Your Netgear Nighthawk RS700S powers on fine. The front LED is solid white. But none of your devices see the Wi-Fi network. Or maybe you see one band and the others are gone. A Wi-Fi 7 router that won't broadcast is usually a configuration issue or a stuck radio, not a dead unit.
Grab a laptop and plug it into one of the 1GbE LAN ports with an Ethernet cable. Open a browser and go to routerlogin.net. If the login page loads, the router is alive and the problem is in the wireless settings. If you can't reach it, the router itself needs a full restart.
Power-Cycle the RS700S the Right Way
Unplug the power adapter from the back of the RS700S, not just the wall. Wait a full 60 seconds. Plug it back in and wait about 90 seconds for the front LED to go solid white again. A clean power cycle clears any radio state that got hung up during a setting change or firmware update.
If the router is on a power strip or surge protector, confirm that strip is turned on and the outlet is live. It sounds basic, but it's the first thing I check when someone says their router looks fine but nothing works.
Check the Ethernet Cables on the 10GbE Ports
The RS700S has one 10GbE WAN port and one 10GbE LAN port. These ports are picky about cabling. If you're using anything less than Cat 6a, the link can negotiate down or fail entirely. That won't stop the Wi-Fi from broadcasting, but if you're testing connectivity over Ethernet and getting nothing, the wrong cable might be the reason you can't reach routerlogin.net.
For the 1GbE ports, standard Cat 5e is fine. Swap out any suspect cables and try again.
Log Into routerlogin.net and Check SSID Visibility
Open a browser on a wired device and go to routerlogin.net. Enter your admin credentials (the default is admin and password unless you changed it). Go to Wireless and look at each band tab. The RS700S broadcasts on 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz. Every band has a checkbox or toggle for Enable SSID Broadcast. Make sure all three are enabled.
While you're there, check the Hide SSID setting on each band. If someone toggled that on, the network is broadcasting but invisible to regular Wi-Fi scans. Set it to No on all bands and save.
Verify Each Radio Is Enabled
Still in the Wireless settings, each band tab has an option to enable or disable the radio itself. If the 6 GHz radio got turned off, Wi-Fi 7 clients won't see that band. If all three radios are off, nothing broadcasts at all. Go through each tab and confirm Enable Wireless Radio is checked. Save and apply.
This is surprisingly common after a firmware update. The update doesn't change the setting intentionally, but it can flip the radio state in the config file.
Turn Off the Wireless Scheduler
The RS700S has a per-band Wireless Scheduler that turns off the radios at set times. If you or someone else in the house set up a schedule through the Nighthawk app or the web UI, the router will stop broadcasting at the scheduled time. It looks broken, but it's just following orders. Go to Wireless, then Professional or Advanced Wireless Settings, find Enable Wireless Scheduler on each band, and set it to No unless you're deliberately using it.
Check the WPA2/WPA3 Transitional Setting
The RS700S ships with WPA2/WPA3 transitional mode as the factory default. That means it's not locked to WPA3, even though the router supports it. If you manually changed the security mode to WPA3-only and you have older clients (like a smart TV or an IoT device), those clients won't see the network at all. They can't connect to a WPA3-only SSID, so the network might look invisible or broken to the devices that matter most to you.
Go to Wireless > Security on each band and confirm the security mode is set to WPA2-PSK [AES] + WPA3-PSK mixed mode. If you changed it, switch back and save.
Update Firmware Through the Nighthawk App
Open the Nighthawk app on your phone. The app needs iOS 14+ or Android 9+, and it needs to be on the same network as the router. If you can't connect to Wi-Fi (because there's no network), use a wired laptop and go to routerlogin.net, then Administration > Firmware Update.
The Nighthawk app sometimes loses pairing after a firmware update, which is a known issue with the RS700S. If the app shows the router as offline but you can reach the web UI, update through the web UI instead. Allow about 10 minutes for the update and reboot.
Factory Reset the RS700S
If you've gone through all the settings and the router still won't broadcast, a factory reset is the last step. Locate the reset button on the back panel. Use a paperclip or similar tool to press and hold it for 10 seconds. The front LED will flash, and the router will restore factory defaults.
This clears any corrupted config, stuck radio state, or misapplied setting that couldn't be undone through the UI. Plan 30 minutes for reconfiguration. You'll need to go through the full setup again using the Nighthawk app or routerlogin.net.
One thing to keep in mind: Armor security requires a separate subscription beyond the initial trial, and factory reset will reset that trial timer. You'll need to re-enable it or resubscribe if you were using it.
