--- title: How Often Should You Update Your Router Firmware? Every 3 Months source: https://tended.mintbyte.app/how-often-update-router-firmware description: Check for router firmware updates every 3 months. Most routers won't update themselves — and the FBI warns outdated ones are being hijacked into criminal proxy networks. --- # How Often Should You Update Your Router Firmware? August 2026 Check for router firmware updates every three months — and don't assume your router is doing it for you. Unlike your phone, most consumer routers won't nag you about updates, and plenty won't install them automatically at all; in [Consumer Reports' testing](https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics-computers/wireless-routers/wireless-routers-lack-basic-security-protections-a5027029164/), a meaningful chunk of popular models didn't even support automatic updates. Meanwhile the FBI has [publicly warned](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250507) that criminals are actively hijacking outdated home routers and renting them out as anonymizing proxies. A quarterly five-minute check is cheap insurance against your Wi-Fi box quietly moonlighting for someone else. ## The FBI would like a word about your router In May 2025, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center issued a [public service announcement](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250507) with a title that sounds like dry bureaucracy and reads like a horror premise: "Cyber Criminal Proxy Services Exploiting End of Life Routers." The bureau warned about proxy services taking advantage of end-of-life routers, with attackers using variants of the TheMoon malware botnet to install proxies on unsuspecting victims' routers. A proxy, in the FBI's words, is a service that relays users' internet traffic while hiding the link between users and their activity — meaning your router becomes the mask a criminal wears online. The details are worse than the summary. TheMoon does not require a password to infect routers; it scans for open ports, per the PSA — no phishing email required, no mistake on your part. Reporting on the advisory by [BleepingComputer](https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/fbi-end-of-life-routers-hacked-for-cybercrime-proxy-networks/) listed thirteen targeted models, mostly older Linksys and Cisco units — routers that were bestsellers a decade ago and are still humming along in closets today. The FBI's prescription is exactly what this guide recommends: immediately apply any available security patches and firmware updates, replace end-of-life devices, disable remote administration, and use strong, unique passwords. None of that happens on its own. It happens because you put a recurring check on the calendar. ## The forgotten device problem Your router is arguably the most important computer in your home — every device, every password, every banking session passes through it — and it is also the one you think about least. It has no screen, sends no notifications, and never asks for attention. A compromised router doesn't act compromised: your Netflix still streams, your video calls still connect. That's precisely what makes it valuable to attackers, who want your bandwidth and your clean residential IP address, not your attention. The numbers back up the neglect. In a [Consumer Reports survey](https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics-computers/wireless-routers/wireless-routers-lack-basic-security-protections-a5027029164/), two-fifths of Americans who owned their router said they were unsure when it was last updated, and 11 percent said their router had never had a firmware update. Consumer Reports' lab testing of popular models found that 11 of them didn't support automatic software updates at all — the update simply never arrives unless a human goes looking for it. That's the entire case for a quarterly rhythm. Firmware updates for routers ship irregularly — sometimes several a year, sometimes one — so checking every three months catches patches reasonably soon after release without turning router maintenance into a hobby. It also gives you four chances a year to notice the more ominous signal: no updates arriving at all. ## How to actually check and update The classic route is your router's admin page. Connect to your Wi-Fi, open a browser, and go to your router's address — commonly 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1, though many brands use a friendly URL instead, like routerlogin.net for Netgear or tplinkwifi.net for TP-Link. Log in (the credentials are on the router's label if you never changed them — more on that sin below), then look for a firmware or update section. [TP-Link's official instructions](https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/2796/), for example, put it under Advanced, then System, then Firmware Upgrade. One universal rule: don't cut power mid-update, which can turn your router into a doorstop. Most routers sold in the last several years also have a companion app — Netgear Nighthawk, TP-Link Tether, ASUS Router, eero — that will show available firmware with a tap. This is the low-friction option, and if a phone app is what gets you to actually do the check, use the phone app. If your router offers automatic updates, turn them on; [CISA's home Wi-Fi guidance](https://www.cisa.gov/audiences/high-risk-communities/projectupskill/module5) notes that routine updates protect you against known vulnerabilities and that some routers can handle this automatically. But auto-update is a setting to verify, not a fact to assume. On your quarterly check, confirm the toggle is still on, look at the currently installed firmware version and date, and make sure it isn't suspiciously ancient. Auto-update mechanisms fail quietly — and an auto-updating router whose manufacturer has stopped shipping updates is auto-installing nothing. ## When the updates stop coming at all Every router eventually goes end-of-life: the manufacturer stops selling it and, as the [FBI puts it](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250507), is no longer releasing software updates or security patches. At that point no amount of diligent checking helps — there is nothing left to install, and every newly discovered vulnerability stays open forever. The FBI's rule of thumb is blunt: routers dated 2010 or earlier likely no longer receive updates and could be compromised. Figuring out where you stand takes one search: your exact model number (it's on the label) plus "end of life" or "end of support," which should lead you to the manufacturer's support-lifecycle page. Consumer Reports has [criticized the industry](https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics-computers/wireless-routers/wireless-routers-lack-basic-security-protections-a5027029164/) for how murky this is — few companies state up front how long a router will be supported — but end-of-life lists for Netgear, Linksys, ASUS, and TP-Link are published and searchable. Another strong