Re: parental controls still unreliable Genie (windows) v2.4.36 / D7800 v1.0.1.16

gwhe · ‎2017-02-15

Hi NETGEAR - this has been a frustrating battle to use advertised features of your product, and they still don't work reliably after several months, one warranty router replacement and several Genie and firmware upgrades.

Previous instalment (December 2016): after trying to set up custom parental controls, router became unstable. After a service call with NETGEAR, router became unusable - would not boot. Router unit replaced on warranty (thank you - but would prefer it worked first time).

Latest instalment - tried to set up custom controls and apply them to some devices only. The result was my whole internet access stopped working (could not access DNS servers) and to get parental controls working again I had to reset the router to factory defaults.

So - I thougt OK, stick to standard settings (none, low, medium etc). That at least seemed to work. That mostly worked, however when I tried to set our printer to "None" control level (because it is a smart printer and can access the internet for upgrades etc), it became set to "Bypass Login". Any attempt to change this setting results in a message "Bypass login active on this device, please log out...". This happens even if the printer is switched off. This is a bug from months ago and affected lots of devices.

I have no intention of resetting my router to factory defaults yet again until I get some assurance there is a fix available for the underlying problems - so please do not suggest this as a fix. Until there is a firmware fix, I wil approach parental controls settings with the fear that every time I change something I may bring the router to its knees and need to reset it or get the whole thing replaced on warranty.

Appreciate your advice on progress on a fix.

William10a · ‎2017-02-15

The print should have been a static ip address to allow your devices if genie disably will the printer work?

gwhe · ‎2017-02-16

... so yesterday, everything was working (except the parental controls setting on our printer which is not really important).

Today, my whole network was offline again due to cannot access DNS servers. I changed nothing since yesterday.

So I restored to a stored config file from yesterday which had parental controls enabled. Everything started working again. Which says:

1. The problem is not with the OPENDNS servers.

2. The problem is not with Genie.

3. The problem is with the router firmware. I don't see anything else it could be.

Again - NETGEAR - please provide a progress update on this defect.

1. Have you reproduced the defect?

2. Have you isolated the root cause?

3. Has a fix been developed?

4. If so, when do you expect the fix to be released?

I can't live with this level of instability. If it's not fixed I will demand my money back (not a replacement router as this is a design fault).

William10a · ‎2017-02-16

How long have you had this router? if still with in store refund's time period thats the best way to get your money back.