System Error Message
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A lot of us have ASUS wifi routers used only for wifi rather than for routing, In the case where your asus router is only an AP and your main router is something else like pfsense, mikrotik or ubiquiti or any router that has a PPPOE server and can do port forwarding will do.
1) install RMerlin's firmware or a variation of it. Although not entirely needed i have not tested this with stock firmware and his firmware has some additional features too.
Asus routers come with a lot of features not related to being a router such as VPN server and client, usb applications like file sharing, media server, ai cloud, printer sharing, download master. A lot of these dont work when the router is in AP mode or working as an AP.
2) make sure the DHCP server is set to disable on the AP itself and make sure it is in wireless router mode.
3) set up the PPPOE server on your main router, make sure it can only be accessed from LAN. Give it a different subnet (local address is your LAN address, remote address will be on another subnet). Make sure it is bridged to your LAN and has a username and password (you need both, it cannot be without either). You can also disable compression and encryption for this as well.
4) connect your asus AP on both the LAN and WAN port to your network. Dont use the LAN port as WAN port as this could cause issues in terms of switching. Enable your WAN and set it to PPPOE, enter the username and password for the user your PPPOE server is set to and set to use dynamic IP and DNS from it. Make sure to disable NAT and UPNP.
Once thats done and it connects go to network tools and try something simple like pinging google.com . If it doesnt work check your PPPOE server settings on the main router. With this and the use of port forwarding you can use your asus router behind the main router as a VPN server and use all the extra features that asus routers come with that require direct internet to the device, only this time it will not be exposed to the internet and that idle CPU can be put to good use as well and free up some CPU from your main router in the case of vpn.
If you like RMerlin's firmware dont forget to donate to him if you have extra cash.
edit: another way is to use layer 3 segmentation with static IP but you shouldnt forget to set the rules on your router to NAT the new subnet and any relevant firewall/QoS rules or such, hence why i suggested PPPOE as you wont have to change your firewall/QoS on your main router. If you are an advanced user layer 3 segmentation will have better performance.
1) install RMerlin's firmware or a variation of it. Although not entirely needed i have not tested this with stock firmware and his firmware has some additional features too.
Asus routers come with a lot of features not related to being a router such as VPN server and client, usb applications like file sharing, media server, ai cloud, printer sharing, download master. A lot of these dont work when the router is in AP mode or working as an AP.
2) make sure the DHCP server is set to disable on the AP itself and make sure it is in wireless router mode.
3) set up the PPPOE server on your main router, make sure it can only be accessed from LAN. Give it a different subnet (local address is your LAN address, remote address will be on another subnet). Make sure it is bridged to your LAN and has a username and password (you need both, it cannot be without either). You can also disable compression and encryption for this as well.
4) connect your asus AP on both the LAN and WAN port to your network. Dont use the LAN port as WAN port as this could cause issues in terms of switching. Enable your WAN and set it to PPPOE, enter the username and password for the user your PPPOE server is set to and set to use dynamic IP and DNS from it. Make sure to disable NAT and UPNP.
Once thats done and it connects go to network tools and try something simple like pinging google.com . If it doesnt work check your PPPOE server settings on the main router. With this and the use of port forwarding you can use your asus router behind the main router as a VPN server and use all the extra features that asus routers come with that require direct internet to the device, only this time it will not be exposed to the internet and that idle CPU can be put to good use as well and free up some CPU from your main router in the case of vpn.
If you like RMerlin's firmware dont forget to donate to him if you have extra cash.
edit: another way is to use layer 3 segmentation with static IP but you shouldnt forget to set the rules on your router to NAT the new subnet and any relevant firewall/QoS rules or such, hence why i suggested PPPOE as you wont have to change your firewall/QoS on your main router. If you are an advanced user layer 3 segmentation will have better performance.
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