Broken power button

[Blinkyz]

Same case here, Power Switch on my RT-AC68u was so sensitive it made the router reboot by himself just by shaking the table or moving something on the desk...So i opened the router and put a welding between PIN 1 and 2 of the switch ( top left 2 pins when the router is open on is stand).Now i must unplug the router if i need , but my reboot issues are finaly solved

There is 2 screws behind the sticker on the backside and begin to unclip the case from the top

 

[Hitchhiker]

Same here (RT-AC66u H/W Ver. A1. SN:C7IE0B002922), the switch just released by itself after some 2 years and did not stay in any more.
Seems to be an obvious material/component defect. Hopefully someone from Asus product development reads these and invests a few cents more for switches in the future models.
And hopefully this is not one of those well designed "planned obsolescence" products

 

[demo007]

Same happened to me today(would guess it is around 2½-3yrs old), opened it, removed the spring behind the button and hot-glued it down so it doesent move ever again...

real lousy quality, i would guess there are alot of n66u´s and its likes in the dumpsters because of this since a non technical person would probably think its broken...

when i assembled it i noticed the plastic around the antenna fasteners had cracks too.... so i had to press really hard to screw them in.

 

[hank81]

I'm afraid of using it on my rt-ac68u. I only switch it when there's no alternative. [emoji58]


Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Hitchhiker]

That doesn't help. The plastic part inside the switch will give up when the hours are full
Stick a toothpick between the button and the casing to lock it down if you want to be sure..
(..or solder a jumper to the circuit board.)

 

[ocram59]

Sadly joining the club...

Power button stoppet do stay "on" during the night without any touch to it.

Pratically in 2.5 years maybe I used the power button just 2 or 3 times , no more.. so i wonder if...

Is it jsut very poor quality or very smart "programmed obsolescence" ?

BR
Ocram59

 

[M.G.]

I'll add my voice to the chorus. The power button on my RT-AC68P started sticking today when upgrading to 378.7975 FW. I plan to never touch it again, and only reboot by pulling the power. Asus should consider a recall.

 

[subs]

My turn. Purchased 6/2/12. Power button dead 7/30/2015.
Pretty weak beer if you ask me.

* To the folks who say some button/product failure is to be expected- fine, but then Asus should step up and own up and repair this as a known defect.

* To the folks who say just fix it- I appreciate your McGiverness, and I really could, but don't have the time. I wish I had the time, I appreciate this is the kind of router that is bought by the kind of folks who like to tinker- I mean, that's why we're on this forum. But I really just want it to work, I don't want to open it up and start soldering the board or pulling out a spring and gluing the bad switch.

The toothpick has been inserted. The router is now functional.

 

[TonyH]

My turn. Purchased 6/2/12. Power button dead 7/30/2015.
Pretty weak beer if you ask me.

* To the folks who say some button/product failure is to be expected- fine, but then Asus should step up and own up and repair this as a known defect.

* To the folks who say just fix it- I appreciate your McGiverness, and I really could, but don't have the time. I wish I had the time, I appreciate this is the kind of router that is bought by the kind of folks who like to tinker- I mean, that's why we're on this forum. But I really just want it to work, I don't want to open it up and start soldering the board or pulling out a spring and gluing the bad switch.

The toothpick has been inserted. The router is now functional.

I wonder how many time router is power cycled over it's usage. My router is always left on unless there is some maintenance is needed. Cheap mechanical switch does not have long MTBF. I had a RJ45 connector on my laptop(Alienware) broke. I jury rigged in mil-spec heavy duty one taking apart the whole laptop to get at it.

 

[mrtimo]

So, couldn't get it to power on at all... opened up the case. Never soldering anything before. Anyone soldered this? I took off the spring, and that didn't help (still does not turn on).

Here is a pic: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o96dwauos4m0fkb/20150806_161207.jpg?dl=0

 

[Gryzounours]

Hey guys,
just happened to me aswell with my ac66u. Fixed it with a toothpic but I am not a big fan of this solution.

