Netgear ethernet cable light flashing amber and no connection to internet

[Liliana]

Hi,

I am using Netgear Nighthawk x4 as my wireless router with an Arris SURFboard SB6141 modem to connect to the internet. I have Spectrum as my provider. All was fine for a couple years until about noon today when I suddenly lost connection. Called my ISP who had me connect a direct ethernet cable from my modem to my Dell laptop and disable wifi on my computer. I had connectivity! But when I hooked it back up through the Netgear router again, turned wifi back on on my computer and rebooted the router, the Internet status light on the Netgear router started blinking amber very fast and there was no connectivity. I turned the Netgear off for something like 30 minutes and tried it again, same problem, amber light blinking fast and no connectiviey. Right now I'm back on by a direct connection to my modem which seems fine, but I really need the wifi! Does this mean my Netgear is shot all of a sudden? Is there a way to fix it? Could anyone recommend any other troubleshooting steps, other than what I have described above? Any help would be appreciated! 🙂

Liliana

[joecop · Accepted solution]

The method I described doesn't involve getting into the router to update the firmware. 

[joecop]

Try flashing the firmware using a program called tftpd32. Download it and install it. 

Set a static ip on your computer of 192.168.1.9, 255.255.255.0, 192.168.1.1. 

Then open tftpd32 and select tftp client, in the server interface click on the tab that will allow you to select 192.168.1.9. 

Then in host type: 192.168.1.1, click on the button next to local file and navigate to where you have the unzipped firmware for your router. 

Once all all that is ready, turn off your router. Hold in the reset button and turn on the router. 

When the power led starts flashing (about 15 seconds) let go of the reset button and click on 'put' in the tftpd32 program. 

That should upload the firmware. 

[Liliana]

Thank you, @joecop.  I can't get into the router because it's completely offline, so I can't update it's firmware.  I also found out since I posted this that I had purchased the 2 year protection when I bought this NetGear at BestBuy, and it's still valid for 2 more months.  So, they told me to just bring it back and I can get a replacement.  I can get another NetGear or a Linksys.  I'm wondering if a Linksys would be better, since this one failed?  Thanks for any opinion you could share. 🙂

[joecop]

I prefer asus. Better warranty and costumer support. 

[joecop · Accepted solution]

The method I described doesn't involve getting into the router to update the firmware. 

[Liliana]

Thank you @joecop. That I wish I had got your message while still at Best Buy's.  For now I ended up with the Linksys MAX-STREAM AC1900 MU-MIMO gigabit router, dual band. I actually got money back because I purchased the old NetGear for $200 plus the protection, and the Linksys one was much less (I guess they became cheaper) so between its cost and the protection plan which I re-purchased, I got $25 back.  I guess that's my tip for having to spend all this time to do the exchange and unboxing/installing the new one, LOL.  Hope I won't run into any trouble installing the new one; I'm about to do it now.  Thanks for your help!