I changed the settings in the computer background, but the mobile app still has the old one? The Mercury Tengda App and the web backend are two doors. Let me explain the key issue clearly.

Last month, my cousin sent me a WeChat message saying that the Mercury router at home was "broken." The night before, I used the computer in his study to enter melogin.cn In the background, I conveniently replaced his weak administrative password that had been used for three years, and I pressed the password slip under the router. As a result, the next day he took out his mobile phone on the sofa in the living room and opened the Mercury Router App to check the Internet speed of the TV box. The App was stuck on the login page and spinning in circles. After entering the password three times, the message "Incorrect password" was displayed. His first reaction was that the router had been modified by me. His second reaction was that the app had crashed and he was about to uninstall and reinstall it.

In fact, it is the third type: None are broken. The App and the web backend are two doors, each with its own key. . I changed the lock on the door on the web page, but he still had the old key in his pocket on the door on the app. I later encountered this matter twice - once with the Tenda AC23 App, and once with my mother's Mercury - and then I realized that many people didn't know the relationship between the App and the web backend, and didn't know where to check if something went wrong. Let’s break it apart in this article: How to use the two channels of the App, which side has changed the settings and which side should follow the changes, and what are the differences between the three sets of permissions.

Lay the foundation first: App has two legs, only one goes to the cloud

Many people think that every operation of the mobile app must be "connected to the Mercury or Tenda server and then transferred back to the router", just like a smart speaker. I checked the official documents of both companies to confirm.: When the mobile phone is connected to the router WiFi, the App uses local direct connection. . The original words of Mercury's official document are "Supports mobile phone LAN management." You can change the WiFi password on the sofa at home, and the command goes directly from the mobile phone to the router without leaving the house. Tenda Routing App uses this local mechanism to discover, bind, and manage routers in the LAN. This is why Tenda App installed on Android phones requires location permissions—that is required for local discovery, not the cloud.

The other leg is the cloud. When the mobile phone turns off the WiFi and the person uses data traffic to open the app at the company, the local computer is out of reach, so the command is transferred around the cloud to the machine at home. This leg has preconditions: The router must be a model that supports cloud management (Mercury calls it a cloud router), the MERCURY ID has been logged into the background, and the same account has been logged into the App. All three are indispensable. Therefore, when opening the App and changing the password, the person at home uses the local channel, and the person outside uses the cloud channel. The same person uses the same App and takes completely different paths. The channels are different, and the fault behavior and permissions to be discussed later are also different.

Here is a piece of trivia from the official documentation. I was stunned for a moment when I saw it.: Mercury's cloud router does not support remote management on the computer web page. You can only use the App remotely. . That is to say, if you are in the company and want to use the browser to type melogin.cn If I try to reach the Mercury at home, I can't reach it - the domain name is only resolved within the local area network. If you want remote management, the mobile app is the only way. The same goes for Tenda, tendawifi.com This domain name can only be used within the network.

Key sharing: The management password has been changed on the web page, and the app needs to re-enter it.

Go back to your cousin’s login page and circle around. When the App is bound for the first time, it will record the management password you entered. After that, you will always have this key when you connect directly to the router locally. The management password has been changed on the web page, the router's lock has been changed, and the old key in the app's pocket has become scrap metal - the symptoms are incorrect passwords, circles, and some versions directly prompt "Router configuration has been changed."

It’s a stupid way to save me, but there’s only one way: Log out of the current login in the App (in some versions, long press the device icon to select which machine to manage, and in others, log out in the settings) and re-enter the new password. The new password is the one you changed on the web page, which is on the note under the router. Don't be in a hurry to uninstall and reinstall the app. Uninstalling will clear the binding relationship, and the binding will have to be done again in front of the router, which only takes half an hour more. This binding rule is the same as Tenda’s. Tenda App binding troubleshooting article I have written the complete binding process here, and Mercury users can also check it.

Conversely, this pit also exists: If you change the management password in the App (you can change it in the "Other Settings" of the App), you will need to enter the new password the next time you log in to the web backend. It was the other way around at my mom's house - she changed the password herself in the app. Then I used the computer to enter the backend, and was locked out. I thought there was something wrong with the router. With two doors, whoever changes the lock on the other side must get a new key. There is no such thing as automatic synchronization.

