Should connecting to routers be this difficult ? GT-AX6000 set as AP & ISP router (unwanted redirect).

[jaizan]

Due to problems with my 2.4 GHz devices on my GT-AX6000, I have reverted to the Vodafone ISP router. I am using the GT-AX6000 as an access point for some final testing.

1 Despite having the Asus IP set to 192.168.3.1, when I reconnect the Vodafone ISP router & enter 192.168.1.1, it insists on redirecting to router.asus.com, or similar. I clear all the site data for Asus & it still fails. Restarting the browser and changing to a different browser doesn't work. Eventually, after restarting my PC, this works. Is there an easier way to fix this ?

2 Having set the Asus router as an AP, I cannot get the Asus menu to adjust settings. Either via LAN connected to the back of the ASUS router or via wifi connec. The router.asus.com doesn't work. Typing in 192.168.3.1 doesn't work. Using arp -a and trying every IP on the list fails. Finally, my Vodafone ISP router greys out any details of the Asus router. What am I doing wrong ? I'm fairly sure I had this working when I first got the Asus router. Perhaps it was not in AP mode ?

 

[ColinTaylor]

It sounds like your GT-AX6000 isn't in AP mode.

Also, assuming that the Vodafone is using a standard /24 netmask your 192.168.3.1 would be invalid as that would be on a completely different subnet. Perhaps you meant to say 192.168.1.3?

 

[Crimliar]

@jaizan do you by any chance use Vodafone's DNS and have their SecureNet set up? VF's SecureNet is frankly far more trouble than it's worth blocking access to far more than it should. If this is the case, you might just want to try the Asus router again, but change the DNS settings! *In addition to @ColinTaylor commenting that it doesn't sound like the Asus is currently in AP mode!

 

[jaizan]

Also, assuming that the Vodafone is using a standard /24 netmask your 192.168.3.1 would be invalid as that would be on a completely different subnet. Perhaps you meant to say 192.168.1.3?

I set the GT-AX6000 to AP mode.

The GT-AX6000 IP was set to 192.168.3.1 when it was my sole router, as my CCTV cameras were previously using that subnet with an earlier dual router set up.

I didn't choose to change this when going to new 2 router system. If setting this as an AP forces a change, of course that is another matter !

The first question is how do I QUICKLY stop the redirect from 192.168.1.1 to router.asus.com, which it tries to do even when I have the Vodafone ISP router as my only router ?

Due to problems on 2.4 GHz connections I have been swapping routers and the redirect is a pain.

 

[jaizan]

@jaizan do you by any chance use Vodafone's DNS and have their SecureNet set up? VF's SecureNet is frankly far more trouble than it's worth blocking access to far more than it should. If this is the case, you might just want to try the Asus router again, but change the DNS settings! *In addition to @ColinTaylor commenting that it doesn't sound like the Asus is currently in AP mode!

Thank you. I have an "automatic DNS".

I don't believe I have SecureNet.
My account website states "There's nothing we can show you" when I go to the security settings page.
I can't find anything for SecureNet on the router settings.
The words SecureNet do not appear in any of the sign up documentation.
As far as I can tell, this is a paid for service & I'm not paying for any extras.

[My original problem which prompted all the swapping routers around was with dropping 2.4 GHz connections on the Asus router (as the sole router).
This is intermittent, but once a connection is dropped, it tends to stay dropped. Even rebooting devices does not assure a reconnect.
With the Vodafone router, the 2.4 GHz connections are far more reliable and if I reboot something, it reliably reconnects.
Unfortunately, I dislike other aspects of the Vodafone router]

 

[ColinTaylor]

I set the GT-AX6000 to AP mode.

The GT-AX6000 IP was set to 192.168.3.1 when it was my sole router, as my CCTV cameras were previously using that subnet with an earlier dual router set up.

I didn't choose to change this when going to new 2 router system. If setting this as an AP forces a change, of course that is another matter !

The first question is how do I QUICKLY stop the redirect from 192.168.1.1 to router.asus.com, which it tries to do even when I have the Vodafone ISP router as my only router ?

Due to problems on 2.4 GHz connections I have been swapping routers and the redirect is a pain.

I think you need to review your devices' IP addresses. Using 192.168.3.1 for the access point in a 192.168.1.0/24 network is wrong and makes no sense. It would only make sense if the GT-AX6000 was in router mode with it's own LAN.

If going to 192.168.1.1 redirects you to router.asus.com that sounds like you might have another Asus router (e.g. RT-AC68U) on your network configured with that IP address. I suggest you power off the GT-AX6000 (and any other Asus devices) and reboot the Vodafone router and your PC. Then see if things are more sane.

 

[Ripshod]

If this is with vodafone UK's router then there must be something in your configuration causing this. I can get my router set up as an AP with the vf router without experiencing the problems you seem to be having.
However,as @ColinTaylor mentioned you should look at the subnet IPs. In true AP mode I would expect everything connected (except guest wifi) to be on the same subnet as the vf's LAN, as the vf router would be providing dhcp for the whole network. Of course, in true AP mode you would not be able to access the asus GUI like that.

 

[jaizan]

If going to 192.168.1.1 redirects you to router.asus.com that sounds like you might have another Asus router (e.g. RT-AC68U) on your network configured with that IP address. I suggest you power off the GT-AX6000 (and any other Asus devices) and reboot the Vodafone router and your PC. Then see if things are more sane.

