Firmware Email Received - Setup Program says No Firmware Available - R7000

[Eddy47]

Here is the router that I own:  

R7000 (3LG54674A43C0)  

I just received an email telling me that I have new firmware to install.  

However, when I go to my Netgear site and do the ADVANCED - ADMINISTRATION - ROUTER UPDATE and tell it to check for new firmware, I am told that   "No new firmware verion is available".  

Is there a firmware update or not??  

What do I do next?  

[terraferme · Accepted solution]

Right click on the zip file and you'll be able to "Extract All" (or similar words but that is what I had).  This gives you another folder in "downloads" (or wherever you decide to put it) which has those same two files in it again.

Then just follow the rest of the steps from the "How do I manually update the firmware on my NETGEAR router" page (https://kb.netgear.com/23960/How-do-I-manually-update-the-firmware-on-my-NETGEAR-router😞

-Go to the routerlogin.net page and log in using your info for your router.

-Select ADVANCED > Administration or Settings > Administration.

-Select Firmware Update or Router Update.

-Click Choose File or Browse, then locate and select the firmware file that ends in .img or .chk.

-Click the Upload button.

[plemans]

Sometimes the auto-update server doesn't get the update first. If you really want it, you can manually download it, extract it, and then follow the manual firmware update procedure from the manual.
Find both the manual and firmware here: https://www.netgear.com/support/product/R7000.aspx

I'd highly recommend doing the update over a hardwired connection.

[Leee]

Further to Plemans's message, a further wrinkle is that even after I followed the directions for a manual update in the User's Manual, connected my laptop to the router with an Ethernet cable, and logged in to my router, not only did the update still not show up when I hit the "check" button but I couldn't even download it to install manually. I would get to the download link (as in Plemans's message) but clicking on it only took me back to the account login page, or, if I was already logged in, the "My Account" page.

For some reason, however, I was able to download the new firmware .zip file on my Android phone, so I was finally able to send it to my laptop via Bluetooth and then unzip it and manually direct the updater to it.

I was not best pleased at having to go through all this just to see to it that a router I bought only nine months ago was not a major security vulnerability, or a doorstop.

[plemans]

I had no issues downloading it manually. maybe try clearing cache/cookies on your browser? 

Or trying a different browser/pc? 

[Leee]

Thanks, I had managed to get it via my phone so I'm all set. Good advice for the OP or anyone else who runs into similar problems, though.

[terraferme]

I had the same issue of everything I could see and log into saying that I had the latest update but Netgear saying I needed the new update.   I followed the instructions above and on those pages linked and updated with no problems.  For simplicity's sake and to make it easier for people to locate the information easier or later, the instructions to manually upload the update are on Page 96 of the User's Manual and don't forget to extract the zip file so you can browse to find the correct file to upload.

[Eddy47]

All I get when I download the firmware update are the release notes and a 30 MB file with a .chk extension.  

Of course, you can't run a .chk file.  

The update file should end with a .exe extension.  

I can't contact Netgear's support directly.  My "complimentary support" ran out.  

What should I try now??  

[antinode]

> Of course, you can't run a .chk file.

   Generally true.  So, I wouldn't try to do that.

> What should I try now??

      https://community.netgear.com/t5/x/x/m-p/1958631

   Possibly interesting;

      https://community.netgear.com/t5/x/x/m-p/1721037#M124018

[Leee]

Yup, I got a .chk file when I unzipped it, too. But that's what I pointed my updater to and it worked fine. And the router now shows the new firmware version.

[terraferme · Accepted solution]

Right click on the zip file and you'll be able to "Extract All" (or similar words but that is what I had).  This gives you another folder in "downloads" (or wherever you decide to put it) which has those same two files in it again.

Then just follow the rest of the steps from the "How do I manually update the firmware on my NETGEAR router" page (https://kb.netgear.com/23960/How-do-I-manually-update-the-firmware-on-my-NETGEAR-router😞

-Go to the routerlogin.net page and log in using your info for your router.

-Select ADVANCED > Administration or Settings > Administration.

-Select Firmware Update or Router Update.

-Click Choose File or Browse, then locate and select the firmware file that ends in .img or .chk.

-Click the Upload button.

[Eddy47]

Thank you so much!  

At your suggestion, I copied the .chk file to my computer's desktop.  

Then, I followed the manual suggestion to have the Netgear Genie  "Browse" to that .chk file location.  

Right after that, my router installed the new firmware and restarted itself.  

The new firmware version (1.0.11.106_10.2.100) now shows up as the current version!!  

I have never had to go through this before to update my router's firmware.  

Before, I always went to ADVANCED, ADMINISTRATION, ROUTER UPDATE, CHECK.  It would then automatically download the firmware update and install it.  However, this time, it said there was no firmware update when I KNEW there WAS an update.  Netgear had sent me an email saying so!