Merlin / RT-AC87U - Questions & Comments

[pjschwartz]

I recently installed an ASUS RT-AC87U, running Merlin 376.46, in Access Point mode, on my home network . . .

1) I have been unable to get a fixed IP address to stick. Whenever the modem is rebooted, restarted or an unrelated change is saved, the router's manually assigned IP address changes to a random assignment. Is that a known bug?

2) I typically run the device with the LEDs turned off. However, when the device is restarted, it reverts to LED on mode. Is that a known bug?

3) There appears to be no Traffic Monitoring capability when the router is in AP mode.

4) Although I can input / specify DNS servers, all devices accessing my wireless network are still getting DNS from my primary router (which is using the DNS provided by the ISP). Is the wireless router, when in AP mode, unable to provide an alternated DNS?



Thoughts and comments appreciated. Thanks!

 

[RMerlin]

1) I have been unable to get a fixed IP address to stick. Whenever the modem is rebooted, restarted or an unrelated change is saved, the router's manually assigned IP address changes to a random assignment. Is that a known bug?

The IP address is assigned by your main router. If that router doesn't always assign the same IP to a specific MAC, then it will always give your AP a different IP. You will have to do a static allocation on your main router if you wish for the AP to always get the same IP. This isn't controlled by the AP.

2) I typically run the device with the LEDs turned off. However, when the device is restarted, it reverts to LED on mode. Is that a known bug?

Disabling the LEDs through the button does not permanently disable it. To do so, you must enable Stealth Mode, under Tools -> Other Settings.

3) There appears to be no Traffic Monitoring capability when the router is in AP mode.

That's correct. An AP is just an extension to your network, it doesn't route traffic, so it doesn't account for it.

4) Although I can input / specify DNS servers, all devices accessing my wireless network are still getting DNS from my primary router (which is using the DNS provided by the ISP). Is the wireless router, when in AP mode, unable to provide an alternated DNS?

The DNS is provided by the DHCP server, which runs on your main router. Like in 3, the AP does not handle such functionality.

For all intent and purposes, thread an AP as if it was an adapter between an Ethernet jack on your main router and a wifi adapter on your connecting client. DHCP and routing are all handled by the main router.