Asus RT-AC68U won't factory reset

[jabloomf1230]

I have this extra 1900 which I have used as a backup in case of problems with my active ASUS routers.Today I took it out of storage and I tried connecting it via Ethernet as an AP. The network is not AI Mesh. The setup went fine but when I tried to connect wirelessly with my iPhone it displayed "No internet connection". So I searched for it on the network and discovered that somehow its IP address was 192.168.50.1 (!). Well no problem, right? Just do a factory reset. Unfortunately nothing will reset this router, even the 30-30-30 reset trick.

I'm missing something here that is obvious like maybe the firmware needs flashing, but I'm afraid to try that given that I can't reset the router. Has anyone seen this type of problem before?

Note, this not a dire emergency and has become more a learning experience.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I have this extra 1900 which I have used as a backup in case of problems with my active ASUS routers.Today I took it out of storage and I tried connecting it via Ethernet as an AP. The network is not AI Mesh. The setup went fine but when I tried to connect wirelessly with my iPhone it displayed "No internet connection". So I searched for it on the network and discovered that somehow its IP address was 192.168.50.1 (!). Well no problem, right? Just do a factory reset. Unfortunately nothing will reset this router, even the 30-30-30 reset trick.

I'm missing something here that is obvious like maybe the firmware needs flashing, but I'm afraid to try that given that I can't reset the router. Has anyone seen this type of problem before?

Note, this not a dire emergency and has become more a learning experience.

Note that the default IP address for some ASUS routers is 192.168.50.1.

OE

 

[doczenith1]

I had a similar issue I think. Factory reset didn't seem to work. Then tried the hold reset and power on. Not sure if that is rescue or recovery mode but after that neither would work. The CFE Miniweb server one wouldn't take and the other said it wasn't in the correct mode. I did some googling and found a post that said hold the wps button while powering up and then when you see one of the lights start blinking press the reset button. Double check me on that process if you can find the website. After all that I was able to get in the mode that uses the asus program to upload a firmware and that worked although I think it took some time to complete. I did some googling and think the rescue mode uses the asus software and recovery mode uses the CFE Miniweb server.

I'm pretty sure the 68U uses 192.168.1.1 and my new 86U uses the 50.1

 

[meshy_ai]

Are you using the WPS button to reset? You should press it on power up till the LED starts to flashing. Once it does that, you can let go of the WPS button and the router should reset to factory defaults. Is that what you tried?

 

[Dave Parker]

I was able to reset my AC86U by pressing the reset button for about 10 seconds or until the power light starts flashing. Be patient, it can take around 15 to 30 minutes for the router to do whatever it is that it does to reset. If that fails unplug the power cable and let it set for an hour or more, even all night if possible. That has worked for me more than once on my N66U, AC68U, and the 86U.

 

[jabloomf1230]

Thanks all. I'll try all those suggested options.

Asus routers use 192.168.50.1? I have three active ASUS routers, an 88, an 86 and another 68 and they all were 192.168.1.1 out of the box. I'm pretty sure that my long deceased 66 was also.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Asus routers use 192.168.50.1?

No, some ASUS routers use 192.168.50.1.

OE

 

[Dave Parker]

Doing a factory default reset will not change the IP address and the 30 30 30 procedure does not work on Asus routers. Read that here somewhere.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Doing a factory default reset will not change the IP address

Actually, it will change it to the default IP address... whatever the firmware default setting is.

OE

 

[Dave Parker]

Well I learned a little more today Thanks for that. I kept resetting my 86u and it kept the same IP address. 192.168.50.1. So if I change it to 192.168.1.1 like my other Asus routers then do a reset it will revert back to 50.1. I'll need to remember that. I know that at some time in the future I'll need to do another reset.
Thanks
Dave

 

[jabloomf1230]

I'm assuming that just updating the firmware does not affect the IP address. Else if the router was being used as an AP, it would disappear from the network.