More important, firmware updates often include security patches that help keep you and your data safe from hackers. Without these regular updates, the odds increase that your data could end up in the wrong hands or that your router (or the devices on your network) could end up in a botnet, an army of “zombie” devices under the control of hackers, and used for crimes.
The tricky part here is determining whether and when your router has stopped receiving firmware updates.
If you’re lucky, your router’s manufacturer keeps an updated list of devices it no longer actively supports. In tech jargon, this is an “end of life” list, and any router that appears on it should be replaced.
Asus, D-Link, Netgear, Synology, and TP-Link all have router end-of-life lists, while Eero says it still supports its first-gen mesh routers. Google so far has three routers, the oldest dating back to 2016. That model is still supported, though the company wouldn’t say for how long.
You can also look yourself to see when the last time your router firmware was updated. There are a couple of ways to do this.
The easiest method is to use the router’s mobile app, which typically has an option to manually check for updates. (The name of the menu or setting will vary by brand.) You can also look at your router’s web app, which is accessed by typing an IP address—often 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1—into your web browser. The exact address varies by model but is often indicated directly on the router itself. You’d then click “check for updates” or something similar to see when the last update took place.
If no update has been available for months, or even years, the router is probably no longer being supported. As a rule of thumb, a Netgear representative told us, consumers should consider replacing their router after three years, and representatives from Google and Linksys said a three-to-five-year window was appropriate. Amazon, which owns the popular Eero brand of routers, put the range at three to four years.
However, CR’s own survey data indicates that one-fifth of consumers wait more than four years to replace their router. That’s cutting it close.
“All of the data that we have shows that consumers hold onto their router for dear life and for as long as possible,” says Richard Fisco, who oversees electronics testing for Consumer Reports.
Why do so many routers stop getting updates after just a few years? Industry representatives say it’s because it’s difficult to keep writing new software that can run on older chips.
“What happens in the semiconductor industry, which I have a lot of experience in, is that chipsets get really, really old,” says Sanjay Noronha, senior product manager at Google Nest. “It just gets harder to update the software on those, because of a bunch of reasons, such as the version of Linux [an operating system] they use going stale.”
So there may be a very good reason to replace a router, even if it’s working well.
