Linksys WRT1200AC resetting itself at 8PM daily

[DrMacintosh]

Hello, as the title indicates, I have a Linksys WRT1200AC router. For the past two days at around 8PM, my router has reset itself to factory default settings.

 

I've been able to recover the router and restore it both times. What could be causing this issue? Too me, the regularity of the problem indicates a software issue. The router automatically updates so its firmware is modern. I've also not seen any evidence of any malicious devices on the network. Every device in the network map is mine or a family members.

 

I recently configured an OpenVPN server on the router but that was week ago, the issues started within the last 2 days. I don't see why the issues would start now.

 

My options seem limited but I have not been able to find any recent documentation for a similar problem and Linksys does not have support forums. Looking for anyone with a similar problem.

 

If replacement is the best option, should I buy another Linksys router? Up until now I've loved the thing.

[BondiBlue]

Not sure if it'll help, but I had a similar issue several years ago with an ASUS router. Every 2 or 3 days it would automatically restart, though it couldn't successfully boot back up. Resetting it didn't help, and it seemed to be updating properly. The thing that fixed it was manually installing the latest firmware available. Since then it's been rock solid, and it's a very central piece of my network. Might be worth a shot. 

[DrMacintosh]

11 minutes ago, BondiBlue said:

The thing that fixed it was manually installing the latest firmware available

That's interesting. I've downloaded the latest firmware which seems to be from 2018. I've disabled my OpenVPN server and will see if it still resets itself tomorrow. If it does, I'll manually re install the firmware. 

[Donut417]

8 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

That's interesting. I've downloaded the latest firmware which seems to be from 2018. I've disabled my OpenVPN server and will see if it still resets itself tomorrow. If it does, I'll manually re install the firmware. 

If push comes to shove I think that router might be DDWRT capable. It would take a bit of work to get it installed, but if there is a bug in the stock firmware, a 3rd party solution could be the answer. 

[DrMacintosh]

On 8/18/2021 at 9:05 PM, BondiBlue said:

Might be worth a shot. 

I thought I had found the culprit. I disabled OpenVPN and the router made it the full day without resetting itself. Then this morning I woke up to find that it had indeed reset itself some around 8AM-10AM. 
 

This time I manually reinstalled the latest firmware available but when I did that there was a “restore previous firmware” option which I had never seen before. It makes me think there is an update that the router is trying to do but it fails. I’ve restored the firmware now and have disabled auto-updates. Hopefully this fixes things.