What do all the lights on your Netgear router mean, and which ones actually matter? - Engadget

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Depending on their colors, most of those flashing lights are a good sign.

Close-up of a router sitting on a table.

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The front of a Netgear router, like many routers, is dotted with a wide array of lights and symbols. Though some of the symbols like the power indicator are straightforward, the lights themselves can be much less clear. They often vary in color; sometimes they're blinking and other times they're solid. If you've never picked up the manual, deciphering what each of the many lights means doesn't come naturally.

Understanding what each of the indicators on your Netgear router signify is important for troubleshooting, as well as making sure everything is running as it should. Although some lights are usually more important than others, they all serve a purpose. Whether you have a standard router or one of the company's mesh Wi-Fi systems, this is how to better understand what your Netgear device is telling you.

The most important lights on your Netgear router

These are the lights on a router that are generally the most important to pay attention to, as they're indicators of the most impactful stats like power and overall internet connection status.

The power LED

Represented by the typical power symbol, this indicates information about your device's firmware, as well as its power status. Unsurprisingly, this will be off if your router has no power.

If your router isn't working properly, restart it first. In case it's fully unresponsive, you may need to do a factory reset. 

Internet LED

The icon and light with a small circle orbiting a larger one shows your general connection status:

Wi-Fi LED

Represented by a small dot with two curves on each side, this light shows general Wi-Fi traffic.

Other lights on your Netgear router

A laptop user's balled-up fists indicating frustration, with a "no Wi-Fi connection symbol" shown above a laptop.

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Further lights on your Netgear router are more useful for specific troubleshooting, or if you're plugging additional devices into the router.

Wi-Fi band LEDS

Every modern router should have lights for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, as these have long been the standard. For a Wi-Fi 6E model or newer, you'll also see a 6GHz light for that modern band. The lights will differ depending on the bands currently in use, but the lights have the same meanings for each band.

USB LEDs

Your router will have one of these lights for each USB port it includes, represented by the trident USB symbol or the text "USB 3.0."

Ethernet LEDs

These are labeled by numbers, with each representing an Ethernet port on the router. The color represents the speed of the connection: white or green for 1 Gbps connections, and amber for slower 100 Mbps or 10 Mbps Ethernet.

WPS LED

Represented by what looks like a router with signals coming out of it, this light indicates the success of a WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) connection, which allows you to add devices to your network without entering the network name and password. For the best router security, you should disable this.

Reading the lights on a Netgear Orbi mesh system

The lights on Netgear's Orbi Wi-Fi mesh system are minimalist compared to a typical router's, and represent key statuses slightly differently. There's a light in the bottom-front of the device, plus one at the back. The light in the front represents the connection status, while the one at the back is tied to the device's power and firmware.

The front LED lights

The back LED light