Solved *SOLVED* Asus RT-AX86U Pro on latest Merlin 3004.388.4, cannot get RT-AC68U (on any firmware) to connect as a AI Mesh Node

[jamesnmandy]

Hello all, so I recently upgraded my router to the AX86U Pro. Loaded the latest Merlin firmware on it 3004.388.4 and then loaded the latest Merlin 386.12_0 on the AC68U. I have also tried loading the most recent stock firmware FW_RT_AC68U_300438651665 onto the AC router since it will just be a node. I have tried every cable method I can find to connect things, following all the instructions....every single time while trying to add the node, it gets to 38% and then fails to add it. I've done so many resets/factory defaults/etc..... I feel like there is something fundamentally broken.

Any ideas or others who have had this issue or got it to work? Thanks

 

[jamesnmandy]

Hopefully someone else finds this one day and it helps them. I went back through the directions from Asus and watched the videos on youtube again....and then came back here and found a post where someone mentioned to do the initial setup, the Mesh Router LAN port had to be plugged into the Mesh Node's WAN port....I was using LAN to LAN port between the two routers previously. Nowhere in the Asus instructions did I see this specified! It works now, or at least I got the node connected....we will see. Thanks

 

[bennor]

... and then came back here and found a post where someone mentioned to do the initial setup, the Mesh Router LAN port had to be plugged into the Mesh Node's WAN port....I was using LAN to LAN port between the two routers previously. Nowhere in the Asus instructions did I see this specified!

Which instructions did you use? Ethernet backhaul setup is explained (with pictures and video) in the following Asus support articles and they show main router LAN to AIMesh node WAN:
[AiMesh] What is Ethernet Backhaul Mode/Backhaul Connection Priority in AiMesh System and how to set up in different scenarios?
[AiMesh] Can I set up wired connection between AiMesh routers (Ethernet backhaul)?

 

[jamesnmandy]

Which instructions did you use? Ethernet backhaul setup is explained (with pictures and video) in the following Asus support articles and they show main router LAN to AIMesh node WAN:
[AiMesh] What is Ethernet Backhaul Mode/Backhaul Connection Priority in AiMesh System and how to set up in different scenarios?
[AiMesh] Can I set up wired connection between AiMesh routers (Ethernet backhaul)?

View attachment 53646

I'll be honest. I didn't pay close enough attention. When that screen came up in the UI I read the text part clearly and the little graphic that shows that connection was something I glazed over. If they had simply put that detail in actual text I wouldn't have missed it. I'll call that poor UI design to embed an important detail in a image... but my fault for not paying more attention.