Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
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Nighthawk App

Sledghammer
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Nighthawk App

I just converted to a Nighthawk R8000 wirelss router and have access to it with the Netgear Genie app on my laptop and my Samsung Galaxy phone app.  I downloaded the Nighthawk app and cannot access the router using the same admin and my new password for the admin of the router.  Am I doing something wrong?  The password works fine witht he Genie app.

Model: R8000|Nighthawk X6 AC3200 Smart WIFI Router
Message 1 of 12
Sledghammer
Initiate

Re: Nighthawk App

Based on some reading, it looks like the Nighthawk app is not needed.  I will just uninstall it and use the Genie app.

Message 2 of 12

Re: Nighthawk App

Both apps should work.

 

The Android genie, unlike the Nighthawk app, does not insist that you have to be connected to a Nighthawk router. It will happily do its stuff if you approach it through an Orbi router or access point.

 

The Nighthawk app forces you to use remote access to get in. Remember, login details for that are not the same as for local login.

 

Message 3 of 12
schumaku
Guru

Re: Nighthawk App


@michaelkenward wrote:

 

The Android genie, unlike the Nighthawk app, does not insist that you have to be connected to a Nighthawk router. It will happily do its stuff if you approach it through an Orbi router or access point. 


Genie support for Orbi will be revoked soon. Nightawks might follow.

 

@michaelkenward wrote:

 The Nighthawk app forces you to use remote access to get in. Remember, login details for that are not the same as for local login. 

Don't agree, the Nighthawk App can login locally if connected to that very router (W)LAN. It might require the configuration of a myNetgrar account however. 

 

Message 4 of 12

Re: Nighthawk App


@schumaku wrote:

@michaelkenward wrote:

 

The Android genie, unlike the Nighthawk app, does not insist that you have to be connected to a Nighthawk router. It will happily do its stuff if you approach it through an Orbi router or access point. 


Genie support for Orbi will be revoked soon. Nightawks might follow.

 

@michaelkenward wrote:

 The Nighthawk app forces you to use remote access to get in. Remember, login details for that are not the same as for local login. 

Don't agree, the Nighthawk App can login locally if connected to that very router (W)LAN. It might require the configuration of a myNetgrar account however. 

 


I thought it was clear from the context, but let's remove any confusion. Actually, the "if connected to that very router" bit gets us part of the way there.

 

The Nighthawk app forces you to use remote access to get in if you are connecting via an Orbi.

 

This is not true for Netgear's Android genie.

 

In my case, I have an R7800 as a router and a set or Orbi kit running through an Orbi base station.

Message 5 of 12
Bithunter-Bob
Aspirant

Re: Nighthawk App

I downloaded the Nighthawk app for iOS and then started setting up the cable modem and router.  Unfortunately, the Nighthawk app couldn't successfully download and update the firmware (checksum error) and it eventually gave up trying to configure the device.  I went in via the raw IP address and was able to successfully configure using the defaults, and then I configured the admin password for the router immediately to my own.

 

When I try to use the Nighthawk app, it asks for the admin password, and I put in my password and the Nighthaw app goes to the device for a few seconds, then it pops back to the Nighthawk log-in page. 

Message 6 of 12
schumaku
Guru

Re: Nighthawk App


@Bithunter-Bob wrote:

I downloaded the Nighthawk app for iOS and then started setting up the cable modem and router.


Hard to say what Netgear (Nighthawk) Cable Modem/Router you refer here. As per Which routers support the NETGEAR Nighthawk app? there are no Netgear Cnnnn models supported at all.

 

Anything else you experience does read like bad compatibility testing - the Nighthawk App should be able to clealry inform the user if a device isn't supported. 

Message 7 of 12

Re: Nighthawk App

Then there is the fact that cable modems don't have the ability to update their firmware at the user end.

 

So who knows what hardware we are talking about here?

 

That's what happens when someone hitches a ride on an old discussion, and one that may be in the wrong bit of this community.

 

 

 

 

Message 8 of 12
Bithunter-Bob
Aspirant

Re: Nighthawk App


@schumaku wrote:

@Bithunter-Bob wrote:

I downloaded the Nighthawk app for iOS and then started setting up the cable modem and router.

Hard to say what Netgear (Nighthawk) Cable Modem/Router you refer here. As per Which routers support the NETGEAR Nighthawk app? there are no Netgear Cnnnn models supported at all.

 

Anything else you experience does read like bad compatibility testing - the Nighthawk App should be able to clealry inform the user if a device isn't supported. 


My bad: first-time post, and some flailing getting oriented with the new (to me) equipment and community.  

 

The cable modem is a CM1100 (Nighthawk) -- previously, I've used ISP-provided equipment, for a variety of reasons.  Adjacent is an AC1200 (R6220 -- also a Nighthawk?? Firmware V1.1.0.86_1.0.1).  I'm guessing that the remote management the Nighthawk app gives is solely for the router/Wi-Fi end of things?  The experience is that the Nighthawk app connects to the router okay, then asks me for a log-in/pw, which I give, and I get some stuff displayed from the router, but it quickly bounces back to the app's log-in screen.  It's a loop.  

