RT-AC86U Can't access LAN, NAS or Plex - Noob Question

[Derj]

Hey gang,
I'm completely hopeless when it comes to networking. I'm reasonably computer literate, but I can't ever seem to wrap my head around networking stuff.
Just bought an RT-AC86U to replace our old DLink. Our network is a bit complex, but I don't think it's overly convoluted:

Internet > Modem > WiFi Router > 3 hardline connections to gaming consoles and an NVIDIA Shield
> 1 hardline running to an unmanaged switch
Switch > hardline connections to 2 different NASes (one primary (Synology), one old one (QNAP) used as a target for backup) and a Windows 10-baseed Plex server
> hardline connection running to our primary PC

There are a bunch of devices connected via WiFi, but nothing unusual (tablet, phones, laptops, a second NVIDIA Shield)

The devices all connect properly to the internet, but seemingly everything on the LAN is broken, now. I can't access the Synology or the QNAP -- QFinder sees the QNAP, but can't connect to it; Synology Assistant can't even see the Syno NAS. I can access the Plex server via a Windows share that I've set up, but none of the devices on the network can talk to Plex. Youtube works on the Shields, but Netflix won't actually play anything -- I can navigate the interface, but when we go to play a show, it just spins, and eventually errors out ("sorry, can't play this file right now", or something similar).

In my previous experience with DLinks, everything was super simple plug-and-play. This is my first experience with an ASUS router, so I don't know if there's something I'm supposed to be doing, here...? The stuff that works with the RT-AC86U works really well, but if I can't figure out a way to get everything back to the way it should be in the next day or two, I'm going to have to return it.

 

[Sunny786]

Hey gang,
I'm completely hopeless when it comes to networking. I'm reasonably computer literate, but I can't ever seem to wrap my head around networking stuff.
Just bought an RT-AC86U to replace our old DLink. Our network is a bit complex, but I don't think it's overly convoluted:

Internet > Modem > WiFi Router > 3 hardline connections to gaming consoles and an NVIDIA Shield
> 1 hardline running to an unmanaged switch
Switch > hardline connections to 2 different NASes (one primary (Synology), one old one (QNAP) used as a target for backup) and a Windows 10-baseed Plex server
> hardline connection running to our primary PC

There are a bunch of devices connected via WiFi, but nothing unusual (tablet, phones, laptops, a second NVIDIA Shield)

The devices all connect properly to the internet, but seemingly everything on the LAN is broken, now. I can't access the Synology or the QNAP -- QFinder sees the QNAP, but can't connect to it; Synology Assistant can't even see the Syno NAS. I can access the Plex server via a Windows share that I've set up, but none of the devices on the network can talk to Plex. Youtube works on the Shields, but Netflix won't actually play anything -- I can navigate the interface, but when we go to play a show, it just spins, and eventually errors out ("sorry, can't play this file right now", or something similar).

In my previous experience with DLinks, everything was super simple plug-and-play. This is my first experience with an ASUS router, so I don't know if there's something I'm supposed to be doing, here...? The stuff that works with the RT-AC86U works really well, but if I can't figure out a way to get everything back to the way it should be in the next day or two, I'm going to have to return it.

try to factory default every device start with router.

 

[Derj]

Did three factory resets when trying to figure this out yesterday -- two using the reset button on the device, one using a software factory reset. Same problem every time. Plugged the old router back in, and everything works just fine. Seems like it's got to be a problem with the router, to me. It doesn't seem likely that it's a firmware issue, but maybe? Probably something with the settings, but I have no idea what that might be.

 

[Ameenhuus]

Turn off everything in your network. Turn on the Modem(wait for all lights are ok), then turn on Router(wait for all lighst are ok), then turn on the switch(wait for all lights are ok) then turn on Synology and Qnap(wait for all lights are ok).
Turn on the rest.

Did you use fixed ip adresses?(Shield, Synology etc) Make sure u use the correct adresses in the range of the new 86U.

 

[isr25]

Are you using special connections - some ISPs require this from routers to connect to the Internet and also allocates 1 port for IPTV. Usually Port 4 is specific for this.

