Setting AP Mode (+LAN IP) After NVRAM Wipe?

[rubik]

I use a RT-AC68 as my main router and a RT-N66 in AP mode (for extra coverage), both running Merlin's latest firmware and everything is working great, no issues.

Quick stupid question/dilemma I'm having:

After flashing a firmware update on the N66, if I have to wipe the NVRAM, is there an easy/ier way to set it back into AP mode and set its IP address (to 192.168.1.2, so it doesn't collide with the AC68 on 192.168.1.1) without having to go hook up a cable and connect a laptop and manually setting it up every time?

Would something like this work (all steps on the N66)?

1. Upgrade firmware and wait for UI to come back up.
2. Reset to factory/wipe NVRAM.
3. Prior to rebooting it, can I set *something* that will make the router boot straight into AP mode, with its LAN/WAN IP as 192.168.1.2 instead of .1 (i.e. setting 'lan_ipaddr' and 'wan_ipaddr' to 192.168.1.2 and 'sw_mode' to 3)? Or will the NVRAM clear happen post-reboot and there's no use? How about via some shell script somewhere that'll get automatically executed at boot (will have to double check but thought JFFS is now enabled by default but scripts aren't)?

Just trying to avoid having to manually connect to the damn thing each time and I'm sure there's other folks here running a similar setup... maybe there's an easy "fix" that I'm missing.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[RMerlin]

You can't. Factory default reset will always revert to router mode, no matter what - nvram is cleaned before the first boot.

Note that you can use a wireless interface to do the initial configuration - no need for an Ethernet connection. On first boot the SSID will be ASUS, with no security enabled.

 

[rubik]

Note that you can use a wireless interface to do the initial configuration - no need for an Ethernet connection. On first boot the SSID will be ASUS, with no security enabled.

Awesome, thank you for that tidbit! I will definitely try it out as long as it'll allow me to connect... not sure what kind of half-mess router mode state it'll boot up into since I assume it can't assign itself the default 192.168.1.1 IP as that's taken by the upstream AC68 that it's plugged into. However, as long as it allows me to access the web UI, I can quickly reconfigure it there and be all set.

 

[RMerlin]

Awesome, thank you for that tidbit! I will definitely try it out as long as it'll allow me to connect... not sure what kind of half-mess router mode state it'll boot up into since I assume it can't assign itself the default 192.168.1.1 IP as that's taken by the upstream AC68 that it's plugged into. However, as long as it allows me to access the web UI, I can quickly reconfigure it there and be all set.

I suspect it will simply fail to obtain a WAN lease, so it will have its own, isolated LAN, to which you will be able to connect over wifi.