To anyone else finding this thread, this will work.
After resetting the router and downgrading back to the older firmware V1.4XX (not V2), and resetting again, it will work normally. There is a tutorial on how to go back to the old firmware on YouTube. You just download the zip file, extract it and then “upload” the file into the router and wait for it to be done.
So:
*before you start this process below, you MUST download the older firmware and upload it into your router by going to 192.168.1.1 on your web browser and logging in, and uploading it.
1. Factory reset the router by holding a pin in the back for 7+ seconds
2. Wait for the router to do its thing (about 2+ mins) and then go to the Wi-Fi on your phone, connect using the password on the side of your router.
3. Once connected to the network, open up the Nighthawk App. Type in “admin” for username and “password” for the password.
4. Go to the settings on the app, change back your Wi-Fi network names to your choosing and change the password for both networks to your choosing (both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz). This process will take awhile to load, but just wait for it to complete.
5. Go to your PC, type in 192.168.1.1 on the internet browser.
6. Enter admin as the username and the new password you just created in Step 4 and login.
5. That’s it - you’re done. You’ve now re-enabled Wi-Fi at full speed and the router should function normally.
On a side note:
To the Netgear management team/engineers: This entire debacle could’ve been totally avoided and should have been double-checked before an update to the firmware was sent out that killed 10,000+ peoples’ internet connectivity. For a router that costs over $300 MSRP, this is unacceptable. We pay a premium for the Netgear brand and this has been very disappointing. Poor quality control, bad firmware and a lack of immediate response is not okay. I was about to spend $100 on an Xfinity technician because I had no idea this issue was so widespread the first 2 days and thought my ISP connection went bad, and I know many others who have spent $50+ on tech repairs that were unnecessary, because they thought their ISP or router was broken too. Instead, the fix is this giant, long process and requires us to revert back to OLD firmware. This has made me seriously re-think all future Netgear purchases. Do better.
