Is your Netgear Nighthawk router constantly flashing red? God! Seeing that same sight over and over again can become really tiring. But, fret not! There’s no issue that we can’t resolve. Walk through the troubleshooting steps mentioned in this post and learn how to get rid of the Netgear router red light issue.
Reasons Why Your Netgear Router is Blinking Red
There can be various reasons why you caught sight of a blinking red light on your home router. We have listed some of the most common causes below:
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Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) is at fault
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Unstable connection between the router and modem
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You haven’t set up the hardware of your device properly
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Loose cable connections
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Your Netgear Nighthawk router isn’t receiving enough power supply
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Overlapping of a network session with another
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Incomplete Netgear Nighthawk setup
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The firmware of your WiFi device is outdated
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Your internet connection is awfully slow
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Your Netgear router is damaged
Now that you know why your Netgear WiFi router is flashing red, take the help of the troubleshooting steps mentioned below to resolve the issue.
Netgear WiFi Router Red Light Issue (Solved)
Power Cycle Your Router
To get rid of the red light issue, the most common thing to try is to restart your Netgear WiFi router. Restarting or power cycling your device is as easy as riding a bicycle. All you need to do is, unplug your router from the wall socket, let it rest for some time, then plug it back into the socket, and you’re done.
After power cycling your home router, check whether the red light has stopped blinking or not. If not, then continue reading.
Update the Router’s Firmware
An outdated firmware is one of the major reasons why your Netgear router is troubling you with the red light issue. Thus, make sure you update the firmware of your device before it causes any more technical issues for you to handle.
In order to update the firmware of your WiFi device, you need to access Nighthawk router setup wizard, go to Settings, and click on the Firmware Update option. You can also use the Netgear Nighthawk app to update your router.
Relocate Your Netgear Router
If you have placed your Netgear Nighthawk router at a corner, then relocate it, and place it in the center-most location of your house. Also, your device shouldn’t be hidden beneath or inside anything. Doing so might help you resolve the red light issue.
Check the Ethernet Connection
To prevent the red light issue from impacting the performance of your Netgear router even more than it already has, check your Ethernet connection. If the Ethernet cable that you have used to connect your devices is worn out, then get it replaced immediately.
If none of the above-mentioned steps helped you fix the Netgear router red light issue, then the last step is to perform factory default reset.
To Reset the Netgear Nighthawk router:
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Turn on your Netgear WiFi router and connect it to the modem.
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Locate the Reset button on your router.
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Once found, take any sharp or pointed object and insert it into the Reset hole.
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Hold the button for some time and release it.
Give your Netgear Nighthawk router some time to get restored to its factory default settings.
Summing Up
This was all about the steps to troubleshoot the Netgear router red light issue. If the issue persists, chances are that your router is damaged. In that case, we recommend you either get the router fixed or buy an new router as well as an extender and perform Netgear Nighthawk extender setup.
