Can't reach Asus RT-AX58U web admin

[AnnieBody]

Hi
I have first tried getting support from Asus, but that is like getting blood out of a stone!
My new Asus router just will not connect to a web browser to enable me to use it and configure it.
As most new equipment is plug and play I find it difficult to believe that this new device just doesn't seem to want to work as a router.
I am tech savvy and although an amateur, quite familiar with setting up and configuring equipment to use in networks .
I purchased an RT-AX58U wireless router to replace my existing Vodafone THG3000 router.
The reason for the replacement is solely to improve the poor WiFi performance and create a whole home network using one SSID. WiFi extenders or further routers in WiFi only mode may be added as required after the new WiFi performance is confirmed.
The THG3000 router connects to a fibre optic modem using an Ethernet cable to the WAN port. It also connects to my PC using an Ethernet cable as well as other equipment via a separate router, all using CAT6 cabling (1Gb compliant).
The system is stable with no drop-outs recorded (except for WiFi).

Here is what I have tried without success:
On receipt of the RT-AX58U I followed the Quick Start Guide downloaded from your website.
With the THG3000 replaced with the RT-AX58U I found the router was not seen by a web browser. The ‘Internet’ led was red indicating no connection as I had not setup the PPPoE details.
I restored the THG3000 connection and connected a LAN between it and the RT-AX58U to add it to my system components.
The THG3000 recognised the RT-AX58U MAC code but remained greyed out indicating it was inactive. The router was still not be seen by a web browser.

I then removed the THG3000 and connected the RT-AX58U LAN directly to my PC. The router was still not be seen by a web browser.
I then disabled my Avast anti-virus, Comodo Firewall and CyberGhost VPN and repeated the above with the same results.
I then replaced the provided ethernet cable with a known working one and repeated the above with the same results.

Research on the web suggested connecting to the RT-AX58U using 192.168.50.1 instead of http://router.asus.com as defined in the Quick Start Guide .
I repeated all the above connections and tried 192.168.50.1 but with no success.

I then downloaded the Asus App from Google Play installed it on my tablet and successfully connected to the RT-AX58U using WiFi.
By this method I was able to setup the PPPoE as well as the WiFi.
Despite this success the router was still not seen by a web browser and the ‘Internet’ led remained red.

Research on the web suggested updating to the latest firmware. I downloaded this but then realised I needed a web browser connection in order to implement: catch 22.

I installed the Asus 'Device Discovery', but this doesn't find the router either.
My existing router finds the address 192.168.50.1 for the Asus but shows it greyed out.

As a system comparison check I then plugged an older router (only adsl compatible) and checked the login address. This was recognised by a web browser and worked as expected.

As research on the Asus support website gave me no means to resolve the issue, I attempted to contact them. As they don't recognise the serial number (due to using nought, zeros, ones and eyes), I am unable to do so.
Further searching gave me a telephone contact which I used and spoke to them. We tried some things as well as using the address 192.168.1.1 but as the router was still not being recognised by a web browser, they advised replacing the item.
Further contact with them has resulted in being told the WiFi is upsetting the unit and I need to change some settings! If this is the case then the unit is not fit for purpose. Plus in order to make changes I fist need to access it: catch 22.

Amazon kindly replaced with another; however I have exactly the same issue so do not beleive this is a unit failure.
I find it strange that the RT-AX58U appears not to be working correctly, and that two units both have the same problem.

Can anyone offer any advice as to why the router does not want to connect?
Any possible solutions would be greatly appreciated.
Regards and thanks

 

[AndreiV]

VODFONE FORUM

" 3rd line have come through with some additional and essential info! Need to be on vlan 911 to get a connection. "

interface speeds setting - Auto


VLAN 911

PPoE default settings

DHCP enabled

It looks like you need either a new modem that handles the VLAN settings or a router that handes VLANs.

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

Is this one of those refurbs? Make sure you factory reset it first. I believe the procedure is in the manual but it is slightly different than older ASUS models.
Found it:

1. Turn the router off.​

2. Press and hold the "WPS" button and turn the router on.​

3. Power light is on (keep holding the WPS button).​

4. Release the WPS button after the power light is off.​

5. Reboot your router by manually pressing the power button.​

What is your computer's TCP/IPv4 setting when trying to connect to the AX58U @ 192.168.50.1?
Set manually to the same subnet (like 192.168.50.10).

