AC66U WAN problem

[kalmiya]

Hello,

Location1: Asus AC66U with firmware 3.0.0.4.376_3626.
The "Network Map" page is reporting Status: Connected, WAN IP: 192.168.xxx.14, and yyyy.dlinkddns.com
Checking the IP, e.g. through the dlinkddns service, or a "what is my ip address service" I get something like 84.25.zzz.117.

On Location 1, when accessing zzzz.dlinkddns.org:8080 I can get access to the routers webfrontend.

On Location 2: Trying to access the AC66U at Location 1, doesn't work. I tried both 192.168.xxx.14 ( isn't that a LAN-ip?!) and 84.25.zzz.117 ( it should respond to pings, and the router has port 8080 open for its admin interface.

On Location 2, running an AC68U, the WAN IP-adres reported by the web-frontend matches the UP reported by "what-is-my-ip"... So why doesn't it match for the AC66U ?

It's the first time I see something like this and I'm not sure where to start looking. Any suggestions how to figure out what's wrong ?

Regards

 

[jegesq]

How and to what are you connecting your Asus RT-AC66U? You say that the network page is reporting that your WAN IP is "192.x.x.x", which means that your AC66U isn't getting an address from outside your network (192.x.x.x are all reserved for private usage by IANA, meaning no outside IP address will begin with "192.").

Do you have your AC66U connected to another D-Link router? If so, then set your AC66U either as an "Access Point' and connect it to one of the LAN ports on whatever D-Link you're using, or set it as a "Repeater" and select a channel to receive and re-transmit from the D-Link.

The GUI address for the AC66U is set to "192.168.1.1" by default. You can change it, but that's how you access the AC66U out of the box. You clearly have things set up incorrectly and it looks like you're using two routers as routers, which is not a correct way to set things up. Either use the D-Link as a router, or the AC66U as a router, but not both.

Also, I'm not sure what "locations" 1 and 2 add to this except to create more confusion about what you're trying to accomplish. You cannot access the AC66U's GUI by trying to access the GUI address of a D-Link router. Dlinkddns is the dynamic web address for accessing a DLink router through an account you create for a Dlink router, not an Asus router.

 

[kalmiya]

Location 1 vs 2 are physical different locations (two houses a few streets apart)

"Dlinkddns is the dynamic web address for accessing a DLink router through an account you create for a Dlink router, not an Asus router."
Correct, but since then I upgraded my DLink-router to an ASUS (and got rid of it), but I just kept using dlinkddns - and it actually works fine.

Your idea about using two routers is correct - due to circumstances I just wasn't even aware there were two routers active! I had a server running at location 1 but due to a broken power-supply it was offline for a few months (wasn't in a rush to get it replaced). In the meanwhile the ISP upgraded the cable-modem. Now this new cable-modem apparently also features a router ( the old one didn't ). And since my server was offline, I didn't notice the difference.

So the Asus got an 196.168.xxx.14 adres from the Cable-modem router, tried to connect to dlinkddns.com and hence the weird (LAN) address appearing in both the asus-adminpage as "wan" and on the dlinkddns-website. The cable-modem had the correct WAN-address, but didn't have any port forwarding rules ( hence blocking all incoming connections ).

I prefer using my Asus, so I put it in the DMZ of the Cable-modem and now everything works as before.

 

[jegesq]

Right. You could also just set the cable company's router/modem to "Bridge" mode, i.e., turn off the routing on that device, turn off its firewall, and use your Asus as a router and firewall, and set up whatever port forwarding you need directly on the Asus.

That's kind of odd that you'd want to continue to use D-Link's DDNS service. I have never used it, but I've read quite a bit about it being insecure (and allowing D-Link to monitor the use of your router, i.e., seeing the sites you frequent, etc.). I don't know that I'd feel comfortable with that sort of thing (not that the NSA isn't already able to monitor everything we all do anyway).

You're probably also aware that Dlink does have a "warning" posted to their DDNS website, which states:

Attention: This service is provided for D-Link customers only. We monitor this portal carefully, and should we detect that you are not a D-Link customer, your account will be deactivated without notice. If you are not a D-Link user, please see below.

That warning is followed by this:

Not a D-Link customer?

That's alright! Dyn has a solution for you. If you're looking for a way to remotely access your router, computer, etc.; then we'd love to offer you an exclusive 25% off our Remote Access (DynDNS Pro) service. You'll gain access to up to 30 hostnames per account and will never have to worry about your account expiring!

So it looks like they check what brand of equipment you're using and if it's not D-Link, they turn off your DDNS without warning, unless of course, you pay them.