If this is the case, don’t use Port 4 to connect to the switch and leave it empty, or put it to the IPTV

 

[Derj]

Thank, guys. What a convoluted, garbage process. SMH.
Rebooting everything on the network helped with about half of my equipment. The Syno still wasn't being recognized by anything -- the router, the Synology Assistant, WAN, nothing. Hard rebooting the Syno made one of the ports show up on the network map intermittently, but it would only hang around for 20-30sec before dropping out and reconnecting a couple of minutes later. Without being able to login to the admin panel, it was pretty much impossible to sort the issues out.
Called in a favour from the IT guy at my old job, and he swung by to help me out. We wound up manually changing the IP of the router to what it was actually supposed to be (for some inexplicable reason, it changed itself to 192.168.50.xx immediately after running the initial setup). I had static IPs set up on the Syno ports, so changing the router IP finally allowed us to connect to the admin panel. We manually changed the IP pool on the router, rebooted everything on the network again, assigned the Syno and QNAP ports new static IPs, set up the HyperBackup again, and called it a day.
I'm trying to sort through some minor issues with the Plex server, but hopefully it's nothing too serious for me to figure out on my own.

Brutal. Absolutely BRUTAL. Close to 6 hours down the drain, including the time I spent beating my head against the wall on Sunday and Monday. Never had that much trouble switching to a new router before.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Thank, guys. What a convoluted, garbage process. SMH.
Rebooting everything on the network helped with about half of my equipment. The Syno still wasn't being recognized by anything -- the router, the Synology Assistant, WAN, nothing. Hard rebooting the Syno made one of the ports show up on the network map intermittently, but it would only hang around for 20-30sec before dropping out and reconnecting a couple of minutes later. Without being able to login to the admin panel, it was pretty much impossible to sort the issues out.
Called in a favour from the IT guy at my old job, and he swung by to help me out. We wound up manually changing the IP of the router to what it was actually supposed to be (for some inexplicable reason, it changed itself to 192.168.50.xx immediately after running the initial setup). I had static IPs set up on the Syno ports, so changing the router IP finally allowed us to connect to the admin panel. We manually changed the IP pool on the router, rebooted everything on the network again, assigned the Syno and QNAP ports new static IPs, set up the HyperBackup again, and called it a day.
I'm trying to sort through some minor issues with the Plex server, but hopefully it's nothing too serious for me to figure out on my own.

Brutal. Absolutely BRUTAL. Close to 6 hours down the drain, including the time I spent beating my head against the wall on Sunday and Monday. Never had that much trouble switching to a new router before.

The 86U default IP is 192.168.50.1. When setting up a router, you must set its IP address to suit your network design. You should have confirmed this.

OE

 

[Derj]

The 86U default IP is 192.168.50.1. When setting up a router, you must set its IP address to suit your network design. You should have confirmed this.

OE

I don't know, dude. Everything I've found has said that the default IP for ASUS routers is 192.168.1.1... Even their official screen caps show it as 192.168.1.1
Trying to log into the admin GUI using http://router.asus.com (again, as listed in all of ASUS' official documentation) also doesn't work, presumably since the router switched itself to 192.168.50.1

If the AC86U's default .50 IP is listed somewhere, I sure wasn't able to find that info. So, like, what's with the snark?

You should have confirmed this.

OE

 

[OzarkEdge]

I don't know, dude. Everything I've found has said that the default IP for ASUS routers is 192.168.1.1... Even their official screen caps show it as 192.168.1.1
Trying to log into the admin GUI using http://router.asus.com (again, as listed in all of ASUS' official documentation) also doesn't work, presumably since the router switched itself to 192.168.50.1

If the AC86U's default .50 IP is listed somewhere, I sure wasn't able to find that info. So, like, what's with the snark?

The default IP address for a router, like all of its firmware default settings, is whatever is listed/installed in its webUI after performing a factory default reset prior to router configuration. ASUS tells you how to login to the router webUI by browsing to router.asus.com; it remains for the user to confirm the desired settings.

OE

 

[Derj]

LOL Thanks, I guess? Very helpful.

 

[RMerlin]

Asus changed the default IP address to use 192.168.50.xxx a few months/years ago. What default address your router uses will depend on the bootloader, model, firmware version, etc...

That's why Asus specifically says to use router.asus.com, as that will always resolve to the correct IP address when doing your initial setup.

 

[Grisu]

And you could use ASUS Device Discovery: https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/RT-AC86U/Discovery_1480.zip
click show more utilities: https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RT-AC86U/HelpDesk_Download/