Can't Connect to Router Admin Page Under Big Sur?

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Can't Connect to Router Admin Page Under Big Sur?

I've been holding off on upgrading to Big Sur and have been on Catalina since I purchased this iMac (27" late 2020 Retina 5K, 3.6GHz 10-core i9, 128GB RAM, 4TB SSD) late last year. About a month ago, I purchased a new ASUS ZenWiFi AX6600 Wi-Fi 6 mesh router for home, got everything connected and set up without too much hassle, and have been enjoying it fine.

This weekend, I updated my iMac to Big Sur. Now I can't connect to the router's management page anymore. I was able to under Catalina, but after updating to Big Sur, it's inaccessible. When I enter the IP of the router into a browser, it's supposed to redirect to router.asus.com, but it just sits on the IP and never loads anything. I've tried in four different browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Brave) and cleared the cache/cookies/etc in all of them with no luck. The router functions perfectly fine, I just can't connect to the admin page.

But I have another iMac which is still running High Sierra, and I have no issues whatsoever in getting to the admin page there--in fact, as I type this on the iMac which can't connect to the admin page, I've got a Screen Sharing window open to that iMac where I can see the admin page. That suggests to me it's something in Big Sur that's preventing my connection. I've gone through Asus support and they told me to ask Apple if there's something I need to configure.

So...speaking as someone who's been using Big Sur for less than 48 hours now, is there something new I need to adjust to be able to access the router admin page?

Thanks much!

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Jun 21, 2021 8:34 AM

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Answer 1

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Ben Scripps Author

Level 1

41 points

Jun 28, 2021 6:59 PM in response to Ben Scripps

Found my problem: antivirus. I'd disabled Sophos while testing to see if that was causing the issue. Funny thing...when I disabled Sophos, it said it was disabled...spoiler alert: it wasn't. Helpful...

After some trial and error, I uninstalled Sophos entirely and immediately had access to the router config. Then I reinstalled it and access disappeared again. After monkeying with its settings a bit, I've now got it configured to allow access without compromising protection.

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Answer 2

Jun 28, 2021 7:07 PM in response to Ben Scripps

Uninstall Sophos. Third party anti virus apps are not needed and they may cause problems.

Let your modern operating system do its job.

macOS - Security - Apple

Set up your Mac to be secure - Apple Support

Protect your Mac from malware - Apple Support

Security features on your MacBook Pro - Apple Support

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

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Answer 3

Owl-53

Level 10

102,175 points

Jun 21, 2021 10:02 AM in response to Ben Scripps

Pure guess work here and will step aside to More Learned Contributors - what is preceding the router.asus.com http or https - is here a substitute for the router.asus.com as in IP address ( ie 192.198.2.1 directly input to Browser of choice

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Answer 4

Ben Scripps Author

Level 1

41 points

Jun 21, 2021 9:28 PM in response to Owl-53

Yeah, I thought of that one--adding an https:// prevents anything from loading ("<router's ip address> unexpectedly closed the connection"), while http:// just results in the blank screen. This is regardless of whether I try the IP address of the router or the redirect URL.

Just some more granularity if it helps: normally, loading via the IP address would result in reaching a page on which the login prompt was superimposed upon the blank main page of the router (e.g. once you log in, the login prompt disappears and the data populate the blank page you could see behind it). Under Big Sur, if I try to load the IP address in Chrome, it just results in a blank white window after about 10 seconds, with the URL field listing "<router's ip address>/Main_Login.asp". If I try the same thing in Safari, it just never loads anything. If I try in Firefox, I get the router's login prompt, but the blank page normally visible in the background isn't there, and entering my u/n and password doesn't actually do anything.

I'm tempted to reset the router and start from scratch, except I've built about three dozen DHCP reservations into it and really don't want to have to do it all over again. Plus the fact that I can access it from at least two of my High Sierra systems and, as I was typing this, I just tried with success on Safari on my iPhone 11 running iOS 14.5.1, tells me it's not a problem with the router.

Also, in case anyone was wondering, no, I'm not running any beta builds of the OS anywhere. Also, I do have Little Snitch installed, but I've tried with it both enabled and disabled with no difference.

Thanks again for any suggestions!

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Answer 5

Owl-53

Level 10

102,175 points

Jun 29, 2021 1:23 AM in response to Ben Scripps

Any Third Party Applications that will interfere with the normal operation of the OS, alter, modify, remove or delete or attempt to do so is an invitation for disaster and may require a Reinstallation of the OS.

There are no known Viruses in the wild that self replicate and affect macOS. There are Malware and Adware that does affect macOS and are often times downloaded as part of an Application from Third Party UnTrusted Site and get installed along with the Application.

Running an AV Software for a non existent issue, like viruses, on macOS is just a great way to empty ones pockets of money with zero return other than used resources and headaches.

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Can't Connect to Router Admin Page Under Big Sur?

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