DIR-655 refuses to cooperate as access point

[randymadden]

Now that my new ASUS RT-AC56U is comfortably ensconced in my environment, it's time to replace one of my switches with the old DIR-655 as an access point.

There are a BOATLOAD of how-to's on the net. I've read any number of them. They all say essentially the same thing:

• Disable UPnP™
• Disable DHCP
• Disable WAN dependent features: Virtual Server, Application and Port Forward Rules, Access Control and Web Filters, SPI and Firewall, WISH and WPS.
• Change the LAN IP address to an available address on your network. The LAN ports on the router cannot accept a DHCP address from your other router. Recommend using 192.168.0.50-.59 for the IP address for the AP.

I'm not exaggerating, I've probably run through those steps more than 20 times so far. I can do it in my sleep now. But NOTHING will cause the router, once configured, to show up on my network.

Everything goes perfectly, until I unplug it and attempt to move it to my network. Then nothing. It's as if I've done nothing at all. Even if I try to move it back to the single PC I used to configure it - you put in the IP that worked just 5 minutes ago, and now it finds nothing at that address. So I reset and start over again.

Am I missing something? Is there a crucial step left out? Is there an additional step that no one seems to mention?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

So far you guys have been great!

Thanks, Rm

 

[CaptainSTX]

The one thing you didn't mention that is required is to run an Ethernet cable from a LAN port on the ASUS to a LAN port on the DIR-655 if you want to use the DIR-655 as an AP only.

If you run it from a LAN to a WAN port you are double NATed which is a different setup.

 

[RogerSC]

One other thing, make sure that your router and AP are on the same subnet. I noticed that you mentionied 192.168.0.x for the AP. Make sure that your router isn't on 192.168.1.x (default subnet). If it is, switch one of them, either the AP or the router, so that they're both on the same subnet.

Just a guess, but the first time I set up a DIR-655 as an AP I had that happen. The Dlink defaults to 192.168.0.x, and the router I was using at the time, Asus RT-N56U, defaults to 192.168.1.x. Needless to say, they didn't play together that way *smile*.

 

[connorm]

i have a dir-655 HW version B1 in my room as an additional AP to my RT-AC66U. so our situation is similar. however i was able to get the DIR-655 working in AP mode no problem.

steps
1. Make sure you have the DIR-655 connected to your current network via cat5/6 cable and make sure you are plugged into a LAN port of the DIR-655, you CAN NOT use the WAN port for this. if you would like to do this without having it connected to your current network you must use a static ip on your PC or Macs IP Config.

for the next 5 steps you must log into the router and go to

1. Setup
2. Network Settings
3. make sure the "Enable DHCP Server" box is NOT checked
4. make sure your subnet mask matches your other router
5. make sure the router ip address is in the same subnet.

for example my
Ubiquit ERL is my Router = 192.168.1.1
RT-AC66U is my AP1 = 192.168.1.2
DIR-655 is my AP2 = 192.168.1.3

keep in mind that if you apply these settings on a network where the DIR-655 does not have access to DHCP, then you would need to have the IP on your PC or Mac setup manually. to something like 192.168.1.4 as an example.

if you change those settings and follow my instructions everything should work for you, good luck.

 

[randymadden]

Roger and Connorm,

Thanks for the advice. I knew if I didn't specifically mention the LAN/WAN port thing, someone would bring it up. That's my fault, I've should've included that as literally EVERY POST emphasizes that. So that's not the issue.

The "same subnet" issue however, has potential. In my many attempts, I frequently tried changing the subnet on the DIR-655. I tried: 0,1,2,50,200. What I found was that, on any subnet other than 0, the router immediately vanished from the system, and I would have to do another reset to get it back. I could try any address on that subnet, and it still let me progress to the next step (not to the point where it would show up after moving to my network, but at least I could continue with the local PC configuration).

I took that to mean that this particular brand (model?) HAD to be on the 0 subnet. If that's not true, any idea why it won't show up when I change the subnet to something other than zero?

