RT-AC66U + access point + Sonos questions

[brucemac]

I recently picked up a RT-AC66U for the house and have a couple questions.

I have an old Netgear N300 router that I'd like to use as an access point on the far side of our house to increase coverage and signal strength.

I'm familiar with how to initially set up the Netgear as an AP, but am still unsure of a few things.

1. Can/should I can use the same 2.4GHz SSID name as the Asus?

2. How about channel setup? Asus 2.4GHz on 1, 5GHz on 11 and then the Netgear on 6?

3. Lastly, I have a small Sonos install which includes a Sonos Wireless Bridge. I remember reading something about Sonos operating at 54Mbps and that they recommend turning down the speed to 54Mbps or turning off "turbo" on wide-band routers. Can someone familiar with Sonos please give me some advice on how I should be setting up my network to avoid drop-outs or poor performance due to interference? Also, what channel should I choose for the bridge?

Any help or guidance is greatly appreciate. Thanks in advance.

Can't wait to get my hands on the new router. I've wanted one for quite some time now. I realize it's long in the tooth, but I'm sure it will suite us just fine.

thanks again!

 

[jegesq]

I recently picked up a RT-AC66U for the house and have a couple questions.

I have an old Netgear N300 router that I'd like to use as an access point on the far side of our house to increase coverage and signal strength.

I'm familiar with how to initially set up the Netgear as an AP, but am still unsure of a few things.

1. Can/should I can use the same 2.4GHz SSID name as the Asus?

2. How about channel setup? Asus 2.4GHz on 1, 5GHz on 11 and then the Netgear on 6?

3. Lastly, I have a small Sonos install which includes a Sonos Wireless Bridge. I remember reading something about Sonos operating at 54Mbps and that they recommend turning down the speed to 54Mbps or turning off "turbo" on wide-band routers. Can someone familiar with Sonos please give me some advice on how I should be setting up my network to avoid drop-outs or poor performance due to interference? Also, what channel should I choose for the bridge?

Any help or guidance is greatly appreciate. Thanks in advance.

Can't wait to get my hands on the new router. I've wanted one for quite some time now. I realize it's long in the tooth, but I'm sure it will suite us just fine.

thanks again!

1. I would recommend using different SSID's so you'll know what your devices are connecting with.

2. On 2.4ghz, since you'll have at least two different SSID's (and possibly a third given the Sonos mesh network created by the bridge), you should only use channels 1, 6 or 11. Use different channels on each of the 2.4ghz SSIDs (including the Sonos mesh net). On 5ghz, you've got the channel assignment numbers wrong: On 5ghz you can use channels 36-48, and channels 149-161, and which one you use as a primary channel really isn't going to matter with regard to the presence of the Netgear AP. You should use InSSIDer or some other wifi analyzer app on your phone or a laptop to see what other devices are in the area that might be using channels that would conflict and pick a channel or set of channels (if you're going to use 40/80 MHz widths) that doesn't conflict.

3. On the Sonos Bridge, I've never used one, but the Bridge operates only on 2.4ghz at 802.11 b/g, and presumably this is because all other Sonos devices that connect with it are also only b or g. So best bet is keep those devices off your nice new AC66U if you can, other than connecting the Sonos Bridge through one of the LAN ports on the AC66U. In other words, let the Sonos Bridge handle all the wifi to the Sonos devices and keep your AC66U and Netgear AP reserved for faster and newer devices. Also use InSIDDer or another wifi analyzer app to pick which channel to assign to your Sonos Bridge so it too doesn't overlap and conflict with your other 2.4ghz channels or other neighboring 2.4ghz APs.

Good luck with the AC66U. I think you'll enjoy it.

 

[rototiller]

brucemac, I agree w/ jegesq on his suggestions and also to make sure to create a static IP address to your netgear router that you are going to use as an AP that is outside of the DHCP pool that your new ASUS router uses. I have an ASUS RT-AC68P as my main router and have the dhcp pool range from .100 to .199. I have a static IP address to my NAS below the .100 address and I have a Dlink router that I use as an AP with a static IP address above the .199 address so I can connect to each device w/o problems to troubleshoot, etc...

If you have an android phone which i do in which I use wifi analyzer app which is free on the play store and it gives a pretty detailed "map" of info on surrounding wifi networks and what channels they are using etc...

 

[brucemac]

Thanks fellas.