 

[morpa]

Joining our growing club here - power button broke today, maybe used it 10 times during the two years ive had the router....... cheapo asus, cheapo.

 

[jmelan]

same, n66u this morning, never used the power button, have always just unplugged it

toothpick fixed it for now

 

[ringding]

I have a piece of tape holding it down now, I guess I'll call Asus.

Mine did the same i was 2 floors away. I used a tiny "Euro-Penny" bc the gorilla tape i used didn't hold over a week b4 the heat let the "spring-loaded" powerbutton up enough to lose the "contact"-- US coins were too large, this coin is smaller than a dime, but it + black "gorilla tape" has kept it (RT-N66U) on since i rigged it. I really thought that was just a restart button; I may have used it once when i first installed it.

If you have worked in IT, and handled calls about "Internet Down", easiest thing to say is "powercycle modem & router" and when asked how say just "unplug both, then plug them back in and wait a few". That's what i do when the power goes out @ my house to get bridged modem to pass public IP to rtr.
And like they say, what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Has anyone contacted ASUS and at least had an offer to RMA for this button issue? What was ASUS thinking... that since new cars have on buttons then so should new gen routers? I love asus but this is ridiculous. An RMA will equal downtime for us with just one router handy--and i doubt they give loaners.

Where's that "Fight Back" TV show when i need it ;-)

RiNGDiNG

 

[saimylo]

So, couldn't get it to power on at all... opened up the case. Never soldering anything before. Anyone soldered this? I took off the spring, and that didn't help (still does not turn on).

Here is a pic: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o96dwauos4m0fkb/20150806_161207.jpg?dl=0

I just fixed my RT-N66U today. It's a bit more involved than I thought but I'll try to explain in words since I don't know how to attach a pic:

1. Remove 4 screws under rubber feet
2. Use credit card to unclip case on all 4 sides
3. Remove the spring and the clip holding the spring on the button
4. Super glue the button down in the "on position" (Just like you, I thought I was done but when I plugged the power back in, I noticed that the router is still not powered on)
5. Flip the circuit board over and remove 6 tiny screws to detach the back shield/ground plane/big shiny metal plate!
6. With the power button pointing down and looking at the back of the circuit board where the power button connector pins are sticking out , you will see that the connector has 5 pins.
7. The top right and bottom left pins aren't connected to anything and is just there to hold the connector onto the board. The remaining 3 pins in the middle, you will want to solder a short wire between pin 1 and 2 (You can blob it if you have mad soldering skills!). Pin 1 and 2 are farthest away from the actual power button and if you look at the pad on the board carefully, you will see that they are both round with pin 3 having a square pad.

FYI, Step #4 is necessary even if you're soldering the pins together because with the spring in and the power button stuck in the off position, it is actually connecting pins 2 and 3 together. It's probably not a good idea to connect pins 1, 2, and 3 together on that connector.

Hope that helps someone who wants a clean (aesthetically) solution but I would not recommend it for people who don't know how to solder or not a bit adventurous.

 

[joms]

Happened to me too. My N66u power switch broke all of a sudden after 1 year of use. I hope they rectify this problem in future models.

 

[RMerlin]

Happened to me too. My N66u power switch broke all of a sudden after 1 year of use. I hope they rectify this problem in future models.

The switch has been different for a few years already, starting with the RT-AC56U.

 

[PCPilgrim]

My ASUS RT-N66U power switch broke after about 9 months of service. Very surprised when this happened but, since I am a fan of JB Weld, I put a slight application and taped it to the on position. The router location is in the attic near the peak of the roof so I'm thinking it was pretty hot up there. The heat may have contributed to the failure.

 

[stevebor1]

Same thing here. never used the switch, except the very first time to turn it on. It has been a couple of years and now it popped out. I used packing tape to hold it down for now.

 

[Samus Aran]

My power button died too. This has happened to so many of us! Asus should step up.