can't connect to the internet

[Thor]

Hello there,

I figured it was time to finally retire the old Linksys 54 today and bought this Asus rt-ac66u, but I can't get it to connect with the internet. I've tried flashing the Firmware as well as the recovery mode, but to no avail. First of all I get the "check that the ethernet cable is connected to the WAN port", well it is, second when I try connecting through PPPoE the connection time out every single time.

I bought this unit in Norway and trying to set it up with a Macbook pro running mountain lion in case that has anything to say?

I've read many posts in here, but nothing seems to help me....so perhaps some of you have any suggestions?

Edit: could installing dd-wrt make fix any of these issues?

 

[RMerlin]

What type of Internet connection do you have? What modem? Is the modem a pure modem, or a modem/router combo?

 

[Thor]

Good morning,

I was a bit tired (and frustrated) when I wrote the first post here, so I see now I've left out a few important things My connection is normal ADSL, ISP is Telenor and the modem is a zyxel 2602 HWT (combined modem and router).

I had issues in the past with the old linksys too using the mutimodem, but managed to fix it back then, but with the Asus it's "impossible" so far...

As for the cable, I've tried Wan to Wan, Ethernet to Wan, ethernet to ethernet.... currently it's set up with a Cat5e from wan to wan.

I get to connect to the GUI easily enough, do all the settings and so on, but when I try to make it connect to the modem (and internet) it's full stop. Could it be some ports on the Zyxel blocking it?

the last time i tried using the setup wizard is tells me "No WAN connection detected. Please check cable between WAN port and modem.", sorry thing though is that it is connected, yet the LED is not lit. Could it be a bricked out of the box unit?

 

[RMerlin]

Good morning,

I was a bit tired (and frustrated) when I wrote the first post here, so I see now I've left out a few important things My connection is normal ADSL, ISP is Telenor and the modem is a zyxel 2602 HWT (combined modem and router).

I had issues in the past with the old linksys too using the mutimodem, but managed to fix it back then, but with the Asus it's "impossible" so far...

As for the cable, I've tried Wan to Wan, Ethernet to Wan, ethernet to ethernet.... currently it's set up with a Cat5e from wan to wan.

I get to connect to the GUI easily enough, do all the settings and so on, but when I try to make it connect to the modem (and internet) it's full stop. Could it be some ports on the Zyxel blocking it?

the last time i tried using the setup wizard is tells me "No WAN connection detected. Please check cable between WAN port and modem.", sorry thing though is that it is connected, yet the LED is not lit. Could it be a bricked out of the box unit?

If the WAN LED on the router does not lit then there is a problem in the connection between the modem and the router. I would try a different cable (must also be Cat5e or Cat6) in case your current cable has a problem.

Also check your modem if it has a web interface - make sure its WAN port is configured to auto-detect the speed rather than forced at a certain speed (if it actually has that setting).

 

[Thor]

Thanks for the reply.... I've tried various cables, also the Cat5e that came with the router. Earlier today I tried to connect the cat5e cable between the ethernet port on my laptop and the WAN and Ethernet ports on the router just to see if the ports would lit, and they did (just to rule out a malfunctioning device). When I inserted them it back between the WAN port on the router and the modem however they were dark. The LED lights on the modem didn't lit either.
As an experiment I tried to connect a ethernet cable between my laptop and the various ports on the modem and it was dark too. This led me to suspect the router is most likely not the issue, but the modem?

The modem do have a web interface, but there are no WAN-settings like you describe, only thing apart from the encapsulation (PPPoE), username and PW I see is someting called multiplexing which is set to LLC

Under this there are two values VPI=8 and VCI=35

 

[RMerlin]

See if you can turn your Zyxel into what is called Bridged Mode (see this link for some info). Once you do, configure your PPPoE setting in your router, so it will handle establishing the PPPoE session rather than having the Zyxel do it.

If you still can't get it to work, see if you can borrow another DSL modem to confirm the issue isn't with the modem. I've seen a couple of people who resolved weird issues (both DSL and cable) by switching to a different modem. I am not familiar with Zyxel products (around here it's mostly Speedstream and Speedtouch, in addition to the 2wire garbage provided by the local ISP). Personally I really like the Speedtouch 516 modems, this is what we use for our own customers.

 

[Thor]

I already tried setting it in bridge mode (several times), but always ends up having to reset it again. I read somewhere that the reason being it receives signals through the adsl (sent by the ISP by default) to perform as router. Don't know if it's true though.... but every time I tyr to put it into bridge mode I always end up having to do a hard reset just to be able to get online at all. Unfortunately I don't have any other modems to try with, and when my old speedtouch broke during a thunderstorm some years ago, my ISP sent me this Zyxel-crap (they receives tons of complaints on it, but do very little about it).
I've asked if they could send me a modem only, but never got a good reply.

In normal cases it would be easy to just change the entire ISP, but this is countryside Norway and Telenor is as far as I know the only ISP available here.

I tried setting the router Ip to static and then for about 10 seconds the LED actually lit before going dark again. I didn't see the router itself, this was in the web interface, you know the green icon in the top right corner inside the router main page....

I also tried flashing to Merlin, but ended up reverting to the original Asus firmware as I belive the problem is actually with the modem. Question is of course what.... Thanks for all the help so far

 

[RMerlin]

DSL is usually a fairly common technology. Personally, I would look to buy your own modem, and put it in place of the ISP-provided one. Back when I was on ADSL2+, my ISP's modem/router junk (a 2wire) spent exactly 5 mins on my desk - long enough for the ISP tech to finish his test. As soon he left, the modem went back in its original box in a closet, and I put my own modem in place.

 

[italyguy01]

Turn your cable modem off. Turn the Router off. Disconnect power from both.

Power up your cable modem first. Wait 3 minutes. Then power your router on. See if it connects.

 

[Thor]

Thanks for all the help I've received here so far... during the weekend my hard drive failed, thus giving me more urgent problems to solve. Anyway, today I contacted my ISP and they checked my modem online and it seems to like it's partly defect. The lady in the other end said she was surprised it worked at all, thus they will send me a new one. Hopefully that will put an end to my problems. I will post back once I've installed the new one.

 

[Thor]

Good evening folks,

Finally, after waiting for a week I went to the post-office today and picked up my new modem sent from my ISP. Shortly after connecting it to the internet the Asus router suddenly worked pretty much "out of the box", so it seems like the problem all along were the ethernet ports on my old modem that caused the problems for me. Finally I can start "playing" with my new router.

Again, thanks for all the help I received in here so far...