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TG582N admin login problems?

mwardm
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎05-11-2012

TG582N admin login problems?

Morning!
Recently got a Plusnet TG582N when committing to another 12 months.    (Currently have the previously-standard FTTC Netgear plugged into the Openreach thingy but dislike the fact that it doesn't allow a remote reboot.  Considering switching in the Technicolor.)
I've gone to http://192.168.1.254 and got the login screen up, but "admin" / case-sensitive-serial-number (and other more standard combinations) doesn't get me in.  Tried Chrome and IE.  Did a factory reset and tried again.  Still no joy.
(Note that I haven't actually connected the router up to the modem at this point - I wanted to do some manual configuration first (to make it a drop in replacement for my network).  Trust that wouldn't make a difference?)
Anyone got any ideas I can try this evening before I raise a ticket?
Cheers.
7 REPLIES 7
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: TG582N admin login problems?

Hi there,
I don't believe not having it connected up to the phone line will stop you being able to change the configuration, not sure why the standard serial/admin details aren't working though. Is it the serial from the sticker on the bottom of the router, and if not does the card definitely match up with that?
If that does all match, then does factory resetting the router help at all?
prichardson
Grafter
Posts: 1,503
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: TG582N admin login problems?

One query,
Do you have any software open, other than your browser?
There are some conditions that can cause the router to prevent your browser to login, due to the way some software applications work (by calling home).
I would suggest closing all applications down (ensure this occurs on all machines) and try again.
mwardm
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎05-11-2012

Re: TG582N admin login problems?

I was incredulous, but it looks like Phil's got it right.
Of *course* I'm running other applications!  Even when all standard apps are closed I've got a tray full of them.  
Didn't seem to be able to close enough to get things to work, but I'm able to login if I do it immediately after a PC reboot + Windows-login (while apps and services are still firing up).  
Only seem to be able to login once though.  (There might also be some javascript issues in Chrome.)
Safe mode with networking also worked - was able to login once and then again (and maybe again).
Normally I only reboot once every couple of weeks (and it takes an age), so you'll have to forgive me if I didn't test sufficiently to narrow it down too much.
I'm guessing that this issue would go away if I actually had internet connectivity (or else everybody would be complaining about the issue)?
[It doesn't inspire confidence in the firmware.   (I can imagine the authors' surprise:  "Whoa!  You mean those pesky computers are actually sending network packets to our networking device?!")   Add in other complaints that seem to be appearing on here now (and this thing was the winner in the recent trial?) and I suspect it's going to be stuck in the cupboard and, except in case of emergency, will only come back out when it's obsolete and ready for recycling 😞  ]
Good spot anyway, Phil.  Cheers.
prichardson
Grafter
Posts: 1,503
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: TG582N admin login problems?

No problem,
However, I'm not sure we can call this a firmware bug. It's a quirk at the very least. This is actually a security feature of the router.
The cause of the problem will indeed relate to one or more applications you have open in the background on one or more machines. It is only caused by software that makes calls using the HTTP protocol to a remote system on port 80.
When your router is offline, the web-intercept feature will cause attempts to browse to be redirect to a page in the router. Whilst this is intended to provide a friendly message that a problem is present in your web-browser, this will also cause redirects to autonomous applications that perform web-calls on default ports.
The security link is the way the login screen in the router works. It uses an embedded digest authentication system. Rather than explain it, you can read as little or as much as you want HERE
Digest offers an anti-repay mechanism that prevents re-use of an authentication string. So if I captured data between you and your router, I would not know the password from this, but I would also not be able to re-use what you did send to login.
To make this work, a one-time shared secret is used. The router generates a token that it remembers, and your browser must use to encode the password before sending it.
Each intercept generates a new one-time shared secret and here is the problem.
When you visit the router, TokenA is generated. Whilst you are typing your details, a background application tries to call home and receives TokenB that it never intends to use as a result of the intercept. This also invalidates TokenA.
Your attempted login is rejected, as your encoded is no longer encoded using a valid token.
mwardm
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎05-11-2012

Re: TG582N admin login problems?

Thanks, Phil - your explanation is appreciated (and my spare time is too limited to investigate / debate further)!
ChrisL
Rising Star
Posts: 760
Thanks: 4
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-12-2007

Re: TG582N admin login problems?

Deleted ... obviously different topic ... sorry!
Chris
vultura
Rising Star
Posts: 325
Thanks: 14
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎22-05-2011

Re: TG582N admin login problems?

Would using CLI commands to change the admin password be an option here?  Once done and logged into the router GUI the Browser Redirection could be turned off.
Has anyone seen my signature, it's gone missing.