Please Help! RT-AC68U wifi can't connect

[L&LD]

Thanks L&LD for the info. The funny thing is that this router has worked for...I don't know...at least 5+ years. The issue has come up in the past month or so.

The fix was just changing the 2.4GHz to unsecured and then back to a WPA Personal. It's been working fine since. It's weird, but true.

I didn't have to go through all of what you had on the thread. Out of everything (firmware, resetting, unplugging and leaving it totally power down, reflashing firmware and resetting) didn't work. I tried just setting to unsecured and back to secured and that did the trick.

I would recommend this as the first step vs all of the voodoo for anyone experiencing the same issue.

I am curious though as to how the steps of disabling all of these perimeters is a sanitize/ cleansing process. Wouldn't the firmware reset most of that? You would thing a factory reset and a firmware and crossing your fingers would completely sanitize the system.

I'm not condescending, but very curious and trying to understand more...

No doubt the router worked for many years beforehand. But even if the router didn't change, the devices and environment it works in, has.

I am happy that in your case it was a simple fix to find and implement, but that is not usually the case. Even if it was; it is easier for me to simply do what I've outlined than to toggle each and every switch (or combination thereof) and hope to find a fix sooner than later.

The router is not the only one that holds all the cards; the clients are responsible for some of the wonkiness that happens.

Same goes for static electricity build up between two devices connected by a LAN cable (or the switch in the middle, itself). Even just letting the ISP have a little break once in a while will get them happy and not try funny stuff on our connections (they're probably paranoid that something, somewhere, is being stolen or accessed for free).

I have gone through the list I've created and some issues did not go away (with firmware past): I immediately bought a new router for the customer and the problem was immediately resolved. Spending a few hours at most vs. many days to determine what the issue was is priceless. Knowing what is causing the issue isn't help in some cases either. Solving the big issue(s) are.

Again; glad you were able to bypass it this time. Hope your luck holds out next time as well.

I need to update that guide one of these days. I will certainly keep your experience in mind. Thank you.


Edit: found a link that I think explains it a little better.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac66u-slow-wan-to-lan.12973/page-3#post-269410

 

[TLight]

I had the same problem described here. Had a 2nd RT-AC87U set up as an AP for months working fine and then 2.4Gz quick connecting. It got to the point that I suspected my 2.4Ghz radio was going out, until I got an analyzer and saw it was still there. Tried all sorts of stuff, short of a complete reset and reinstall. I found this thread and saw Steve Young's solution, and it worked! I did the following:

1. Changed 2.4ghz system to "open".
2. Forgot network on client.
3. Connected to new open 2.4Ghz network (note, first time I'd been able to connect since the problem)
4. Configured 2.4Ghz network back to WPA2-Personal
5. Forgot network on client.
6. Connected to new secure 2.4Ghz network.

Worked like a charm. As martinr mentioned, might be the password is getting corrupted. Changing to Open and back must clear things out.

Many thanks for posting S.Young!