- Remove all USB drives or other devices from the router.
- Flash the latest RMerlin firmware 384.18 Alpha 1 dated yesterday at 5:32 PM
- Perform an M&M Config and ideally a Nuclear Reset on the router.
- Use the amtm Step-by-Step guide (link above) to properly set up a fresh USB drive with Ext4 w/journalling, a label, a swap file, and Entware too.
- Ignore the part of the guide that outlines how to install amtm (it is now included in RMerlin's firmware since 384.15_0 release final).
Don't be too concerned about the 'Alpha' label of this firmware. This is the third version of it and it is RMerlin's work. This means it has been stable since the original debuted back on May 6, 2020. I think it has been thoroughly tested by now.
- use a new, never before used SSIDs (ever, by any of your devices) for the new firmware/router.
- use 8 alphanumeric characters for the SSID with no spaces, no punctuation, no special characters, and no smiley faces.
- use 16 alphanumeric characters for the password with the same attributes as above.
- do the same for the username and password for the router's GUI access too.
Pay attention to not 'blindly' inputting old settings and customizations (other than the suggestions in the M&M Config guide) just because they worked in previous firmwares/routers.
I suggest before you start actually customizing the settings beyond the suggested ones here, make a backup config file via the GUI menus. Save this file with the version of the firmware you created it with. Use it to quickly get back to these settings if you need to start over. (Flash the firmware to this version if you have changed it, do a full reset, then import the saved backup config file).
HTH.
