I have a Draytec 2860AC which I use to provide a VPN link from my motorhome touring Spain and Portugal, and which connects to my own UK server in a hosting centre. Before I retired I was an IT contractor specialising in Exchange and email archiving systems. I connect to the internet using a WiFi-Max connection which gives me 25Mbps at a range from the mast of up to 30kms.

Having just arrived in Spain yesterday I took out my trusty Vigor, plugged it in, and all was well working to my UK server and back to near Malaga. I noticed that there was a firmware upgrade file available, so downloaded the file and unpacked it . The upgrade was 3.8.9.5 which was the release version and valid for the 2860AC. I ran a backup of all the config settings which is sitting on my laptop. I used the "Upgrade Firmware" setting on the router, selected the upgrade file and started the upgrade. The utility told me that the upgrade was complete and that a reboot was necessary. I hit the reboot tab and the router went through the reboot procedure.

On restarting I had the ACT, USB and 2.4G lights rapidly blinking together and activity lights on the connected LAN cables, but that was all. Web contact was lost with the laptop. Having tried rebooting a few times, which only gave the same result, I decided to do a Factory Reset. Looked up the Manual regarding the procedure, and proceded to restart the router and press the Factory Reset button with a handy paperclip as per the instructions, but to no effect. The three lights continue to flash.

I have tried the Firmware Upgrade Utility but that does not seem to be able to see the router. Ping returns zero connection.

I would appreciate any help or advice.

Support tells me the router is stuck in TFTP mode so I followed the instructions to use the Upgrade Utility. The Utility worked once I worked out that TFTP Mode replaces your password with "admin". You can spend a lot of time wondering why the .rst file goes nowhere! Having received the "Router is active now" message I can get web access......for 30 seconds before the router times out. However, the management information does confirm that it is running on the new Firmware However when the router times out, we are back to the three lights telling me the router is still in TFTP mode.

The book states that the router will automatically come out of TFTP after the .rst file installs (mine does not) or if powered down and up (nope) or something about waiting 2 minutes after file transfer ( three hours of fervent prayer leaves me watching the TFTP flashing away). One of the advantages of being retired is that I have time on my hands, but a good Idiots Guide to doing a TFTP Upgrade written by a techie would help.

In the interests of sanity I might try a Firmware downgrade tomorrow and see what happens. The sad bit is that my system is currently running on my backup Tp-Link router which cost me less than £20.

Covey wrote:
One of the advantages of being retired is that I have time on my hands, but a good Idiots Guide to doing a TFTP Upgrade written by a techie would help.

Draytek's own guide is here: https://www.draytek.com/support/knowledge-base/5222

In a nutshell:-

• Make sure your PC is on the same network as the Draytek (it might have defaulted back to 192.168.1.1)


• Fire up the Draytek TFTP utility and enter the IP address of the Vigor and the location of the firmware file


• Hit "Send"

The Draytek "idiots guide" misses out the fact that you need to insert "admin" as the password because TFTP mode cancels out the user settings and reverts to admin : admin for user name and password. The guide is designed for someone who has a correctly working router they wish to perform a firmware upgrade on.

My original attempt to carry out a firmware upgrade resulted in my router being "locked in TFTP mode". When you do a power on, it goes in to TFTP mode automatically, and does not exit from TFTP mode once the upgrade has taken place and you receive the pop up message "The router is active". 30 seconds from the pop up message the TFTP indicator lights are back on.

I have tried reverting to the previous software set I was using, but although the web access works for 30 seconds and tells me the Firmware Version is back to the previous version, as soon as the Config Utility times out, web access is lost and the router is back in TFTP mode.

The first instance of firmware upgrades locking a router in to TFTP mode date back to 2005 on Google, along with instances of the firmware upgrade resulting in constant rebooting of the router. In 14 years you would think that a fix was available for either issue caused by a malfunction of the TFTL Exit routing getting screwed up and locking on.