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Problems with some new Asus RT-AX88U routers - FIXED

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nbdwt73

Regular Contributor
Folks, I need some help please. For years I have run several Asus RT-AC86U routers on Merlin with no problems. In fact they're still running OK. I decided last week that, purely due to their age, I was going to replace them with newer models so I ordered some Asus RT-AX88U routers (good price right now). Given these are new to me, I decided to set one up in vanilla fashion to play with it and decide how I wanted it configured.

I took one out of the box and configured it with minimal changes. One of the first things that I noticed was the WAN IP address as reported on the initial Network page is a private IP address - in this case 192.168.1.X - not the WAN address assigned by my ISP. The second issue for me was that when I attempted to connect the router OpenVPN client to one of my remote Asus routers running OpenVPN server it would not connect - it gave me an error message about similar subnet address given this remote router is currently running 192.168.1.X address range. Perhaps the wrong reported IP address has something to do with the problem. My old RT-AC86U router OpenVPN client using the same OVPN config file connects just fine.

What has me stumped is the WAN IP address that the system is reporting. When I check my actual assigned address from my ISP it is correct (use https://whatismyipaddress.com/).

As another test I reverted back to the current stock Asus firmware only find that the latest version does not show the OpenVPN client tab (or at least I couldn't find it - not in the normal place). I then reverted to the -1 revision of the Asus firmware - the VPN client tab showed up again however still gives me the error when I attempt to connect to the remote server.

So... what am I missing. Why do these units report a private IP address even though I do no have the dual WAN enabled? My real issue is the inability to connect the routers together - the similar subnet addresses... We use this for some server backups that run several times a day. I have reverted back to mu 86U routers until I can figure this out.

Thanks for any any ideas.
 
One of the first things that I noticed was the WAN IP address as reported on the initial Network page is a private IP address - in this case 192.168.1.X - not the WAN address assigned by my ISP.

Your router is in double NAT behind another.

The second issue for me was that when I attempted to connect the router OpenVPN client to one of my remote Asus routers running OpenVPN server it would not connect

Because of the reason above.

As another test I reverted back to the current stock Asus firmware only find that the latest version does not show the OpenVPN client tab

Current Asuswrt is a newer firmware than Asuswrt-Merlin 388.1 release. VPN Client is there, just looks differently. You also have VPN Fusion now.
 
Thanks for the reply... I do not understand the double NAT issue... I simply removed the old router and plugged this one into the same fiber modem. I also rebooted the modem to make sure... What have I done wrong?
 
Found it - my ATT modem had the passthru as a fixed MAC address... Changed it to dynamic and all is well - THANKS!
 

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