--- title: "NETGEAR Nighthawk login, restart, firmware and UPnP: a practical guide" url: "https://kilobat.app/routers/netgear-nighthawk" description: "Sign in to a NETGEAR Nighthawk router at routerlogin.net, restart and update it, see attached devices, set UPnP, QoS, Smart Connect, guest Wi-Fi and DNS." --- Router · NETGEAR # NETGEAR Nighthawk login, restart, firmware and UPnP Nighthawk is NETGEAR’s range of retail Wi-Fi routers. You manage them in a browser at routerlogin.net, or in the Nighthawk app on a phone. NETGEAR Nighthawk Sign in `www.routerlogin.net` or `192.168.1.1` App The Nighthawk app (iOS and Android) Password The user name is `admin`. The password is the one you chose when you set the router up. The label on the router shows the login details, Wi-Fi name and Wi-Fi password. Models Nighthawk WiFi 7 (RS series), Nighthawk WiFi 6E (RAXE series), Nighthawk WiFi 6 (RAX series), Nighthawk AC (R7000, R8000 and others), Nighthawk Pro Gaming (XR series) **Checked 1 November 2026.** Nighthawk RS, RAXE, RAX and R-series routers with current firmware (menus as of 2026), checked against the RS300 (2025) and RAX50 manuals. Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR routers use a **Settings** menu instead of **ADVANCED**. ## Sign in to the NETGEAR Nighthawk **Factory default.** NETGEAR’s factory default is user name `admin` and password `password`. Newer routers make you change it during setup; on an older one, change it under **ADVANCED › Administration › Set Password**. 1. Connect your Mac to the router by Wi-Fi or Ethernet. 2. Open `http://www.routerlogin.net` in a browser. `http://www.routerlogin.com` or `http://192.168.1.1` also work. 3. Enter `admin` and the router password. Both are case-sensitive. The admin password is not your Wi-Fi password or your NETGEAR account. If you turned on **Enable Password Reset**, click **Cancel** at the login prompt, enter the serial number from the label and answer your security questions. Otherwise, hold the Reset button on the back for at least 10 seconds; this erases all settings. ## Restart it properly 1. Sign in at `routerlogin.net`. 2. Select the **ADVANCED** tab. 3. Click **Reboot**, then **OK**. A reboot keeps all your settings and takes up to two minutes. On Nighthawk Pro Gaming routers, click the three dots at the top right, then **Reboot**. Without the app or browser, press the Power On/Off button on the back, wait 30 seconds and press it again. ### Restart from the Nighthawk app 1. Open the Nighthawk app and tap the home icon at the top left. 2. Tap **REBOOT**, then confirm with **Reboot**. ### Schedule a restart NETGEAR’s Nighthawk manuals describe no scheduled restart. **Kilobat can help.** Kilobat Pro’s [router check-up](https://kilobat.app/docs/home-network#router-checkup) learns how fast this router usually answers, says when a restart is due, and checks the next day whether it helped. ## Update the firmware Current Nighthawk routers update themselves by default. You can also check by hand. 1. Sign in at `routerlogin.net`, ideally over Ethernet. 2. Go to **ADVANCED › Administration › Router Update**. Some models call it **Firmware Update**. 3. Click **Check**, then **Update** if new firmware is found. 4. Leave **Router Auto Firmware Update** set to **Enable** and click **Apply**. Don’t close the page or turn the router off during an update; it restarts by itself. To install a specific version, download it from NETGEAR and use the **Manual Update** tab. ### Update from the Nighthawk app 1. Connect your phone to the router’s Wi-Fi and open the Nighthawk app. 2. Tap the image of your router, scroll down and tap **CHECK FOR UPDATES**. 3. If new firmware is available, tap **UPDATE**. [The maker’s firmware download page](https://www.netgear.com/support/download/) ## See connected devices 1. Sign in at `routerlogin.net`. 2. On the **BASIC** tab, select **Attached Devices**. 3. Read each device’s connection type (wired or Wi-Fi band), name, IP address and MAC address. 4. To rename a device, tick it, click **Edit**, change the name and click **Apply**. Phones and laptops that use a private Wi-Fi address can show a different MAC address after time away. Renaming only changes how a device is listed. **Kilobat can help.