Netgear R8500 Nighthawk X8 Tri Band Ac5300 Wifi Router User Manual

							DescriptionLED
•Solid white. A USB device is connected and is ready.
•Blinking. A USB device is plugged in and is trying to connect.
•Off. No USB device is connected, or someone clicked the Safely Remove Hardware button and it
is now safe to remove the attached USB device.
USB 3.0 port 1 and USB
2.0 port 2
The LED color indicates the speed: white for Gigabit Ethernet connections and amber for 100 Mbps or
10 Mbps Ethernet connections.
•Solid. A powered-on device is connected to the Ethernet port.
•Blinking.The port is sending or receiving traffic.
•Off. No device is connected to this Ethernet port.
Ethernet ports 1–6
Table 2. Front panel button descriptions
DescriptionButton
Pressing this button changes the LED mode.
•Mode one. All LEDs stay on and blink.
•Mode two. All LEDs stay on but don't blink.
•Mode three. Only the Power LED stays on and the other LEDs are off.
LED
Pressing this button lets you use WPS to join the WiFi network without typing the WiFi password. For
more information, see Join the WiFi Network on page 9 on page 18.
WPS
Pressing this button for two seconds turns the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz 1, and 5 GHz 2 WiFi radios on and off.WIFI
USB Ports on the Right Panel
Two USB ports are located on the right panel.To access the ports, open the USB port cover as shown.
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							Figure 3. A USB 3.0 port and a USB 2.0 port are located on the right
Rear Panel
The rear panel connections and buttons are shown in the following figure.
Figure 4. Rear panel
Position Your Router
The router lets you access your network anywhere within the operating range of your WiFi network. However, the
operating distance or range of your WiFi connection can vary significantly depending on the physical placement of
your router. For example, the thickness and number of walls the WiFi signal passes through can limit the range.
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							Additionally, other WiFi access points in and around your home might affect your router’s signal.WiFi access points
are routers, repeaters, WiFi range extenders, and any other device that emits a WiFi signal for network access.
Position your router according to the following guidelines:
•Place your router near the center of the area where your computers and other devices operate, and within line
of sight to your WiFi devices.
•Make sure that the router is within reach of an AC power outlet and near Ethernet cables for wired computers.
•Place the router in an elevated location, minimizing the number walls and ceilings between the router and your
other devices.
•Place the router away from electrical devices such as these:
•Ceiling fans
•Home security systems
•Microwaves
•Computers
•Base of a cordless phone
•2.4 GHz cordless phone
•Place the router away from large metal surfaces, large glass surfaces, insulated walls, and items such as these:
•Solid metal door
•Aluminum studs
•Fish tanks
•Mirrors
•Brick
•Concrete
Cable Your Router
To cable your router:
1.Unplug your modem’s power, leaving the modem connected to the wall jack for your Internet service.
If your modem uses a battery backup, remove the battery.
2.Plug in and turn on your modem.
If your modem uses a battery backup, put the battery back in.
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							3.Connect your modem to the Internet port of your router with the yellow Ethernet cable that came with your router.
4.Connect the power adapter to your router and plug the power adapter into an outlet.
5.Press the Power On/Off button on the rear panel of the router.
6.To change the LED mode, press the LED button on the front panel. Pressing the LED button turns off blinking.
Pressing the LED button again turns off all LEDs except the Power LED.
How Active Antennas Improve WiFi Performance
The growing number of WiFi devices in the home combined with the increasing demand for high-speed WiFi
connectivity, places extraordinary demands on the WiFi infrastructure.To meet this demand, many WiFi routers
now use external antennas and high-power amplifiers to maximize signal power and extend WiFi coverage throughout
your home.
Increased signal power on the router is important, but effective WiFi connectivity requires two-way communication
between the router and clients such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops.The client must acknowledge every WiFi
data packet sent by the router; otherwise the router resends the data packet. A strong signal from the router without
a corresponding boost in signal from the client to the router does not provide you with the full benefit.
