T-Mobile ASUS TM-AC1900 (RT-AC68U variant) gets WAN IP and can ping Internet but connected WiFi clients indicate no Internet?

[Maximum-Split-7860]

Bought a used TM-AC1900 router off Craigslist to replace my less powerful router that's been used with a Netgear modem for Xfinity Internet.

Router's firmware is 3.0.0.4.376_3108, i.e., *not* flashed with ASUS RT-AC68U or other compatible 3rd party firmware and not ready to do that at this point.

As the WiFi password on label on back of router didn't work, router was reset through the button on the back above power button. Am guessing that resets to factory defaults?

After resetting, the only changes made were to change the Admin password as well as to specify the SSIDs and passwords.

With ethernet cable from modem connected to router's WAN port, the router's admin page (http://192.168.29.1/index.asp) shows "Internet status" as "Connected" with an assigned "WAN IP" below that.

Using the router's "Network Tools", the router can also successfully ping+traceroute Google, Amazon, 4.2.2.1, 8.8.8.8, etc.

In other words, modem is properly synchronized with Xfinity, router can reach Internet, and DNS (tried both ISP's as well as 1.1.1.1) also works.

The problem is that any WiFi devices connected wirelessly to the ASUS router as well as any computer connected through wired ethernet to any router's LAN port are all unable to reach Internet.

Been reading around various forums and haven't found posts with the same problem, probably because not knowing search keywords to use.

The closest was reading about somebody mentioning their ISP did a "session refresh". But, unclear which ISP that was and if even in USA.

Tried to have Xfinity remotely "Reboot" the modem through the Xfinity app several times as well as even tried to re-"Activate" the same modem (CM MAC Address), hoping something might get triggered in my Xfinity account.

Would appreciate pointers on what else to look for in the router settings to check + try?

Anything in the router's log that may be helpful?

 

[bennor]

First, maybe try a hard factory reset, if you haven't done so already, of the TM-AC1900 router just to make sure it's been fully reset.

[Wireless Router] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset - Method 1 | Official Support | ASUS Global

Second, one may have to clone the MAC address of the previous Netgear router or computer that was previously directly connected to the Comcast cable modem and input that MAC address into the TM-AC1900's GUI administration page that has the clone MAC address option. One may have to check the Netgear router's GUI administration interface to see if it also had a cloned MAC address used in it's administration interface and use that MAC address.

One may have to contact the ISP/broadband provider and ask them to reset the line on their end to properly register the TM-AC1900 router.

If the TM-AC1900 hasn't been jail broken yet one can follow any one of the various guides to do so. For example the guide at the following link is a popular one, just make sure to do the MTD5 fix at the end otherwise one will have issues updating to the latest firmware versions for the RT-AC68U router.

https://www.bayareatechpros.com/ac1900-to-ac68u/

If the TM-AC1900 has already been jail broken, one should update to the latest firmware ASAP to close any security vulnerabilities in the very old firmware (3.0.0.4.376_3108) current on that router.

 

[Analog-1]

one may have to clone the MAC address of the previous Netgear router or computer that was previously directly connected to the Comcast cable

Nope not needed. Comcast will work with any router after the modem he will just get a new ip address for the new mac address no need for cloning. A reboot of the modem will be required. The TM-AC1900 is NOT supported by Asus or Merlin so good luck with jumping through hoops and modifications just to make it work. It's simply not worth it.

 

[bennor]

The TM-AC1900 is NOT supported by Asus or Merlin so good luck with jumping through hoops and modifications just to make it work. It's simply not worth it.

While not officially supported, people have properly jail broken the TM-AC1900 and are using the latest Asus or Asus-Merlin RT-AC68U firmware on it it without issue. The various jail breaking guides make the process fairly straight forward and easy. While not the best router to purchase these days when there are plenty of newer models available; it will work fine for lower speed broadband plans and lower end needs or usage. No doubt there are some here who prefer to keep old but still useable routers from the landfill/e-waste pile so they'll keep old routers like the TM-AC1900 running for their needs or uses. Not to mention the few who simply like to tinker.

 

[Maximum-Split-7860]

Thank you very much for the replies.

After creating this thread, the press-WPS-button-down-while-powering-on-until-power-indicator-blinks resetting method was indeed tried. Also tried the factory reset through admin GUI. Both did not make the LAN to be able to reach Internet.

Have also tried cloning old router's MAC address. While doing so did result in the same WAN IP address that old router was getting, the router is still not functioning as it should, i.e., while the router's built-in Network Tools can reach Internet to ping Google, Amazon, etc., LAN connected WiFi and wired devices are still unable to reach Internet.

Rebooting modem after clearing out the cloned MAC address did end up with the router showing a different WAN IP address; but, still malfunctions the same way, only router can reach Internet.

Tried to follow https://www.t-mobile.com/support/tu...uter/topic/cellspot-router/upgrade-firmware/7 to upgrade firmware.

