CharChar1745
New Around Here
So hello everyone. I’m new here so please excuse any mistakes or misunderstandings on my parts.
I bought a brand new ASUS 98BE Pro. Brought it home, held down the WPS button and powered it up and did not power it off or release the button until the final white LED went out. I did this 5 times in a row then unplugged the router and let it sit for 3-4 hours.
I went back to it and powered it up. I plugged my laptop from my laptops Ethernet port to LAN 1 on the router and waited. Using Chrome’s Incognito Mode, I went to IP 192.168.50.1 and was brought to the “New Setup Page”.
Advanced-Wireless Router Mode-DHCP with Automatic selected-get to last page where it asks me for a Name and Password for both its WiFi 7 and IOT network. I create names and passwords. Passwords are the same and network names are nearly the same but one says IOT. Minor not, I did not choose any special DHCP Option identifiers. Currently, I have Xfinity’s top tier package (2000Mb/s down & 400Mb/s up) but over the last 20 or so years have had experience with many of their internet packages and was never instructed to input anything into this options into any router.
Next it takes me to the login page where I enter a unique username and complex password and then switches back to show me the WiFi credentials I entered earlier.
I should mention prior to this process I downloaded the official ASUS updated firmware for this Router model and also Merlin’s most up to date firmware for this model because during this entire process I have no WAN/internet connection. After everything refreshes and I cleared out all Chromes cache, cookies and history, I went back into incognito mode and went to 192.168.50.1 and the main login page came up. My credentials worked and the first thing I did was upload the file I downloaded from ASUS’s US website to update the firmware.
I’ll speed this up. With official ASUS firmware, same WPS power on/off process. Then set up similar network with just different credentials and flashed Merlin’s latest firmware. Then again, WPS power on/off process (each time 5x like the first time). Clear Chrome, check it for updates. Restart computer. No WiFi/BT card installed. Just Ethernet LAN port. Again no Ethernet connection to internet, just Ethernet cable to LAN port 1 on the router.
Go thru the same setup process with new credentials. Finally, now to setup inside the router while there is no internet connection. Turn on ASUS and agree to terms. Turn off uPNP and WPS immediately after that. Next turn firewall for IPv4 and incoming rules for firewall. Enable Rebind, DNSSEC, prevent client DOH and log all packets. Disable any protocols that default to enable for pass through in WAN section. Confirm IPv6 is disabled.
Now, it gets weird. I’ve setup lots of ASUS routers by I’m an IT amateur at best. I click the option to disable the 4G/5G dongle connection. Nothing happens after I hit apply even after 5 more times. I skip to LAN page to change to a different Private IP. I put in 10.20.20.1 for the Router. Hit apply. Nothing. Next, I go to the section with the logs. I scroll but not much makes sense. I exported it and have it here for anyone who has time to spare and would be kind enough to take even a brief look. Perhaps there’s some process or wording or instructions pointing to malware, a remote connection, back door. Essentially, a bad actor.
Maybe there’s nothing and the logs are normal. But, TBH I’ve had issues before with ASUS routers and I am aware of their history with unknown vulnerabilities being discovered while they take their time to employ a patch.
Any help or input at all would be greatly appreciated. And thank you already to anyone who read through my post. Sorry for the length. I wanted to be at detailed as possible. Thanks again. Hoping to hear from any members who are interested. Take care.
-John
I bought a brand new ASUS 98BE Pro. Brought it home, held down the WPS button and powered it up and did not power it off or release the button until the final white LED went out. I did this 5 times in a row then unplugged the router and let it sit for 3-4 hours.
I went back to it and powered it up. I plugged my laptop from my laptops Ethernet port to LAN 1 on the router and waited. Using Chrome’s Incognito Mode, I went to IP 192.168.50.1 and was brought to the “New Setup Page”.
Advanced-Wireless Router Mode-DHCP with Automatic selected-get to last page where it asks me for a Name and Password for both its WiFi 7 and IOT network. I create names and passwords. Passwords are the same and network names are nearly the same but one says IOT. Minor not, I did not choose any special DHCP Option identifiers. Currently, I have Xfinity’s top tier package (2000Mb/s down & 400Mb/s up) but over the last 20 or so years have had experience with many of their internet packages and was never instructed to input anything into this options into any router.
Next it takes me to the login page where I enter a unique username and complex password and then switches back to show me the WiFi credentials I entered earlier.
I should mention prior to this process I downloaded the official ASUS updated firmware for this Router model and also Merlin’s most up to date firmware for this model because during this entire process I have no WAN/internet connection. After everything refreshes and I cleared out all Chromes cache, cookies and history, I went back into incognito mode and went to 192.168.50.1 and the main login page came up. My credentials worked and the first thing I did was upload the file I downloaded from ASUS’s US website to update the firmware.
I’ll speed this up. With official ASUS firmware, same WPS power on/off process. Then set up similar network with just different credentials and flashed Merlin’s latest firmware. Then again, WPS power on/off process (each time 5x like the first time). Clear Chrome, check it for updates. Restart computer. No WiFi/BT card installed. Just Ethernet LAN port. Again no Ethernet connection to internet, just Ethernet cable to LAN port 1 on the router.
Go thru the same setup process with new credentials. Finally, now to setup inside the router while there is no internet connection. Turn on ASUS and agree to terms. Turn off uPNP and WPS immediately after that. Next turn firewall for IPv4 and incoming rules for firewall. Enable Rebind, DNSSEC, prevent client DOH and log all packets. Disable any protocols that default to enable for pass through in WAN section. Confirm IPv6 is disabled.
Now, it gets weird. I’ve setup lots of ASUS routers by I’m an IT amateur at best. I click the option to disable the 4G/5G dongle connection. Nothing happens after I hit apply even after 5 more times. I skip to LAN page to change to a different Private IP. I put in 10.20.20.1 for the Router. Hit apply. Nothing. Next, I go to the section with the logs. I scroll but not much makes sense. I exported it and have it here for anyone who has time to spare and would be kind enough to take even a brief look. Perhaps there’s some process or wording or instructions pointing to malware, a remote connection, back door. Essentially, a bad actor.
Maybe there’s nothing and the logs are normal. But, TBH I’ve had issues before with ASUS routers and I am aware of their history with unknown vulnerabilities being discovered while they take their time to employ a patch.
Any help or input at all would be greatly appreciated. And thank you already to anyone who read through my post. Sorry for the length. I wanted to be at detailed as possible. Thanks again. Hoping to hear from any members who are interested. Take care.
-John
