How to transfer old settings to Mercury Tenda router? It takes two hours to reconfigure the 14 devices of the broadband account one by one, and it takes 5 minutes to import the configuration file.

I have used my Tenda AC10 for five years. Recently, the 2.4G connection has been causing convulsions, so I decided to replace it with a new one. After I got the thing in hand and turned it on, a wizard page popped up asking me to fill in my broadband account. He called me on the spot.: The name and password of the WiFi at home, the speed limit rules for the children's tablets, and the blacklist of smart devices were all saved over the past five years. It would take me until midnight to reconfigure them from memory. I said wait a minute, the old machine hasn’t been thrown away yet, right? If you throw it away, you really have to reassemble it. He dug out the old machine, and I taught him to export a configuration file from the old backend. Ten minutes later, all the new machines were running as before, and none of the sweeper cameras went offline. This job is easy to do, but there are two pitfalls that can make people confused. This article will describe both roads and pitfalls at once.

Think clearly first: Which ones can be moved and which ones can’t be moved at all

You have to have some knowledge before you start, the configuration file is not a universal moving box. What can be moved is "settings"」: Broadband account and password, WiFi name and password, encryption method, speed limit rules, parental control period, blacklist, port mapping, static IP binding, LAN port IP, DNS, these are all in the configuration file, and it can be exported and imported in one go.

There are two things that cannot be moved. The same is "historical data"」: The device connection records and the history list of network checking are stored in the memory. They will be gone after restarting, and no one will move them. Another one is "MAC address cloning"」: Cloning is to write the MAC of the old machine into the firmware layer of the new machine. I have actually tested that importing Tenda's configuration file will not bring the cloned value over. If the dial-up fails, you will have to clone the MAC again on the new machine. I have written a separate article about this step. Where to set up Mercury Tenda MAC address cloning , this is 90% the reason why the number cannot be dialed when changing the machine.

There is one exception that you should be aware of: If you have done Mesh networking at home, don’t expect to bring the configuration file with you for the pairing relationship of the sub-routers. The old and new machine models are different, so the Mesh needs to be paired again. The pairing process is in Mercury Mesh Settings In that article, I won’t expand on it here.

Two roads lie here: Let’s talk about the easy part first

The first way is to move the configuration file. Both Mercury and Tenda support it natively. I have tested the path with both companies. Mercury's new interface melogin.cn , go to "Advanced Settings → Device Management → Backup and Import", click on the export button on the page to save it. config.bin ； For the old interface, the entrance is in the system tool column and is called "Backup Configuration". Comparison of the positions of the old and new Mercury interfaces I wrote specifically about finding it quickly. Tengda walks tendawifi.com , "More→System Settings→Backup and Recovery" also exports a configuration file.

There is a small caveat in exporting this step.: By default, the file name contains a string of model number and date. Don’t be too cluttered, just leave it as it is. When the new machine import verification fails, this string of names is the first clue to determine the cause. Save it to the computer and then copy it to the WeChat File Transfer Assistant. I have seen it happen more than once these days that the configuration file is lost in the old computer that was replaced and cannot be found.

Importing means going the opposite way.: For the new machine, go through the startup wizard first - you can fill in the account randomly or skip it first, connect to the backend of the new machine, enter the same backup page, click Import, and select the file just now. When the progress bar runs out, the machine automatically restarts, the WiFi name changes back to its original one, the phone automatically connects, and the move is complete. It took a total of eight minutes from exporting the small one to restoring the whole family.

Pitfall: The firmware doesn’t buy it, and the import bomb verification fails.

The first pitfall hit me on my head, and it was this pitfall that prompted this article. He imported the configuration of AC10 into the new machine. A red box popped up in the progress bar halfway. The verification failed and the configuration was not entered. The reason was later found out: The configuration file is based on the firmware version. There is a major difference between the old and new machine firmwares. If the fields do not match, they will be rejected. . You can view the firmware version in "More → System Settings" on Tenda's backend, and you can view it on the firmware upgrade page of the system tool on Mercury. The rules for both companies are the same. It's usually fine if a small version is different by one or two, but you have to be careful if a large version is slightly different.

If you encounter a verification failure, take three steps. The first step is to check the difference between the old and new firmware version numbers. If the difference is large, this is basically the reason. The second step is to upgrade if you can.: Upgrade the new machine's firmware to the same version as the old machine and import it again. Tenda's Online upgrade That way, all Mercury series are not automatically upgraded. You have to go to the official website to download the package corresponding to the hardware version. The process is as follows Mercury firmware upgrade In that article, please note that the firmware under Mercury must be aligned with the hardware version. D191G and D191 are two machines with one letter difference. The third step is, if you still can’t import it after the upgrade, don’t force it - the configuration file is forced to import across major versions. If you are unlucky, you may mess up the configuration area of ​​the new machine, and you will have to reset it and start again. Once you’ve reached this point, you’ll have to accept it and go to the second path to manually reset it.

