Netgear R7900 Nighthawk X6 Ac3000 Tri Band Wifi Gigabit Router User Manual

							171
15
15.   Troubleshooting
This chapter provides information to help you diagnose and solve problems you might have with 
your router. If you do not find the solution here, check the NETGEAR support site at 
http://support.netgear.com for product and contact information.
This chapter contains the following sections:
•Quick Tips 
•Troubleshoot with the LEDs 
•Cannot Log In to the Router 
•Cannot Access the Internet 
•Changes Not Saved 
•Wireless Connectivity 
•Troubleshoot Your Network Using the Ping Utility  
						

							Troubleshooting 
172 Nighthawk  X6 AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi Router 
Quick Tips
This section describes tips for troubleshooting some common problems.
Sequence to Restart Your Network
When you need to restart your network, follow this sequence:
1. Turn off and unplug the modem. 
2. Turn off the router.
3. Plug in the modem and turn it on. Wait two minutes.
4. Turn on the router and wait two minutes.
Check Ethernet Cable Connections
If your device does not power on, make sure that the Ethernet cables are securely plugged 
in. The Internet LED on the router is lit if the Ethernet cable connecting the router and the 
modem is plugged in securely and the modem and router are turned on. If one or more 
powered-on computers are connected to the router by an Ethernet cable, the corresponding 
numbered router LAN port LED lights. 
Wireless Settings
Make sure that the wireless settings in the computer and router match exactly. The wireless 
network name (SSID) and wireless security settings of the router and wireless computer must 
match exactly. 
If you set up an access list in the Access Control screen, you must add each wireless 
computer’s MAC address to the router’s access list.
Network Settings
Make sure that the network settings of the computer are correct. Wired and wirelessly 
connected computers must use network (IP) addresses on the same network as the router. 
The simplest way to do this is to configure each computer to obtain an IP address 
automatically using DHCP. 
Some cable modem service providers require you to use the MAC address of the computer 
initially registered on the account. You can view the MAC address in the Attached Devices 
screen. 
						

							Troubleshooting 173
 Nighthawk
 X6 AC3000  Tri-Band WiFi  Router
Troubleshoot with the LEDs
By default, the router is set with standard LED settings. If you disable\
d blinking for the LEDs 
or turned off all LEDs except the Power LED, you must return the LEDs to their stand\
ard 
settings for troubleshooting. For information about controlling the LED \
settings, see  Position 
Your Router on page  12.
Standard LED Behavior When the Router Is Powered On
After you turn on power to the router, verify that the following sequenc\
e of events occurs:
1.  When power is first applied, verify that the Power LED 
 is lit.
2.  After approximately 30 seconds, verify the following:
• The Power LED is solid white.
• The Internet LED is lit.
• The WiFi LED is lit unless you turned of
 f the wireless radio.
You can use the LEDs on the front panel of the router for troubleshooting\
.
Power LED Is Off or Blinking
Do the following:
• Make sure that the power adapter is securely connected to your router an\
d securely 
connected to a working power outlet. 
• Check that you are using the power adapter that NETGEAR supplied for thi\
s product.
• If the Power LED blinks slowly and continuously
 , the router firmware is corrupted. This 
can happen if a firmware upgrade is interrupted, or if the router detect\
s a problem with the 
firmware. If the error persists, it is likely that a hardware problem ex\
ists. For recovery 
instructions, or help with a hardware problem, contact technical support\
 at 
www.netgear.com/support.
Power LED Stays Amber
When the router is turned on, the Power LED turns amber for about 20 sec\
onds and then 
turns white. If the LED does not turn white, this indicates a problem wi\
th the router.
If the Power LED is still amber one minute after you turn on power to th\
e router, do the 
following:
1.  T
urn off the power and then turn it back on to see if the router recovers.
2.  Press and hold the  Reset button to return the router to its factory settings. 
See Factory Settings on page  182. 
						

