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Reset the Netgear Nighthawk R8000P

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Setup Router Staff
Last Updated: | Reading Time: 4 minutes

In this article, you will learn how to reset your Netgear Nighthawk R8000P back to factory settings. A router reset is a much bigger deal than a router reboot. Rebooting a router is simply turning it off and back on again. Resetting a router erases all settings from it and returns it to factory defaults.

Warning: This is not a step to be taken lightly. When you reset your router, the following will happen.

  • The router's username and password are reset to factory defaults.
  • Your WiFi name and password are reset.
  • If your router has any ISP settings they will be removed, and you will have to contact your ISP.
  • Any firewall settings, parental controls, or port forwards that you have configured will be removed.

Since a router reset is such a drastic step, it should only be done as a last resort when you cannot recover your router's password using any other methods. You should be sure that you have tried to at least recover your router password using our Router Password Finder before resorting to a router reset.

Other Netgear Nighthawk R8000P Guides

Use a VPN

Have you considered using a VPN when you connect to the internet? A VPN is a great way to increase your security and anonymity while surfing.

We use and recommend NordVPN because not only is it the fastest VPN, it includes a new feature called Meshnet that makes securely sharing your home network super simple. With NordVPN Meshnet, you can connect to your devices from anywhere in the world, completely secure, over a highly encrypted VPN tunnel.

When shopping for a VPN, make sure that they meet the following criteria:

  • Your VPN provider should have a no-logs policy. This means that they do not keep any logs of any kind.
  • Make sure that your VPN provider has lots of exit nodes all around the world.
  • Check that your VPN will not affect your speed.
  • Verify that your VPN provider uses WireGuard as the underlying protocol.
  • Many people prefer a VPN provider that is not based in the United States.

This is the list of requirements that we used when we were shopping around for a VPN provider. There are lots of free, shady VPN providers out there that we looked at and dismissed.

Based in Panama, using diskless servers, and with over 6,100 servers in 61 countries, we can safely say that NordVPN satisfies all of these requirements.

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Once you've set up your NordVPN account on multiple computers and enabled Meshnet, you can seamlessly access all of your devices as if they were on the same network. You don't even have to log in to your router. It's very simple.

Every time you click on one of our affiliate links, such as NordVPN, we get a little kickback for introducing you to the service. Think of us as your VPN wingman.

This is the reset router guide for the Netgear Nighthawk R8000P v1.4.4.94_1.3.56. We also have the following guides for the same router:

Recover Password in Netgear Nighthawk R8000P

If the only reason that you are resetting your router is because you forgot your router password, then you may want to try running our Router Password Finder instead of resetting your router.

Router Password Finder can save you a ton of time by recovering your lost or forgotten router password instead of doing a full router reset.

Router Password Finder - Recover Lost or Forgotten Router Passwords

Do not do a full router reset until after you have tried every other option to log in to your router.

Reset the Netgear Nighthawk R8000P

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Most of the time you can find a small reset button located on either the back or the bottom of a router. Look at your router and try to find something that looks like this:

Router Reset Button

Yours may look slightly different, but they are usually tiny. You might find a pinhole on the back of the router that requires a paper clip to push the button hidden under it.

Watch the front panel lights while you hold the reset button down for at least 10 seconds. The lights on the front of the router should do something different when the reset happens. Do not worry about holding the button down too long; this is harmless.

Don't forget, this step will totally reset your Netgear Nighthawk R8000P router back to factory settings.

Only do this once you have exhausted all other troubleshooting options, such as running our Router Password Finder software, which can recover a lost router password for you.

Login to the Netgear Nighthawk R8000P

After you are finished resetting your router, you need to login in using the original factory username and password. Our Nighthawk R8000P Login Guide has all of the information that you need.

Change Your Password

Be sure to change your router's default password after you get logged back in. It's a very bad idea to leave your router's password set to the factory default. Our Choosing a Strong Password guide talks about choosing a strong password for your router.

Tip: Write your new password down on a note and tape it to the bottom of your router for future reference.

Other Netgear Nighthawk R8000P Guides

We have collected a lot of information about the Netgear Nighthawk R8000P router. You can find some of our additional content here.

This is the reset router guide for the Netgear Nighthawk R8000P v1.4.4.94_1.3.56. We also have the following guides for the same router: