Solved RT-AX86U dead WiFi asking for country code?

[ColinTaylor]

Some of you should ask @ColinTaylor if he has a Paypal account, considering how many of you just got saved a $200 paperweight through his voluntary work.

I appreciate the kind thought, and some people have offered. But there's really no need. I'm just happy they were saved from e-waste.

 

[Omarcavia]

Talk to @ColinTaylor he really helps a lot, people like that are appreciated

 

[Onlyson]

@ColinTaylor and @Sildur can you help me, after upgrade my AX86U with last Merlin RT-AX86U_3004_388.8_4 my admin password don't work and after a Hard Reset my router asked me the Country Code.

Many Thanks for your help.

 

[dmr24]

Talk to @ColinTaylor he really helps a lot, people like that are appreciated

Thanks for this. @ColinTaylor I messaged you PM. Hope you received it.

 

[Onlyson]

I don’t have any backup file of my router before the issue occurred.

Is there any solution, please? It’s no longer under warranty, and I don’t want to spend €200 on a new one.

 

[TurboWG]

I emailed Asus and they said they were aware of the issue. However, it wasn't something they could resolve over the internet. Since my AX86U was out of warranty, I paid $35 to ship it to Asus for repair. The ETA is Monday 11/25, and Asus will give me a quote on how much it will cost me. I will update when I receive it from Asus.

 

[TurboWG]

I could not log in to the RT-AX86U with my saved credentials, even after a reboot. After pressing the reset button, the router’s wireless functionality stopped working. I attempted a hard factory reset and used the Firmware Restoration tool, but the problem persists. Then a “country code error” also appears in the web GUI. I found out other posts mentioned the malware infections could corrupt or delete the manufacturing partition (mtd10), which has caused wireless functionality to fail and resulted in a "country code error."

I have received confirmation from ASUS that they are aware of this issue and have already implemented a fix. It has been confirmed that my Router cannot be repaired through a software upgrade. ASUS suggested that users contact customer service to request product repair services.

Same boat here bro. I mailed it back to Asus and am waiting for update.

 

[ohbreeeezy]

I emailed Asus and they said they were aware of the issue. However, it wasn't something they could resolve over the internet. Since my AX86U was out of warranty, I paid $35 to ship it to Asus for repair. The ETA is Monday 11/25, and Asus will give me a quote on how much it will cost me. I will update when I receive it from Asus.

If the total price is reasonable, I'll probably have to do the same thing.

 

[KevinVar]

Just want to say a massive thank you @ColinTaylor
He is amazing and bought my router back to life.

 

[Onlyson]

There are no words to describe how grateful I am to @ColinTaylor—simply fantastic. I have my router working again. Thank you so, so much!

 

[bitsbytes]

That's just not right. A regular member here graciously fixing routes on his spare time while the big company hasn't released an update yet. The affected routes keep increasing and who knows how many are out there with no clue what's going on. I doubt many people who own this router know this forum. And of course if you contact asus they'll charge you a fee for fixing the router. This really boils my blood. I'm not affected but the incompetence asus showed will make me vote with my wallet the next time I buy a router.

And of course it won't be 24 hours after I typed this before asus releases an update.

 

[Listedguru2]

I'm in the market for a new router and would it be wise to buy either the GT-AX6000 or the RT-AX88U Pro or are they part of this dead router issue going on here?

 

[Tech9]

GT-AX6000 or the RT-AX88U Pro

Both have updates with current issue fixed.

 

[Listedguru2]

Both have updates with current issue fixed.

Ok that's good do hear. So if I were to purchase either one all I need to do is update to the latest firmware upon install and I'm good to go correct? I'm leaning towards either one of these but I'm not sure which one yet. I think the AX88U Pro is newer but not sure how much that really matters as both have pretty much the same hardware (I believe they do at least).

 

[Tech9]

So if I were to purchase either one all I need to do is update to the latest firmware upon install and I'm good to go correct?

No reports of either one affected and the issue was in specific firmware component. It's not like you connect it to Internet and get hacked immediately. You can update the firmware manually or over Internet in GUI. RT-AX88U Pro was released after GT-AX6000.

 

[Listedguru2]

No reports of either one affected and the issue was in specific firmware component. It's not like you connect it to Internet and get hacked immediately. You can update the firmware manually or over Internet in GUI. RT-AX88U Pro was released after GT-AX6000.

So if the RT-AX88U Pro is newer would you lean towards getting that instead of the GT-AX6000 if there are close in price to each other? Honestly I'm not sure if one of these is better than the other?

 

[Jbennett360]

So if the RT-AX88U Pro is newer would you lean towards getting that instead of the GT-AX6000 if there are close in price to each other? Honestly I'm not sure if one of these is better than the other?

I'd always go for the RT series. Personal preference though

 

[Tech9]

Honestly I'm not sure if one of these is better than the other?

Get the cheaper one or the one you like better as appearance. RT is the regular version, GT is the gaming version. The hardware differences are minimal, the expected performance is about the same, I expect the duration of support for both to be about the same too. Both run stock 3006 firmware and have available Asuswrt-Merlin 3004 based firmware. RT comes with blue GUI theme, GT with red GUI theme. GT has one extra USB 2.0 port and RGB lights.

 

[CrashXRu]

$35
not bad considering that ASUS PRIST
transferred full instructions on how to restore devices

also pointed out the bug itself, which was reported 2 years ago
on firmware from November 22 there is no direct access to the factory config, but this only affected Wi-Fi 7 devices

 

[eugeneispeanut]

Hello, stumbled upon this thread and my AX86U was having the exact same issues as described here and in multiple thread:

1. Could not login with my usual credentials
2. Reset to default and tried to use it as a mesh node (I bought a new AX86U Pro) but it couldn't join.
3. Tried in AP mode, Wifi not working with country code error.

I have no backup settings of the router unfortunately. I hear that @ColinTaylor may be able to help? What do I need to do to help restore this router?

Also it seems to be a widespread issues and pretty concern it will also affect my new AX86U Pro. Other that , I have disabled G

Edit: Realised my post got submitted halfway before completing: Other than that, I have disabled AI Cloud and DDNS and anything that allows access externally.