Ultimate Guide To Understanding Netgear Router Lights

Netgear is one of the leading manufacturers of routers, modems, and extenders. Its routers, one of its famous products, serve as the ultimate solution to enhancing your internet connection and speeding it up across various devices. Generally, Netgear routers have various benefits, including the following:

• Affordable and cost-effective
• Provides efficient security solution
• High speed 
• Allows parental control to limit the sites your children can access

When purchasing one, it’s impossible that you would not notice the LED lights displayed on the router. The majority of users come across some sort of issue with LED lights throughout the lifetime use of the router. In this post, we’ll cover these LED lights, what they mean, and why various light options exist on every router. 

What are Netgear router lights?

The LED lights you see on your Netgear routers indicate the connection status between your connected devices and the router. These lights can also indicate the status of your WPS, Ethernet, Internet, and WiFi connections. There will be times when you notice that the LED lights start blinking, which may mean you are experiencing WiFi connectivity issues. 

When you know the indication of each light on your Netgear router, you can immediately tell when there’s a connectivity problem and would know how to fix the error. 

Power LED

A solid green or white color on the router’s power button indicates that it’s ready and functioning, while a solid amber indicates that the Netgear device is turning on. 

Internet LED

Like the power LED, an indication of an internet connection between your devices is seeing a white or green colored light on the internet button. A solid amber color indicates the router’s detection of an Ethernet connection. When the white light blinks, the device receives traffic and sends it to the connected gadgets. 

Similarly, the WPS and Ethernet LED lights are solid when successful connections are established and blink once the router has received successful traffic. 

USB LED

A unique feature of a Netgear router is that it allows you to connect your USBs. Normally, when a flash drive is connected, you’ll observe a LED light turned on and vice versa. Additionally, when you press the “Remove Hardware” button, you notice the USB LED lights switching off. Once you see that the light has switched off, you can go ahead and remove the USB you inserted. 

What do the lights on the Netgear router mean?

A Netgear router contains several parts with different labels:

• Internet
• Power
• USB ports
• Ethernet ports
• WPS button
• 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz wireless

You should expect that each part is designated a corresponding LED light color. Let’s talk about each section and the meaning of each LED light color on the Netgear router.

Orange Light

Seeing an orange light on your Netgear router is the most common troubleshooting issue experienced by most of its users. When you observe that your router has a blinking orange light, you might experience slow internet connectivity. You can do the following measures when you encounter an orange LED light:

1. Turn your Netgear router on and off. What you can do is disconnect the router from its outlet. Wait for a few seconds, and then reconnect it to repower it. 

2. You can also check whether the internet connection is lost from your internet service provider. 

3. There can also be times when a blinking orange light appears because of a malfunctioning WiFi connection. In that case, you can try switching from WiFi to a wired connection and check whether a blinking orange light still exists. 

If the orange light is still blinking after trying out the measures above, it’s time to contact the experts to help you fix the problem. 

Blue Light

A blue light on the Netgear router indicates that the device is booting up. The light should not be flashing for a long time unless the router is experiencing some issues. Should you encounter a flashing blue light, try to do the following measures:

1. Check whether your router has hardware damage.

2. Allow your router to boot up properly. Then your device should be requesting a DHCP lease and will try to obtain an IP address.

3. If the router successfully achieves an IP, the LED light should turn orange. 

4. Should the light remain blue, you can try changing your router’s DHCP settings. 

Red Power Light

A red power light commonly appears on your Netgear router when the firmware is updating or when setting up the router on your new device. When your router always shows a red internet light, it might mean the following:

Overlapped Connection

An overlapped connection can indicate a connection error, an overloaded network session, or your router connection consists of damaged cables. 

Loose Connection

A loose connection happens when you partially reset your Netgear router or when it constantly disconnects from your network.

Should you encounter an error on your Netgear router’s red power light, you can try to do the following measures below:

1. Utilize the power adapter that came with your router’s package. 

2. Turn off your router and turn it on again to check whether the LED light turns green. 

3. Should the LED power light stay amber, try pressing and holding the Reset button, restoring all your router’s default settings. 

4. Ensure that your IP address, Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway are on the Static setting.

White Blinking Light

The white blinking light is more common in newer models of the Netgear router. When you encounter this error, restart your network and follow the steps below:

1. Disconnect your router’s power adapter from the socket. 

2. Similarly, disconnect all the devices connected to the same network as well. 

3. Turn your Netgear router off.

4. Plug your modem and turn it on.

How do you know if something is wrong with your Netgear router light?

Various colors have different meanings. With this, you would only know when something is off with your Netgear router when you know the specific indication of the lights on the router. For instance, blinking white light can indicate that your router’s firmware has been corrupted. 

When you observe that there’s no light blinking or turned on with the light designated for your internet, it means that the router is not receiving any connection. Generally, for all indications, a no-light may indicate an error with your router’s specific function or feature. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Netgear Router Lights

What does an orange light on your Netgear router mean?

When an orange light appears on your Netgear router, it indicates a technical glitch with its internet connectivity. The major reasons for this issue are listed below:

Outdated Firmware

Outdated firmware happens when you always avoid the firmware updates that pop out from your screen. You can log in to your internet router, proceed to the Firmware Update heading, and check for new updates. 

Modem Connection Issue

Your modem might not be connected to your router. Restart both the router and modem, and try to establish a wired connection between your devices. 

Wrong Router Setup 

When your Netgear router setup is inaccurate, you can observe an orange light blinking. Try to reboot your WiFi router and repeat the setup process. 

How do you fix a blinking light on a Netgear router?

One of the common reasons for a blinking LED light on your Netgear router is firmware corruption. This usually happens when you turn your router off while there is an ongoing firmware upgrade. You can also observe a blinking light when the router’s firmware automatically updates in the background. The update does not take long, and the blinking stops when the upgrade is complete. 

During the firmware upgrade, you must be careful not to turn off your router and interrupt the process so as not to risk corrupting the firmware. Another possible cause of a blinking light is the improper connection of your power adapter to the power source. 

Generally, using an original Netgear power adapter is recommended. Check whether the adapter is properly connected, then check to see whether the light is still blinking. Additionally, your cables should also be in good condition and working, or else you’ll also notice the router’s power light blinking. 

Another way to try fixing the router’s blinking light is to reboot the entire system. Unplug your router, wait for a few minutes to an hour, and plug it in to restart the device. Finally, if your router is faulty, you need to contact Netgear’s tech support to help you. 

What do the lights on the Netgear router mean?

Ultimately, the lights on your Netgear router indicate several purposes. They are also indications of the connection status of your router and its condition. When you are fully aware of what these lights mean, as in the guide above, it’s easier to determine which specific connectivity needs troubleshooting. 

Additionally, this guide is also equipped with various ways how you can try to fix any connectivity issue your router encounters. The right knowledge of the various LED lights on your Netgear router is the ultimate key to ensuring your device is always functioning well.