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Reset the Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000

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Setup Router Staff
Last Updated: | Reading Time: 5 minutes

In this article, you will learn how to reset your Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 back to factory settings. A router reset is a much bigger deal than a router reboot. A reboot happens every time a router loses power. 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 login credentials are reset.
  • Your WiFi name and password are reset.
  • All ISP settings will reset to default, and you may have to contact your ISP.
  • Any firewall settings, parental controls, and port forwards that you have configured will be removed.

A router reset should be considered the last resort when you cannot log in to your router any other way. 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 X6 R8000 Guides

Use a VPN Instead

Have you considered using a VPN instead of forwarding a port? For most users, a VPN is a much simpler and more secure choice than forwarding a port.

We use and recommend NordVPN because not only is it the fastest VPN, it includes a new feature called Meshnet that makes forwarding a port no longer necessary for most applications. 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.

NordVPN is the fastest VPN!

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 X6 R8000 v1.0.3.4_1.1.2. We also have the following guides for the same router:

Recover Password in Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000

If you are resetting your router because you forgot your router password, then you should try running our Router Password Finder first.

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 - Automatically Recover Lost or Forgotten Router Passwords

Only after you have tried to recover your missing router username and password should you perform a full router reset.

Reset the Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000

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Usually there is a reset button located on the back or bottom of a router. Look for something that looks like this:

Router Reset Button

Your reset button may look different, but usually they are very small. Sometimes the button is under a pinhole, and you need a paper clip to push it.

Watch the front panel lights while you hold the reset button down for at least 10 seconds. After a few seconds the lights should blink differently. When this happens, the reset is complete. Do not be concerned about holding the reset button down too long. It will not hurt anything.

Just don't forget that this will totally reset your Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 router.

Be sure to only reset your router if you have tried everything else, such as running our Router Password Finder software, which can find your lost or forgotten router password for you.

Login to the Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000

Now that you have finished resetting the router, you need to login to the router interface using the default username and password. You can find all of the information that you need in our Nighthawk X6 R8000 Login Guide.

Change Your Password

After logging in to your router for the first time, you need to change your router's password. Since factory passwords are well known, it's a huge security risk to leave your router set to the default. Our Choosing a Strong Password guide talks about choosing a strong password for your router.

Tip: After creating this new password, we highly recommend writing this down on a post-it note and attaching it to the bottom of your router for future reference.

Other Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 Guides

Here are some of our other Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 guides that you might be interested in.

This is the reset router guide for the Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 v1.0.3.4_1.1.2. We also have the following guides for the same router: