RT-AC87U and Dlink DAP-1665 - Incompatibility?

[Emanuel Paul]

Hi together. This is my first post in this forum and I thank you for your support in advance. I also like to apologize if my English is not the best....

I use a RT-AC87U with Merlin 380.69 as main router. Then I have a Dlink DAP-1665 which is connected as wireliss client.

Now the router does not recognize the DAP-1665 correctly. On Router1.jpg you can see that there are 3 devices connected throug a device called SonosZP. In fact SonosZP is connected to the DAP-1665 which has 192.168.9.12 as IP. But the MAC on the screenshot belongs to the DAP-1665. The DAP-1665 itself is not showed as connected device at all. So it's all mixed up. Sometimes names of other devices connected to the DAP-1665 and their IP's are shown, but the MAC is always the one of the DAP-1665.

My last router showed all devices connected to the DAP-1665 and the DAP-1665 itself as separate devices.

The behavior of the RT-AC87U makes it hard to give devices fixed IP's. Only if I enter MAC manually, I can reserve the IP. But after that, the devices are not showed anymore because they are behind the DAP-1665.

Also it is impossible to give the DAP-1665 a fixed IP through the RT-AC87U. I tried it often, but the RT-AC87U gives always 192.168.9.34. Only if I set the IP fixed in the DAP-1665 it works....

Any idea, what I can try? Is that a bug?

 

[pattiri]

these things always happens when using a repeater. that's why I bought a 10M Ethernet cable and using my repeater as an access point

 

[ColinTaylor]

Is that a bug?

No it's expected behaviour. It's because the D-Link is configured as a wireless client.

The DAP-1665 is an access point with a single Ethernet socket. You must have connected another switch to it to be able to connect more than one device. From the Asus' point of view, all it sees is the MAC address of the D-Link radio having multiple IP addresses. This is an inherent limitation of wireless client mode.

To get around the problem you would have to set up a wireless bridge. But bridge mode is not a wireless standard, so to get it to work you usually need to have both sides of the bridge from the same manufacturer, i.e. Asus to Asus or D-Link to D-Link.

ftp://ftp2.dlink.com/PRODUCTS/DAP-1665/REVA/DAP-1665_MANUAL_1.00_EN.PDF

 

[CaptainSTX]

[QUOTE="
To get around the problem you would have to set up a wireless bridge. But bridge mode is not a wireless standard, so to get it to work you usually need to have both sides of the bridge from the same manufacturer, i.e. Asus to Asus or D-Link to D-Link./QUOTE]

While it might make setting up a bridge easier if all the hardware is from one manufacturer I have a Linksys 54G flashed with DD-WRT which I use as a bridge connecting to an ASUS router running Merlin. Works fine when I need extend my network out into the back yard and connect a TV to my Tivo which runs on my LAN.

 

[Emanuel Paul]

No it's expected behaviour. It's because the D-Link is configured as a wireless client.

The DAP-1665 is an access point with a single Ethernet socket. You must have connected another switch to it to be able to connect more than one device. From the Asus' point of view, all it sees is the MAC address of the D-Link radio having multiple IP addresses. This is an inherent limitation of wireless client mode.

To get around the problem you would have to set up a wireless bridge. But bridge mode is not a wireless standard, so to get it to work you usually need to have both sides of the bridge from the same manufacturer, i.e. Asus to Asus or D-Link to D-Link.

ftp://ftp2.dlink.com/PRODUCTS/DAP-1665/REVA/DAP-1665_MANUAL_1.00_EN.PDF

Thanks. You have right. I forgot to write, that all the devices behind the DAP-1665 are connected to a switch (Dlink DGS-1008D). But the router I used before recognized all devices as seperate IP's and MAC's, even the ones who are behind the DAP and the DGS. But, the router I used before was also Dlink...But shouldn't network like that be a standard?

 

[ColinTaylor]

But shouldn't network like that be a standard?

There are later standards that address this problem like WDS and Mesh, but a simple wireless client wasn't designed to work that way.

As you said, it's not that it doesn't work at all, it's just that you can't differentiate the clients on the router.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_distribution_system
https://blog.flameeyes.eu/2011/12/the-problem-with-wireless-bridging/


ftp://ftp2.dlink.com/PRODUCTS/DAP-1665/REVA/DAP-1665_MANUAL_1.00_EN.PDF

Note: Bridge mode is not specified in the Wi-Fi or IEEE standards. This mode will only work using two DAP-1665 units. Compatibility with other APs (even other D-Link APs) is not guaranteed.

 

[Vexira]

No it's expected behaviour. It's because the D-Link is configured as a wireless client.

The DAP-1665 is an access point with a single Ethernet socket. You must have connected another switch to it to be able to connect more than one device. From the Asus' point of view, all it sees is the MAC address of the D-Link radio having multiple IP addresses. This is an inherent limitation of wireless client mode.

To get around the problem you would have to set up a wireless bridge. But bridge mode is not a wireless standard, so to get it to work you usually need to have both sides of the bridge from the same manufacturer, i.e. Asus to Asus or D-Link to D-Link.

ftp://ftp2.dlink.com/PRODUCTS/DAP-1665/REVA/DAP-1665_MANUAL_1.00_EN.PDF

Are you referring to the media bridge mode in the 87u because even with settings like that my RP-AC68U extenders show up with the same thing in media bridge mode on my 88u client list.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Are you referring to the media bridge mode in the 87u...

No, I was talking in general terms about interoperability issues between different manufacturers. I have no personal experience of your specific setup.

EDIT: See the quote from the D-Link manual where they say that even their own devices may not be compatible with each other in bridge mode.

 

[Vexira]

No, I was talking in general terms about interoperability issues between different manufacturers. I have no personal experience of your specific setup.

Understandable.

 

[Emanuel Paul]

Thank you all for your help. In this case I have to lay a cable or use two DAP-1665 as bridge. Have a nice one.

 

[ColinTaylor]

or use two DAP-1665 as bridge.

Or use another Asus device which is compatible with the RT-AC87U's "Media Bridge" mode. (I don't know which devices are compatible and which aren't.)