macmakkara wrote

I have it plugged in and POWER and LAN leds are on, nothing else.

That's intentional. The WiFi network and the LEDs for the signal level will turn on if you connect to the CPE the first time and did change username/password (you will be asked to change the credentials before you can proceed).

macmakkara wrote

Im using Cat.6 ethernet cables hope thats not a problem?

Any CAT.x cable works, but in case of problems check another cable to make sure it's not a faulty cable.

Also, you might try to set factory settings on the CPE (hold the RESET button for 7 seconds), albeit the LED state mentioned above suggest that the CPE is still at factory settings. As a last resort, reboot the PC and try again. If it still does not work, there is a malfunction of either the PC, the PoE adapter or the CPE.

justAnotherDev wrote

Brand new device, can't access the admin page. Have tried both a PC and a Mac, have swapped out cables (bought two brand new cat6 cable), have rebooted and have reset the router multiple times.

1. Connect the CPE using a cable with your PC/MacBook directly, not to the network.
2. Set a static IP from subnet 192.168.0.0 on your PC/MacBook. For example, set it to 192.168.0.10.
3. Load web UI from http://192.168.0.254. Log in, got to »Network«, set an otherwise unused static IP from your network (say 192.168.1.250 or whatever you use). Apply.
4. Connection will drop, now connect the CPE to your network. Don't turn off power while doing so!
5. Set IP of your PC/MacBook back to DHCP, connect it to your network, too.
6. Load web UI of the CPE with the new IP you just set in step 3 (192.168.1.250 or whatever your network uses).
7. Log into the web UI and remember to save settings to have it stored in the CPE permanently.

It's not that difficult.

justAnotherDev wrote

I have the CPE plugged into the POE port and my laptop plugged into the LAN port. I have set the static IP and subnet mask. I can see the LAN light lights up when plugged into my comp and the LAN light stop when disconnected.

That's the correct cabling. To make sure the CPE is at factory defaults, reset the CPE by pressing the RESET button for 7 to 10 seconds until all LEDs are turned on. Give it some time to reboot and to start the built-in web server. Then try again, double check the IP settings on your MacBook. I use a profile (»Location« on MacOS) to switch the IP for setting up devices quickly (have to set up CPEs, EAPs and switches often).

That's how it looks (on the left: »Network Settings« of MacOS, on the right: Chrome browser):

Don't use Internet Explorer or Edge. Try Firefox, Chrome or Safari on your Mac. Enter the full URL, append a '/' after the IP when typing in (browser removes it, but it avoids suggestions from the browser).

If this still does not work, the CPE might have a defect.

Hello @Deadmeat,

did you perform a factory reset already? If not, please do so, press RESET button for 10 seconds until you see the LEDs reacting (this seems to have changed in newer CPEs, in earlier versions it was 7 seconds).

Then connect the CPE directly to your PC (or to the network if you did a factory reset before and the network does not use the subnet IP 192.168.0.0).

Set the PC to static IP 192.168.0.10 and ping the CPE's IP 192.168.0.254. Do you get a reply from ping?

Deadmeat wrote

Any suggestions on a possible restore process? Otherwise I'm just gonna return it to Amazon and get a replacement.

The only way I know how to re-install the official firmware is described in the OpenWRT wiki (ignore the link to the old TP-Link forum, it isn't available anymore), but it seems that the flash partition layout used by OpenWRT made de-bricking impossible for reasons unknown to me.