Silly Question? Connecting an AP to a Media Bridge

[jegesq]

Ok, here's the situation:
I've been running two AC-66U's for the past year and a half with no issues, one as router, the other a repeater. I recently bought an RT-AC3200 which I am using as my new router. Not using Smart Connect, so I have three SSID's configured. The two 5ghz radios are configured so that one uses channel 36, and the upper band is configured to use 161 at 80mhz width. Works great.

My downstairs AC66U Repeater has no issues connecting to the upper band 5ghz and using that as the backhaul channel. This also enables me to have two additional SSIDs downstairs, "Asus2d" for 2.4 and "Repeater_5G" for the downstairs 5ghz radio.

All wireless client devices clients connect just fine to the repeater's 5ghz EXCEPT one of my two Galaxy5s's . My wife's (which is still running KitKat) connects without issue, but mine (which is now running Lollipop) refuses to connect to the repeater's 5ghz. I've tried everything, including changing channels, changing channel widths, etc., and nothing will allow it to connect to the repeater. My Galaxy has no issues connecting to either of the 5ghz channels on the AC3200.

So I thought I'd try something different with the downstairs Repeater: I changed the settings for the Repeater to operate in "Media Bridge" Mode. That works fine too (and in fact my wired devices downstairs get way better connectivity and speed) but of course, using Media Bridge means no additional downstairs SSID's since Media Bridge mode turns off the ability to connect clients via wifi, and you can only connect devices via the LAN ports. That's fine because where I have the Repeater/Bridge located, all the devices are connecting via Ethernet anyway (e.g., HTPC, SmartTV, Denon Receiver, Roku, etc.).

But I have additional downstairs devices that need wireless connections (can't run LAN cables), and I would like to connect them independently from the AC3200. So since I have an extra AC66U, I thought I'd try to set up my second AC66U as an "Access Point" connecting it to one of the Media Bridge's LAN ports. But that hasn't worked. And that's the problem.

Is it even possible to do this? Can you run an AP off of a wirelessly connected Bridge?

I've tried assigning a manual, static IP for the AP (192.168.1.2), but I cannot get any internet connectivity. Setting the AP to "AP Mode" is supposed to turn off DHCP and routing on the AP, so that it gets that from the Router, and thus at least theoretically, the AP should be getting routing and DNS from the router. But it's not happening.

No matter what settings I've tried, I just cannot get the AP to connect to the internet.

I would have thought that the Media Bridge, when functioning as a Bridge, just passes the DHCP and routing through to connected devices from the router (at least that's how I understand it's supposed to work), and thus it's supposed to be the functional equivalent of running a long Ethernet cable to those wired devices that get connected to the Bridge.

So if that's the case, why doesn't connecting an AP with a static assigned IP to the Media Bridge reasult in the router handling DHCP and giving clients connected to the AP via its wireless a valid network IP address? What am I missing here?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[L&LD]

Use the router in Wireless Router mode.

Disable DHCP.

Should work.

 

[jegesq]

Use the router in Wireless Router mode.

Disable DHCP.

Should work.

Thanks. Related question:

Is the GUI in Media Bridge mode in an Asus AC66U (or any other Asus model) only accessible from devices that are connected to the Bridge itself?

I can only access the GUI from devices connected to the Bridge, unlike Repeater's GUI which I can access from anywhere on the LAN. Is this consistent with anyone else's experience? Any way to fix this?

 

[L&LD]

How are you trying to access the gui? Typing in the IP address? Or trying to find the device in Network (in Windows)?

 

[jegesq]

How are you trying to access the gui? Typing in the IP address? Or trying to find the device in Network (in Windows)?

I can see the AC66U Media Bridge's IP address in the AC3200's GUI "System Logs" DHCP Lease log window, and in the Wireless Log.

I'm running Merlin's current 378.51 on the AC3200, on the AC66U Media Bridge and on my AC66U Repeater. My devices include Windows 8.1 and 7 computers, Android phones, Surface and Android Tablets, a Chromebox (for wireless streaming), and three servers, two running FreeBSD and the other Win8.1. I've tried accessing the GUI for the RT-AC66U Media Bridge from all except the servers, using either IE, Chrome, or Firefox, and have not been successful in reaching the GUI except from the HTPC running Win 7 which is connected directly to the Media Bridge itself.