							Troubleshooting 
174 Nighthawk  X6 AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi Router 
If the error persists, a hardware problem might be the cause. Contact technical support at 
www.netgear.com/support.
LEDs Never Turn Off
When the router is turned on, the LEDs light for about 10 seconds and then turn off. If all the 
LEDs stay on, this indicates a fault within the router.
If all LEDs are still lit one minute after power-up, do the following:
•Cycle the power to see if the router recovers.
•Press and hold the Reset button to return the router to its factory settings. For more 
information, see 
Factory Settings on page 182.
If the error persists, a hardware problem might be the cause. Contact technical support at 
www.netgear.com/support.
Internet or Ethernet Port LEDs Are Off
If either the Ethernet port LEDs or the Internet LED does not light when the Ethernet 
connection is made, check the following:
•Make sure that the Ethernet cable connections are secure at the router and at the modem 
or computer.
•Make sure that power is turned on to the connected modem or computer.
•Be sure that you are using the correct cable.
When connecting the router’s Internet port to a cable or DSL modem, use the cable that 
was supplied with the cable or DSL modem. This cable can be a standard 
straight-through Ethernet cable or an Ethernet crossover cable.
WiFi LED Is Off
If the WiFi LED stays off, check to see if someone pressed the WiFi On/Off button on the 
router. This button turns the wireless radios in the router on and off. The WiFi LED is lit when 
the wireless radios are turned on.
Cannot Log In to the Router
If you are unable to log in to the router from a computer on your local network, check the 
following:
•If you are using an Ethernet-connected computer, check the Ethernet connection 
between the computer and the router.
•Make sure that the IP address of your computer is on the same subnet as the router. If 
you are using the recommended addressing scheme, your computer’s address is in the 
range of 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254.  
						

							Troubleshooting 
175  Nighthawk X6 AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi Router
•If your computer’s IP address is shown as 169.254.x.x, this is because recent versions of 
Windows and Mac OS generate and assign an IP address if the computer cannot reach a 
DHCP server. These autogenerated addresses are in the range of 169.254.x.x. If your IP 
address is in this range, check the connection from the computer to the router, and reboot 
your computer.
•If your router’s IP address was changed and you do not know the current IP address, 
clear the router’s configuration to factory defaults. This sets the router’s IP address to 
192.168.1.1. For more information, see 
Factory Settings on page 182.
•Make sure that Java, JavaScript, or ActiveX is enabled in your browser. If you are using 
Internet Explorer, click the Refresh button to be sure that the Java applet is loaded.
•Try quitting the browser and launching it again.
•Make sure that you are using the correct login information. The user name is admin, and 
the default password is password. Make sure that Caps Lock is off when you enter this 
information.
•If you are attempting to set up your NETGEAR router as a replacement for an ADSL 
gateway in your network, the router cannot perform many gateway services. For 
example, the router cannot convert ADSL or cable data into Ethernet networking 
information. NETGEAR does not support such a configuration.
Cannot Access the Internet
If you can access your router but not the Internet, check to see if the router can obtain an IP 
address from your Internet service provider (ISP). Unless your ISP provides a fixed IP 
address, your router requests an IP address from the ISP. You can determine whether the 
request was successful using the ADVANCED Home screen.
To check the WAN IP address: 
1. Launch a web browser from a computer or wireless device that is connected to the 
network.
2. Select an external site such as www.netgear.com.
3. Type http://www.routerlogin.net or http://www.routerlogin.com.
A login screen displays.
4. Enter the router user name and password.
The user name is admin. The default password is password. The user name and 
password are case-sensitive.
The BASIC Home screen displays. 
5. Click the ADVANCED tab.
The ADVANCED Home screen displays.
6. Check that an IP address is shown for the Internet port. 
If 0.0.0.0 is shown, your router did not obtain an IP address from your ISP. 
						

