Question NetGear AC1900 7000 and WPS

[BowdilBob]

G'day all,
I have a NetGear AC1900 7000, to my knowledge it's working as advertised. This was set up by my wife some time ago and she did not use the default Wifi network name and password. She did employ the WPS option (wifi protected setup) and the wsp light is ON.

Very recently I had to reset my internet access (power down modem and router then restart, an every few month routine per Xfinity) my Samsung TabE Tablet was no longer recognized, all other devises were recognized and operating normally. The tablet will not connect to wifi and does not ask for wifi name and pass word.

I have downloaded the manual and inquired the internet but can not find specifics to my question.
I've read what I can find on WPS, but no where is there actual information to what happen when everything is turned on and operation normally, all router lights on, and I turn off the WPA router option off. My hope here is with the WPS off the table my be able to access the my wifi .

There are a host of additional details, but the length of the post would be like reading a book.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Cheers
Bob

 

[bill001g]

More likely some issue with the wifi setting on the tablet. You can try the simple thing to connect it to the hotspot on your phone just to be sure it really functions.

I have not used tablet much but what you talk about you see posts all the time on windows machines. Many times just deleting the networks and then rescanning fixes it but there seems to be other things that cause it. The other common cause is the router running on radio channels the end device does not support. Maybe manually try some other radio channels. This mostly applies to the 5ghz ones.

WPA is a function used by repeaters not really related to end device connecting.

You really should disable WPS. It is a massive security issue that has been know for many many years. A simple cell phone app can crack it. Problem is you can not change the WPS password so once someone gets it WPS will then give them your new SSID and encryption keys no matter how many times you change it.

The only time you use WPS is to connect "smart"/stupid wifi device that use a button to configure them. Like those wifi light bulbs. You would want to turn the feature on, setup the stupid device and then turn it off. Problem will be if the dumb device constantly is reconnecting and want WPS on all the time.

 

[BowdilBob]

Thanks for the reply. From what I could read I gathered WPS is not the way to go, your conformation helps. I believe I will have to factory reset this router in order to take total control in the near future. Wife is medically unable to provide password or any help.
Still would like to know what affect turning off the WPS has when the system is on and functioning normal.
Cheers
Bob

 

[dwd999]

Is there no sticker on the bottom of the router with the password? And if you access the router from one of your computers and look in the wireless settings section does that not show the password? Perhaps you just need to turn Access Control off to allow your tablet to connect.

Router Login Page - How to Access Your NETGEAR Router

To log in to your Netgear Nighthawk router, there are 2 methods available. The easiest Method is the Nighthawk app. Alternatively, your router's login page can be accessed via a web browser at www.routerlogin.net Learn More

www.netgear.com

 

[bill001g]

You are likely better off just resetting it. That way you know how it is configured and can make changes in the future.

All you really should have to set is the wifi password/id and the admin password.

Hard to say if WPS is on or off by default. Many routers have it on even though they know it is a massive security exposure. It is the most common way kids hack into their neighbors wifi so they can get internet when their parent block them.

All WPS does is allow you to not type in the password when you connect. You generally only have to do that 1 time and the device remembers. A lot of this is pure laziness. Only devices that have no ability to type stuff in you have no option but to use WPS.

Note I looked back at my other post. I was referring to WDS. WPA is a encryption standard used on wifi. There is also WPA2 and WPA3 on newer equipment. You really want to leave that on. Turning it off might cause the router to run with no encryption. Not sure I suspect it depends on the brand of router what exactly it does

 

[BFG-9000]

R7000 just went EOL this year, same as its cousin the ASUS RT-AC68 which uses the same chipset and reference design. That means no more new factory firmware, although Netgear released one last emergency security update for it just last month.

However R7000 is very well supported by two third-party firmware projects so at least you should have access to security updates well into the future, if you switch to either FreshTomato-ARM or DD-WRT firmware. I should point out that 3rd-party firmware tends to be more security-conscious so things such as WPS are disabled by default unless you go turn them on.

There is no WPA3 available in any firmware for the R7000 as it was never backported to this early Wifi5 device from 2013. This feature is commonly available in Wifi5 "Wave 2" routers that are three years newer, from 2016. 3rd party firmware actually lists WPA as "deprecated" and will suggest using WPA2-personal, but all of your clients must support that.