How to reset your NetGear router to factory settings

If ever there was a reason for you to want to reset your NetGear to factory settings, it’s nice to know that you can do it in several ways. We would be showing you the ways you can reset your NetGear router to the way it originally was.

How to reset your NetGear router to factory settings

There are two major ways to carry out the reset operation; they could be regarded as “hard” and “soft” reset operation.

The first method

The first method we would be discussing requires you to locate the “Reset” button on the router. It is located on the back of the router and aptly named “Reset” or “Restore Factory Settings”. The button is physically small and recessed; this is to prevent accidental resets.

You would have to reach the button and to do that, you would need an object with a pointed tip (like a bent out a paper clip), and reach into the recess.

Gently press the paper clip into the button, and hold it for approximately 7 seconds; the power light would start blinking once you wait that long.

Once the power light starts blinking, release the button; the reboot process has been initiated at that point. The router would reboot itself, and you’ll see the power light glowing a solid green or white.

Once the reboot is complete, the NetGear router has been restored to its factory settings; you would now go through the setup and configuration process afresh. Make sure to follow the instructions in the documentation for your NetGear model.

The second method

The second method of resetting the NetGear routers would only work for certain models: the DGN2000 and the DG834Gv5 models. On those models, you can initiate the reset process by first locating the buttons labeled “Wireless” and “WPS”; they are located on the side of the router.

Just press and hold the “Wireless” and “WPS” buttons simultaneously for 6 seconds. The power LED would blink red.

Once the power LED blinks red, release the buttons, and the router would initiate the reboot process. The power LED would become solid red, to affirm that the reboot process is in due course. Once the reboot process is complete, your NetGear router is successfully reset to factory settings.

You would have to carry out the setup and configuration process afresh, and it might entail you checking through the router’s documentation to see instructions on how to properly set up and configure the router.

As can be seen, the reset process for NetGear routers is quite easy and straight forward; regardless of the model of the router you have, the aforementioned methods would quickly enable you to do the reset yourself.

What happens if I reset my Netgear router to factory settings

Ordinarily, the reset process returns the router to its factory state, and things such as your password get wiped. However, if after the reset process, you still have a password, you can attempt another kind of reset.

This involves holding the reset button for 30 seconds, unplugging the router while still holding the button for 30 seconds, and holding it for an additional 30 seconds after plugging it back in. (this means you hold the reset button for a total of 1.5 minutes)
After this special type of reset, the password should be wiped, and if it isn’t, just connect the router to a terminal.