							Troubleshooting 
176 Nighthawk  X6 AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi Router 
If your router cannot obtain an IP address from the ISP, you might need to force your cable or 
DSL modem to recognize your new router by restarting your network. For more information, 
see 
Sequence to Restart Your Network on page 172.
If your router is still unable to obtain an IP address from the ISP, the problem might be one of 
the following:
•Your Internet service provider (ISP) might require a login program. 
Ask your ISP whether they require PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE) or some other type of 
login.
•If your ISP requires a login, the login name and password might be set incorrectly.
•Your ISP might check for your computer’s host name. 
Assign the computer host name of your ISP account as the account name in the Internet 
Setup screen.
•Your ISP allows only one Ethernet MAC address to connect to Internet and might check 
for your computer’s MAC address. In this case, do one of the following:
-Inform your ISP that you bought a new network device, and ask them to use the 
router’s MAC address.
-Configure your router to clone your computer’s MAC address.
If your router obtained an IP address, but your computer is does not load any web pages from 
the Internet, it might be for one or more of the following reasons:
•Your computer might not recognize any DNS server addresses. 
A DNS server is a host on the Internet that translates Internet names (such as www 
addresses) to numeric IP addresses. Typically, your ISP provides the addresses of one or 
two DNS servers for your use. If you entered a DNS address during the router’s 
configuration, reboot your computer, and verify the DNS address. You can configure your 
computer manually with DNS addresses, as explained in your operating system 
documentation.
•The router might not be configured as the TCP/IP gateway in your computer.
If your computer obtains its information from the router by DHCP, reboot the computer 
and verify the gateway address.
•You might be running login software that is no longer needed.
If your ISP provided a program to log you in to the Internet (such as WinPoET), you no 
longer need to run that software after installing your router. You might need to go to 
Internet Explorer and select Tools > Internet Options, click the Connections tab, and 
select Never dial a connection. Other browsers provide similar options.
Troubleshoot PPPoE
If you are using PPPoE, try troubleshooting your Internet connection. 
						

							Troubleshooting 
177  Nighthawk X6 AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi Router
To troubleshoot a PPPoE connection:
1. Launch a web browser from a computer or wireless device that is connected to the 
network.
2. Enter http://www.routerlogin.net or http://www.routerlogin.com in the address field of the 
web browser.
A login screen displays.
3. Enter the router user name and password.
The user name is admin. The default password is password. The user name and 
password are case-sensitive.
The BASIC Home screen displays. 
4. Click the ADVANCED tab.
The ADVANCED Home screen displays.
5. In the Internet Port pane, click the Connection Status button.
The Connection Status screen displays.
6. Check the Connection Status screen to see if your PPPoE connection is up and working.
If the router is not connected, click the Connect button. 
The router continues to attempt to connect indefinitely.
7. If you cannot connect after several minutes, the router might be set up with an incorrect 
service name, user name, or password, or your ISP might be experiencing a provisioning 
problem.
Unless you connect manually, the router does not authenticate using PPPoE until data is 
transmitted to the network.
Troubleshoot Internet Browsing
If your router can obtain an IP address but your computer is unable to load any web pages 
from the Internet, check the following:
•Your computer might not recognize any DNS server addresses. A DNS server is a host 
on the Internet that translates Internet names (such as www addresses) to numeric IP 
addresses.
Typically, your ISP provides the addresses of one or two DNS servers for your use. If you 
entered a DNS address during the router’s configuration, restart your computer.
Alternatively, you can configure your computer manually with a DNS address, as 
explained in the documentation for your computer.
•The router might not be configured as the default gateway in your computer.
Reboot the computer and verify that the router address (www.routerlogin.net) is listed by 
your computer as the default gateway address. 
						

