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R7800 refuses all connections except Google searches
Bought an R7800 router used and have been fighitng with it for several days. I've tried many, many things to fix it and I'll try my best to describe all steps previously taken.
I first tried to admin it via Chrome connecting to 192.168.1.1 via ethernet (always my preferred method). I was prompted for a password. The default didn't work so I reset the router using the button on the back. Before trying it via Chrome again, I saw that there is a Netgear app I'm supposed to use to configure it, so I downloaded and tried the app. Huge mistake. The router generated its default network with default password. Phone connected and found the router. Then the app told me I needed a firmware upgrade, I clicked OK. Now the app can't find the router. It searches for a few minutes and tells me the router can't be found. I tried setting it up as a new system and again it searches for a few minutes and tells me it can't find any Netgear decives to configure on my network.
I went back to Chrome. Whether I try 192.168.1.1 or routerlogin.com I get "_______ refused to connect" ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED. I have tried this via wifi and ethernet. I have tried it while connected to the internet* or not. I have tried it on a MacBook and a Windows desktop. In all cases I can ping 192.168.1.1 but if I try to connect with a browser the connection is refused.
*My building has fiber, which I connect to via an ethernet port in the wall. I have no idea what networking gear the bulding has, but it works flawlessly with all my other devices. If I plug a computer or any other router in, the internet connection always works instantly.
However, it has not worked for me. I have tried it from a Mac and a PC. In both cases I was able to confgure my IP manually as 192.168.1.10 and successfully pinged the router at 192.168.1.1 The instructions say that I should restart the router and that the power LED will light up orange (which it does) and then start flashing (which it does not). After about a minute of solid orange the power LED changes to solid white, after which all the other LEDs start turning on and flashing like normal. The instructions say I should upload the firmware when the power LED is flashing but since I have never been able to enter the flashing mode, I tried uploading the firmware a few times anyway. I don't know if I'm using the TFPT client correctly, but it has never done anyhting to the router; the lights on the router don't seem to respond to anyhting I do with the TFPT client. I still can't connect to admin interface. I assumed that the ethernet cable from the computer should connect to one of the router's 4 LAN ports, which I tried first. After that failed I plugged the ethernet cable into the port meant for the modem/internet and that failed too.
I found posts similar to mine in which people said they lost the ability to use the http interface at 192.168.1.1 but the router continues to work just fine. For the first time, I decided to see if the router works. I connected it to my ethernet/fiber, turned it on, and connected my computer to the router's default wifi network. That's when things got really weird. If I enter a URL into the address bar, I get an error saying the connection was refused, just like when I try to connect to 192.168.1.1, BUT If I type anything other than a URL, Chrome performs a Google search and loads results! Sadly, if I try to open any of the results the connection is refused.
At this point we have reached the end of my networking knowledge. My interpretantion of this is 1. the router's DHCP server is working just fine 2. HTTP is blocked and 3. Google searches go out and are returned via some protocol other than HTTP.
They are missing a crucial step. When I connect the router to the computer with the TFTP client it says to turn off the router, wait 10 seconds, then turn it on. The power LED is supposed to begin flashing to indicate I can proceed with the TFTP. But for my router that doesn't happen. The router just starts up normally. My attempts to use the TFTP client did nothing.
This page tells me to turn off the router, wait 10 seconds, then turn it on while holding the reset button. When I do this, the power LED begins to flash like its supposed to. Then I can use the TFTP client. Although these instructions are for the TFTP command built into Windows, I was not able to use the command. I got an error saying TFTP isn't a recognized command. I was confused at the time, but now I think I know why. It appears it is disabled by default and must be enabled as described here.
Note I haven't tried to enable Windows TFTP so I can't vouch for that link. I used the TFTP client linked in my first link. But if anyone else has this problem in the future, I thought this might help them solvei it faster.
Best of luck to anyone having these issues. This is my first Netgear product and so far I've found the usability and tech support disappointing. The performance is not noticeably different from the 8 year old Apple airport extreme router I was using previously. Consdering I bought the Apple router used for $40 and it took only 5 min to set up, the money ($100) and time (10 hours) spent on the Netgear router has not been worth it.
Re: R7800 refuses all connections except Google searches
Try this.
Disconnect the wan port on the router.
Then try the factory reset. push and hold for 7-15 seconds.
Leave the router disconnected from wan port while going through initial setup.
Attempt setting it up using the browser again, not the app. There is a link on the bottom when its recommending the app that you can click on to continue setting up via the browser. Use that.
You might need to setup the router as an access point because I'm wondering if your fibre connection has its own integrated router so its causing a double nat issue.
Re: R7800 refuses all connections except Google searches
Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't understand how this is different than what I've already done. Maybe I didn't explain my problem very well.
"Attempt setting it up using the browser again, not the app. There is a link on the bottom when its recommending the app that you can click on to continue setting up via the browser. Use that."
I can't even get that far. When I try to set it up using the browser I can't load the set up page. I just get an error saying connection refused. If you have any recommendations for how to circumvent that, I'd appreciate it.
They are missing a crucial step. When I connect the router to the computer with the TFTP client it says to turn off the router, wait 10 seconds, then turn it on. The power LED is supposed to begin flashing to indicate I can proceed with the TFTP. But for my router that doesn't happen. The router just starts up normally. My attempts to use the TFTP client did nothing.
This page tells me to turn off the router, wait 10 seconds, then turn it on while holding the reset button. When I do this, the power LED begins to flash like its supposed to. Then I can use the TFTP client. Although these instructions are for the TFTP command built into Windows, I was not able to use the command. I got an error saying TFTP isn't a recognized command. I was confused at the time, but now I think I know why. It appears it is disabled by default and must be enabled as described here.
Note I haven't tried to enable Windows TFTP so I can't vouch for that link. I used the TFTP client linked in my first link. But if anyone else has this problem in the future, I thought this might help them solvei it faster.
Best of luck to anyone having these issues. This is my first Netgear product and so far I've found the usability and tech support disappointing. The performance is not noticeably different from the 8 year old Apple airport extreme router I was using previously. Consdering I bought the Apple router used for $40 and it took only 5 min to set up, the money ($100) and time (10 hours) spent on the Netgear router has not been worth it.