 

[AnnieBody]

Thanks for your responses.
Before I can change the vlan settings, I need to be able to access the router.

My current IPv4 settings are attached.
My PC is manually set to 192.168.1.100 to allow tablet apps to access it, they need a fixed address for SMB connections.
I also, manually set all my network device addresses. This allows me to keep them under check, if and when something doesn't work.
The default gateway 192.168.1.1 is my current router's address to allow for internet access.
If I try and change this address I get the attached warning.
Please note that another router worked with these settings, so I cannot fully understand why the Asus won't, but if I need to change them I will.
If that is the case would you kindly advise what they need to be.

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

Well, that's the problem. Your AX58U gateway and the PC must be on the same subnet. I have a similar issue. The solution I chose is to login over wifi and through the gui, change the router's IP to 192.168.1.1. Then reboot. The only problem with this band-aid solution is if you do a factory reset, it reverts back to 192.168.50.1.

 

[AnnieBody]

OK. I think I'm getting there.
Ideally I would like a one size fits all solution, but understand I may need to change the router IP address, so want an easy way to do this.
Option 1:
Is there a way for both the 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.50.1 to share a subnet so I can easily swap between the two without having to change the router's IP address every time I do a factory reset,
which would then work with my existing setup and the new router?
What would that subnet address need to be?
If I changed the subnet would I then need to change all my devices too?
Option 2:
Instead of trying to access the router via WiFi, what IPv4 settings would I need to change to access the router on my PC.

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

#1 There might be some convoluted way, but generally No, that's what subnets do. I guess you could add another router(192.168.1.1) under the 192.168.50.1 router - but that's kinda crazy just to avoid a rare inconvenience of manually changing a single PC's IP to get to the 58U router after a factory reset. I haven't done a factory reset on my main router in years. Its a much bigger PITA than just modifying my PC's TCP/IPv4 address. Alternatively you could switch all your other hard-coded and static IPs to live under 192.168.50.x.
#2. If it's just to quickly access the recently reset router - just set TCP/IPv4 to 192.168.50.x and Gateway to 192.168.50.1 and "OK". Fire-up your browser and do an M&M config of the router and change its IP to 192.168.1.1. Reboot and while waiting for it to come-up, change your PC back to Obtain IP Address Automatically.

Honestly, I hope I am wrong and someone who's been dealing with this issue for a while has a cleaner solution. In my case, I've got several 68U routers (Nodes and Repeaters) that default (at reset) to 192.168.1.1. So either way I do it, I've got to manually change something.

 

[raven-au]

Do you understand why this is causing you a problem, IOW do you understand the
meaning of subnet?

Before you can begin you need to know what reserved private network addresses
are. Have a quick look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_network for that.

The router has an address range that's determined by its address and its mask.
Many domestic routers use a "subnet" of the reserved private IP address range
192.168.0.0/16.

When you specify a mask for IP addresses on your home network, usually 24, that
tells the router network system what part of the network address forms the network
and what part of an address is used for host devices within the local network.

Notice above that private IP address range 192.168.0.0/16 has a network part of
192.168 (given there are 8 bits per number the mask is 16) and the host part is the
remaining 16 bits.

When you increase the size of the mask for the private IP address range you are
using a subnet of the address range, so that's where the term subnet comes from.

Most domestic routers use a 24 bit subnet of the 192.168.0.0/16 private IP address
range.

Many routers use the subnet 192.168.1.0/24 (the network part being 192.168.1)
and the remaining 8 bits used for (256) host addresses.

In any network or subnet the first and last addresses cannot be used, 192.168.1.0
meaning this whole network, and 192.168.1.255 which is the network (or subnet)
broadcast address so you end up with 254 usable addresses.

You also need a gateway address on any network (or subnet) so the network system
knows where to send network packets because the network gateway must know how
to forward network packets on to other networks (like the internet).

The gateway address of a network (or subnet) is often the first address after the
whole network address, in this case 192.168.1.1.

