NETGEAR WAC540 Access Point Firmware 9.0.0.21

New Features and Enhancements:

- Supports WPA3 Authentication:
- Provides users with more secure authentication methods, and avoids security vulnerabilities found in WPA2 authentication.
- Supports eight SSID in dual band: Users can configure up to eight SSIDs on 2.4G Hz and 5 GHz bands in dual mode. Previously this was restricted to a maximum of four SSIDs in dual mode, and up to eight SSIDs in either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz mode.
- Security related enhancements

Adds new authentication modes:

- Enhanced Open: Client connected to SSID is secure, even without authentication.
- WPA3 Personal: This is also known as Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE). It replaces WPA2-PSK with password-based authentication.
- WPA3 Personal Mixed (WPA2 + WPA3): This configuration allows legacy clients with WPA2 and newer clients with WPA3 to connect to the same SSID.

Bug Fixes:

- Fixes issue where multiple “Device command failure” notifications are received intermittently in the Insight app and web portal.
- Fixes system stability issues.

Known Issues:

- After an auto upgrade from the previous versions, the access point gets redirected to the Day Zero page instead of the login page. Workaround: Refresh the web browser window.
- Client connectivity and throughput-related interoperability issues can occur with certain Windows, Android, and iOS client OS versions, or when WPA3/WPA2 Mixed mode security is enabled on the SSID. Workaround. Upgrade to the latest available Windows, Android, or iOS OS version and to the latest driver for the WiFi client.
- Interoperability issues can occur with certain client when band steering is enabled. Workaround: Disable this feature if client interoperability issues are observed after enabling this feature.
- Clients authentication type can be shown as WPA2 even though it is connected to WPA3 security while connecting to a SSID with WPA3/WPA2 Personal authentication.
- Existing WDS connection might get broken when updating to the latest firmware due to latest regulatory changes in the UK and Korea. Workaround: Reconfigure the WDS connection.
- Opportunistic Key Caching (OKC) based on Fast Roaming does not work between the WAC5xx and WAX6xx family of access points. This issue will be fixed in the next release.
- When an Ethernet cable is connected to the trunk port (port 1) of the multi-mode AP operating in extender mode, it might not change to the root mode automatically. Workaround: Reboot the device and plug in the cable.
- When an unmanaged switch is in the network, we recommended you disable Layer 2 Loop Protection for the switch. Workaround: Use STP for loop protection.
- If STP detects a loop on the access point, it disables the Instant Mesh link, but acts as an extender. Workaround: Resolve the network loop and reboot the access point.
- If STP detects a loop on a switch, the access point changes to extender mode even though the AP is cabled to a backend switch. Workaround: Restart the backend switch so the access point changes to root mode automatically.
- If the root AP loses Internet connectivity, an extender might not connect to another nearby root AP. Workaround: Power off the root AP that lost connectivity.
- In root mode, if the IP address subnet changes, the connected extender loses connectivity to the Insight Cloud. Workaround: Reboot the extender.
- Some clients might not show the pop-up login window when connected to the Instant Captive Portal SSID. Workaround: Use a browser to go to the captive portal authentication page.
- Some special characters are not supported in Instant Captive Portal SSIDs. Workaround: We recommended you avoid using special characters in the SSID name.
- While using the Facebook Wi-Fi feature, some iOS devices and Android devices might not display the Facebook Authentication page automatically. Workaround: The user must launch a web browser to display the Facebook Authentication page.
- After updating to a newer firmware version, the latest web management interface changes may not show. Workaround: Clear the web browser cache.
- You might notice throughput drop when you enable the Traffic Analyzer. Workaround: For optimum throughput, keep the analyzer disabled except when you're actively checking traffic. 

About Access Point Firmware:

If you update the Access Point (AP) firmware, your device can benefit from changes that fix multiple issues encountered by wireless clients, correct different user interface problems, add various functionalities, and include support for newly developed protocols.

Before performing this task, we recommend that you read and understand all the installation steps, because there are many AP models and manufacturers available. Each producer strives to make the procedure as simple as possible, but there are cases when it's anything but that.

It is also advisable that you apply a new access point firmware in a steady power environment (UPS unit will satisfy this need), using an Ethernet cable rather than a wireless connection. The latter can be easily interrupted.

With this in mind, if you wish to apply this version, click the download button and install the package on your access point. Remember to check back with our website as often as possible so that you don't miss a single new release.