							Troubleshooting 
178 Nighthawk  X6 AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi Router 
•You might be running login software that is no longer needed. If your ISP provided a 
program to log you in to the Internet (such as WinPoET), you no longer need to run that 
software after installing your router. You might need to go to Internet Explorer and select 
Tools > Internet Options, click the Connections tab, and select the Never dial a 
connection. Other browsers provide similar options.
Changes Not Saved
If the router does not save the changes that you make in the router interface, do the following:
•When entering configuration settings, always click the Apply button before moving to 
another screen or tab, or your changes are lost. 
•Click the Refresh or Reload button in the web browser. It is possible that the changes 
occurred, but the old settings might be in the web browser’s cache.
Wireless Connectivity
If you are experiencing trouble connecting wirelessly to the router, try to isolate the problem: 
•Does the wireless device or computer that you are using find your wireless network?
If not, check the WiFi LED on the front of the router. If it is off, you can press the WiFi 
On/Off button on the router to turn the router wireless radios back on.
If you disabled the router’s SSID broadcast, then your wireless network is hidden and 
does not display in your wireless client’s scanning list. (By default, SSID broadcast is 
enabled.)
•Does your wireless device support the security that you are using for your wireless 
network (WPA or WPA2)?
•If you want to view the wireless settings for the router, use an Ethernet cable to connect a 
computer to a LAN port on the router. Then log in to the router, and select BASIC > 
Wireless. 
Note:Be sure to click the Apply button if you change settings.
If your wireless device finds your network but the signal strength is weak, check these 
conditions:
•Is your router too far from your computer or too close? Place your computer near the 
router but at least 6 feet (1.8 meters) away and see whether the signal strength improves.
•Are objects between the router and your computer blocking the wireless signal? 
						

							Troubleshooting 
179  Nighthawk X6 AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi Router
Troubleshoot Your Network Using the Ping Utility
Most network devices and routers contain a ping utility that sends an echo request packet to 
the designated device. The device then responds with an echo reply. You can easily 
troubleshoot a network using the ping utility in your computer or workstation. 
Test the LAN Path to Your Router
You can ping the router from your computer to verify that the LAN path to your router is set up 
correctly.
To ping the router from a Windows computer:
1. From the Windows toolbar, click Start and select Run.
2. In the field provided, type ping followed by the IP address of the router, as in this example:
ping www.routerlogin.net
3. Click the OK button.
You see a message like this one:
Pinging  with 32 bytes of data
If the path is working, you see this message:
Reply from < IP address >: bytes=32 time=NN ms TTL=xxx
If the path is not working, you see this message:
Request timed out
If the path is not functioning correctly, one of the following problems might be present:
•Wrong physical connections
For a wired connection, make sure that the numbered LAN port LED is lit for the port to 
which you are connected.
Check that the appropriate LEDs are lit for your network devices. If your router and 
computer are connected to a separate Ethernet switch, make sure that the link LEDs are 
lit for the switch ports that are connected to your computer and router.
•Wrong network configuration
Verify that the Ethernet card driver software and TCP/IP software are both installed and 
configured on your computer. 
Verify that the IP address for your router and your computer are correct and that the 
addresses are on the same subnet. 
						

							Troubleshooting 
180 Nighthawk  X6 AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi Router 
Test the Path from Your Computer to a Remote Device
After verifying that the LAN path works correctly, test the path from your computer to a remote 
device.
1. From the Windows toolbar, click the Start button and select Run.
2. In the Windows Run window, type
ping -n 10 
where  is the IP address of a remote device such as your ISP DNS server.
If the path is functioning correctly, messages display that are similar to those shown in the 
Test the LAN Path to Your Router on page 179.
If you do not receive replies, check the following:
•Check that the IP address of your router is listed in your computer as the default gateway. 
If DHCP assigns the IP configuration of your computers, this information is not visible in 
your computer Network Control Panel. Verify that the IP address of the router is listed as 
the default gateway.
•Check to see that the network address of your computer (the portion of the IP address 
specified by the subnet mask) is different from the network address of the remote device.
•Check that your cable or DSL modem is connected and functioning.
•If your ISP assigned a host name to your computer, enter that host name as the account 
name in the Internet Setup screen.
•Your ISP might be rejecting the Ethernet MAC addresses of all but one of your 
computers.
Many broadband ISPs restrict access by allowing traffic only from the MAC address of 
your broadband modem. Some ISPs additionally restrict access to the MAC address of a 
single computer connected to that modem. If your ISP does this, configure your router to 
“clone” or “spoof” the MAC address from the authorized computer.