For an address to be workable it must be within the subnet (as must all device
addresses) used by the device that's responsible for forwarding network packets
around the network.

So this is how you know what a valid address is, what network mask to use, and
what the gateway needs to be.

So, since the RT-AX58U (and several other recent ASUS routers) use the
192.168.50.0/24 subnet by default, the device you use to connect to the RT-AX58U
must be within the 192.168.50.0/24 subnet, must have a mask of 24 and default
gateway of 192.168.50.1 in order to connect to it.

That means either have your connecting device network interface use DHCP or
assign a static address between 192.168.50.2 through 192.168.50.254, mask 24,
and gateway 192.168.50.1. And you know the gateway address is the address you
need to specify when connecting to the router because it is the gateway.

Note that, by default, the router DHCP will set the DHCP range of addresses it uses
to assign client device addresses to 192.168.50.2 through 192.168.50.254 so you
need to either reserve device addresses that fall in that range or change the DHCP
range so that devices that have addresses manually assigned fall outside the DHCP
range. Actually it doesn't really matter if devices with manually assigned addresses
fall within the DHCP range as long as they are reserved so they don't get assigned
to other devices by DCHP which will cause multiple devices to have the same IP
address and that will cause problems.

Since the default address mask on most every domestic router is 24 and you don't
know if there are assumptions based on that in the firmware code you generally
need to stay with that address mask.

So your options are, 1) change the device you use to connect to the router for initial
configuration (or after factory default reset) to use a valid address, login and change
the router to use the 192.168.1.0/24 subnet, and 2) change all your network devices
to use the 192.168.50.0/24 subnet.

Hopefully this description is understandable and helps you understand what's going
on, and I think I've mostly got it right.

 

[AnnieBody]

Many thanks to raven-au. I have l found more info on the web and now understand the subnet settings.
So I decided that changing the IP address of the router would be the way to go.
I set my IPv4 to 'Obtain the IP address automatically' and followed the instructions and got access to the settings.
I then updated the firmware with the Merlin 384.19 (confirmed in settings) repeated the instructions and got access to the settings again.
Then I changed to router IP address to 192.168.1.1 from 192.168.50.1.. You get a prompt about changing the pool devices, which you have to select 'Yes' in order to continue.
But now I cannot gain access to the router again using the original settings nor 'Obtain the IP address automatically'.
I factory reset the router and repeated my actions but still cannot gain access to the router.
When trying to access the router using the WiFi app it states 'Unable to reach'.
It also states the firmware is the original and not the Merlin update. It also states the IP address is 192.168.50.1, although these may be the previous values read at the last access.
So what is going on now? Why has the router no access again?

 

[raven-au]

Many thanks to raven-au. I have l found more info on the web and now understand the subnet settings.
So I decided that changing the IP address of the router would be the way to go.
I set my IPv4 to 'Obtain the IP address automatically' and followed the instructions and got access to the settings.
I then updated the firmware with the Merlin 384.19 (confirmed in settings) repeated the instructions and got access to the settings again.
Then I changed to router IP address to 192.168.1.1 from 192.168.50.1.. You get a prompt about changing the pool devices, which you have to select 'Yes' in order to continue.
But now I cannot gain access to the router again using the original settings nor 'Obtain the IP address automatically'.
I factory reset the router and repeated my actions but still cannot gain access to the router.
When trying to access the router using the WiFi app it states 'Unable to reach'.
It also states the firmware is the original and not the Merlin update. It also states the IP address is 192.168.50.1, although these may be the previous values read at the last access.
So what is going on now? Why has the router no access again?

I can only guess!

Using DHCP to ensure you have the correct interface settings often works ok but, particularly when changing router IP address, can be a bit of a problem.

Even if you specifically renew the DHCP settings it might not get new addresses etc.

But you know what network settings to use now so how about resetting the router to factory defaults pressing the reset button until the power light flashes and let the router reboot, then set your computer interface setting manually.

Use an IP address other than 192.168.50.1 (but in the 192.168.50.0 subnet) of course, then if you can access the router again perform the address change, and when the router reboots, manually change your IP address to be within the 192.168.1.0 subnet and try and access the router again.