One more digression: Changing the WiFi password will not affect App login. It is the key for connecting the device to the Internet, and is two different things from the management password. Who controls what and how to change the three keys? Three ways to change your password There is a comparison table inside. If you are not sure, check that table first.

Doesn't the login page pop up when the app opens? That means the machine doesn’t support it at all.

There is another type of "out of sync" that is even more unfair: The app is installed, and the phone is connected to the router WiFi. When it opens, it is a whiteboard, but the login box does not pop up. The official Mercury documentation is very straightforward.: For routers that do not support mobile app management, there will be no login interface prompt when opening the app. This is not a lag, but this machine simply does not have this function.

Which machines don't have it? Most of Mercury’s models were before 2018, such as the MW310R generation. App management and MERCURY ID cloud binding are concepts that were only available in later “cloud routers”. The method of judgment depends on the background: After logging in on the web page, do you see if there is a "Login to MERCURY ID" entry in the top bar? If it does, it means a cloud router. If not, it means an old model. I used this judgment method before Mercury remote management article As written in, the exact same thing can be used for the question "Does my device support the App?" The old firmware corresponding to the Tenda side is in a similar situation. The App cannot find the machine, and the App management is only available after the web page is upgraded to the new firmware online. This line is in the article 852.

Users of older machines, don’t feel bad, you still have the path to the web: Mobile browser knock melogin.cn or tendawifi.com , can still be managed. The article about changing WiFi password on Mercury mobile phone In the browser route, a comparison of the positions of the two generations of interfaces is written, which can be used by both new and old users. If you can’t remember the domain name, look at the sticker on the back of the router. The authoritative address is printed on it.

One set of local permissions, one remote set of permissions, and one set of web page permissions

Looking at the three sets of permissions, many questions about "Why can't it be changed in the App" are no longer questions.

There are two positions in this table that deserve to be highlighted individually. One is "Virtual Server, Internet Control" - Mercury's official documentation clearly states that these functions can only be set on the web page. If you can't find them in the App, you're either blind or the official didn't include them. If you want to do port mapping, Mercury port mapping article Just turn on the computer and browse the web. The other is the remote line: You can change the Internet access method at home using the App, but the same switch turns gray when you are outside. I ran into this wall when I wanted to turn on IPv6 at home when I was out of town. I can access the settings page and see the parameters, but I can't change them. This is not a bug, but an official security door. The article about remote permissions There are three complete things that cannot be done.

Tengda’s rules are mostly the same: You can remotely view devices, kick people, change WiFi, restart, change WAN port dial-up account and port forwarding, etc. The official method also allows you to enter the web backend locally to do it. So don’t scold the App if you “can’t find a certain function in the App”. Look at this table and take a look at where you are and which channel you are taking. You will probably understand.

The two categories of "changed and out of sync" are arranged in this order.

Compile the fault scenarios in the full text into a checklist, and follow them when you encounter "the two sides don't match up.":

Remember an order when arranging: First identify where you are (at home or outside), then identify which channel you are taking (local or cloud), and look at the corresponding line. If the order is reversed, it is easy to regard the permission problem as a fault and the key problem as out of synchronization, which is a waste of time. Basic skills such as determining which machine is connected and who is the gateway. 192.168.0.1 Can't get into that one There are ready-made methods.

ending: Three sentences to remember the two doors

The first sentence, The App and the web page are two doors. Each has its own management password. Anyone who changes the lock must have a new key on the other side. . The second sentence, If you use local direct connection at home and use the cloud outside, the permission tables are different. , when the setting turns gray, think about the channel first, and don’t think about the fault. The third sentence, The functions that cannot be found in the App are not lost, they are officially placed on the web page. , virtual server and Internet access control, etc. Open the computer honestly.

The ending of my cousin’s business is: I asked him to exit the app and re-enter the new password on the phone, and it took two minutes to solve the problem. He was quite embarrassed and said he would have known better not to go through the trouble of uninstalling it. I think this pitfall is worth stepping into once - after that day, he finally remembered what the management password of his home router looked like, instead of relying on "losing it once the day he installed the app" for three years. This awareness is more valuable than any skill. If the home management password is still left by the installer or a default value such as admin, take advantage of the convenience of having both doors open now. Mercury initial password and Tenda initial password I have written down all the rules, and after reading them I will understand why I need to change them.