Export / import config - AC87U & AC86U

[Patrick9876]

In a day or two I'm going to replace my RT-AC87U with an RT-AC86U. Can import the 87U config into the 86U? (I vaguely remember doing this when I upgraded from an old N66 router.) If so, what all gets imported? I'm hoping this will transfer my wireless config info. I'm hoping it will NOT transfer my admin userid and password.

 

[ColinTaylor]

No, definitely not. Even when both routers are exactly the same it is ill-advised, see this post from today and this.

 

[Patrick9876]

Well, that's a pain.

Next question: Can I connect the out-of-the-box new router (with no WAN cable, and with the wireless transmitter disabled) to a computer and go through all the setup stuff while the old router is still running? I expect many finger checks in the setup process.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Next question: Can I connect the out-of-the-box new router (with no WAN cable, and with the wireless transmitter disabled) to a computer and go through all the setup stuff while the old router is still running? I expect many finger checks in the setup process.

Yes, that's not a problem doing it that way. Most of us use the camera on our mobile phones to take pictures of the settings we want to preserve.

 

[OzarkEdge]

In a day or two I'm going to replace my RT-AC87U with an RT-AC86U. Can import the 87U config into the 86U? (I vaguely remember doing this when I upgraded from an old N66 router.) If so, what all gets imported? I'm hoping this will transfer my wireless config info. I'm hoping it will NOT transfer my admin userid and password.

Wireless configuration is pretty basic... and should be for your new router until you determine that you need something otherwise.

My 86U install notes suggest the basic settings to get you up and running... you can easily salt to taste. And then add to the configuration later to suit any special usage.

OE

 

[Patrick9876]

Yes, that's not a problem doing it that way. Most of us use the camera on our mobile phones to take pictures of the settings we want to preserve.

I have it even easier. I will (try to) configure the router on a laptop sitting right next to a desktop displaying the AC87U's config. (Every time I've relied on pictures or screen captures I've missed a needed display or two.)

Wireless configuration is pretty basic... and should be for your new router until you determine that you need something otherwise.
OE

I'm worried about things like mistyping the 26-character WPA keys I use with my "regular" wireless definitions and forgetting the guest definitions altogether. Being able to export those would really have been nice.

 

[L&LD]

I would recommend that you use new SSID's and furthermore, not blindly use your old settings either.

Treat this as the new hardware (and firmware) it is and set yourself up to get the most off the new equipment you now have.

 

[Patrick9876]

I would recommend that you use new SSID's and furthermore, not blindly use your old settings either.

Treat this as the new hardware (and firmware) it is and set yourself up to get the most off the new equipment you now have.

I've seen this comment before (about the SSIDs) and I'm very puzzled by it.

My primary (well, only) reason for getting the new router was so I could have a drop-in replacement in case I brick, or even temporarily disable my active router. I'm about to make a bunch of changes - switch to Merlin, activate VPN support, activate DDSN support - and want immediate recovery without changing to any wireless devices. And having a backup is always a good idea regardless of plans for change.

Are you saying that I will not be able to achieve this? Having a backup set of wireless profiles in my Windows devices is not much of a problem. Entering a backup definition into my printer is a royal pain. And I would have to rebuild my recovery software that can restore across a wireless connection.

 

[ColinTaylor]

I've seen this comment before (about the SSIDs) and I'm very puzzled by it.

This recommendation is an oblique way of getting people the create new WiFi profiles on all their clients. The alternative would be to say "forget the WiFi profile on all of your clients and recreate them".

The reason for this is because it has been observed that sometimes connecting to a new access point using the same SSID that has different hardware features can result in a non-optimal connection. But as they say, YMMV.

 

[L&LD]

No, it is not an oblique way of getting people to simply create a new SSID.

https://ftp.snbforums.com/threads/i...-ax88u-rt-ac86u-node.60551/page-2#post-532915

It gives the new router hardware/clients the maximum advantage possible, while also allowing to simply go back to the previous working router (if need be) by simply turning off the new router and turning on the old one.

In addition, if each client device is tested thoroughly as it is added to the new network, it also helps to troubleshoot at the same time too.

Many WiFi issues just disappear when a new SSID is used. Recommend SSID's be at least 8 alphanumeric characters long, no punctuation, no smiley faces or other special characters. The password should be 16 characters with the same limitations too.

Of course, just using the old SSID may work for a few hours to a few days or longer, but eventually, a new SSID corrects many bugs and glitches that are otherwise hard to track down or pinpoint at all.

 

[ColinTaylor]

No, it is not an oblique way of getting people to simply create a new SSID.

That's not what I said. I said it was a way of getting people to create/recreate the profiles on their clients.

This is exaclty the point Merlin made in that post.

If your clients can be told to fully forget a previous AP, then you can go down that route. If not, changing SSID might be the simplest way to achieve it.

 

[L&LD]

Sorry @ColinTaylor, just skimming fast through the forums today.

 

[Patrick9876]

This recommendation is an oblique way of getting people the create new WiFi profiles on all their clients. The alternative would be to say "forget the WiFi profile on all of your clients and recreate them".

The reason for this is because it has been observed that sometimes connecting to a new access point using the same SSID that has different hardware features can result in a non-optimal connection. But as they say, YMMV.

Since Windows has the capability of deleting and rebuilding WiFi profiles, I could just do that, but I guess I'll use new SSIDs and build the new profiles on my computers before switching routers. That will mess up my "recover over WiFi" restore procedures, but I should never need to do that anyway. That was mostly just to test the process. If I need to recover from a NAS-based backup I'll use a wired connection.

I don't see much reason not to reuse the old SSIDs for my guest networks.

 

[Grisu]

First for sure I would reuse previous SSIDs and guest too. Only in case you get wifi related problems maybe only with one or few clients forget connection on those and recreate it, all or most other clients will work just like before.
Otherwise you wont even could use Aimesh or AP/repeater because they all use same SSID and passwords on different routers with different wifi-options (except you have identical routers).