Release Date:

January 21, 2026

New Features and Enhancements:

This firmware provides the following enhancements:

• Support for Simple Network Management Protocol version 3 (SNMPv3)
• Support for sticky client RSSI threshold up to -70dbm
• Support for alarm generation whenever:
• Critical process is stuck or not running
• Network reachability and VLAN connectivity is lost
• Support for various stability improvements

Security Fixes:

This firmware addresses security vulnerabilities. For more information about security vulnerabilities, visit https://www.netgear.com/about/security/.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixes the issue where HTTPS redirection is not working in the Captive portal. 
• Fixes the issue where the Access Point randomly reboots after associating with wireless clients.
• Fixes the issue where the local UI page becomes unresponsive after configuring captive portal.
• Fixes the issue where wireless clients are getting disconnected on MAC ACL addition.
• Fixes the issue where clients don’t get internet when using Dynamic VLAN.
• Fixes the issue that causes the Access Point to randomly reboot.
• Fixes the issue where there is channel mismatch between Insight and the Access Point after fresh onboarding.
• Fixes the issue where clients are de-authenticated at lesser RSSI than configured in “Load Balancing” settings.

Known Issues:

This firmware contains the following known issues:

• Critical alarm might be seen during configuration change “Hostapd interface wifixvapx is unresponsive“.

Workaround: Wait at least three minutes for wireless setting changes to apply.

• SNMPv2 and SNMPv3 are supported only through the “snmpwalk” command. 

Workaround: To enable querying with “snmpwalk”, ensure the correct MIB file is copied to the directory: /usr/share/snmp/mibs/

• Changes to an SSID with NAT mode might take up to three minutes to be applied.

Workaround: Wait at least three minutes before connecting any clients.

• The Access Point stops responding after changing or enabling an Instant Captive Portal and then changing or enabling a DVLAN configuration, or the other way around.
  Workaround: After enabling the Instant Captive Portal, wait a few minutes before enabling the DVLAN configuration. Or, after enabling the DVLAN configuration, wait a few minutes before enabling the Instant Captive Portal.
• Clients connected to a captive portal that is configured on an SSID might not see the splash page for authentication when the VLAN of the SSID is the same as the management VLAN, a VLAN that is configured as a DVLAN, or a VLAN that has a Multi PSK configured.
  Workaround: For the SSID on which the captive portal is configured, use the default VLAN or a unique VLAN that is not used as the management VLAN, that is not a DVLAN, or that does not use Multi PSK.
• With the mDNS Gateway feature enabled, a device running Windows might not discover certain printers.
  Workaround: Manually add the IP address of the printer on the Windows device.
• With the mDNS Gateway feature enabled, even though Apple AirPlay services are discoverable, they might not be accessible.
• Your web browser might not redirect automatically to the login page after a firmware upgrade.
  Workaround: Refresh the web browser.
• Radio information on the Access Point Dashboard page might not be displayed properly.
  Workaround: Refresh the web browser.
• Captive portal authentication does not work if the captive portal and the VLAN configuration for an SSID are changed simultaneously.
  Workaround: Change either the captive portal configuration or the VLAN configuration for an SSID and save the changes. Then go back to the SSID and make the other configuration changes.
• When client isolation is enabled for an SSID, clients that are connected to this SSID cannot reach each other even if their IP addresses are added to the allowed list.
• Clients that use the Intel AX210 might encounter disruptions when roaming.
• Video streaming to multiple clients does not work properly if there are more than eight clients in a single multicast group.
• If clients experience connectivity issues on the higher band channels of the 5 GHz radio and subsequently switch to the 2.4 GHz radio, they might experience lower throughput.
  Workaround: Configure lower band channels on the 5 GHz radio.
• Some newer IoT devices might experience issues connecting to the AP.
  Workaround: Upgrade the IoT devices to the latest driver version and try again. If security is set to WPA3 or WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode, change it to WPA2 mode, and try again.

Download link: https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/WAX638E/WAX638E_firmware_V12.5.0.14.zip

Firmware Update Instructions:

To update the firmware of your product, follow the instructions mentioned in the product manual. To refer the user manual, visit https://www.netgear.com/support/, enter your model number in the search box, and click the Documentation button on the product page.