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How to migrate RT-AC86U to RT-AX86U-PRO?

BosseSwede

Regular Contributor
I have had problems with my RT-AC86U router as discussed here.
I was adviced to upgrade the hardware to solve my problem (see above link).

So I have bought an upgrade router: ASUS RT-AX86U Pro

Now I am facing the problem of how to migrate from the old to the new router while keeping all functionality.
The router I am replacing manages my fiber connected summer cottage network.
The cottage LAN is connected to my home LAN which is managed by another ASUS RT-AX86U Pro using the built-in OpenVPN client of the cottage router towards the VPN server on my home LAN (not the home LAN router's OpenVPN server). Routing is set up such that the two LAN sections are basically integrated even though they use different IP address sections. All of my devices "can see" all of the other devices no matter which LAN they live on.

Now my problem is how to go about the transfer....
I have worked my way through the existing router's admin pages and taken screenshots to see the settings in order to replicate them on the new router.
I have my Windows10 laptop attached to the cottage LAN and this is the PC I need to use in order to migrate to the new router.

How can I set up the new router without disrupting the operations on the cottage LAN until it is time to power off the old router and activate the new router?
There are about 10-12 devices running on the cottage LAN and some co-operate with the server back in the home LAN so I have to minimize the time there is a blackout in the system.
I have tried to find a tutorial for this migration but failed.

As far as I understand it is not possible to dump the settings off of the old router and load them back onto the new router, so how are you doing transfers/upgrades like this?
 
I have had problems with my RT-AC86U router as discussed here.
I was adviced to upgrade the hardware to solve my problem (see above link).

So I have bought an upgrade router: ASUS RT-AX86U Pro

Now I am facing the problem of how to migrate from the old to the new router while keeping all functionality.
The router I am replacing manages my fiber connected summer cottage network.
The cottage LAN is connected to my home LAN which is managed by another ASUS RT-AX86U Pro using the built-in OpenVPN client of the cottage router towards the VPN server on my home LAN (not the home LAN router's OpenVPN server). Routing is set up such that the two LAN sections are basically integrated even though they use different IP address sections. All of my devices "can see" all of the other devices no matter which LAN they live on.

Now my problem is how to go about the transfer....
I have worked my way through the existing router's admin pages and taken screenshots to see the settings in order to replicate them on the new router.
I have my Windows10 laptop attached to the cottage LAN and this is the PC I need to use in order to migrate to the new router.

How can I set up the new router without disrupting the operations on the cottage LAN until it is time to power off the old router and activate the new router?
There are about 10-12 devices running on the cottage LAN and some co-operate with the server back in the home LAN so I have to minimize the time there is a blackout in the system.
I have tried to find a tutorial for this migration but failed.

As far as I understand it is not possible to dump the settings off of the old router and load them back onto the new router, so how are you doing transfers/upgrades like this?
No transfer. Setup the new router manually. If you need to remember the settings of the old router, take and print screen shots.
But, the best way is to set the new router up with minimal changes to the default settings. What you used to do is not necessarily a good idea today...
 
There is no "migration tutorial" because no one person's setup is the same as another's. Case in point - your custom LAN to LAN requirements.

You just have to accept that there's going to be some downtime and plan for it. You've done the groundwork by taking screenshots. Now you need to take your time and work through setting up and testing the new router. Make sure you still have your old router to hand so that if you hit problems you can't solve, or you run out of time you can switch back to the old router.
 
I figured as much, but there is a problem in entering the DHCP reservations because at that point you need to have set the LAN IP address to the actual used address otherwise you cannot enter the correct reservations (20 of them). And then my laptop will get confused to be on one or the other LAN..
Or did you mean to shut down the old router before starting config of the new one?
I had hoped to be able to let the original router run while I was setting up the new router by isolating it from the main network.
But then I have to connect my laptop to the new router in order to do the config. So it must not connect to the main LAN via WiFi or such while working on the config of the new router...

I have to think this through, when I enter network data the new router has to be offline but using the correct IP address range so DHCP can be set up...
 
but there is a problem in entering the DHCP reservations
There are various methods, including using YazDHCP (on Asus-Merlin firmware), to copy the manual DHCP reservations from one router to another. There shouldn't be an issue if you are setting up the new router that is isolated from the old router/lan and it's clients. Set everything up THEN connect it to the existing WAN followed by connecting all the existing LAN clients to the new router.

 
PANIC!
So I have gotten into trouble with the new router:
- I connected my laptop to the Ethernet port #1 on the router
- I left WAN unconnected because I do not want to interfere with my ISP at this point
- I powered on the router and after a while when the lights stabilized I tried to get to the admin page:

But the router shows the page less than a tenth of a second and then wanders into some kind of install Wizard asking weird questions and requiring me to attach WAN, which I absolutely NOT want to do.
And now I am stuck and cannot even update the firmware and do the basic configuration!!!

What can I do to get to the normal admin page?
 
But the router shows the page less than a tenth of a second and then wanders into some kind of install Wizard asking weird questions and requiring me to attach WAN, which I absolutely NOT want to do.
This is not weird, this is the expected Quick Internet Setup function. Choose the Advanced Settings option and manually configure the basic setup.
 

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