There is an experience worth remembering: Upgrade the firmware first and then configure the configuration. Do not reverse the order. The first time I helped someone to do it, I thought of upgrading after the pilot failed, and I went back and forth twice. Upgrade first and import it once.

Pit 2: The import was successful, but the backend address "changed"」

The second pitfall is more subtle and appears to shock people. After importing the configuration and restarting, the browser input 192.168.0.1 , you can't get in, or if you get in, it's a broken page that can't be opened. It's not that the machine is broken—— The configuration file also moved the LAN port IP of the old machine over. . The original AC10 had a fight with the main router network segment, so the LAN port IP was changed to 192.168.2.1 , as soon as the configuration is imported, the background address of the new machine changes from 0.1 to 2.1. Two articles on changing the LAN port IP on Mercury Tenda are here here , the reason for the change back then and the chain reaction after the change were written in detail. I forgot that I had not changed anything in my own home. Please read these two articles to check before starting.

The method of identification is also simple: Connect your mobile phone to the WiFi of the new machine (the WiFi name has changed to the old name, which is a sign of successful import). Look at the gateway address in the "WiFi Details" of the mobile phone. That address is the new backend address. Or take a network cable and connect the computer directly to the LAN port of the new machine, and the gateway automatically received by the computer will be the same.

If you don’t want to adapt to the old network segment, just enter the new backend and change the LAN port IP back to 0.1. After the change is completed, restart and it will take effect. But be careful, choose the right time to change the network segment.: If there are devices at home that are bound to a fixed IP, or the NAS camera is configured with cross-segment access, all these must be changed when the network segment changes. Fixed IP binding Go through the list in that article one by one. Don’t forget to change the network segment and the whole family’s smart devices will lose contact. I handled that situation and explained it in one night. If you have already cascaded the network cables of two routers in your home, don’t mess with the network segments. The cascaded set is specially configured with staggered network segments. If you move one place, it will affect the network segment. For details, see Connect two routers with network cables That article.

second way: Manual reset looks stupid but is the most stable.

If the import of the configuration file fails, or the old and new machines are not of the same brand (the configuration exported by Mercury is fed to Tenda, others directly reject it, and vice versa), you have to manually reset it. This path is not a stupid way, it is a correct path that covers all aspects. I later took this path to replace the machine at my mother-in-law’s house.

The order is important, follow this step and go through it again. The first item is your broadband account number. If you forget it, don’t guess. The card will be locked three times for half an hour. The way to retrieve it has been written before. You can ask about the broadband bill, installation list, and customer service phone number. In the second item, copy the WiFi name and password as usual. Be careful not to copy the dual-band name incorrectly. The third item is to copy "WiFi time switch", "kids' tablet speed limit" and "parental control time period" from the old backend to the new backend page by page - the old machine was copied first before the power was turned off. Mercury is on the wireless application pages, and Tenda is near the security management. I have written a map of the names and locations of the two menus. Mercury article and Tengda this article Turn it over. The fourth item on the blacklist is to blacklist the website again. The fifth item, advanced items such as port mapping and IPTV VLAN tagging, can be skipped if you have not done it before.

The biggest cost of manual reset is not the operation, but "incomplete thinking". Among Fa Xiaojia’s 14 devices, there was an old printer that had to be bound to a fixed IP to be found. This happened and I missed one, and I only discovered it the next day when I used it. Therefore, when copying, it is more reliable to match the device names in the WiFi list of the mobile phone one by one than relying on memory. The printer cannot be found after restarting. Fixed IP binding Just do that, it only takes five minutes.

Which way to choose, end with a table

Don’t throw away the old machine you replaced in a hurry. After the configuration is done and the list is copied, it can also be used as an AP to supplement the signal in the room, or simply as a switch with WiFi. They are all ready-made jobs. The day has really come when I need to reset it and sell it second-hand. Mercury factory reset and Tenda factory reset There is a point in the two articles. The reset button of Tenda is the same as that of WPS. If you press it too much, the whole house will be disconnected. I will remember the lesson for you. I still want to dig deeper into the backup details of generic brands. Configuration backup article Wrote config.bin What exactly is stored in it? Mercury Tengda’s exclusive pitfalls are all in this article.