Even though router can access Internet, with the problem of WiFi devices unable to reach Internet, the chicken-and-egg problem is present, can't go through the router's Admin page to upgrade firmware from there, would have to be manually done by uploading firmware to router.

TM-AC1900 - Support https://www.asus.com/supportonly/tm-ac1900/helpdesk_download/ shows no firmware at all, just "ASUS Device Discovery version 1.4.8.3" that is not relevant.

Tried entering Serial Number on https://www.asus.com/support/download-center/ which just refers back to the above.

Not even sure where to find the stock firmware 3.0.0.4.376_3108 in case may need to restore it later on?

So far, other Internet threads have only dead links.

By going through something like what's outlined there (and other similar instructions linked below) to convert the TM-AC1900 to RT-AC68U, will the router function as intended, allowing WiFi and wired devices to reach Internet? Also wondering what jail-breaking would provide other than more advanced controls of the router?

Flashing TM-AC1900 to RT-AC68U by Nat Taylor

tl;dr you’re probably here for these: Looking for tm-ac1900_3.0.0.4_376_1703-g0ffdbba.trx? Someone uploaded it here. This guide is probably better: Flash TM-AC1900 to ASUS RT-AC68U to use AiMesh Below is a summary of how I flashed a TM-AC1900 to a RT-AC68U, which is based on the instructions at...

nattaylor.com

How to config ASUS RT-AC68U to use AiMesh

T-Mobile router TM AC-1900 is a cheap alternative of Asus RT-AC68U. but it is not supported by Asus. To use latest Asus AiMesh, need to…

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기존 ìë ¤ì ¸ ìë HEXìëí°ë¥¼ ì¬ì©íì§ ìê³ ìëì ì¼ë¡ ì½ê² í°ëª¨ë°ì¼ TM-ac1900 ê³µì 를 ììì¤ RT-AC68U ì íì¼ë¡ ì¬ë¦¬ë ë°©ë²ì ìê°íë ¤ íë¤. ë°©ë²ì ìë ì¬ì´í¸ìì ì°¸ê³ íìë¤. http://www.clien.net/cs2/bbs/board.php?bo_table=lecture&wr_id=346170 â» 17ë 4ì 기ì¤ì´ê¸°ë문ì ìê°ì´ ì§ëë©´ì ë³ê²½ë ë¶ë¶ì´ ììµëë¤...

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[Analog-1]

Not even sure where to find the stock firmware 3.0.0.4.376_3108 in case may need to restore it later on?

There is no stock firmware. Support ended on your model a long time ago. The only way to upgrade it is by doing a hack as stated simply not worth it.

 

[bennor]

By going through something like what's outlined there (and other similar instructions linked below) to convert the TM-AC1900 to RT-AC68U, will the router function as intended, allowing WiFi and wired devices to reach Internet? Also wondering what jail-breaking would provide other than more advanced controls of the router?

Official Asus and T-Mobile support for the TM-AC1900 ended long ago, which is why you are having trouble trying to find the TM-AC1900 firmware. Jail breaking the router will let you put the very latest RT-AC68U Asus or very latest Asus-Merlin firmware on the unit. For others, their jail broken router works and LAN/WiFi clients have no issues reaching the internet. It is unknown what is causing the issue with the router without more information including posting any errors found in the system log or any changes made to the default router/firmware settings. It is also unknown what the previous owner did with (or to) the router. Properly jail breaking the router may fix the issue, or it may not. Honestly, no reason not to try and jail break it if one isn't going to replace it with a newer/better router.

There is a huge thread on the TM-AC1900 router at the following link. It may have additional information and suggestions that may help solve your issue.

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/2693988

Edit to add: What specific error message are you getting with the devices that cannot access the internet? It may help if you post your WAN and LAN page settings from the router GUI.

 

[Maximum-Split-7860]

Thank you very much for the additional replies.

What specific error message are you getting with the devices that cannot access the internet?

The TM-AC1900 logs did not show any error. Combed through the logs several times, line by line. That's why the problem was quite perplexing.

On WiFi and wired devices connected to the router, all stated message variants of "Connected, no internet", even though the router can reach Internet.

Finally took the time to convert the TM-AC1900 (firmware 3.0.0.4.376_3108) to RT-AC68U by following the steps on https://www.bayareatechpros.com/ac1900-to-ac68u/. Only upgraded to firmware version 3.0.0.4.384.32738 that some Redditor claimed was safe. That's the oldest listed on https://www.asus.com/us/networking-...ters/rtac68u/helpdesk_bios?model2Name=RTAC68U. There have been 29 newer versions since 08/15/2018, newest currently released on 11/30/2023. Need to read up to see if there are implications/precautions to upgrade to the most recent firmware and what the benefits are.

After the conversion to this firmware, the WiFi and wired devices are now able to reach Internet. Will try to forget the mysterious state the TM-AC1900 was in.

Thank you for all the help + suggestions, folks!