Mobile devices continue to get smaller, while adding more features and reducing power consumption to extend
battery life. Since mobile device WiFi signal power and performance has not been improving, router technology has
evolved to find ways to compensate and improve the client-to-router WiFi signal. One passive approach to addressing
this problem is to add low noise amplifiers (LNA) on the router board to amplify the received signal.The router's
external antennas transmit the received WiFi signal to the router board.The issues with this approach are twofold.
Transmitting the signal from the external antenna to the router board reduces the signal strength and quality. In
addition, the router board injects noise from other components.The received signal deteriorates and noise is injected,
which reduces the efficacy of the received transmission.
Active antennas solve these problems. Active antennas move the powered amplification component (LNA) to the
antenna itself instead of using the router board.This eliminates signal loss during transmission since the active
antenna directly amplifies the received signal. In addition, since no noise from the router board components are
present in the antenna, the amplified signal is cleaner.
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							The router receives a much cleaner and less noisy signal for amplification, significantly improving the received signal
and providing a clean, powerful signal that extends WiFi coverage and performance. Active antennas help reduce
the mismatch between the sent and the received signal by compensating for the relatively poor WiFi on the client
side.This WiFi improvement is seen across all devices-new and old but helps mobile devices the most, which present
the greatest connectivity challenges today.
Position the Active Antennas
The router’s four active antennas include a built-in receiver low noise amplifier (LNA), for high-speed WiFi connections
and excellent range. Both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz low band (WiFi Channels 36–48 and 52–64) use the active
antennas.The 5 GHz high band (WiFi Channels 100–140 and 149–165) uses the passive antenna.
The best position for the active antennas depends on the layout for your home or office.We recommend the following
antenna positions:
•For a large single-story home (about 2,500 to 4,000 square feet in size), position all four antennas vertically and
place the router on a table.
•For a multilevel home, position the two antennas in the center vertically, and position the other antennas at a
45-degree outward angle.
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							2
Connect to the Network and Access the
Router
You can connect to the router’s WiFi networks or use a wired Ethernet connection.This chapter explains the ways you
can connect and how to access the router and log in.
The chapter contains the following sections:
•Connect to the Network on page 17
•Types of Logins on page 18
•Use a Web Browser to Access the Router on page 19
•Change the Language on page 20
•Access the Router With NETGEAR genie Apps on page 21
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							Connect to the Network
You can connect to the router’s network through a wired or WiFi connection. If you set up your computer to use a
static IP address, change the settings so that it uses Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).
Wired Connection
You can connect your computer to the router using an Ethernet cable and join the router’s local area network (LAN).
The router has six Ethernet ports. Ports 1 and 2 can be used as Ethernet LAN ports or as aggregation ports to
connect to a NAS or Smart Switch that supports port aggregation (LACP).
To connect your computer to the router with an Ethernet cable:
1.Make sure that the router is receiving power (its Power LED is lit).
2.Connect an Ethernet cable to an Ethernet port on your computer.
3.Connect the other end of the Ethernet cable Ethernet port 3 on the router.
To get the fastest performance with port aggregation, for wired connections use Ethernet
port 3 for the first computer, and use Ethernet port 4, 5, or 6 for the second computer, which
allows for speeds up to 2 Gbps with port aggregation.The maximum speed between port 4,
5, and 6 is limited to 1 Gbps.
Note
Your computer connects to the local area network (LAN). A message might display on your computer screen
to notify you that an Ethernet cable is connected.
WiFi Connection
To find and select the WiFi network:
1.Make sure that the router is receiving power (its Power LED is lit).
2.On your computer or WiFi device, find and select the WiFi network.
The WiFi network name is on the router’s label.
3.Join the WiFi network and enter the WiFi password.
The password is on the router’s label.
Your WiFi device connects to the WiFi network.
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							WiFi Connection Using WPS
You can connect to the router’s WiFi network with Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) or you can find and select the WiFi
network.
To use WPS to connect to the WiFi network:
1.Make sure that the router is receiving power (its Power LED is lit).
