@Tail_uk 

Hi,

Unless the "Password Recovery" feature has been configured on a TP-Link router, there is no way to get back into it other than via factory reset.

For an EasyMesh node that shouldn't be a big deal, as the effort to get it added again to the network is minimal.

In my opinion the sole interesting item that can be configured in the EasyMesh node would be the USB Storage Sharing feature.

  @woozle Thanks for coming back to me..

So it seems like a firmware update is "locking" the passwords as I have just gotten a brand new AX72, which will be going in as my 4 node (1 router + 3 Satellites).

When I got it the router firmware did not support easy mesh, so I upgraded that manually (direct connect to version 1.2.6 from the website).

Post this I factory reset (no password therefore), connected it to the router and then it prompted me to update to v1.4.5 of the firmware (released a day or so ago on my other devices).

At no point have I set a password on the device as yet.

However when I now got the brand new satellite IP address (192.168.87.4 - I like to keep it simple :)) it says "login" and won't allow me to carry on without putting the password.

At no point, since the factory reset, did this device have a password.

My only guess, one of the firmware updates took a missing password and input something, and so it is now blocked.

There is light though, removing it from the easy mesh, factory reset and re-add, allows me to set the password as expected.

So it seems the reason I don't know the passwords for my other nodes (1 has already been reset and I am going to do the other tonight), is that i never set them and the firmware update is causing it to be set to something unknown.