If you can get that to work ok then update the firmware to the Merlin .19 release, the router will/should retain its address change.

 

[AnnieBody]

OK I followed your advice.
Factory reset. Changed the IPv4 settings (see 50 attached). Router accessible in a web browser. Manual setup and got into settings.
I then changed to router address from the default 192.168.50.1 to 192.168.50.10 and the IPv4 default gateway to the same address.
All was working OK. Great!
I then changed the router address to 192.168.1.1 and changed the IPv4 settings back to the original settings as above, then reboot.
The router can no longer be accessed in a web browser.
The router can no longer be accessed in the WiFi app.
Factory reset and back to 168.192.50.1 then all is well again.
So, please forgive my ignorance, but why doesn't the router appear to work at all with an IP address of 192.168.1.1, which is all I want?
There must be something else going on, mustn't there?

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

I then changed the router address to 192.168.1.1 and changed the IPv4 settings back to the original settings as above, then reboot.
The router can no longer be accessed in a web browser.
The router can no longer be accessed in the WiFi app.
Factory reset and back to 168.192.50.1 then all is well again.
So, please forgive my ignorance, but why doesn't the router appear to work at all with an IP address of 192.168.1.1, which is all I want?
There must be something else going on, mustn't there?

Try again - this time also check the router's DHCP range (on the LAN/DHCP Server page) that the DHCP Starting and Ending IP address range is also now in the 192.168.1. subnet. I'm not sure if these settings automatically change when you modify the router's IP.
If these don't get adjusted, the router won't assign your PC a correct IPv4 when you revert the PC to "Obtain IP Automatically".
I know this works since that's how I configured my AX3000 (same as AX58U). But in my case, I ran the nsru migration script to import those settings from my old 68U router. So I didn't have to manually adjust the DHCP settings.

Update: I suspect once you change the router's LAN IP to 192.168.1.1 and click "Apply", you'll loose connection and won't be able to go into the DHCP Server screen. So you'll be back to where you were the previous attempt. So instead, change the DHCP Server IP ranges first, then "Apply" the range change. Then go to LAN and change the router's LAN IP & "Apply".

 

[raven-au]

OK I followed your advice.
Factory reset. Changed the IPv4 settings (see 50 attached). Router accessible in a web browser. Manual setup and got into settings.
I then changed to router address from the default 192.168.50.1 to 192.168.50.10 and the IPv4 default gateway to the same address.
All was working OK. Great!
I then changed the router address to 192.168.1.1 and changed the IPv4 settings back to the original settings as above, then reboot.
The router can no longer be accessed in a web browser.
The router can no longer be accessed in the WiFi app.
Factory reset and back to 168.192.50.1 then all is well again.
So, please forgive my ignorance, but why doesn't the router appear to work at all with an IP address of 192.168.1.1, which is all I want?
There must be something else going on, mustn't there?

You must understand, it's quite hard to understand what's happening from written descriptions and it's equally hard to convey a thorough understanding of a subject with a written description.

It sounds like you missed a step in the procedure but it's hard to tell.

At the risk of confusing you the term "subnet" used here can be replaced with the term "network" since it has the same meaning.

Given the description I gave about subnets I assumed you understood that, to communicate, "all" devices on the "network" must have a network address that's within the same "network". For example, a router guest network will often have an address range within a different "network" specifically to isolate guest devices form devices in the main router "network".

So when you change the router address to a different "network", and your manually setting your computer address to avoid DHCP getting confused, firstly setting it to an address in the 192.168.50.0/24 "network", then you need to change your computer address to be within the 192.168.1.0/24 "network" after changing the router address to be able to communicate with it.

In this case, once you change the router address to 192.168.1.1 you need to change the third number in the computer network interface settings for address and default gateway from 50 to 1. The mask is 24 in both cases so it stays the same, probably written as 255.255.255.0, since each number represents 8 in the mask (giving the 24 bit network mask).

