This topic has been marked solved and closed to new posts due to inactivity. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.
Can't connect to Circle RAX80 - Run Away before you waste your time and money
O.K. I bought and RAX80 over a year ago. It did not have parental controls on it for the longest time. Even the Nighthawk app didn't display the Parental Controls button. So I thought, well. let's wait and signup with OpenDNS and wait. It worked for a while. Now OpenDNS has had it's own issues and I recently updated my RAX80's firmware and low and behold Parental Controls even the support documentation says my router is supported now. I have been trying to make this stuff work off and on for months.
Problem:
1. On router: Enable Parental Controls and Apply
2. Grab my Android phone and install Circle 1st Gen like the router tells you to.
3. Launch Circle app on phone and try to create an account. Upon attempting to create account it displays "Can't connect to Circle". That is as far as I have ever gotten.
Attempts have been in the dozens and dozens. Disable Parental Controls and remove the app and start over. Install the Circle app ( I guess it replaces 1st Gen but everything says for Netgear it should be 1st Gen) and it has its own message: Please install a web browser to continue when I select Set up parent app. Downgrade firmware, Upgrade firmware. Search Support for tips, help or just anything to get an account created. Reset router to defaults and start over. You name it, I have tried it.
It seems that the whole deal between Netgear and Disney is junk. $300 dollar router and no Parental Controls. I have had several Netgear routers over the years and thought 300 dollars should get me a nice piece of equipment. I was wrong. I am a 30 year veteran of I.T. and have seen bad documentation and really bad support, but this Circle stuff is truly CRAP. There is no help for it unless you are willing to pay. But I feel like laying out $300 dollars should qualify.
If anyone has an explaination for "Can't connect to Circle" please respond. The few instances of people with the problem that I have found are dead ends or 'have you tried this or that'. Why yes, I sure have and there doesn't appear to be a way to see if the account I am trying to create already exists because the only way to get to it is from the App, which doesn't have anywhere to reset password, etc. Oh, and I have tried creating a new account with different username, password, email.
Re: Can't connect to Circle RAX80 - Run Away before you waste your time and money
Something strange happened today. The day after I posted the message above. All of a sudden I couldn't connect to WIFI on my router with any device. After a brief investigation, my router had performed a factory reset. I didn't do it and historically has never done it before. And now, somehow, while reconfiguring it as part of the setup using Nighthawk app on my phone it allowed me to enable Parental Controls/Circle and launched the Circle 1st Gen app for me. It proceeded to allow me to create an account and set it up. My router lost all its settings but magically Circle works or at least appears to be working now. I am happy about this but the timing is very strange indeed.
Re: Can't connect to Circle RAX80 - Run Away before you waste your time and money
Something strange happened today. The day after I posted the message above. All of a sudden I couldn't connect to WIFI on my router with any device. After a brief investigation, my router had performed a factory reset. I didn't do it and historically has never done it before. And now, somehow, while reconfiguring it as part of the setup using Nighthawk app on my phone it allowed me to enable Parental Controls/Circle and launched the Circle 1st Gen app for me. It proceeded to allow me to create an account and set it up. My router lost all its settings but magically Circle works or at least appears to be working now. I am happy about this but the timing is very strange indeed.
