AC86U no ethernet ports

[Tripod]

Hi!

Was running this router successfully with Merlin 386.10

Was on cable internet before a move and ethernet ports were working (nvidia shield, smartthings hub plugged in and working).

Moved and now on fiber internet with pppoe log in handled by the router. Internet access is great/up to speed using a tplink m220l spf connected to this router wan.

However since the move no lights are on Lan 1 to 4 (lan 4 lights up at startup but not the others).

System status shows eth 1 to 4 as unplugged (even though 2 are plugged in).

Thought I fried something so I got my brand new backup set up and same thing... No lights/no ethernet working.

I'm wondering if it's the pppoe setup somehow.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[drinkingbird]

Hi!

Was running this router successfully with Merlin 386.10

Was on cable internet before a move and ethernet ports were working (nvidia shield, smartthings hub plugged in and working).

Moved and now on fiber internet with pppoe log in handled by the router. Internet access is great/up to speed using a tplink m220l spf connected to this router wan.

However since the move no lights are on Lan 1 to 4 (lan 4 lights up at startup but not the others).

System status shows eth 1 to 4 as unplugged (even though 2 are plugged in).

Thought I fried something so I got my brand new backup set up and same thing... No lights/no ethernet working.

I'm wondering if it's the pppoe setup somehow.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

On the "brand new" (obviously not since that router is very old) one did you restore a backup config? If so do a hard factory reset and test the ports without configuring anything. If they work, then start configuring stuff, starting with just the internet/PPPoE and continue from there making sure the ports keep working after each step.

Don't see why PPPoE would have any impact on your LAN ports, nor should the media converter impact anything.

That router is known for "self destructing" so the "new" router you got - was it used and potentially also fried or sealed in the box?

 

[Tripod]

Yes, originally tried a full reset and factory defaults on the original one (2018) and didn't load any saved profiles.

Yes, although it is an old model, it is brand new out of the box. 2020 manufacture date in China.

Didn't put merlin on it - just the internet log in and didn't restore anything.

Still no luck for ethernet ports.

I've got nvidia shield via wifi right now but would rather have the connected ethernet.

 

[drinkingbird]

Yes, originally tried a full reset and factory defaults on the original one (2018) and didn't load any saved profiles.

Yes, although it is an old model, it is brand new out of the box. 2020 manufacture date in China.

Didn't put merlin on it - just the internet log in and didn't restore anything.

Still no luck for ethernet ports.

I've got nvidia shield via wifi right now but would rather have the connected ethernet.

On the "new" one - did the ports work before you configured your PPPoE/internet? It would be one heck of a bug if the PPPoE software connection somehow impacted your hardware ports making them not even light up.

First do a hard reset (WPS button) without your internet port connected. Don't configure anything, just let it boot up and plug ONE single device into a LAN port, no WAN. If the LAN port lights up and you can reach the router GUI, then try plugging in your WAN. If it still works, then configure your PPPoE. If it still works, start plugging in other LAN devices.

Find the point at which it fails, then it will be easier to figure out what the issue is. It is possible you have a spanning tree loop which will cause the ports to disable themselves as soon as detected (I believe STP is enabled by default in the firmware, not 100% sure though).

 

[Tripod]

I actually didn't try the ports prior to internet activation.

I reset everything on the new one and then realized I don't have my laptop to plug in to one of the ports!

I'll try it out tomorrow when I have that available.


I reset and plugged in another device but there were no lights.

I'll try it with the laptop though and see.

Thanks!

 

[drinkingbird]

I actually didn't try the ports prior to internet activation.

I reset everything on the new one and then realized I don't have my laptop to plug in to one of the ports!

I'll try it out tomorrow when I have that available.


I reset and plugged in another device but there were no lights.

I'll try it with the laptop though and see.

Thanks!

Again, make sure internet port is physically disconnected when testing. If you can't get any LAN port to connect with factory default settings, time to start looking at your cables. Or maybe one of your devices is dumping voltage out the ethernet port and fried both of them. Rare, but it does happen.

 

[Tripod]

Ok I'll have a look with the laptop to see if it works prior to internet setup.

Yes there were no cables plugged in at all even wan port.


Is there an option to turn the ports on/off?


I came across a thread where there are commands to set the speed of the ports but was wondering if there was something there for on/off.

I'll update again tomorrow after I plug in the laptop to one of the ports.

Thanks!

 

[drinkingbird]

Ok I'll have a look with the laptop to see if it works prior to internet setup.

Yes there were no cables plugged in at all even wan port.


Is there an option to turn the ports on/off?


I came across a thread where there are commands to set the speed of the ports but was wondering if there was something there for on/off.

I'll update again tomorrow after I plug in the laptop to one of the ports.

Thanks!

Yes you can shut down the ports via CLI but there is nothing that would have done that, especially not after a hard factory reset. Your wired devices don't have hardcoded port speeds do they? Technically it should still establish a link, but never know.

Heck you can try plugging your WAN cable into the LAN ports (with nothing else connected, just for a few seconds). You know that one works, at least to see if the port comes up.

 

[Tripod]

I came across another thread in the Merlin section and came across "Enable VPN + DHCP Connection"

I disabled that and it appeared that the ports became live again!

But then I lost internet access...

Decided to re-enable it and then rebooted and I have the ethernet ports and internet too!

This is on the original 2018 one that I had been always using.

Thankfully everything seems to be running ok now!

Thanks for your help!

 

[drinkingbird]

I came across another thread in the Merlin section and came across "Enable VPN + DHCP Connection"

I disabled that and it appeared that the ports became live again!

But then I lost internet access...

Decided to re-enable it and then rebooted and I have the ethernet ports and internet too!

This is on the original 2018 one that I had been always using.

Thankfully everything seems to be running ok now!

Thanks for your help!

That's very odd. It sounds like your factory reset didn't actually reset everything and something was stuck. That has happened here before, some have found that they need to do the software reset (in the GUI, with "initialize settings" checked off) in order to clear out some old/stuck variables. Still very odd that it would disable physical ports but it is possible, a variable that tells it to disable a logical VPN port or something somehow was disabling other stuff that it shouldn't have.

Maybe before you go too far setting everything back up, do that on the router just to make sure everything has been cleaned up and cleared out.

386.10 (and 386.9) has some known NVRAM limitations too, not as much on your model but still a possibility. 386.11 fixed them for I believe only the 68U, not the 86U. But I'd still update to 386.11 while you're at it (prior to the reset) or in reality, maybe drop down to 386.7_2 just to totally eliminate any NVRAM concerns.

 

[ATLga]

Same thing on two routers, hmmm

 

[drinkingbird]

Same thing on two routers, hmmm

Yeah you'd think more would have stumbled upon that bug, not like PPPoE is rare. Maybe OP first configured that second router the same way as the first and caused the same setting to get stuck or something. Certainly a very odd one.

 

[Tripod]

Yes the only change in the move was from cable internet to pppoe so not sure what the problem was. Everything was packed carefully.

Once I saw the ISP heading for the Enable VPN and DHCP I thought I would give it a try. Thankfully that worked!

I'm updated on 386.11 now and seems to be fine. Nvidia shield is ethernet connected as well as the smartthings hub.