Internet router manufacturers often do a good job of keeping their devices updated, but what should you do once they cease support? Here are some simple tips.

It won't stop working, but newly discovered security flaws may go unfixed. So long as the hardware is healthy, a router will continue connecting your devices to the internet long after the manufacturer stops releasing firmware updates. There's no built-in kill switch outside of eventual hardware failure that will silence your router forever.

Unfortunately, once firmware updates cease to be a regular thing, your router loses its most dependable attribute for fixing newly-discovered security flaws. What it means is that your router could now be vulnerable and may remain so with every passing day. Attackers often target vulnerable routers in bulk, using them to relay malicious traffic or join a larger group of compromised devices controlled without their owner's knowledge.

Five years is a checkpoint. A five-year-old router isn't necessarily outdated, especially if "internet access" to you is web browsing for recipes or streaming TV shows. There's also not a set-in-stone timeframe for when firmware updates cease. View it as a checkpoint for making sure that the exact model you own will continue receiving security updates. Netgear suggests the four- to five-year timeline, but it's not an absolute decree.