Can't access admin pages on AC68U

[CharlieRutledge]

I am running an AIMesh network, access point mode, with three nodes. Primary is an AC68U, wired backhaul to another AC68U and to an AC66U. Worked well for a while (well over a year).

All of a sudden, I could no longer access the admin page for the router. Tried multiple browsers, they all give a "can't connect to server" message. When I try accessing via one of the other routers, I get the message "Unable to connect to the Parent AP." This started happening probably a couple months ago, just getting around to trying to troubleshoot. The network is working fine, I just can't get to the admin page. The ASUS Router app on my phone also can't connect, with the message "Unable to use Remote connection." Had used that app for a while too, it was able to connect just fine.

I have power cycled multiple times, to no avail. I am able to ping the primary node, and the wireless network seems to work just fine (which is why I haven't prioritized trying to fix this problem).

I have not tried a factory reset, was hoping to avoid that if I could, not wanting to go through configuring the whole AIMesh network again if I can avoid it.

Wondering if any other ideas about how to access, or things to try other than a factory reset.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[drinkingbird]

I am running an AIMesh network, access point mode, with three nodes. Primary is an AC68U, wired backhaul to another AC68U and to an AC66U. Worked well for a while (well over a year).

All of a sudden, I could no longer access the admin page for the router. Tried multiple browsers, they all give a "can't connect to server" message. When I try accessing via one of the other routers, I get the message "Unable to connect to the Parent AP." This started happening probably a couple months ago, just getting around to trying to troubleshoot. The network is working fine, I just can't get to the admin page. The ASUS Router app on my phone also can't connect, with the message "Unable to use Remote connection." Had used that app for a while too, it was able to connect just fine.

I have power cycled multiple times, to no avail. I am able to ping the primary node, and the wireless network seems to work just fine (which is why I haven't prioritized trying to fix this problem).

I have not tried a factory reset, was hoping to avoid that if I could, not wanting to go through configuring the whole AIMesh network again if I can avoid it.

Wondering if any other ideas about how to access, or things to try other than a factory reset.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Seems like if nothing including the nodes can connect to admin you're probably stuck with factory reset. Something got corrupted somehow.

You could try powering off and disconnecting the nodes then reboot the main and try both wireless and wired connections. You're not trying to connect from a guest wireless network are you?

But if you have to reset anyway, good chance to upgrade to 386.7_2 at least (you can try 386.9 if you want, seems to be ok if you do a factory reset and manual reconfigure). Might as well do all 3 and reset everything, good to have a fresh start from time to time, especially if you haven't done a full reset in a while.

If you do upgrade the firmware, do another factory reset after (by holding down WPS button) then reconfigure everything. The nodes you have to factory reset anyway when setting them up.

 

[CharlieRutledge]

Tried various paths in, including direct wired connection from one of the LAN ports on the router. No luck from any.

Agreed on doing a clean refresh. Have done that a few times (but not recently), but with enough pain on the AIMesh config that was trying to avoid it for as long as possible! My wife works from home, and has a low tolerance for me playing around with a network that doesn't seem to be broken...

 

[drinkingbird]

Tried various paths in, including direct wired connection from one of the LAN ports on the router. No luck from any.

Agreed on doing a clean refresh. Have done that a few times (but not recently), but with enough pain on the AIMesh config that was trying to avoid it for as long as possible! My wife works from home, and has a low tolerance for me playing around with a network that doesn't seem to be broken...

With the modern firmwares Aimesh setup should be relatively painless especially if you're hardwired. Run stock firmware on the nodes even if you run Merlin on the main.

 

[Tech9]

All of a sudden, I could no longer access the admin page for the router.

What web browser and have you tried a different one? What firmware the routers are running?

 

[drinkingbird]

What web browser and have you tried a different one? What firmware the routers are running?

That was my first thought - Firefox updating and forcing https - but then noticed they tried several browsers and phone app, and when they connect to the nodes, the nodes say they can't reach the router. So I think the router is probably corrupted and needs a good wipe.

 

[CharlieRutledge]

Have tried with Safari, Chrome, and Firefox, from Mac & Windows machines. Plus via the ios app. Not sure what firmware version since I can't log in to look. I'm not sure when this started happening. Three months ago? Six? Could even be more. Up until then I had been pretty diligent about keeping the firmware current. So it's not more than a year out of date.

 

[Tech9]

My wife works from home, and has a low tolerance for me playing around

Safety first. Don't touch.

 

[CharlieRutledge]

An update in case anyone else has this problem in the future and stumbles across this thread. I finally did a factory reset on the units, and it solved the problem. As I feared, building the AIMesh network up again was a royal pain. The RT-AC68U node came up immediately. The RT-AC66U B1 was more of a problem. Multiple reboots, reset-to-factory-settings, the master node didn't see it even when it was hardwired to a LAN port on the master, and the device list on each unit listed the other unit. What finally worked was doing a factory reset, then setting the node a few feet from the master, node not connected at all the the wired network, and forming the mesh as soon as the node rebooted from its factory reset.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions!

 

[Tech9]

I finally did a factory reset on the units, and it solved the problem.

Schedule next reset event and declare it "No Internet Day" in advance. It's part of the experience.