We are aware of an issue when upgrading the firmware on wireless controllers from version 5.5 or version 6.0 to version 6.5 there is potential for managed access points to become unresponsive and inaccessible. The affected model controller and access point combinations are:
Controller: WC7500, WC7600v1, WC7600v2 and WC9500.
Access point: WAC720 and WAC730.
WAC740 access points are not affected.
If your controller is already running firmware version 6.5 you will not encounter this issue, and can continue to use version 6.5
If you have attempted to upgrade the firmware on your controller (WC7500, WC7600v1, WC7600v2 and WC9500) which has resulted in a WAC720 or WAC730 access point becoming unresponsive, please follow these instructions to recover the access point;
Recovering the WAC720 and WAC730 access points is done via the console port:
The console port provides an RJ-45 connector and supports the following settings;
115200 K default baud rate
8 data bits
no (N) parity bit
one (1) stop bit
1. Download the firmware image you want to re-flash onto the access point, to your local computer. You can get it from NETGEAR Download Center http://downloadcenter.netgear.com/
2. Download tft32d or tftp64d. You can get it from http://tftpd32.jounin.net/tftpd32_download.html
3. Unzip both the .zip and the .tar file from the downloaded image and note the location.
4. Point the TFTP server to the correct folder (from step 3) by clicking "Browse" next to the "Current Directory"
5. Download Putty from https://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/x86/putty.exe
6. Connect your serial cable to the serial port on the access point you are recovering
7. Open Putty
a. Set to correct com port (may need to check under Device Manager by clicking Start, Run, and run devmgmt.msc)
b. Set speed to 115200 for WAC700 series
c. Open connection
8. Reboot the access point and stop the access point in boot loader, when it shows the message “Hit any key to stop autoboot: 5.”
9. Press "Enter"
10. u-boot> nvram erase
11. u-boot> setenv serverip 192.168.0.250 Assuming 192.168.0.250 is the IP address of your Tftpd server
12. u-boot> setenv ipaddr 192.168.0.120 Assuming local access point IP address is 192.168.0.120. If you do not know the IP address of the access point enter the command: ifconfig brtrunk
13. u-boot> run flash_uap_trx This Will replace image1
14. u-boot> run flash_uap_trx2 This will replace image2
15. u-boot> saveenv
16. u-boot> reset
17. The access point will be flashed with the full firmware and will reboot into the flashed image.
After performing the steps the access point(s) will be like a factory defaulted unit with a default IP address of 192.168.0.100.
We recommend upgrading the firmware from the web GUI one more time using the full AP firmware, to make sure it fully upgraded. Then add it back to the controller.