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Evidence that Elon Musk is in charge of Netgear firmware updates?
No, seriously. It means that there is a mechanism inside Netgear that gets triggered when firmware updates become available and sends messages to some customers informing them. (Not all customers. In over five years, I have never received such an email.)
Meanwhile, there is a separate mechanism which manages the way Netgear products become aware of firmware updates. My Orbi router checks in with Netgear several times every day on a specific schedule. Just loading new firmware on the support server is not enough to trigger products to announce that new firmware is available. Someone has to take some action (God knows what it is) so that the router will announce, "Hey, there is new firmware." There is also a way for Netgear to force the router to download and update the firmware without informing the user. Obviously, the email mechanism is not coordinated with the web site mechanism.
The pattern that Netgear appears to follow is this:
After new firmware has completed the Netgear quality assurance process, it appears on the support web site.
Users who monitor the support web site become aware of the new firmware. Some of them choose to download and install it manually. (Others like myself, hardly ever check the web site and if we do happen to notice the new firmware, may decide to "wait and see".)
User who have manually loaded the firmware may post comments on the forum describing "what happened." Sometimes the comments are not positive. This is when I usually learn of new firmware (forum posts).
If some time goes by, and the reports are generally positive, Netgear changes the support site to make routers aware of the new firmware. Users who run the Firmware Update process, or who happen to open the web management console or the 'app' will see a notice, "New Firmware Available." Some of them will choose to update. Others may decide, "not yet, thanks."
After even more time, Netgear has the ability to force the router to update, usually in the early hours.
Customers who never look at their router remain blissfully unaware of all this. They never see new firmware on the web site because they never look at it. They never see a notice about new firmware because they never open the web console or the 'app'. They do not even know that firmware has been updated. (Nor do they care.)
Evidence that Elon Musk is in charge of Netgear firmware updates?
No, seriously. It means that there is a mechanism inside Netgear that gets triggered when firmware updates become available and sends messages to some customers informing them. (Not all customers. In over five years, I have never received such an email.)
Meanwhile, there is a separate mechanism which manages the way Netgear products become aware of firmware updates. My Orbi router checks in with Netgear several times every day on a specific schedule. Just loading new firmware on the support server is not enough to trigger products to announce that new firmware is available. Someone has to take some action (God knows what it is) so that the router will announce, "Hey, there is new firmware." There is also a way for Netgear to force the router to download and update the firmware without informing the user. Obviously, the email mechanism is not coordinated with the web site mechanism.
The pattern that Netgear appears to follow is this:
After new firmware has completed the Netgear quality assurance process, it appears on the support web site.
Users who monitor the support web site become aware of the new firmware. Some of them choose to download and install it manually. (Others like myself, hardly ever check the web site and if we do happen to notice the new firmware, may decide to "wait and see".)
User who have manually loaded the firmware may post comments on the forum describing "what happened." Sometimes the comments are not positive. This is when I usually learn of new firmware (forum posts).
If some time goes by, and the reports are generally positive, Netgear changes the support site to make routers aware of the new firmware. Users who run the Firmware Update process, or who happen to open the web management console or the 'app' will see a notice, "New Firmware Available." Some of them will choose to update. Others may decide, "not yet, thanks."
After even more time, Netgear has the ability to force the router to update, usually in the early hours.
Customers who never look at their router remain blissfully unaware of all this. They never see new firmware on the web site because they never look at it. They never see a notice about new firmware because they never open the web console or the 'app'. They do not even know that firmware has been updated. (Nor do they care.)