I've been banging my head against the wall trying to bring up the old netgear as an AP. I thought I had a handle on it, read just about everything I could find on doing it and am now starting to wonder if it's on the fritz. I'm about to give up on it. I've tried resetting it to factory defaults, etc. I can bring it up and login, turn off DHCP, set the channel, SSID, WPA2 personal, static IP, etc, but as soon as I try to bring it back online I can't log back into it and the Asus is assigning it a DHCP IP addy (according to the Asus client status screen). Not sure what exactly I'm doing wrong here. I've done this before with other routers.

I'll give it another shot, but if you guys can think of anything I may be missing, please chime in.

Again, thank you for the replies. Very happy with the new Asus, it's been solid since I received it last Friday.

 

[jegesq]

Thanks fellas.

I've been banging my head against the wall trying to bring up the old netgear as an AP. I thought I had a handle on it, read just about everything I could find on doing it and am now starting to wonder if it's on the fritz. I'm about to give up on it. I've tried resetting it to factory defaults, etc. I can bring it up and login, turn off DHCP, set the channel, SSID, WPA2 personal, static IP, etc, but as soon as I try to bring it back online I can't log back into it and the Asus is assigning it a DHCP IP addy (according to the Asus client status screen). Not sure what exactly I'm doing wrong here. I've done this before with other routers.

I'll give it another shot, but if you guys can think of anything I may be missing, please chime in.

Again, thank you for the replies. Very happy with the new Asus, it's been solid since I received it last Friday.

Are you trying to connect the N300 as an "access point", i.e., by connecting it via a wired LAN connection from the RT-AC66U, or are you trying to connect to the N300 wirelessly?

If you're doing the latter, then you should read page 72 of your N300 User Manual, because it will inform you that using the N300 in what Netgear calls "wireless access point" mode is really what most other manufacturers, including Asus, call WDS (Wireless Distribution System) "repeater" mode. And when you're using WDS you can't enable WPA or WPA2 at all (nd this is true not only for the N300, but for any router including the RT-AC66U when operating in WDS repeater mode...separate issue with Asus, the "Repeater" mode you see in the Administration page is different than WDS, and using Asus/Merlin "Repeater" you can still use WPA2 encryption for both receive and transmit on the Repeater). But with the N300, if you're trying to connect from the N300 to the router wirelessly you must set up the N300 to run using only the less secure WEP (in which case it's going to limit you to 802.11g max speed of 54Mbps), or you must run wireless completely "Open" and unencrypted, with no wireless security at all.

If, on the other hand, you want to set up the N300 as a wired (i.e., LAN cable-connected) remote Access Point, you should connect the LAN cable to one of the Asus router's GigE LAN ports, and then run the cable to where you want to place the N300 and connect it to one of the N300's LAN ports. DO NOT CONNECT THE CABLE TO THE N300's WAN PORT....Just leave that open and do not use it). If you were trying to connect to the WAN port, that would be why you can't connect at all, particularly once you shut down DHCP on the N300....you want to do that, but only when you're connecting the router to one of the N300's LAN ports.

Also, make sure that the IP address you assign on the N300 is within the same range as your Asus network, and that it not already in use by another device connected to your Asus. Obviously, same subnetwork is required. Make sure you turn off firewall and DHCP because those will be handled by the AC66U, not the N300. You should still be able to use WPA or WPA2 on the Netgear's wireless channels. I would also recommend you use a different SSID on the N300, i.e., different from the SSID's you're using on your AC66U.

Good luck.

 

[brucemac]

Thanks, I was finally able to get the old Netgear up and running as an AP. Not sure what mistake I was making, but it's up and running.

Last question. Since I'm limited at 2.4Ghz to 1, 6 or 11, what channel do you think I should set my Sonos Bridge too?

Right now I'm running

Netgear AP = 1
Asus 2.4 = 6
Sonos = 1
Asus 5GHz = auto

/edit

In case it matters, the Sonos bridge and the Netgear AP are fairly close to each other. Also the Netgear will for all intents and purposes be a secondary SSID for the kiddos and their friends.

 

[jegesq]

Assuming you don't have a lot of other neighboring APs using channel 11, that's the obvious choice.

 

[jdebeer]

How do you change channels on a sonos system?.

 

[jegesq]

How to change wifi channel on a Sonos network:

Go to: https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1230/~/changing-wireless-channels-on-sonos#var_1 and then click the little red arrows next to each of the following topic headings:
» Sonos Desktop Controller App for Mac or PC
» Sonos Desktop Controller App for iOS or Android

Clicking on the red arrows (not here but at the link) will drop down full descriptions of how one goes about changing the channel on your Sonos network so it doesn't conflict with your router's wireless channels.