Help with AP setup (Netgear R6300)

[jwsteel]

Hello folks, first time caller here.

I purchased a new Netgear R6300 this morning to use as an access point for my home wired network, and I cannot for the life of me get it set up and working correctly. By working correctly, I mean all wireless devices being able to connect to the Internet, as well as being able to see other devices elsewhere in the house. I can get it to see the Internet, and occasionally see other devices tied to my gateway router upstairs, but that's it.

I was running a DLink as my gateway, but it died in a storm yesterday, hence the mad equipment shuffle. So, I've done it before, but this new R6300 is just baffling me for some reason.

Here's the breakdown:

Modem -> Cisco E4200v1 router (used as gateway upstairs, 3 ports used) -> Cat6e cable downstairs -> DLink 4-port switch (all ports used) -> R6300.

As I noted, I've been successful in getting the R6300 to see the outside world, but it's having issues seeing devices on the E4200. I'm guessing this is due to the E4200 being on 192.168.0.x, while the R is on 192.168.1.x... however, the R won't let me change to .0.x. I've tried various instructions on how to set the R up in AP mode, but those haven't worked either.

Systems involved are predominantly Macs, all but one running OS 10.6.8 if that matters.

I've obviously missed something here. Can anyone offer some words of wisdom, walkthroughs, etc? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

All the best,
Jeff

 

[stevech]

There's a FAQ here on how to repurpose a WiFi router to be an Access Point (AP).
Short story
connect LAN port to PC direct.
Reset router to factory defaults - see user manual.
Give PC a static ethernet address in the same subnet as the factory default for the router, say, 192.168.0.2
Login to router from PC. Use factory login password.
Configure the router:
disable DHCP
setup WiFi SSID and encryption - same as main router.
change router's IP address to an unused IP address in your router's subnet, which may have a different number than being used for this setup. The router as AP has an IP address only for admin - not for routing.
Save settings in the router. Make sure they stick.

Move PC cable back to normal connection. Change back to DHCP on the PC.

Connect repuposed router, now an "AP"- ethernet: LAN port on it goes to LAN port on main router. WAN port on AP is unused since it is no longer a router.
Reboot "AP".
Should work OK now.

Place "AP" in proper area. Connect to router via longer CAT5 or via a pair of HomePlug IP on power wiring devices, or a pair of MoCA devices that uses existing TV coax.

 

[jwsteel]

Thanks, Steve; I obviously missed the FAQ. Very grateful for the run-down; I'll give it a try and report back later today.

Best,
Jeff

 

[jwsteel]

Hi Steve,

I was able to get the router working (mostly) as an access point, thanks to your instructions. Greatly appreciated your taking the time to walk through the steps.

I say mostly, because my wife has been experiencing some connection drops this evening for some reason, and because something somewhere along the line is interfering with/blocking the Screen Sharing function in Mac OS X. I have yet to sort either of those issues out, but I'm wondering if the drop-outs were from conflicting signals between the two routers (one upstairs, one downstairs) using the same SSID. I've switched the upstairs one to a different name to see if that makes a difference.

If you (or anyone else) has any thoughts as to why either of the two issues above might be happening, I'd love to hear them... I'm getting quite frustrated with the whole process (it shouldn't take 3 days to get a router set up correctly, right?)

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[stevech]

If you have more than one router/AP with the same SSID, some client devices (depending how they chose to implement WiFi), may toggle between different access devices when signals get weak. Most devices will not toggle... indeed, they may choose an access device (AP or WiFi router) than is much weaker- just because it was first-heard. There's no predicting.

So I suggest using a different SSID on each - say, Floor1, Floor2, Den, whatever. Then the user, when moving a long distance, can manually choose the one that should have the best signal.

Also-- screen sharing takes a lot of bandwidth... may take an ideal WiFi signal to do it well.

you should do some confirmation tests.. with speedTest.net and a ping utility. For each access device.

Try to avoid using the same channel number, +/- 3, of a neighbor's WiFi but only if you thing that neighbor-SSID is someone using a LOT of airtime - like streaming HD video hours on end.
Includes your own system too.

"Wireless isn't a hundred times harder than wired, it's a million times harder!"
Prof. Paulraj, Standford Univ.

 

[jwsteel]

Yep, I moved everything back to individual SSIDs last night; hopefully that will resolve the dropout issues (although I didn't experience any at all, personally).

Re: the screen sharing issue... I discovered in fiddling with it last night that sharing does in fact work, it just doesn't work the way it used to (I have to use a vnc:// address now instead of just clicking on a button in the OS). Why that happened, I don't know, but I've seen reports of other users having the exact same issue with no resolution found. So that may just be the new world order.

And I agree with the quote whole-heartedly.

Thanks again for your help,
Jeff

 

[stevech]

OK.. with individual SSIDs per access device, the user of the client device has to know to click/select the nearest one.
It's not automatic - that the "best" one will be selected.

This is because IEEE 802.11 does not define how to do what's called "Mobility Management". That's in expensive enterprise WiFi, but it's proprietary to each vendor.

Of course cellular phone systems have great mobility management- as you fly down the freeway hopping between base stations (cell sites).