** Kilobat’s [new-device alerts](https://kilobat.app/docs/home-network#new-devices) tell you when a device you haven’t seen joins your home Wi-Fi. **Tools › Devices** lists what answers on the network, and you can name each one. ## UPnP and port forwarding Nighthawk routers support UPnP, and it is on by default. 1. Sign in and go to **ADVANCED › Advanced Setup › UPnP**. 2. Tick or clear **Turn UPnP On**, then click **Apply**. 3. Check the **UPnP Portmap Table** to see which devices opened which ports. Click **Refresh** to update it. With UPnP off, no device can open ports on the router by itself. That is safer, but some games and calls may need ports forwarded by hand. The Portmap Table is the place to spot a device opening ports you didn’t expect. ### NAT-PMP NETGEAR’s manuals don’t mention NAT-PMP, and there is no setting for it. ### Port forwarding instead 1. Go to **ADVANCED › Advanced Setup › Port Forwarding / Port Triggering** to open a port for one device by hand. **Kilobat can help.** On supported routers, Kilobat’s [call reports](https://kilobat.app/video-calls) can read available traffic counters, read-only, to identify another device that was busy when a call froze. Correlation does not prove the cause. Kilobat never opens ports. ## Prioritise calls and gaming Many Wi-Fi 6 Nighthawk routers, such as the RAX50, have Dynamic QoS. The WiFi 7 RS300 manual has no QoS page, so check your model’s manual. 1. Sign in and select **QoS** on the **BASIC** tab. 2. Tick **Enable QoS**. It is off by default. 3. Choose **Let Speedtest detect my Internet bandwidth** and click **Take a Speedtest**, or enter your plan’s speeds. 4. Click **Apply**. Run the speed test while nothing else is using the internet. Dynamic QoS relies on an application database that the router keeps up to date by itself. **Kilobat can help.** Run Kilobat’s [stutter test](https://kilobat.app/guides/recipes/test-call-stutter) before and after you change priorities, to see whether calls really got smoother. ## 2.4 and 5 GHz, and the channel Smart Connect is on by default: 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz share one Wi-Fi name and password, and the router picks the band. 1. Sign in and select **Wireless** on the **BASIC** tab. 2. Clear **Enable Smart Connect** to give each band its own name and password. 3. Set a name for the 2.4 GHz network, then click **Apply**. If you turn Smart Connect back on and the bands don’t match, the 2.4 GHz name and password overwrite the others. ### Change the channel 1. On the **Wireless** page, find the section for the band. 2. Pick a number from the **Channel** menu, then click **Apply**. NETGEAR advises changing the channel only if you see dropouts or slow transfers. For 6 GHz, choose a channel marked PSC so all devices can find it. The change also applies to the guest network. **Kilobat can help.** Kilobat shows which band and channel your Mac is on, and `kilobat channels` suggests the least crowded channel. More in [crowded Wi-Fi channels](https://kilobat.app/guides/wifi-channel-congestion) and [Wi-Fi on a Mac](https://kilobat.app/wifi-analyzer-mac). ## Mesh: which node a device uses A Nighthawk router is a single router, and its manuals describe no mesh system of its own. NETGEAR’s mesh range is Orbi. A Nighthawk can also run as a plain Wi-Fi access point under **ADVANCED › Advanced Setup › Router / AP Mode**. **Kilobat can help.** When your Mac moves to another node or band, Kilobat’s Health says so, so a weaker node isn’t taken for a router problem. See [find a better Wi-Fi spot](https://kilobat.app/guides/recipes/find-better-wifi-spot). ## Guest network 1. Sign in and select **Guest Network** on the **BASIC** tab. 2. Tick **Enable Guest Network** for each band you want. 3. Change the name from `NETGEAR-Guest` if you like, and pick WPA2 or WPA3 security. 4. Type a password in **Password (Network Key)**, then click **Apply**. Guests can’t reach your own devices unless you tick **Allow guests to see each other and access my local network**. Choosing **None** makes an open network anyone can join. **Kilobat can help.