6

Nighthawk

X6 AC3200

Tri-Band

WiFi

Router

Recover the admin Password. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

View Router Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Display Internet Port Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Check the Internet Connection Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

View and Manage Logs of Router Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Monitor Internet Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Custom Static Routes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Set Up a Static Route . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Edit a Static Route. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Delete a Static Route . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

View Devices Currently on the Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Manage the Router Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Back Up Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Restore Configuration Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Erase the Current Configuration Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Remote Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Chapter 13

Use VPN to Access Your Network

Set Up a VPN Connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Specify VPN Service in the Router . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Install OpenVPN Software on Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Use a VPN Tunnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Use VPN to Access the Router’s USB Device and Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Use VPN to Access Your Internet Service at Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Set Up VPN Client Internet Access in the Router . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Block VPN Client Internet Access in the Router . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Use a VPN Tunnel to Access Your Internet Service at Home . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Chapter 14

Specify Internet Port Settings

Set Up Port Forwarding to a Local Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Add a Custom Port Forwarding Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Edit a Port Forwarding Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Delete a Port Forwarding Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Application Example: Make a Local Web Server Public. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

How the Router Implements the Port Forwarding Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Set Up Port Triggering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Add a Port Triggering Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Enable Port Triggering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Application Example: Port Triggering for Internet Relay Chat . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Chapter 15

Troubleshooting

Quick Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Sequence to Restart Your Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Check Ethernet Cable Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Wireless Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

7

Nighthawk

X6 AC3200

Tri-Band

WiFi

Router

Troubleshoot with the LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Standard LED Behavior When the Router is Powered On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Power LED Is Off or Blinking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Power LED Stays Amber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

LEDs Never Turn Off. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Internet or Ethernet Port LEDs Are Off. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

WiFi LED Is Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Cannot Log In to the Router. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Cannot Access the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Troubleshoot PPPoE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Troubleshoot Internet Browsing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Changes Not Saved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Wireless Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Troubleshoot Your Network Using the Ping Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Test the LAN Path to Your Router. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Test the Path from Your Computer to a Remote Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Appendix A

Supplemental Information

Factory Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

8

1

1.

Hardware Setup

The Nighthawk X6 AC3200 Tri-Band WiFi Router with six high-performance antennas and three

network bands—one 2.4 GHz band and two 5 GHz bands, delivers combined WiFi connection

speeds of up to 3200 Mbps WiFi:

•

600 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band 256 QAM (802.11n)

•

1300 Mbps on 5 GHz band 1 (802.11ac)

•

1300 Mbps on 5 GHz band 2 (802.11ac)

Nighthawk X6 is ideal for homes with increasing number of WiFi-connected devices and

provides double the bandwidth of typical dual-band routers.

Nighthawk X6 also provides fast central storage, backup, and streaming to every device in your

home with the USB 3.0 port (10 times faster than USB 2.0). Sharing content across your network

is easy, whether you’re accessing stored photos and music to printing wirelessly. Stream your

stored media files anywhere on the network to DLNA screens. Share your music with

AirPlay-compatible devices from a USB hard drive connected to the router. Use the free

NETGEAR ReadySHARE Vault app to back up your Windows computers to a USB hard drive

connected to Nighthawk X6.

This chapter contains the following sections:

•

Unpack Your Router

•

Extend the Antennas

•

Top View

•

Rear Panel

•

Position Your Router

•

Cable Your Router

For more information about the topics covered in this manual, visit the support website at

.

Hardware Setup

9

Nighthawk

X6 AC3200

Tri-Band

WiFi

Router

Unpack Your Router

Your package contains the following items.

AC3200 Smart WiFi Router

Ethernet cable

Power adapter

Figure 1. Package contents

Extend the Antennas

Position the antennas for the best WiFi performance.



To extend the antennas:

Position all of the antennas vertically as shown.

Hardware Setup

10

Nighthawk

X6 AC3200

Tri-Band

WiFi

Router

Top View

The router has status LEDs and buttons on the top.

LEDs

Figure 2. Router LEDs and buttons

Table 1.

LED and button descriptions

LED

Description

Power

•

Solid amber

. The router is starting.

•

Blinking amber

. The firmware is upgrading, or the

Reset

button was pressed.

•

Solid white

. The router is ready.

•

Blinking white

. The firmware is corrupted.

•

Off

. Power is not supplied to the router.

Internet

•

Solid white

. The Internet connection is ready.

•

Solid amber

. The router has detected an Ethernet cable connection to the modem.

•

Off

. No Ethernet cable is connected between the router and the modem.

2.4 GHz

Wireless

•

Solid white

. The 2.4 GHz WiFi radio is operating.

•

Blinking

. The router is sending or receiving WiFi traffic.

•

Off

. The 2.4 GHz WiFi radio is off.

5 GHz WiFi 1

•

Solid white

. The 5 GHz-1 WiFi radio is operating.

•

Blinking

. The router is sending or receiving WiFi traffic.

•

Off

. The 5 GHz-1 WiFi radio is off.

5 GHz WiFi 2

•

Solid white

. The 5 GHz-2 WiFi radio is operating.

•

Blinking

. The router is sending or receiving WiFi traffic.

•

Off

. The 5 GHz-2 WiFi radio is off.