hint: if your quarterly checks have come up empty for two years straight, support has likely ended whether or not anyone announced it. If your router is end-of-life, the fix is not a workaround; it's a replacement. The FBI's first recommendation in the 2025 PSA is to replace end-of-life devices with actively supported models. A capable current router costs less than most people's monthly internet bill, which is a reasonable price for not donating your IP address to a crime-for-hire proxy network. ## Rented from your ISP, or yours? The three-month rule applies differently depending on who owns the box. If you rent a gateway from your internet provider — the combo modem-router from Comcast, Spectrum, and the like — the ISP typically manages firmware itself, pushing updates remotely on its own schedule, and usually doesn't let you install firmware manually even if you wanted to. Your quarterly check becomes lighter: log in to the gateway or the provider's app, note the firmware version and date, and if it looks stale or the hardware is many years old, ask the ISP for a newer model. Providers refresh their rental fleets periodically, and the customer who asks is the customer who gets the current hardware. If you bought your own router — which many people do to save the monthly rental fee — then updates are entirely your job, and this whole guide is aimed at you. The manufacturer publishes the firmware; nobody pushes it to you, and as the Consumer Reports findings above show, you can't count on the router fetching it itself. One home, one owner-operator, four checks a year. ## The rest of the five-minute checkup While you're logged in quarterly, two more items earn their keep. First, if your router still uses the admin password printed on its label — or worse, "admin" — change it. [CISA warns](https://www.cisa.gov/audiences/high-risk-communities/projectupskill/module5) that default router credentials may be publicly available for anyone to find, and the FBI's 2025 advisory recommends strong, unique passwords of 16 to 64 characters. Note this is the admin password for the router's settings, not your Wi-Fi password — they're different, and the admin one is the one attackers care about. (The same logic behind [when you should change your other passwords](https://tended.mintbyte.app/how-often-change-passwords) applies here: change it when there's a reason, and a public default is a standing reason.) Second, restart the thing — monthly is a fine habit. A power cycle clears memory-resident gremlins and can disrupt certain malware; when the VPNFilter botnet infected hundreds of thousands of routers in 2018, the FBI's [headline advice](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2018/PSA180525) was that owners of home and small-office routers reboot the devices. A reboot is not a cure for a truly compromised or outdated router, but it's free, takes two minutes, and often fixes the slow-Wi-Fi complaints in the bargain. Finally, both FBI advisories — [2018](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2018/PSA180525) and [2025](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250507) — recommend disabling remote management, the feature that exposes your router's settings page to the open internet. Almost nobody needs it, and the 2025 PSA specifically noted that end-of-life routers with remote administration turned on were among those identified as compromised. Find the toggle, turn it off, save, reboot. ## Check sooner if... The quarterly schedule is a floor, not a ceiling. Jump the queue when a major router vulnerability makes the news — headlines naming your router's brand, or a CISA or FBI advisory about home networking gear, mean you should log in that week, not next quarter, because attackers begin scanning for newly disclosed flaws within days. The same goes for any advisory naming your specific model, as happened with the Linksys models in the [2025 proxy-network warning](https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/fbi-end-of-life-routers-hacked-for-cybercrime-proxy-networks/). Age is the other accelerant. If your router is more than five years old, treat every quarterly check as partly a retirement review: is firmware still arriving, does it support current security standards like WPA3, and is the manufacturer still listing it as supported? Routers don't announce their obsolescence — they just keep blinking, working fine, and falling further behind. That's exactly the profile of the devices the FBI found conscripted into proxy networks: old, functional, forgotten. The router check is one of [30 recurring digital jobs](https://tended.mintbyte.app/digital-hygiene-checklist) that work the same way — invisible until they aren't. Put it on a three-month schedule and let the calendar do the remembering. --- ### References 1. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (2025). Cyber Criminal Proxy Services Exploiting End of Life Routers. PSA, May 7, 2025. [ic3.gov](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250507) 2. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (2018). Foreign Cyber Actors Target Home and Office Routers and Networked Devices Worldwide. PSA, May 25, 2018. [ic3.gov](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2018/PSA180525) 3. Consumer Reports (2019). Many Wireless Routers Lack Basic Security Protections. [consumerreports.org](https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics-computers/wireless-routers/wireless-routers-lack-basic-security-protections-a5027029164/) 4. CISA. Project Upskill Module 5: Securing Your Home Wi-Fi. [cisa.gov](https://www.cisa.gov/audiences/high-risk-communities/projectupskill/module5) 5. TP-Link. How to Update Firmware on TP-Link Wi-Fi Routers (official FAQ). [tp-link.com](https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/2796/) 6. BleepingComputer (2025). FBI: End-of-life routers hacked for cybercrime proxy networks. [bleepingcomputer.com](https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/fbi-end-of-life-routers-hacked-for-cybercrime-proxy-networks/) ### Related guides - [How Often Should You Change Your Passwords?](https://tended.mintbyte.app/how-often-change-passwords) - [How Often Should You Back Up Your Phone?](https://tended.mintbyte.app/how-often-back-up-phone) - [How Often Should You Audit Your Subscriptions?](https://tended.mintbyte.app/how-often-audit-subscriptions) --- ## About Tended Tended is an iOS app that ships with a researched catalog of 241 recurring maintenance items across six areas of life: home, health, digital, car, supplies and finances. Every item carries a recommended interval and the reason it matters, and most cite a named source. The intervals quoted on this page come from that catalog. Setup is a short conversation: you pick the part of life to start with and answer up to seven questions about it, and the app spreads the items that apply across the next twelve months. $39.99 a year with the first month free, or $6.99 a month. iPhone, iOS 26 or later. https://tended.mintbyte.app