** Kilobat can show a network as a QR code, so guests join with their phone’s camera: [share Wi-Fi with a QR code](https://kilobat.app/guides/recipes/share-wifi-qr-code). ## DNS settings 1. Sign in and select **Internet** on the **BASIC** tab. 2. Under **Domain Name Server (DNS) Address**, select **Use These DNS Servers**. 3. Enter a primary DNS address, and a secondary one if you have it. 4. Click **Apply**, then **Test** to check the connection. To go back to your provider’s servers, select **Get Automatically from ISP**. **Kilobat can help.** Before you change DNS, [compare resolvers with Kilobat](https://kilobat.app/guides/recipes/pick-faster-dns) to see which answers fastest from your home. ## Connection status and logs 1. Sign in and select the **ADVANCED** tab. 2. In the **Internet Port** pane, click **Connection Status** for the WAN IP, gateway, DNS servers and lease times. 3. Click **Renew** to restart the internet connection if needed. 4. For the event log, go to **ADVANCED › Administration › Logs**. The router keeps up to 256 log entries. **Send Log** emails them once email notifications are set up. **Kilobat can help.** When the line keeps dropping, Kilobat’s [provider report](https://kilobat.app/docs/health#report) lists outages, latency and speed tests against your plan, ready to send to your provider. ## Manuals and downloads - [NETGEAR RS300 user manual (PDF)](https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RS300/RS300_RS280_UM_EN.pdf) - [NETGEAR RAX50 user manual (PDF)](https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RAX50/RAX50_UM_EN.pdf) - [NETGEAR RS300 support](https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rs300/) - [Firmware downloads](https://www.netgear.com/support/download/) Links go to the maker’s own pages. ## Questions **Why does routerlogin.net not load?** It only works from a device connected to the Nighthawk. Try `http://192.168.1.1`, or join the router by Ethernet. **Do I need the Nighthawk app?** No. Everything in this guide works in a browser. The app adds remote management, Armor and Smart Parental Controls. ## Sources - [NETGEAR Support: How do I reboot my NETGEAR router using the router web interface?](https://kb.netgear.com/30860/How-do-I-reboot-my-NETGEAR-router-using-the-router-web-interface) - [NETGEAR Support: How do I power cycle or reboot my NETGEAR router?](https://kb.netgear.com/000061793/How-do-I-power-cycle-or-reboot-my-NETGEAR-router) - [NETGEAR Support: How do I change the admin password on my NETGEAR router?](https://kb.netgear.com/20026/How-do-I-change-the-admin-password-on-my-router) - [NETGEAR Support: What are the default user interface passwords for NETGEAR devices?](https://kb.netgear.com/1148/How-do-I-log-in-to-my-NETGEAR-home-router) - [NETGEAR Support: How do I update the firmware on my NETGEAR router?](https://kb.netgear.com/000058238/How-do-I-update-the-firmware-on-my-NETGEAR-router-with-the-Nighthawk-app) - [NETGEAR Support: How do I update the firmware on my NETGEAR router with a web browser?](https://kb.netgear.com/23442/How-do-I-update-the-firmware-on-my-NETGEAR-router) - [NETGEAR: Nighthawk WiFi 7 Tri-Band Router RS300, RS280, BE9300 User Manual (PDF)](https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RS300/RS300_RS280_UM_EN.pdf) - [NETGEAR: Nighthawk AX6 RAX50 User Manual (PDF)](https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RAX50/RAX50_UM_EN.pdf) Checked on 1 November 2026. ## See what your router can’t tell you Kilobat is a Mac menu-bar app that watches the network from your side: which app is using it, whether the Wi-Fi, the router or the provider is slow, and why a call froze. [Download for Mac ↓](https://kilobat.app/downloads/Kilobat-1.31.1.dmg?via=site) ``` brew install seifip/kilobat/kilobat ``` ## More router guides - [AmpliFi](https://kilobat.app/routers/amplifi): AmpliFi is Ubiquiti’s consumer mesh Wi-Fi line, with a touchscreen router and MeshPoints. - [Apple AirPort](https://kilobat.app/routers/apple-airport): AirPort Extreme, AirPort Time Capsule and AirPort Express are Apple’s Wi-Fi base stations. - [ASUS router](https://kilobat.app/routers/asus): ASUS RT, ROG Rapture, TUF Gaming and ZenWiFi routers all run ASUSWRT. - [Cudy Wi-Fi router](https://kilobat.app/routers/cudy): Cudy’s Wi-Fi routers and mesh systems, such as the WR3000 and M3000, share one web interface at cudy.net.