Repeater Mode not working on rt-ac86u

[qiuzman]

I am trying to pair 2 rt-ac86u routers. One is connected to my modem and works great. The second I have purchased to put in the garage. For the life of me I cannot figure out how to get the repeater mode to work. I go through the steps and click the operating mode as repeater and it walks through some simple steps of connecting to the original routers ssid and pass. Then it asks if I want to set ip as manual or auto and regardless it still results in the same issue which is that the garage router (repeater) always shows the parent-ap as disconnected. No clue how to fix this!!

 

[Digitald00d]

I have two 68u/p units setup as ROU/REP. Maybe this’ll help.

ROU is static 192.168.1.2
REP is static 192.168.1.1
ROU<->REP is setup on 5G link with different SSID than used for clients. It’s just for linking.
REP gateway is ROU static ip.
REP dns was specified during setup.

It works but I gotta say, search the forums, because we have some delayed client connections going on with current firmware versions. On iPhone, the work around for me and others, is swipe-up, disconnect WiFi, reconnect WiFi, and move on. There is a new version out from Asus that I haven’t applied yet. Will tomorrow with fingers crossed. It might allow me to move back to Merlin.

 

[qiuzman]

I have two 68u/p units setup as ROU/REP. Maybe this’ll help.

ROU is static 192.168.1.2
REP is static 192.168.1.1
ROU<->REP is setup on 5G link with different SSID than used for clients. It’s just for linking.
REP gateway is ROU static ip.
REP dns was specified during setup.

It works but I gotta say, search the forums, because we have some delayed client connections going on with current firmware versions. On iPhone, the work around for me and others, is swipe-up, disconnect WiFi, reconnect WiFi, and move on. There is a new version out from Asus that I haven’t applied yet. Will tomorrow with fingers crossed. It might allow me to move back to Merlin.

Was there a reason you did not choose 192.168.1.1 for your ROU? That would seem to me to be best practice for the DHCP gateway. My setup was similar but I did not even bother with 5ghz since I was focusing on the 2.4ghz since I am going for more distance than speed. This is frustrating. I am wondering if I could have a defective router.

 

[Grisu]

do you use 32797 firmware?
Is the WiFi signal strong enough to pair them reliable?

 

[Digitald00d]

Was there a reason you did not choose 192.168.1.1 for your ROU? That would seem to me to be best practice for the DHCP gateway. My setup was similar but I did not even bother with 5ghz since I was focusing on the 2.4ghz since I am going for more distance than speed. This is frustrating. I am wondering if I could have a defective router.

No special reason. I use to have 1 unit for the longest time with 1.1 so getting second unit I made it the new ROU and used 1.2. They’re only numbers. ROU is outside building and REP is inside house. About 75-100 ft apart, both sitting in windows facing each other. I can stream HD just fine with Roku hardwired attached via EoP to REP. Just my 2G REP wireless clients that’s giving me issues.

 

[qiuzman]

do you use 32797 firmware?
Is the WiFi signal strong enough to pair them reliable?

Yea they are right next to each other as I am setting this up. I tried merlin's latest release RT-AC86U_384.6_0.zip and also official asus Version 3.0.0.4.384.32797 . Neither work. I was able to get bridge mode working but I need that second router as an AP since there are wireless devices connecting.

 

[Digitald00d]

FYI: Today I updated to the latest Asus stock on the REP. Still have the 2G and 5G REP client hesitation issues. Time to research an alternative solution.

 

[qtranq]

FYI: Today I updated to the latest Asus stock on the REP. Still have the 2G and 5G REP client hesitation issues. Time to research an alternative solution.

From my experiment with RT-AC68U/P in Repeater mode (NOT Media Bridge)!!

Use Asus 3.0.0.4.384.21045 and newer OR 384.6 and newer in repeater mode had dhcp request problem. Nether repeater nor client that connect to repeater via wifi will get ip from dhcp from router.


Again, from my experiment!!
For best result use Asus 3.0.0.4.384.20648 OR Merlin 384.5 for repeater mode
In router mode set ip to xx.xx.1.1, gateway xx.xx.1.1, subnet 255.255.255.0 and let it handle all route features
In repeater mode hard code ip to xx.xx.1.2, gateway xx.xx.1.1, and subnet 255.255.255.0

FYI
if any of reader/member had solution/mod with Merlin 384.6 and newer firmware that solving dhcp request in repeater mode. Please give me some advise or pointing to right direction.