2.4 GHz broadcast can't connect after firmware update

[ksatterf]

I logged into my router today after moving to a new apartment and noticed there was an available firmware update.  Since this is generally a good idea, I went to download it.  But now nothing can connect to the 2.4 GHz broadcast of our network.  Devices that can detect 5 GHz are fine, but that's not all devices in my home (and thus, a pretty big issue).

Does anyone have a solution for how i can fix this?  If it means reverting to an older firmware, how do I do that?

[michaelkenward · Accepted solution]

First, did you perform a factory reset after the firmware flash? This can fix things like that.

If you have and things are still bust, then you can download earlier firmware from the support pages for the device and flash from the local file.

WNDR3400v3 | Product | Support | NETGEAR

The manual is there too, with a section Upgrade the Router Firmware

But first what does this mean?

But now nothing can connect to the 2.4 GHz broadcast of our network.

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The SSID is visible and nothing can connect? If you have reset the thing then the passwords will have gone back to factory settings.

[michaelkenward · Accepted solution]

First, did you perform a factory reset after the firmware flash? This can fix things like that.

If you have and things are still bust, then you can download earlier firmware from the support pages for the device and flash from the local file.

WNDR3400v3 | Product | Support | NETGEAR

The manual is there too, with a section Upgrade the Router Firmware

But first what does this mean?

But now nothing can connect to the 2.4 GHz broadcast of our network.

---

The SSID is visible and nothing can connect? If you have reset the thing then the passwords will have gone back to factory settings.

[ksatterf]

Thanks Michael.  The factory reset did fix the issue and now we're connecting fine.

In answer to your question of "what does this mean?"--we inititally hadn't done a factory reset, so the SSIDs and passphrases were preserved.  Devices would recognize the 2.4 GHz broadcast, but attempts to connect would fail (devices would attempt and then just give up).

[michaelkenward]

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@ksatterf wrote:

The factory reset did fix the issue and now we're connecting fine.

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It isn't always essential to reset. But when things do go wrong that is the first thing to try.

You can sometimes save and restore your settings before and after you reset, but if that fails, then they have "remembered" something that is not compatible with the new firmware and a complete reset is the only solution.