A major broadband warning has been issued this week with homes urged to check their Wi-Fi routers without delay. The alert has been raised by the team at NETGEAR who say they have found a worrying bug that could allow hackers to gain access to online systems remotely.

It’s not been confirmed if anyone has been hit by an attack or how hackers could take advantage of the flaw but it seems NETGEAR doesn’t want users to wait to find out with the alert being given a “critical” rating by the firm.

In an urgent update on its website, the router manufacturer said, “NETGEAR has released fixes for an unauthenticated RCE security vulnerability.

“NETGEAR strongly recommends that you download the latest firmware as soon as possible.”

So, which products appear to be affected by the glitch?

NETGEAR states that those with devices including the firm’s XR1000 router along with the XR1000v2 and XR500 should be on high alert.

If you find that your router is on the list then you should follow the instrutions below and get things updated as soon as possible.

You’ll find full details on how install the new software below.

To download the latest firmware for your NETGEAR product:

• Visit NETGEAR Support.

• Start typing your model number in the search box, then select your model from the drop-down menu as soon as it appears.

• If you do not see a drop-down menu, make sure that you entered your model number correctly, or select a product category to browse for your product model.

• Click Downloads.

• Under Current Versions, select the download whose title begins with Firmware Version.

• Click Download.

• Follow the instructions in your product’s user manual, firmware release notes, or product support page to install the new firmware.

This is not a warning you want to ignore. It’s also a good reminder to always leave your router switched on as it’s often overnight that providers release important updates and big fixes. These won’t be installed if the router is off.

Explaining more, Sky Broadband said: “Switching off your router overnight can affect automatic software updates and optimisations which in turn can impact the overall performance, speed and stability of your Broadband.”