Issues Connecting with Netgear Nighthawk AX3000 AX4 Router on AT&T Gigabit Fiber Connection
Good Afternoon,
Figured I'd share my struggle with finally getting my AX4 to work on my fiber network at home. Picked up the AX3000 on sale at Walmart for half price this weekend. I couldn't pass up this deal. My previous router which has been great was a Buffalo WRX-1900DHP circa 2015. It's been a great router and I had zero problems with it from day one! But I did notice that my range into my back yard was lacking. The AX4 seems to have resolved that. However, it did take roughly 3 hours of trouble shooting to get it working with AT&T's BGW210 modem.
Typically when upgrading routers you power everything down, plug in the new router, power the modem on first then the router and you are up and running in minutes. That doesn't seem to be the case with the AX4. Though all the lights are green and shows that the internet is "active" you won't be able to access the router or the internet. No mater how many times or in which order. The app would constantly say "Issues connecting with NETGEAR01". You may also be able to actually connect to the AX4 but will get the "Connected - No Internet" message when you do. So here is what I finally stumbled upon to finally get the AX4 working.
1) If you are upgrading to this from an old router plug the AX3000 into the old router and not the modem. Don't retire that old router just yet. My old Buffalo router was able to assign an IP to the AX3000 and that's how I was able to get online.
2) Use the app and it should connect and tell you right away that you have a firmware update available. Follow the instructions to update the firmware. You'll notice the router's power led turns red and the app should inform you the update is installing. Unplug the ethernet cable from your old router and into your ISP's Modem/Router. Make sure not to prematurely interupt the process by powering it down early. This process seems to take quite a bit of time, 5 to 10 minutes. You may get worried and think it to have failed. Just be patient and wait for all 4 led indicators to show green.
3) Once it reboots try to access the router with the app so you can properly configure it. More than likely you still won't be able to access the router or the internet. So in a last ditch effort I held down the "factory reset" button on the back of the router. I figured it shouldn't do anything but it did. Problem solved. The router rebooted and saw the internet right away.
Though I'm not sure, I feel like the firmware update was the key. So it may be worth a shot to plug it in directly to your ISP's device and factory reset right out of the box. But for me.. this is the final combination that worked. After taking so long to set up I can see why people gave up and returned it.
Hope this helps someone else. So far I'm enjoying the performance and plan to put it through it's paces with a family gathering soon.
Re: Issues Connecting with Netgear Nighthawk AX3000 AX4 Router on AT&T Gigabit Fiber Connection
I'm having the same issue. I just hooked up the router, it connected to the internet just fine. As soon as I did a firmware update, the router only stays connected for a minute or so then loses connection. I'll try factory reset and pet you know.