 

[AnnieBody]

I tried factory reset and changing the DHCP settings first to 192.168.1.2 (and several other last digit options) but this doesn't allow me to change them and gives me an address error, see attached.
I think that is what the pool changing option is supposed to do when you change the LAN address.
I then tried three other routers: two old ADSL types from previous ISP's as well as a Netgear DGN2200. These all use the default address 192.168.1.1 and all worked with a webpage and connected to WiFi without having to change any settings.
For each one I changed the LAN address to 192.168.50.1 and all worked when changing the IPv4 settings to suit the Asus defaults and back again. So my method appears to be sound.
As the Asus won't work at all either through webpage nor WiFi after making changes to the IP address, I can only conclude there is a major bug in the software and the unit is not fit for purpose.
I now have no choice but to swap for another AX3000 router which has the desired default address of 192.168.1.1. and see how that fares.

 

[AnnieBody]

So, packing up to send back and I realised I had the Merlin firmware loaded. So logged and installed the latest Asus firmware 3.0.0.4.384.950 as it would be unfair on the new owner to have to sort out my changes.
Restarted and logged in to check, then tried changing the IP address to 192.168.1.1 again. This time it worked and took me to the login screen!
It appears the default firmware that came pre-installed (don't have record of the number) plus the Merlin 384.19 both contain the same fatal bug that locks up the router.
It now works with my original PC settings of 192.168.1.1 meaning nothing has to change and all I had to do was change the LAN address in settings, as expected.
Hooray!
Many, many thanks to all those who took the time, made an effort to contribute and help me gain a solution.
Now to set it up....

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

Great news. And now that you're on stock ASUS firmware please help me out. Look in the System Log. I'm trying to find out if AiProtection is crashing when run on stock ASUS firmware. It crashes every 10-20 minutes on Merlin. So you shouldn't have to look back very far (assuming you have AiProtection turned on). When it crashes you get something like this in the log:

ep 25 11:47:48 kernel: CPU: 1 PID: 13806 Comm: dcd Tainted: P           O    4.1.52 #1
Sep 25 11:47:48 kernel: Hardware name: Generic DT based system
Sep 25 11:47:48 kernel: task: d0655c00 ti: cb396000 task.ti: cb396000
Sep 25 11:47:48 kernel: PC is at 0xb6cbf39c
Sep 25 11:47:48 kernel: LR is at 0x1dd14
Sep 25 11:47:48 kernel: pc : [<b6cbf39c>]    lr : [<0001dd14>]    psr: 600f0010
Sep 25 11:47:48 kernel: sp : becb1908  ip : 000a2050  fp : b5fff024
Sep 25 11:47:48 kernel: r10: 000a23c4  r9 : b5fff7e8  r8 : 000a287c
Sep 25 11:47:48 kernel: r7 : b5fff820  r6 : 000a2876  r5 : 00000000  r4 : b5fff7cc
Sep 25 11:47:48 kernel: r3 : 00000000  r2 : becb18e4  r1 : 0007d612  r0 : 00000000
Sep 25 11:47:48 kernel: Flags: nZCv  IRQs on  FIQs on  Mode USER_32  ISA ARM  Segment user
Sep 25 11:47:48 kernel: Control: 10c5387d  Table: 0eee004a  DAC: 00000015

I'm just trying to verify it still crashes on current ASUS firmware.

 

[AnnieBody]

I haven't noticed any dropping out or crashing using Firmware 3.0.0.4.384.9505, see attached.
As noted this is the only firmware that appears to be working correctly on my RT-AX58U.

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

I haven't noticed any dropping out or crashing using Firmware 3.0.0.4.384.9505, see attached.
As noted this is the only firmware that appears to be working correctly on my RT-AX58U.

Thanks. I see none of the AiProtection ("dcd Tainted") crashes that are common with Merlin. These crashes have been blamed on ASUS/TrendMicro for more than year. Long ago ASUS claimed to have fixed it, yet it still happens under Merlin.
But I can't tell from your log if AiProtection is actually running. I don't think it is operational unless you agree to their privacy terms. So without you going into AiProtection/Network Protection and verifying the Enabled switch is "On" ) green), this isn't proof.

 

[AnnieBody]

Yes it is on, see attached.

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

Yes it is on, see attached.

Thanks. I'd of taken your word, you needn't of bothered with the screen shot. But this is the proof I'm looking for.
Thanks again