 

The app was setting up the router when something seemed to go wrong, as I mentioned: check-sum error on a firmware update, and then more difficulty.  I can go in through a browser to the router IP address and look at things, and I did the set-up wizard as far as that would go, too.  FWIW, I am troubled that the browser page now presents me with an insecure log-in method (which it tells me about), following which I get in to the router Web interface.  I can't remember if there was a "user" log-in set up for me, too, originally, or just the admin.  

 

The main reason to come here was to find out what was going on with the Nighthawk app and fixing its desired relationship with the router.

Model: R6220|AC1200 Smart WiFi Router with External Antennas
Message 9 of 12

Re: Nighthawk App


@Bithunter-Bob wrote:

 

The main reason to come here was to find out what was going on with the Nighthawk app and fixing its desired relationship with the router.


I have seen reports elsewhere in these parts of a broken iOS app. Maybe you are another victim.

 

Experienced users generally prefer doing things with a wired connection and a using a browser to get at the graphical user interface (GUI). Not only is the information easier to get at and understand, it means that you are performing possibly dangerous moves, like updating firmware, over a wifi connection that might go down during the process.

 

The browser trick also works on mobile devices.

 

Messages about insecure logins may boil down to changes in the browser's own security settings. These sometimes get ahead of Netgear's ability to tweak its own ways of doing things. They may also be more scary than they need to be.

 

The R6220 isn't a Nighthawk. Too downmarket for that label! But the Nighthawk app does support some non Nighthawk devices.

 

There is support for the R6220, including a manual, somewhere at the end of this link:

 

>>> R6220 | Product | Support | NETGEAR <<<

 

Message 10 of 12
Bithunter-Bob
Aspirant

Re: Nighthawk App


@michaelkenward wrote:

@Bithunter-Bob wrote:

 

The main reason to come here was to find out what was going on with the Nighthawk app and fixing its desired relationship with the router.


I have seen reports elsewhere in these parts of a broken iOS app. Maybe you are another victim.


I was troubled by all the unhappy reviews I saw at the store before I installed it, but I also saw the positive ones where it worked okay.  I am hopeful that app feedback on its successes and failures make it back to the development team.

 


Experienced users generally prefer doing things with a wired connection and a using a browser to get at the graphical user interface (GUI). Not only is the information easier to get at and understand, it means that you are performing possibly dangerous moves, like updating firmware, over a wifi connection that might go down during the process.

 

The browser trick also works on mobile devices.


I'm used to going in directly via wire to do set-ups, or Wi-Fi, if I have it turned on, and doing the settings.  The offer of the app to set it up was an experiment.  You live, you learn.

 


Messages about insecure logins may boil down to changes in the browser's own security settings. These sometimes get ahead of Netgear's ability to tweak its own ways of doing things. They may also be more scary than they need to be.


Agreed.  My browser is set to report on insecure sites and methods ... which I prefer.

 


The R6220 isn't a Nighthawk. Too downmarket for that label! But the Nighthawk app does support some non Nighthawk devices.


You're quite right.  The Nighthawk router/Wi-Fi was 3x the price of this one.  I thought there was a package insert that was a surpise to me (mentioning Nighthawk).

 


There is support for the R6220, including a manual, somewhere at the end of this link:

 

>>> R6220 | Product | Support | NETGEAR <<<


Very helpful!  Thanks!

Model: R6220|AC1200 Smart WiFi Router with External Antennas
Message 11 of 12

Re: Nighthawk App

@Bithunter-Bob wrote:

I was troubled by all the unhappy reviews I saw at the store before I installed it, but I also saw the positive ones where it worked okay.  I am hopeful that app feedback on its successes and failures make it back to the development team.


I  passed it on through "back channels"! Heaven only knows if it will land on the right desk. Or if there will be any response.

 



Agreed.  My browser is set to report on insecure sites and methods ... which I prefer.

 


Dead right. But some browsers are harder to circumvent than others after you see the warning. For reasons even I don't know, I switch between Firefox (add-ins), Chrome (faster and cleaner), Edge (cutting edge) and Internet Explorer (last resort). Usually in that order. Despite the fact the Firefox causes most grief.

 


@Bithunter-Bob wrote:


You're quite right.  The Nighthawk router/Wi-Fi was 3x the price of this one.  I thought there was a package insert that was a surpise to me (mentioning Nighthawk).

 


For some people 3X the price is a selling point. Go figure.

 

I am one of those people who delights in buying "last year's model at a discount".

 

There's a good chance that the Nighthawk was in there, such are the delights of Netrgear's marketing. The Nighthawk app also supports other devices. Think yourself lucky that it didn't talk about the "Up" app, which disappeared after about 10  minutes.

 

Message 12 of 12
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