Nighthawk Mesh wifi extender EX8000 blinking red power light

[bhowe408]

My extender just stopped working about a week ago and every since has had a blinking red power light. All other led lights are blinking white. I can't get into mywifiext site to update the firmware. I have connected it to my router with a wired connection. I have tried to reset by pressing the reset button for 7+ seconds. It just won't reboot and work. When I have unplugged it and turned it back on, the power light is green for about 10 second, but then starts blinking red again. I'm not sure what to do. Help please.

[plemans]

You can try recovering it with tftp or nmrpflash.
are you on windows? if so, follow this guide
https://kb.netgear.com/000059634/How-to-upload-firmware-to-a-NETGEAR-router-using-Windows-TFTP
just make sure you enable tftp
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/enable-tftp-windows-10

and here's a video walk through using a tftp client. Use the built in one for windows 10 though. the video is more of an example of how its done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9DLrLQrpaw

and if that doesn't work, you can try using nmrpflash
https://github.com/jclehner/nmrpflash

[bhowe408]

When I type in "cd desktop" it says that it can't find the path specified. It looks like this:

C:\users\myname>cd desktop

so then it can't read from the local file. 

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I downloaded the firmware file to my desktop and followed all the other steps. 

[plemans]

did you watch the video? It walks you through how to use it

[bhowe408]

The video walks you through using a tftp client that you download. I did not try that. I was using the site that was provide using the command prompt screen, which is not included in the video (unless I'm looking at the wrong video) 

https://kb.netgear.com/000059634/How-do-I-upload-firmware-to-my-NETGEAR-router-using-TFTP-from-the-M...

The command prompt is not working, so if you have someone more direct on those instructions, that may be helpful. Otherwise, I may try downloading the third party tftp client and see if that works. 

[plemans]

there's quite a few different guides that walk you through it on youtube if you do a quick search

[bhowe408]

I'll see what I find. It's frustrating that Netgear can push out an update that then freezes my extender, but then want me to pay for their help and not support their product. It's just another way for them to force people into paying for more products. 

[bhowe408]

Even the website they publish themelves for a TFTP client doesn't work.

https://kb.netgear.com/000059633/How-do-I-upload-firmware-to-my-NETGEAR-router-using-a-TFTP-client-o...

it's a money making business.

[plemans]

So your issue right now is getting to the proper command prompt? 

I just tested on mine and it works fine. 

Maybe screen snips of what you're doing and where you put things will help more 

[bhowe408]

Well, I went ahead and called netgear. They did some additional testing and it appears to be hardware related. I didn’t pay for them to do any software changes because they charge a lot and I can just get a new updated extender for just a little more. However, it won’t be netgear this time. They should support for life. If it was their update that didn’t finish all the way, which they will never admit, then their software support should just be free. I’m not convinced it’s hardware. They are a business. Blame it on hardware then the customer has to buy a new one. I’m convinced it’s a method to just make customers spend more money.

I looked online for other videos with command prompt lines to the desktop. Didn’t find them. I’m on windows 11. Maybe there is a difference. That said, I spent hours trying different things, searching, and calling netgear. It’s all part of their plan I’m sure. But my money will go elsewhere this time.