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Reset the Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000

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

This guide shows you how to reset your Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 router to factory default settings. Resetting a router is different than rebooting a router. Turning a router off and back on again causes a reboot. This is different from a reset because a reset completely erases all settings from the router.

Warning: Make sure that you fully understand the following before resetting your router. A router reset will affect the following settings:

  • The router's login credentials are reset to factory defaults.
  • All WiFi login information and network names are reset.
  • All ISP settings will reset to default, and you may have to contact your ISP.
  • Any firewall settings, parental controls, or 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 v1.0.4.68_10.1.75. We also have the following guides for the same router:

Recover Password in Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000

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 - Lost or Forgotten Router Password Recovery Tool

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 at your router and try to find something that looks like this:

Router Reset Button

Reset buttons are usually tiny. Yours may look slightly different than this. Sometimes the reset button is under a pinhole on the back of the router, and you need a paper clip to push it.

Watch the lights on the front of your router and hold the reset button down for about 10 seconds. After a few seconds the lights should blink differently. When this happens, the reset is complete. Do not worry about holding the button down too long; this is harmless.

Don't forget, this step will totally reset your Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 router back to factory settings.

Only take this last step of fully resetting your router after 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 X6 R8000

After you are finished resetting your router, you need to login in using the original factory username and password. You can follow the Nighthawk X6 R8000 Login Guide to find everything that you need to log in.

Change Your Password

After logging in to your router for the first time, you need to change your router's password. The factory default passwords for routers are very well known. You can follow our Choosing a Strong Password guide to help you pick a solid 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 v1.0.4.68_10.1.75. We also have the following guides for the same router: