Asus BE88U Merlin Firmware. Login page inaccessible unless I reboot it

[bennor]

@Sash2025, couple of suggestions if you haven't tried them already.
Disconnect all other local network clients from the router except one wired computer, reboot the router, then test to see if the issue persists with all other local clients disconnected from the router. As suggested by @Ripshod above something else might be interfering on the local network.
If, when, you can access the router GUI check to see if you have enabled the filtering option on who can access the GUI (may be called Enable Access Restrictions on the Administration > System page). Could be the IP address/MAC address on the client you are using to access the router has changed and the router is preventing access. Disable the option and see if the issue persists.

 

[Sash2025]

@Sash2025, couple of suggestions if you haven't tried them already.
Disconnect all other local network clients from the router except one wired computer, reboot the router, then test to see if the issue persists with all other local clients disconnected from the router. As suggested by @Ripshod above something else might be interfering on the local network.
If, when, you can access the router GUI check to see if you have enabled the filtering option on who can access the GUI (may be called Enable Access Restrictions on the Administration > System page). Could be the IP address/MAC address on the client you are using to access the router has changed and the router is preventing access. Disable the option and see if the issue persists.

Rebooted router and accessed GUI. Administration > Enable Access Restrictions set to No. Enable SSH was also Lan Only.

 

[Sash2025]

Got this from Chat GPT when I asked it to look at logs. Unsure if right

TL;DR (your root cause)​

This is NOT a memory / conntrack / overload issue
It’s primarily:

WiFi subsystem instability / client deauth spam + ASUS firmware quirks

And possibly contributing to the UI dying.

---

What your log actually shows​

1. This line dominates EVERYTHING:​

WLC_SCB_DEAUTHORIZE error (-30)

This appears hundreds of times

---

What that means​

This is from the Broadcom WiFi driver:

• WLC = Wireless LAN Controller
• SCB_DEAUTHORIZE = client being forcibly disconnected
• error (-30) = failure/invalid state during deauth

Translation:

The router is constantly trying (and failing) to deauthenticate WiFi clients

 

[ColinTaylor]

Are you using a VPN client on your PC?

Got this from Chat GPT when I asked it to look at logs. Unsure if right

The implication from your earlier posts was that you were mainly testing from a wired (ethernet) PC. If that is the case then this is not a wireless issue and the AI response is garbage.

I'd also agree with @Ripshod's idea that this sounds like you have another DHCP server running on your LAN. So when the problem occurs run ipconfig (assuming you're using Windows) and check what IP addresses are being used for the PC and the gateway.

 

[Notconnected]

Um I am not rebooting it now as I know that action itself brings it back. Even if I was willing to do what you ask would that not reset everything?

You should still be able to log into the router at the default IP, it is the admin IP and will still be available.
You could change it though to an IP in the range your router is set to hand out IP's, 50.1 for example.
Did you update the firmware, may be do so, or roll back if this problem was not there before.

 

[Sash2025]

Are you using a VPN client on your PC?


The implication from your earlier posts was that you were mainly testing from a wired (ethernet) PC. If that is the case then this is not a wireless issue and the AI response is garbage.

I'd also agree with @Ripshod's idea that this sounds like you have another DHCP server running on your LAN. So when the problem occurs run ipconfig (assuming you're using Windows) and check what IP addresses are being used for the PC and the gateway.

No VPN clients
Yes Wired PC via CAT 6 to router
Win 11 Pro Machine with Vmware hosting home assistant. Asus IOT with about 8 odd wifi devices, Rest all on Asus 2.4 and 5 G network spread out. Wifi 7 disabled since most devices not supported.

You should still be able to log into the router at the default IP, it is the admin IP and will still be available.
You could change it though to an IP in the range your router is set to hand out IP's, 50.1 for example.
Did you update the firmware, may be do so, or roll back if this problem was not there before.

Firmware is latest and ipconfig was the same previously when it did not work before reboot.
Ethernet adapter Ethernet 4:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

 

[ColinTaylor]

No VPN clients
Yes Wired PC via CAT 6 to router
Win 11 Pro Machine with Vmware hosting home assistant. Asus IOT with about 8 odd wifi devices, Rest all on Asus 2.4 and 5 G network spread out. Wifi 7 disabled since most devices not supported.


Firmware is latest and ipconfig was the same previously when it did not work before reboot.
Ethernet adapter Ethernet 4:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

The next thing I would check on the PC (when the problem next happens) is the routing table. Run route print and make sure the default route is correct and that there's an On-Link entry for 192.168.0.0.

 

[Sash2025]

The next thing I would check on the PC (when the problem next happens) is the routing table. Run route print and make sure the default route is correct and that there's an On-Link entry for 192.168.0.0.

Ok will do. How do I do this please?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Ok will do. How do I do this please?

Just run route print from the Command Prompt and post the output here for us to look at.

 

[dave14305]

IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

Another test from the Windows Command Prompt would be to test DNS resolution when SSH and HTTP don't seem to work.

nslookup www.asusrouter.com. 192.168.0.1

 

[Sash2025]

Just run route print from the Command Prompt and post the output here for us to look at.

Another test from the Windows Command Prompt would be to test DNS resolution when SSH and HTTP don't seem to work.

nslookup www.asusrouter.com. 192.168.0.1

Ok so did both and typed out all this info and then hit post reply but lost all of it.

Short version.
Issue surfaced again today
Ipconfig and

nslookup www.asusrouter.com. 192.168.0.1

showed the same IP 192.168.0.1

I remembered the SSH port today, taking note of it yesterday. Logged in with the help of chat GPT. Chat GPT itself suspected Web UI crash
It asked me to run
service restart_httpd
Hooray this worked when I tried https://192.168.0.1:8443/Main_Login.asp.
Mind you I had tried https://192.168.0.1:8443/Main_Login.asp, 198.168.0.1 and other iterations after each action.

So what does this mean?

 

[ColinTaylor]

So what does this mean?

Unclear at this point. You previously tried to connect using SSH but weren't able to. Now you can.

Given the randomness of all of this I think it's best if we have a look at the entire router syslog for clues. Log into the router and go to System Log - General Log. Click on the "Save" button to save the log file. Then upload that file to www.file.io , click on the "Share" button and then post the link to that file here so that we can download it.

 

[dave14305]

Chat GPT itself suspected Web UI crash
It asked me to run
service restart_httpd
Hooray this worked

If the httpd daemon crashed, I would expect you to find lines in your router system log from watchdog saying “start httpd”. If it was only hung or non-responsive, watchdog wouldn’t do anything since it’s still technically running. Your logs will provide more insights.

 

[Sash2025]

Unclear at this point. You previously tried to connect using SSH but weren't able to. Now you can.

Given the randomness of all of this I think it's best if we have a look at the entire router syslog for clues. Log into the router and go to System Log - General Log. Click on the "Save" button to save the log file. Then upload that file to www.file.io , click on the "Share" button and then post the link to that file here so that we can download it.

The SSH didnt work the first time since it wasnt the default port 22 but today I have this issue again today as I check and SSH and service restart_httpd fixes it.

Will try to post the sys.log. Any info I should black out? Sorry unsure whats safe to share and whats not.
I cant see much in logs

what setting do I keep in the following?

Default message log level set at info right now
Log only messages more urgent than set at warning right now

thanks

 

[AntonK]

I'm a layman on this topic, but have you tried this tool: ASUS Device Discovery version 1.4.8.5? It finds the device, and offers a click to the device's login page (hopefully).

 

[ColinTaylor]

I cant see much in logs

what setting do I keep in the following?

Default message log level set at info right now
Log only messages more urgent than set at warning right now

Default message log level = notice
Log only messages more urgent than = all

 

[Sash2025]

This happened again and I ran it through GPT again to figure it out after accessing the log after SSH into it
It sanitased this for me to post here based on what I said to it. Sorry not sure what to leave and omit so just had to do it this way. Hope its ok.

Apr 16 11:43:40 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] captcha error (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 11:43:42 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)

Apr 16 11:49:47 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 11:56:00 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:08:37 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:14:59 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:21:27 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:27:52 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:34:17 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:40:36 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:46:58 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:52:53 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)

Apr 16 12:59:32 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 13:05:51 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 13:06:14 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][Web] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 13:18:39 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 13:25:06 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 13:28:00 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][Web] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 13:31:33 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] captcha error (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 13:31:35 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)


ASUS RT-BE88U Web UI becomes inaccessible after some time. SSH remains accessible.

Restarting httpd via SSH immediately restores access.
System log shows repeated external login attempts over HTTPS.

Questions:

• Is this a known HTTPD crash issue?
• Can repeated WAN login attempts cause the web UI to hang?
• Any way to harden or prevent HTTPD from dying?

 

[bennor]

@Sash2025, with as much time as you've spent trying to troubleshoot this issue. Have you considered just doing a hard factory reset on the router (after disconnecting all network clients from the router but one single wired computer, and disconnecting any attached USB storage device) followed by a basic initial manual configuration (do not import a saved router.cfg file, do not install any addon scripts, do not connect any USB storage devices) to see if the issue persists or if it is resolved? Often a hard factory reset followed by a manual configuration can fix some weird issues and quite often takes less time than repeatedly spending hours/days troubleshooting.

[Wireless Router] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset - Method 2

If the issue is resolved after a hard factory reset followed by initial basic configuration, then add each network client back to the router one at a time. If things are still working correctly after all clients have been reconnected, then move to installing any Addon scripts one at a time.

 

[ColinTaylor]

This happened again and I ran it through GPT again to figure it out after accessing the log after SSH into it
It sanitased this for me to post here based on what I said to it. Sorry not sure what to leave and omit so just had to do it this way. Hope its ok.

Apr 16 11:43:40 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] captcha error (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 11:43:42 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)

Apr 16 11:49:47 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 11:56:00 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:08:37 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:14:59 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:21:27 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:27:52 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:34:17 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:40:36 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:46:58 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 12:52:53 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)

Apr 16 12:59:32 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 13:05:51 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 13:06:14 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][Web] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 13:18:39 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 13:25:06 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 13:28:00 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][Web] failed (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 13:31:33 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] captcha error (X.X.X.X)
Apr 16 13:31:35 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (X.X.X.X)


ASUS RT-BE88U Web UI becomes inaccessible after some time. SSH remains accessible.

Restarting httpd via SSH immediately restores access.
System log shows repeated external login attempts over HTTPS.

Questions:

• Is this a known HTTPD crash issue?
• Can repeated WAN login attempts cause the web UI to hang?
• Any way to harden or prevent HTTPD from dying?

Post the same output again but this time do not hide the X.X.X.X addresses.

Log into the router's webUI and go to Administration - System. Make sure "Enable Web Access from WAN" is set to "No".

My guess is that httpd is not crashing. It looks like you have multiple failed login attempts from somewhere which is triggering the security mechanism of the router to "lock out" access to the webUI. This is by design and a good thing.

Most of the failed logins appear to come from the Asus app. So it looks like that has been configured with the wrong password. As Merlin's firmware doesn't support the app I suggest you uninstall it from any of your devices to prevent problems like this.

 

[Sash2025]

@Sash2025, with as much time as you've spent trying to troubleshoot this issue. Have you considered just doing a hard factory reset on the router (after disconnecting all network clients from the router but one single wired computer, and disconnecting any attached USB storage device) followed by a basic initial manual configuration (do not import a saved router.cfg file, do not install any addon scripts, do not connect any USB storage devices) to see if the issue persists or if it is resolved? Often a hard factory reset followed by a manual configuration can fix some weird issues and quite often takes less time than repeatedly spending hours/days troubleshooting.

[Wireless Router] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset - Method 2

If the issue is resolved after a hard factory reset followed by initial basic configuration, then add each network client back to the router one at a time. If things are still working correctly after all clients have been reconnected, then move to installing any Addon scripts one at a time.

Mate that's the nuclear option I might have to reserve when no one is in the house. I remember I had done this to figure out why my 5G was sketchy and it finally settled.
Currently very unlikely I can do this for various reasons. Everyone in the house needs stable internet, school, Uni, Work from home etc. Cant stuff it up........ now. Maybe my final option.

Post the same output again but this time do not hide the X.X.X.X addresses.

Log into the router's webUI and go to Administration - System. Make sure "Enable Web Access from WAN" is set to "No".

My guess is that httpd is not crashing. It looks like you have multiple failed login attempts from somewhere which is triggering the security mechanism of the router to "lock out" access to the webUI. This is by design and a good thing.

Most of the failed logins appear to come from the Asus app. So it looks like that has been configured with the wrong password. As Merlin's firmware doesn't support the app I suggest you uninstall it from any of your devices to prevent problems like this.

You are definitely on to something.

Apr 16 14:23:27 HTTPD: [LOGIN][https][APP] failed (91.199.163.54)
also this IP 78.128.114.42
Unsure if these are from the Asus app though. The App has the same problem logging in fine when the UI works. So does it not mean it logs in fine and may not be the issue, instead these above IP are attacking? Sorry if I seem clueless.

As per your suggestion I have turned the "Enable Web Access from WAN" is set to "No".
Fingers Crossed.