Member Avatar for joshl_1995

Hello Daniweb Community,
I've been given a Nighthawk (R7000) to checkout to see if I can get it working and I'm having no luck, I've plugged an ethernet cable straight from the router to my computer and it just keeps disconnecting and I've tried 3 of the ports on the back. It's not even giving out a Wi-Fi signal, I'd ask Netgear but I'm not paying for them to look at it.

As I said, I tried an ethernet cable (yes it works, It's one I've used in the past. Plus the router owner even tried her own at her house) and I tried any way (I would come up with) to access the login page. I tried the Netgear url (routerlogin.net) and the IP address (192.168.1.1).

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Dani AI

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Agree with and that this looks like either a hardware fault (power supply, LAN PHYs) or a corrupted firmware/boot state; 's factory‑reset suggestion is the right early move. Before discarding the Nighthawk, run a short isolation checklist to tell whether the board, the power supply, or firmware is at fault.

  • Check power first: confirm the adapter's label and, if possible, verify output with a meter or swap in a known‑good adapter of the same voltage and polarity. Visible bulging caps or burn smell are a clear hardware fail.
  • Observe LEDs and link lights when a PC is plugged into a LAN port. If neither the router port nor the PC NIC shows a link, suspect a physical port or NIC issue; try a different computer or a USB‑Ethernet dongle to rule out the PC.
  • If a link is present but no web UI/DHCP, put the PC on a static address in a common private subnet and try to ping the router IP; a reply usually means the CPU/firmware is alive even if services are broken.
  • Perform the vendor factory reset as suggested (follow the official procedure). If a reset doesn't restore basic services but LEDs indicate normal boot, use the manufacturer's recovery/TFTP utility for firmware reflash if available.
  • If all of the above fail, the symptom set points to hardware failure and replacement is the practical option.

Avoid opening the case if under warranty. Hardware faults often look the same as a "bricked" router, so run the above checks before concluding the unit is irreparable.

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Member Avatar for rubberman

Sounds like it has a serious hardware or software problem. If not still under warranty, they should just replace the unit.

Member Avatar for Dani

I'm sorry, can you clarify? It's disconnecting randomly when plugged in via Ethernet and it's not giving off a wifi signal at all and the IP address just times out? But it works for a limited amount of time when hardwired? Did I understand that correctly or am I just confused.

I'm going to second what rubberman said and chalk it up to a hardware or firmware glitch. Is it possible to flash the firmware?

Member Avatar for DMR

Since you said that you've been "given" this router by someone else, have you tried to entirely reset the router back to its default factory settings before assuming that the device itself is defective?
A "Factory Reset" is the first thing that I do whenever I "inherit" a network device from someone else.
Instructions for doing so for your R7000 can be found here:
http://kb.netgear.com/24340/What-are-the-factory-default-settings-on-my-Nighthawk-R7000-router-and-how-do-I-reset-to-default

Edited by DMR
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