Router Can't get a WAN IP (Asus RT-AC3200)

[Wuzup101]

I'll try to keep this short and to the point, but bare with me because I'm not good at that.

1. I have had a Asus RT-AC3200 router in my new apartment since mid July. I have never had an issue with it until recently.

2. About a week ago, I picked up my laptop and got an error message from the router saying that a network cable was unplugged (modem to router). No modifications to the network had been made on my end since it was setup in July.

3. I reset the modem... no dice...

4. I reset the router... no dice...

5. I replaced the cable connecting the two devices with three different working cables... no dice... on any of them...

6. I reset both in quite a few different combinations... no dice...

7. I restored the router to factory defaults and attempted to reconfigure the system... no dice... and the router can't get past the first step in the setup wizard (i.e. it can't get an IP address from my cable modem which requires no special setup / passwords / etc...).

8. I plugged the cable modem directly into my computer and it works perfectly... so I downloaded the latest firmware...

9. I installed the latest firmware in the router... and did a factory reset... no dice...

10. I tried merlin's firmware for Asus routers... no dice...

11. I tried running dual WAN and plugging the cable modem into LAN 4 (configured as the primary WAN) with nothing in the WAN port (configured as secondary WAN)... no dice...

12. I called my ISP to verify that there had been no changes to the network - there haven't been any since I moved in.

13. I've put a ticket/e-mail in with ASUS... but I don't expect to get a response until early in the work week.

Any advice that anyone has would be greatly appreciated. At this point, I really have no clue what is going on. I've never had this issue before. The connection/cable modem is working perfectly when plugged directly into my computer. Did the router just self destruct? I should note that there was no special event (i.e. power failure) that occurred in the time frame (and it's plugged into a UPS anyway). Furthermore, the wireless component of the router still works just fine (I can transfer files back and fourth between my machines wired to wireless).

 

[sdifox]

Did you try cloning the pc's mac to the router?

 

[Wuzup101]

Did you try cloning the pc's mac to the router?

Yes, I did, a few times actually. That being said, when I talked to a representative from the ISP they confirmed that they do NOT set the modem to any given MAC address. The direct line from the modem had never been connected to my computers prior to this event (it was setup directly to the router from day 1). The rep did help me do some basic trouble shooting, but she said that it sounded like the router not acting as she would expect and that I should contact ASUS. She said that any working router shouldn't have any issue connecting to the modem and while they don't offer support for routers, they don't try to keep you from using one (ISP is Charter).

Thanks!

 

[sdifox]

Sounds like it's the router. Do you torrent? That tends to kill consumer routers.

 

[Wuzup101]

Sounds like it's the router. Do you torrent? That tends to kill consumer routers.

Yes... yes I do... I've never had an issue with lower end / older routers (I ran a few E3000's w/ dd-wrt / tomato most recently with a ubiquiti AP)