netgear NightHawk admin interface borked

[BlueKnight87]

Okay, so I got a NightHawk MK62 mesh network kit 2nd hand from family a while back. For the first couple months of using it, it's been okay, spare a few minor bugs. But THIS. THIS has broken the experience! So the other night, I upgraded the FW from 1.1.7.132 to 1.1.7.134. This is the result: Pausing internet for individual devices is now locked behind a f**king paywall (Screenshot 1, from the app, yes device names are blurred to avoid being doxxed), and it introduced a  bug which prevents me from seeing which devices are online (as seen in screenshot 2, from the desktop control panel)!!! I know for a fact that at the moment there should be listed in the 2nd one:

• 1 laptop (the one I took the screenshot from)
• 1 satellite unit
• 2-3 phones
• 1 smart speaker, and
• 1 TV media player

Why just those when there's more in shot 1? Well the web interface doesn't show devices not presently connected to it.

 

I am not a tweeter, so I can't complain about it over there (the sitch looks pretty bad for them at the moment as well so...). So I decided to vent to the community here. If someone were to @ them over on Twitter though and link to this tweet, that would be great. Sometimes the only way to get a company to unf**k their mistakes is to generate lots of clout.

[StDragon]

 - According the change log for firmware rev 1.1.7.134

 

Quote

• Fixed security issues.
• Fixed NH APP might show 'Router not Found' and 'Login Required' messages during on-boarding which blocks the on-boarding installation.
• Fixed offline satellite display issue on iOS APP.

 

So nothing would be behind a paywall. 

[OhioYJ]

28 minutes ago, StDragon said:

So nothing would be behind a paywall. 

I wonder if it was part of the (from their website):

 

Quote

*Some features require Premium Subscription. Get a 30-day complimentary trial; no credit card required. $7.99/month or $69.99/year after end of trial.

Maybe being setup for the "first" time at a new location triggered a new trial period, even though it was bought used?

[BlueKnight87]

No no. I have been using it since late October 2022. I forget what version it was running on when I got it (1.1.6.xxx I think?), but when I finished adopting it, it didn't reset the warranty, didn't reset the Netgear Armor (powered by Bitdefender, what shills, and the only subscription until the update) 30 day trial, nothing reset. I updated it to 1.1.7.132 not long after. Until 132, I had the ability to kill the connection to specific devices. Now (in 134) it's included in Netgear's Smart Parental Controls subscription... Which would allow me to group devices to specific people and kill the Wi-Fi to that entire group! Not just individual devices! Like it was! Why the F**K do companies go and try and fix something that isn't broken, and then just ends up completely breaking it in the process? 

[BlueKnight87]

Oh, and as a FURTHER f**k you to Netgear, Google offers the same functionality on THEIR mesh Wi-Fi system as what Netgear offers now, but for FREE!!!