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Reset the Asus RT-AX86U

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Setup Router Staff
Last Updated: | Reading Time: 3 minutes

In this article, you will learn how to reset your Asus RT-AX86U back to factory settings. This is not the same thing as rebooting a router. Rebooting a router is simply turning it off and back on again. This is different from a reset because a reset completely erases all settings from the router.

Warning: This is not a step to be taken lightly. A router reset will affect the following settings:

  • The router's login credentials are reset.
  • Your WiFi name and password are reset.
  • All ISP settings will reset to default, and you may have to contact your ISP.
  • All port forwards, firewall settings, and parental controls that you have configured will be removed.

A router reset should be considered the last resort when you cannot log in to your router any other way. Make sure that you have tried to recover your router password using our Router Password Finder first.

Other Asus RT-AX86U Guides

Use a VPN Instead

Have you considered using a VPN instead of forwarding a port? For most users, a VPN is a much simpler and more secure choice than forwarding a port.

We use and recommend NordVPN because not only is it the fastest VPN, it includes a new feature called Meshnet that makes forwarding a port no longer necessary for most applications. With NordVPN Meshnet, you can connect to your devices from anywhere in the world, completely secure, over a highly encrypted VPN tunnel.

When shopping for a VPN, make sure that they meet the following criteria:

  • Your VPN provider should have a no-logs policy. This means that they do not keep any logs of any kind.
  • Make sure that your VPN provider has lots of exit nodes all around the world.
  • Check that your VPN will not affect your speed.
  • Verify that your VPN provider uses WireGuard as the underlying protocol.
  • Many people prefer a VPN provider that is not based in the United States.

This is the list of requirements that we used when we were shopping around for a VPN provider. There are lots of free, shady VPN providers out there that we looked at and dismissed.

Based in Panama, using diskless servers, and with over 6,100 servers in 61 countries, we can safely say that NordVPN satisfies all of these requirements.

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Once you've set up your NordVPN account on multiple computers and enabled Meshnet, you can seamlessly access all of your devices as if they were on the same network. You don't even have to log in to your router. It's very simple.

Every time you click on one of our affiliate links, such as NordVPN, we get a little kickback for introducing you to the service. Think of us as your VPN wingman.

This is the reset router guide for the Asus RT-AX86U Asuswrt-Merlin 386.2_6. We also have the following guides for the same router:

Recover Password in Asus RT-AX86U

Before you resort to doing a full router reset, you may want to try running our Router Password Finder first.

Router Password Finder can save you a ton of time by recovering your lost or forgotten router password instead of doing a full router reset.

Router Password Finder - Lost or Forgotten Router Password Recovery Tool

If you are unable to recover your lost router password, then you may have to proceed with a full router reset.

Reset the Asus RT-AX86U

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Most routers have a small button on either the back or the bottom. A typical reset button looks like this:

Router Reset Button

Reset buttons are usually tiny. Yours may look slightly different than this. If you find a pinhole on the back of the router then that may be the reset button. You will need a paper clip to push it.

Watch the front panel lights while you hold the reset button down for at least 10 seconds. The blinking pattern of the lights on the front of the router should change when the reset is complete. Do not be concerned about holding the reset button down too long. It will not hurt anything.

Remember, this will erase everything you have previously done to this Asus RT-AX86U router.

Only take this last step of fully resetting your router after you have exhausted all other troubleshooting options, such as running our Router Password Finder software, which can recover a lost router password for you.

Login to the Asus RT-AX86U

Now that you have finished resetting your router, you need to log in using the default username and password from the factory. You can follow the RT-AX86U Login Guide to find everything that you need to log in.

Change Your Password

Be sure to change your router's default password after you get logged back in. Since factory passwords are well known, it's a huge security risk to leave your router set to the default. Our Choosing a Strong Password guide talks about choosing a strong password for your router.

Tip: A great place to write your new password down is on a piece of paper taped to the bottom of your router.

Other Asus RT-AX86U Guides

Here are some of our other Asus RT-AX86U guides that you might be interested in.

This is the reset router guide for the Asus RT-AX86U Asuswrt-Merlin 386.2_6. We also have the following guides for the same router: