[Discuss] Looking for WiFi router with certain characteristics

[bogstad at pobox.com (Bill Bogstad)]

On Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 9:05 PM, Glenn Burkhardt <gbburkhardt at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 7/30/2014 8:08 PM, Glenn Burkhardt wrote:
>> On Mon, Jul 28, 2014 at 9:14 PM, Richard Pieri <richard.pieri at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On 7/28/2014 9:00 PM, Glenn Burkhardt wrote:
>>>> All interfaces connected to the Ethernet or two wireless networks end up
>>>> on the same subnet (192.168.0.x).
>>> I'm figuring you don't have this but instead you have a second
>>> 192.168.0.0/24 network inside your primary internal network. The Edimax
>>> isn't a bridge but a second firewall/gateway with its own private
>>> 192.168.0.0/24 network that's isolated from your primary internal network.
>>
>> Actually like many such devices these days, it seems like how you can
>> use the the
>> Edimax is dependent on software configuration.   By default, devices
>> like this typically
>> come up in wi-fi router mode.    According to the manual located here:
>>
>> http://www.edimax.com/edimax/mw/cufiles/files/download/manual/transfer/Wireless/BR-6228nS_nC_V2/BR-6228nS_V2_nC_V2_Manual.pdf
>>
>> it can be put into: Wi-Fi Router, Access Point, and Range Extender
>> modes.   Which it is in depends on software
>> configuration and how the Edimax physically connects to the rest of
>> your network.  It might be a good idea to verify
>> that the device is correctly configured.
>>
>> Bill Bogstad
>>
>
>
> "... verify that the device is correctly configured..."
>
> Ok, so how should the device be configured?  It's reporting that it's
> configured as an "access point".  Unfortunately, the documentation
> doesn't go into a great deal of detail about what each mode does.  It
> makes me think that "markw at mohawksoft.com" is right, just get a router
> that DD-WRT supports, so one knows what one is getting.
>
> But to review, my configuration is this:
>
>
>    |-------------------|   Ethernet     |----------------|
>    | Actiontec V1000H  |----------------|  Edimax N150   |
>    | router            |                | 192.168.0.20   |
>    |  192.168.0.1      |                |----------------|
>    |-------------------|                   |      |   |
>       |           |                        |      |   |    Wireless Ch 2
>       | Ethernet  | Wireless Ch 9          |      |   |
>      PC 1         |                     Printer   |  PC 3
>    192.168.0.12   |                   192.168.0.8 | 192.168.0.15
>                   |                               |
>                 PC 2                             PC 4
>              192.168.0.14                    192.168.0.18
>
>
>
> PC3 can access the Actiontec's browser configuration page
> PC3 can access the Edimax's browser configuration page
> PC3 can ping PC1
> PC2 cannot access the printer, and ping fails
> PC3 can access Samba shares on PC 4
> PC3 can access Windows shares on PC1
> PC2 cannot ping PC4
> PC2 cannot access the Edimax browser page, nor ping its advertised
> 192.168.0.20 address
>
> All connections to the Printer, PC3, PC4 from the Edimax are over wireless.
>
> All PCs IP addresses are shown in the Actiontec status page (the
> Actiontec is the DHCP server for the network), except for Edimax's IP
> address.
>
> That's not quite what I'd expect from "access point" mode.  I think it's
> a flaw in the Edimax.  It should repeat any packets it receives over its
> other wireless and Ethernet connections.
>
> For access point mode, the instructions are to connect the cable from
> the Actiontec to one of the LAN ports, not the WAN port.  Yes, I've
> checked that again.

That's what I would have expected.   All I can suggest, is what I usually do at
this point: tcpdump, wireshark, examine arp tables, etc   If you
aren't familiar with
these or similar tools, I suggest it would be well worth your time to
do so if you
plan to diagnose network problems in general.

Good Luck,
Bill Bogstad