2.Check the WPS instructions for your computer or WiFi device.
3.Press the WPS button on the router.
4.Within two minutes, on your computer or WiFi device, press its WPS button or follow its instructions for WPS
connections.
Your computer or WiFi device connects to the WiFi network.
Label
The label on the router shows the login information, WiFi network name and network key (password), MAC address,
and serial number.
Figure 5. Product label
Types of Logins
Separate types of logins serve different purposes. It is important that you understand the difference so that you know
which login to use when.
Several types of logins are associated with the router:
•ISP login.The login that your ISP gave you logs you in to your Internet service.Your service provider gave you
this login information in a letter or some other way. If you cannot find this login information, contact your service
provider.
•WiFi network key or password.Your router is preset with a unique WiFi network name (SSID) and password
for WiFi access.This information is on the router label.
•Router login.This logs you in to the router interface from a web browser as admin.
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							Use a Web Browser to Access the Router
When you connect to the network (either with WiFi or with an Ethernet cable), you can use a web browser to access
the router to view or change its settings.When you access the router, the software automatically checks to see if
your router can connect to your Internet service.
Automatic Internet Setup
You can set up your router automatically, or you can use a web browser to access the router and set up your router
manually. Before you start the setup process, get your ISP information and make sure that the computers and
devices in the network are using the settings described here.
When your Internet service starts, your Internet service provider (ISP) typically gives you all the information needed
to connect to the Internet. For DSL service, you might need the following information to set up your router:
•The ISP configuration information for your DSL account
•ISP login name and password
•Fixed or static IP address setting (special deployment by ISP; this setting is rare)
If you cannot locate this information, ask your ISP to provide it.When your Internet connection is working, you no
longer need to launch the ISP login program on your computer to access the Internet.When you start an Internet
application, your router automatically logs you in.
NETGEAR genie runs on any device with a web browser. Installation and basic setup takes about 15 minutes to
complete.
To automatically set up your router:
1.Turn the router on by pressing the On/Off button.
2.Make sure that your computer or WiFi device is connected to the router with an Ethernet cable (wired) or over
WiFi with the preset security settings listed on the label.
If you want to change the router’s WiFi settings, use a wired connection to avoid being
disconnected when the new WiFi settings take effect.
Note
3.Launch a web browser.
The page that displays depends on whether you accessed the router before:
•The first time you set up the Internet connection for your router, the browser goes to
http://www.routerlogin.net and the Configuring the Internet Connection page displays.
•If you already set up the Internet connection, enter http://www.routerlogin.net in the address field for your
browser to start the installation process.
4.Follow the onscreen instructions.
The router connects to the Internet.
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							5.If the browser does not display a router page, do the following:
•Make sure that the computer is connected to one of the LAN Ethernet ports or over WiFi to the router.
•Make sure that the router is receiving power and that its Power LED is lit.
•Close and reopen the browser or clear the browser cache.
•Browse to http://www.routerlogin.net.
•If the computer is set to a static or fixed IP address (this setting is uncommon), change it to obtain an IP
address automatically from the router.
6.If the router does not connect to the Internet, do the following:
a.Review your settings. Make sure that you selected the correct options and typed everything correctly.
b.Contact your ISP to verify that you are using the correct configuration information.
c.Read Cannot Access the Internet on page 175. If problems persist, register your NETGEAR product and
contact NETGEAR technical support.
When the router connects to the Internet, you are prompted to download and install the free NETGEAR Desktop
genie app and the free ReadySHARE Vault app.
Log In to the Router
When you first connect to your router and launch a web browser, the browser automatically displays the router’s
web page. If you want to view or change settings for the router later, you can use a browser to log in to the router’s
web page.
To log in to the router:
1.Launch a web browser from a computer or WiFi device that is connected to the network.
2.Enter http://www.routerlogin.net.
You can also enter http://www.routerlogin.com or http://192.168.1.1.The procedures in
this manual use http://www.routerlogin.net.
Note
A login window opens.
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 page displays.
Change the Language
By default, the language is set to Auto.
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