 

[connorm]

the subnet on both devices should ideally be a /24 which is 255.255.255.0

make sure you have the subnet on each device set to 255.255.255.0

 

[RogerSC]

The "same subnet" issue however, has potential. In my many attempts, I frequently tried changing the subnet on the DIR-655. I tried: 0,1,2,50,200. What I found was that, on any subnet other than 0, the router immediately vanished from the system, and I would have to do another reset to get it back. I could try any address on that subnet, and it still let me progress to the next step (not to the point where it would show up after moving to my network, but at least I could continue with the local PC configuration).

I took that to mean that this particular brand (model?) HAD to be on the 0 subnet. If that's not true, any idea why it won't show up when I change the subnet to something other than zero?

You haven't mentioned what your router (the RT-AC56U) IP address is yet. Can you please post that? Then I can comment more.

Thanks.

 

[randymadden]

Connorm,

Yes, that hasn't varied from attempt to attempt. I was talking about your point #5: "5. make sure the router ip address is in the same subnet."

If that third number is anything other than 0, I immediately lose access to the device.

 

[randymadden]

My gateway (AT&T piece of **** 2Wire, which I'm replacing on Tuesday with a Zyxel that I will configure as a bridge) is 192.168.0.1. My ASUS is 192.168.2.1

 

[RogerSC]

My gateway (AT&T piece of **** 2Wire, which I'm replacing on Tuesday with a Zyxel that I will configure as a bridge) is 192.168.0.1. My ASUS is 192.168.2.1

If your Asus is 192.168.2.1, then your DIR-655 should be something like 192.168.2.2. Make sure that the IP address of your AP is outside of the DHCP address pool on your router, also. That's fairly important, otherwise it's address may get used twice.

 

[randymadden]

Roger,

So that's where I'm thinking my problem is. I know I have to use an address that's outside the DHCP allotment, and I tried that. But it doesn't really matter because, as I stated, if I use any subnet other than 0, the device disappears. I can no longer reach it through my browser. And this is while it is still connected to the local PC, not even on the network.

How can I change the subnet to 192.168.2.anything and still be able to access it?

 

[RogerSC]

Roger,

So that's where I'm thinking my problem is. I know I have to use an address that's outside the DHCP allotment, and I tried that. But it doesn't really matter because, as I stated, if I use any subnet other than 0, the device disappears. I can no longer reach it through my browser. And this is while it is still connected to the local PC, not even on the network.

How can I change the subnet to 192.168.2.anything and still be able to access it?

Have you tried:

1. Change your dhcp pool on the RT-AC56U to say 100-150...

2. Then configure your AP (DIR-655) at 192.168.2.2.

Don't worry initially about whether you can see it from router, just hook it up and check to see if it works as an AP. It will not work as an AP with an address like 192.168.0.x if your router IP address is 192.168.2.1, that's for sure!

 

[randymadden]

OK. I can do that. But now I'm out of my depth. If I can't see it / control it on a browser, how can I tell if it's working as an AP?

 

[RogerSC]

OK. I can do that. But now I'm out of my depth. If I can't see it / control it on a browser, how can I tell if it's working as an AP?

See if you can get logged onto its wireless network. If you're using it as an AP because you're covering a weak spot, then your wireless strength in that former weak spot should look like there's a wireless router near you. You could also give it a different SSID name, then you'd see it in your client devices, and see if you can log into it. For example, if it's in your living room, you could append "-LR" to the SSID name.

 

[randymadden]

Roger,

Well, that provided some interesting results, and produced more questions.

First, I did as you said, limited my DHCP range to 2.10 to 2.200. Then I gave it an address of 2.3 and gave it it's own SSID. Per normal, it didn't show up on the browser. BUT, when I went into my phone's wi-fi the new SSID was there. So it IS working as an AP. Sort of:

1) When I tried connecting to any of my now 3 SSIDs (my ASUS 2.4, ASUS 5, or the new DIR-655 2.4, my phone was unable to connect to any of them. When I unplugged it from the LAN, still couldn't connect. When I powered it down, then I was able to get back onto the 5GHz band (I didn't try the 2.4, but I assume it would've worked).

2) Even if it will work as a wireless AP (and issue #1 makes that dubious), I still can only implement it into my system if I can get it to work as both a wireless AP and a wired switch - in which case I HAVE to be able to see it from a browser. Because I'm trying to put it in place of an existing switch (a true switch, not a router) so that I can repurpose that switch elsewhere in the house.

Not sure where this leaves me?