Solved How to login to router when it is configured in repeater mode?

[Luboknok]

I set my AC86u to repeater mode and it connects properly. However my previous router login IP (192.168.0.1/) is no longer accessing the router login page. I've also tried

http://router.asus.com

and

http://repeater.asus.com/

.
How do I login to the router admin when it is configured in repeater mode?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Use the ASUS Device Discovery tool to find its IP address.

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/RT-AC86U/Discovery_1480.zip

 

[Luboknok]

Thanks. I should have mentioned I am on linux. Is there a way to discover the router without Windows? Will the play store app do it?

 

[Moabdave]

Have you tried to arp it? I (i.e. type arp -a at a command prompt)? Also, it should show up in the list of assigned ip addresses on your main router, either the Network Map page or under DHCP leases on the LAN page.

 

[RMerlin]

Also check your primary router's DHCP client list.

 

[Luboknok]

Thanks for answers.
arp -a gives me quite a few ip's but none of them resolve.
I should clarify here, it is my primary router. My coax is gone during a remodel so my neighboor lent me guest access which I pointed the router to in repeater mode.
Somehow during config it didn't complete the wifi broadcasting channels so I am still connecting to it via ethernet and getting the guest network, but can't login.
I have the router config backed up so I can restore it after a factory reset.

 

[Luboknok]

I installed Asus Device Discovery from the Google play store but it requires the device be connected via WiFi so no luck... looks like reset.

 

[Luboknok]

I realized the Wifi radios were off, the WIFI button on the right turned them on (front LEDs). My phone only sees the 5Ghz repeater and tries connecting but never receives an IP. I imagine the 2.4ghz band is handling the link to the guest network which still works over Ethernet. My network manager shows the gateway IP for the ethernet connection but that doesn't resolve. Spooky.

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

You could ask your neighbor to check his router. Better yet, give him your AC86U's MAC and have him create a DHCP reserved IP, so it won't be changing during your remodeling.

 

[Luboknok]

Good to know. I'll probably just set up a long-range wifi adapter and skip the router. For future reference, once it's set in repeater mode do I lose local admin access? Is there a way to revert to the default wireless router mode locally without a factory reset?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Provided you can connect to the WiFi you should be able to determine its IP address and connect to admin interface using that. From there you can switch back to router mode.

 

[Luboknok]

I have a feeling that the reason I can't login to the UI via ethernet is that I had the admin access restricted to the original IP before I set it to router mode. It loses NAT and firewall but maybe it still is enforcing the IP restriction.

 

[Luboknok]

Solved after running Asus Device Discovery for Android on the reset modem I received the correct IP.
New IP was also in ARP -a which I forgot to try after resetting it.
Must have been the admin login IP restriction from previous setup.
Thanks for solving my problem.

 

[ChrisTC]

Use the ASUS Device Discovery tool to find its IP address.

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/RT-AC86U/Discovery_1480.zip

I'm also struggling to connect to the router's login page after switching it to Repeater mode, using Gnuton's repeater firmware from here,

I can successfully connect devices to the secondary WiFi network and access the internet from them, so the router does seem to be acting as a repeater.

I've used the Discovery tool to identify the secondary router's IP address (192.168.1.1), but with a connected device either over Ethernet or WiFi I can't ping it or login to it.

Both devices are DSL-AC68U. The primary router (the one connected to my DSL line) is 192.168.62.1 and gives out addresses in the range 192.168.62.x.

I don't really want to have to factory reset, so I'd be grateful for any suggestions - thanks in advance

 

[ColinTaylor]

@ChrisTC Sorry, I don't quite follow your setup. If your primary router's LAN is 192.168.62.x and your secondary router is in repeater mode then it will have an address of 192.168.62.x. Either router will only have an address of 192.168.1.1 after a reset when it is still in router mode.

 

[ChrisTC]

@ColinTaylor Thanks for the reply.

I'm going by what the discovery tool is reporting. It finds two devices:

There's 192.168.62.1, as I expected (showing the SSID of the 2.4G network from the primary), and 192.168.1.1, showing the SSID (with _RPT appended) of the 5G network from the repeater.

If I go to the primary's login page, and look at Network Map > View List, I see a bunch of devices - phones, a tablet, a printer, a laptop and my main desktop PC, all with IP 192.168.62.x as expected, but no sign of the secondary router.

IPConfig from a laptop connected by ethernet to the secondary shows 192.168.62.x and gateway of 192.168.62.1.

 

[ChrisTC]

@ColinTaylor Solved it!

I just rebooted the secondary and now it's working, as your comment

If your primary router's LAN is 192.168.62.x and your secondary router is in repeater mode then it will have an address of 192.168.62.x.

... was the clue.

After all the networks came back up, the discovery tool gave me the 62.x IP of the secondary (no longer any sign of 192.168.1.1), and I can now get to the login page.

The secondary is now also showing in the primary's network list

Many thanks, much appreciated!

 

[ColinTaylor]

Glad to hear you got it working. I was about to suggest you try using the current version of gnuton's firmware, rather than that experimental build. I'm assuming repeater mode is still included. EDIT: Perhaps it isn't (https://github.com/gnuton/asuswrt-merlin.ng#experimental-builds).

 

[ChrisTC]

I was about to suggest you try using the current version of gnuton's firmware, rather than that experimental build. I'm assuming repeater mode is still included. EDIT: Perhaps it isn't (https://github.com/gnuton/asuswrt-merlin.ng#experimental-builds).

I interpreted that page as though it isn't, but I haven't installed the current stable release to check.

I have the stock firmware on the primary, is there good reason to use Gnuton's current non-experimental version on it instead? I know very little about routers, mostly I just want them to work

 

[ColinTaylor]

I have the stock firmware on the primary, is there good reason to use Gnuton's current non-experimental version on it instead?

I was only thinking that a year-old experimental firmware might have bugs in it that were fixed in the current release, that's all. But it sounds like that's the only version that supports repeater mode.

If you're only using it as a repeater then you're not really using any other "enhanced features". So I guess the alternative would be to use stock or the current Gnuton firmware in an AiMesh setup with one device as a node rather than a repeater. Whatever works best for you.