When I first got my Ubiquiti UXG-Lite gateway, I was excited to set it up and integrate it into my UniFi network. The device is powerful, minimalistic, and designed for professional-grade routing – but even the best hardware can run into trouble when firmware updates go wrong.
In this article, I’ll share my personal experience of how my brand-new UXG-Lite became completely unresponsive after a firmware update – and how I managed to bring it back to life using Recovery Mode. If you’ve accidentally “bricked” your UXG-Lite, this guide will help you recover it safely.
Introduction
I bought a new Ubiquiti UXG-Lite gateway and connected it for the first time. It successfully adopted on my self-hosted UniFi Network Application server running on a Raspberry Pi. I configured almost all of my network settings and was ready to finish the setup.
Then I saw a notification that a new firmware version was available. Great! I decided to upgrade immediately – a perfect way to wrap up my network day. However, after the router automatically rebooted, the nightmare began!!!
- The gateway refused to adopt. The UniFi interface kept showing messages like “Reset device to adopt”. After rebooting my switch, I completely lost network connectivity.
- Neither my UniFi switch nor my AP received IP addresses, and even my laptop couldn’t get an IP when directly connected to the LAN port of the UXG-Lite.
- To make things worse, the UniFi mobile app didn’t send any Bluetooth setup notifications, leaving me with no way to re-adopt the router.
I spent over two hours troubleshooting and chatting with Ubiquiti support – but without any working solution.
The reason of failure
The problem turned out to be related to the firmware update sequence. My device was updated directly from the factory firmware v3.1.15 to v4.3.2, skipping several intermediate versions. This large version jump caused the system to fail during initialization.
To resolve the issue, I had to downgrade the firmware from v4.3.2 to v4.1.13, which restored the gateway to working condition.
Prepare UXG-Lite and PC
There’s only one way to perform a firmware downgrade – by using Recovery Mode. The process is simple and takes just a few steps.
- Download the firmware – Go to the official Ubiquiti website and download the firmware file you want to install. In my case, I downloaded version 4.1.13.
- Configure your PC network settings – Set a static IP address in the 192.168.1.0/24 subnet. When I performed the recovery, I used 192.168.1.11.
- Boot the UXG-Lite into Recovery Mode
- Power off the UXG-Lite.
- Using a toothpick or paperclip, press and hold the Reset button.
- While holding the button, power on the router.
- Keep holding for about 15 seconds, then release the button.
- Connect your PC to the LAN port of the UXG-Lite.
Recovery process
In Recovery Mode, the gateway uses the reserved IP address 192.168.1.30. Open this address in a web browser – you should see the Recovery Mode interface.
This page displays system information and available recovery actions. In my case, it showed the current firmware version v4.3.2.33ac906. For safety, I checked the file system before proceeding.
Next, upload the firmware file you downloaded earlier.
The downgrade process will start automatically and usually takes about 2 minutes. Once it’s complete, you’ll see a confirmation message and the new firmware version displayed on the page.
Finally, click the Reboot button to restart your UXG-Lite.
Enjoy!
Conclussion
After the reboot, the gateway started working normally again – it was successfully adopted and became fully functional.
If your UXG-Lite becomes unresponsive after an update, don’t panic. Recovery Mode is your best friend. Just follow the steps above carefully, and you’ll bring your device back to life.
Firmware updates can occasionally fail, especially when jumping across major versions. To avoid this issue in the future, I recommend upgrading step-by-step through intermediate versions rather than directly to the newest release.
