Troubleshooting Access Point Connectivity: WAN vs. LAN Port Issue

[Shasoosh]

I have a main ASUS RT-AC86U router that is wired to several TUF-AX3000 V2 units, which all function as access points (not using AiMesh).

Today, I noticed that one of the access points stopped responding when I tried to access it via 192.168.1.7. Restarting the access point didn’t help, so I moved the LAN cable from the WAN port to one of the LAN ports. This resolved the issue.

However, when I switched the cable back to the WAN port, I couldn’t reproduce the problem.

I was under the impression that in Access Point mode, the LAN cable from the router could be connected to either the WAN or LAN ports.

Is this a sign of a faulty WAN port, or am I missing something?

 

[eibgrad]

Normally, AP mode should reassign the WAN port to the LAN making it useful again. There isn't even a firewall anymore to prevent access.

It could either be a faulty WAN port, or perhaps an unreliable ethernet cable. Perhaps replugging the cable reset the network and fixed whatever corrupted the connection. IOW, it wouldn't have mattered whether you choose the WAN or LAN port at that point, it would have gotten connected again.

Unless it's repeatable, just chalk it up to one of those infamous networking quirks that we all encounter from time to time.

 

[Shasoosh]

Thank you for your response; that's a great suggestion.

Next time it happens, I'll try reconnecting it to the same port to rule out the possibility of a faulty WAN port.