The Media Bridge is identified as "RT-66U" and has an IP address of 192.168.1.43 in the AC3200's logs. I type that address into a browser on a LAN-connected computer, but it never resolves.

Interestingly, because the device is in "Media Bridge" the wireless radios are not visible when examining other wireless nodes on other wireless devices. Presumably the only way to get to the GUI of that Media Bridge is by being connected to the LAN through the AC3200 router or the Repeater....at least that's what one would assume, but it just isn't reachable for some reason that I can't quite figure out.

I have no difficulty accessing the Repeater's GUI from any other LAN-connected device with a browser, and I'm also using another Media Bridge (a WD MyACBridge AC1200) in a different part of the house, and I can access that bridge's GUI without any difficulty from any other LAN-connected device via a browser.

The only GUI that I can't get to is the AC66U's Media Bridge GUI. I am able to access it from my HTPC which is connected to that Media Bridge via an Ethernet cable connected to one of that Media Bridge's LAN ports, but that's the ONLY way I have been able to access that GUI.

As I said, I want to be able to access it from wherever I happen to be in my home just like I can for the other connected Repeater and the other Bridge, or my AC3200's GUI.

Hope this clarifies.

 

[L&LD]

It seems like it should be reachable.

Just a point, you keep switching between calling it a media bridge and a repeater. Which is it?

In the RT-N66U's gui, under Administration and when having selected the Media bridge mode, it suggests to download a utility to discover the changing IP address of the bridge.

In Media Bridge mode, the DHCP-assigned IP address changes. Install and use the Device Discovery Utility to get the wireless router's new IP address.

See if that helps at all.

 

[jegesq]

It seems like it should be reachable.

Just a point, you keep switching between calling it a media bridge and a repeater. Which is it?

In the RT-N66U's gui, under Administration and when having selected the Media bridge mode, it suggests to download a utility to discover the changing IP address of the bridge.




See if that helps at all.

Let me make it clearer, if at all possible:

1. I have TWO AC66U's. One was formerly set up as my router, but I now have the AC3200 as my router, so I'm using one of my two AC66U's (the one that used to be the router) as a Media Bridge.

2. I also have a second AC66U that is and continues to be set up as a Repeater. Since I purchased the AC3200, I've simply moved the location of the AC66U Repeater to a more distant area of my home. Where the Repeater used to be, I'm now using the first AC66U as a MEDIA BRIDGE.

Clear? See if this is better:

The Media Bridge in question is the one with the red arrow pointing to it. The rest of the picture is just so you'll have some idea of the number of devices we're using at home. This does not represent all of them, nor all of the rooms in the house. It's merely intended to represent the upstairs where the 3200 is located and the downstairs where the media bridges and repeater are located.

Again, I cannot access the GUI of the AC66U that is set up as a MEDIA BRIDGE, except through a computer that is directly connected to one of the 4 LAN ports of the MEDIA BRIDGE.

I mentioned the Repeater only because I CAN access the GUI on that device from anywhere within the LAN, whereas I cannot access the MEDIA BRIDGE'S GUI. Two different devices, two different sets of circumstances. Mentioned one only to compare to the other since they are both AC66U's.

And if I use the "ASUS Discovery Utility" that tells me nothing that I don't already know about the MEDIA BRIDGE'S IP ADDRESS from looking at the AC3200's own System Logs (including the Wireless log, and the DHCP Lease log). Again, I KNOW the IP address of the MEDIA BRIDGE....it just will not load and is not accessible from a browser on any computer that is part of the LAN (except for the HTPC which is directly connected to the RT-AC66U media bridge).

 

[L&LD]

Then it has to be some other customization you have in your network that is interfering. A similar setup for a long ago customer worked fine, fyi.

 

[jegesq]

Then it has to be some other customization you have in your network that is interfering. A similar setup for a long ago customer worked fine, fyi.

Nope, no customizations. Tried again to access it this morning, and it worked.

Very weird. For two days I couldn't access the AC66U Bridge's GUI on any computer on my LAN other than the HTPC connected directly to the Bridge. But after two days, it finally worked. Didn't reboot anything. Didn't clear or change any browser settings. Very odd.

Oh well, anyway, it now works. I have no idea why, but I'm now able to view the GUI. Sheesh.