RT-AX88U not connecting to upgrade server or Asuscomm DDNS

[bwj]

After the last UK storm I found I was getting a lot of internet dropouts so factory reset the router RT-AX88U, upgraded to the latest firmware, and reinstalled my settings.

[I'm on EE full fibre and the connection settings have worked solidly for the last two years, and before that the same settings worked on BT]

Since the upgrade I've had a weird problem that

1 - no browser on any device in my network can connect to any Asus website, except from behind a VPN
2 - ipv6 settings seem correct but there is no ipv6 connectivity
3 - router does not connect to Asuscomm DDNS and says that there has been an "unauthorised registration attempt" for my DDNS username at Asuscomm
4 - router cannot connect to the Asus upgrade server

After experimenting with these WAN DNS settings all of which had previously been set to "NO", problems 1 and 2 resolved and connections to Asus websites and ipv6 connectivity now work. I'm not sure which setting now on "YES" is responsible or might be causing other problems!

Problems 3 and 4 persist so still can't connect in the router GUI to the upgrade server or DDNS. I've switched for the time being to NO-IP DDNS which works fine but it is a pain to reset other devices

I have also switched to the latest Merlin fimware, with essentially the same settings, but the problem persists. Any help appreciated!

 

[Arnold_K]

Hi, the Rt-ax88u router has a lot of issues with the latest updates. I had above issue also, no way to get ddns at work, also wifi falling down (I asume the radio deivers are corrupted because my wifiscanner metioned "epigram" als "manufactured by" in stead of asustec. Also mac address away from wan port when I want to use this router as an aimesh node. No way to connect.

I replaced this router with a be92u icm with my old aimesh node ac68u which works perfectly.

I assume that asua working at a huge patch for this router. I am awaiting for that.

Goodluck

 

[bbunge]

May be the router was hacked and/or something happened that the WAN MAC address changed. Check the MAC address on the router name tag and enter that into the Clone MAC address in the WAN setting. May work...

 

[bwj]

@bbunge Appreciated - thanks but didn't work!
[Is there a way of checking the WAN MAC address? on the router anyway?]

 

[bennor]

Hi, the Rt-ax88u router has a lot of issues with the latest updates. I had above issue also, no way to get ddns at work, also wifi falling down (I asume the radio deivers are corrupted because my wifiscanner metioned "epigram" als "manufactured by" in stead of asustec. Also mac address away from wan port when I want to use this router as an aimesh node. No way to connect.

As a troubleshooting step, perform a hard factory reset for the router followed by a manual configuration. Disconnect any attached USB drive before performing the hard factory reset and do not reattach until the router is confirmed as working properly. Do not import a previously saved router.cfg file. Setup the router manually after a hard factory reset.

By chance were you using the firmware's AiCloud feature at any point? If you were it is possible your router was hit with malware due to your issues presenting the same or similar as others who had their router infected with malware. See the following discussion for more on the malware and if you think your router was infected, the one or two people to contact to see if they can help recover the router.

Malware damaging ASUS routers?

This malware damaging Asus routers has to be described in a sticky thread with a warning sign! Update: Asus is releasing patched firmware for multiple models. Check for firmware updates! The changelog for most firmware releases contains the following: 1. Strengthened input validation and data...

www.snbforums.com

 

[bwj]

thanks @bennor

I may be naive but I don't think I have any malware symptoms although I have had AiCloud on in the past

I don't have excessively high traffic, I can factory reset (and manually type in new .cfg settings) but still have same problem which has only arisen with the latest (or next to latest) official Asus firmware upadate (and indeed the latest Merlin firmware) - cannot register a user name for DDNS at asuscomm.com/cannot use the router to automatically connect to the firmware update servers although the system info page does have a flashing green bell symbol to say that an update is available

 

[degrub]

Downgrade the firmware to the last known working version. See if it resumes working properly. Stay on stock.

 

[Arnold_K]

May be the router was hacked and/or something happened that the WAN MAC address changed. Check the MAC address on the router name tag and enter that into the Clone MAC address in the WAN setting. May work...

Hi, the mac address is visible in the lan (done with wireshark) but in wan mac address all zero after each reset. Somewhere a loading error I assume in post