Thank you.
I think the Asus routers cause the redirect, when connected to the network even with a different IP address for the Asus routers. typically 192.168.3.1 or 192.168.3.2

Ideally, I would like to find a way of completely preventing this redirect, as when swapping between routers, it's more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Crimliar]

@Jaizen I kind of feel that we're tying ourselves up in knots here!
I think I'd start from scratch here. That would mean disconnecting the GT-AX6000 from any other equipment and then following the reset procedure here: https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1039078/
If you now connect to the router using it's initial WiFi setup you can use the advanced set up option to set it up as an AP.
Once it's set up, you can plug its WAN port into a LAN port on your Vodafone router, and you'll need to go into the Vodafone WEBUI to get it's IP from there. You'll now find that as it's running as an access point, your options are much more limited than when running as a router.
Back in the Vodafone WEBUI find the option for the DNS servers and change them Google 8.8.4.4 & 8.8.8.8 , Cloudflare 1.0.0.1 & 1.1.1.1 , or something similar.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Ideally, I would like to find a way of completely preventing this redirect, as when swapping between routers, it's more trouble than it's worth.

The only way this could happen is if you have misconfigured an Asus router and it's acting as a DHCP/DNS server on your LAN. I've suggested one course of action and @Crimliar has suggested another.

 

[jaizan]

The only way this could happen is if you have misconfigured an Asus router and it's acting as a DHCP/DNS server on your LAN. I've suggest one course of action and @Crimliar has suggested another.

Thank you.

I've got an Asus AC and an AX router. The AX router goes back to Amazon tomorrow.

Prior to that, for several years, I've had the ISP router then the Asus AC router connected to that. The Asus AC router has the DHCP server enabled and it starts with an IP of 192.168.3.1
I never encountered the unwanted redirect issue until the AX router arrived. In fact, I don't THINK I encountered it when I initially connected the AX router to the ISP router.
Once Vodafone finally supplied the correct passwords, I then removed the ISP router and ran the Asus only. I think it was redirecting from this point, but obviously not a problem at this stage.
Only when I returned to a 2 router set up & I was still getting redirects did it become a problem.

Now I seem to get it even when my PC is connected to the ISP router (Vodafone) and the Asus AC router is also connected to the Vodafone router.

So as far as I can tell, something has changed since the Asus AX router was connected as the sole router on 192.168.1.1
In my opinion, if my PC is connected to my Vodafone router AND is on an IP address assigned by the Vodafone router AND the Vodafone router is the one connected to the Internet, then if I type in the Vodafone router IP 192.168.1.1, then it should NOT redirect to Asus, just because I have an Asus router also connected with an IP of 192.168.3.1.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but I just think Asus are being very unhelpful by somehow forcing a redirect in such circumstances.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Thank you.

I've got an Asus AC and an AX router. The AX router goes back to Amazon tomorrow.

Prior to that, for several years, I've had the ISP router then the Asus AC router connected to that. The Asus AC router has the DHCP server enabled and it starts with an IP of 192.168.3.1
I never encountered the unwanted redirect issue until the AX router arrived. In fact, I don't THINK I encountered it when I initially connected the AX router to the ISP router.
Once Vodafone finally supplied the correct passwords, I then removed the ISP router and ran the Asus only. I think it was redirecting from this point, but obviously not a problem at this stage.
Only when I returned to a 2 router set up & I was still getting redirects did it become a problem.

Now I seem to get it even when my PC is connected to the ISP router (Vodafone) and the Asus AC router is also connected to the Vodafone router.

So as far as I can tell, something has changed since the Asus AX router was connected as the sole router on 192.168.1.1
In my opinion, if my PC is connected to my Vodafone router AND is on an IP address assigned by the Vodafone router AND the Vodafone router is the one connected to the Internet, then if I type in the Vodafone router IP 192.168.1.1, then it should NOT redirect to Asus, just because I have an Asus router also connected with an IP of 192.168.3.1.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but I just think Asus are being very unhelpful by somehow forcing a redirect in such circumstances.

It's difficult to help you if you keep giving incomplete or contradictory information.

As a final guess before I give up I would suggest that you check that you have the ethernet cable from the ISP router plugged into the WAN socket of the Asus AC router and not its LAN socket.

 

[jaizan]

It's difficult to help you if you keep giving incomplete or contradictory information.

As a final guess before I give up I would suggest that you check that you have the ethernet cable from the ISP router plugged into the WAN socket of the Asus AC router and not its LAN socket.

I've also had the redirect with no Asus routers plugged in, including at one point where both Asus routers were on the floor, not plugged in. I remember looking around to check when getting a redirect. Perhaps I needed to reboot the Vodafone router to clear things. In my opinion, Asus should not inflict this upon their customers & there ought to be a way of stopping it.
I don't think I've given contradictory information. I've tried various set ups, with & without the Asus routers connected, so I've almost certainly given incomplete information & apologise for that.

 

[jzchen]

Unfortunately I'm late to the party so to speak. The subnet as noted limits the available IPs, and each manufacturer resolves issues, (or not at all,) in different ways.

My personal suggested solution:

IF the provided router IS IN FACT set to LAN IP of 192.168.3.1, then you'll want 192.168.3 to be the start of all networking devices on your network, (especially if Subnet is 255.255.255.0 which is typical). So you can change the ISP router DHCP server to range 192.168.3.50 to 192.168.3.254. Then you can manually set your ASUS router IP to 192.168.3.2, 192.168.3.3, etc (however many you have up to 192.168.3.49.)

As @ColinTaylor tried to suggest, if the ASUS router is set to a subnet of 255.255.255.0 it will exhibit strange behavior such as redirect because it knows to limit access to 192.168.x.yyy where x is the number you set the ASUS router to.