killing a useful feature and then dropping support.

 

Perhaps a better test for you to try, if you really care to see my issues, is to completely disable your computer's WiFi card/chip using the Device Manager - not just turning off the WiFi signal - and temporarily hardwiring it to the router, like mine, so the cable is your only possible link to your network.  You may even need a reboot to make sure the computer knows you don't want the WiFi card/chip active any more. But, the Genie app is dead and will never be fixed, so don't waste any more time on this - I'm not going to. The Genie has already disappeared from my system...

Model: WNDR4300|N750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router
Message 195 of 242

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app


@DucksoupSD wrote:

 

Perhaps a better test for you to try, if you really care to see my issues, is to completely disable your computer's WiFi card/chip using the Device Manager - not just turning off the WiFi signal - and temporarily hardwiring it to the router, like mine, so the cable is your only possible link to your network. 


No need for that. My PCs do not have wifi chips or cards.

 

So my comments were under the same conditions that have caused you grief.

 

Adding or removing a USB wifi adapter changes nothing.

 

Of course, if I ask the desktop genie to do things that depend on the PC having a wifi connection, it will not play ball. How can it detect something that is not there?

 

Even without a wifi connection, or any wifi capable hardware in sight, the genie on my PC shows that my phone and tablet are connected to the router. It also shows connections to other wifi devices on my network, including a few Orbi satellites. The genie also gives me the option to "block" these wifi devices.

 

The message you see is the wifi bit of the genie telling you that it cannot do wireless stuff without a wireless connection. I see the same message in the WiFi Connection tab.

 

I would expect the same sort of behaviour if I disconnected the PC from the LAN. Logic tells me that without a LAN connection, the Netgear genie will not be able to tell me what is on the LAN. It doesn't do telepathy.

 

For obvious reasons, if there is no wifi device on the PC the genie also refuses to try to join a wifi network. It cannot perform the impossible.

 

It probably doesn't matter much, but I am using the 2.4.62 version of the genie.

 

 

Message 196 of 242
schumaku
Guru

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app


@DucksoupSD wrote:

@michaelkenward:The Genie app specifically stated across the top that my computer had to have a wireless card active in order for the app to display ANY [my emphasis] WiFi information. 


The Genie App covers a wide selection of features. Some features, like WiFi Connection -> Connect WiFi or WiFi Connection -> Wifi Channels or the Manage Preferred Networks and of course the WiFi Analytics require a working/active WiFi interface.

By rule of thumb, anything else does not.

Router Management, Network Map, ... does work anyway.

There is no reason for Genie to "watch" the wireless - the information about connected devices does come from the router, not from any magic discovery from the App. 

Message 197 of 242
lasstunts
Aspirant

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app

This sucks.  Don't want to and will not download an app on my phone.  Don't need app on phone when internet problem is on computer.  Need to access genie or nighthawk program that will troubleshoot internet on computer not phone

Message 198 of 242

Re: Notice: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated; Switch to the New Nighthawk app


@lasstunts wrote:

This sucks.  Don't want to and will not download an app on my phone.  Don't need app on phone when internet problem is on computer. 


This does not make sense.

 

The first message, the one from Netgear that started this conversation, is about the death of the Netgear genie app. This is something that you have to download on to your phone.

 

Netgear has just replaced one downloadable app with another.

 

 

We want to continue providing you with new mobile app features for the best WiFi experience. That’s why we’ve decided to focus our efforts on improving the new Nighthawk app. As a result, the Genie app will no longer be updated.

 

So carry on using whatever you used before.

 


@lasstunts wrote:

Need to access genie or nighthawk program that will troubleshoot internet on computer not phone


 

 

Most people prefer the browser interface, but there are also people who like using the desktop program.

 

If you want the desktop genie for Windows start here:

 

genie Landing Page | Apps | Discover | Home | NETGEAR

 

You may have to dismiss an annoying pop-up that tries to push a mobile app down your throat.

Message 199 of 242
a-brittis
Star

Re: Important: NETGEAR Genie App Will No Longer Be Updated

The Genie application for MacOS is far superior in functionality than the orbi and nighthawk apps for mobile.  It's a shame it is no longer supported.  The only option you have now from Windows or MacOS is the router's web interface.  Nothing like replacing an application with one that has less functionality.

Message 200 of 242
Announcements

Orbi WiFi 7