AC68 in media bridge mode NAT and DLNA discovery problems

[jashsu]

Search of this subforum didn't turn up much so here goes.

Does anyone have experience operating RT-AC68 in media bridge mode? I'm running into issues with devices attached to AC68 media bridge apparently not receiving inbound connections. I'm able to do anything where the client initiates an outbound connection such as browsing the internet, streaming videos, and downloading files. However stuff that relies on inbound connections fails, like the PS3 fails to detect the NAT type and the media box is unable to discover DLNA servers on the other side of the wireless bridge.

My setup is as follows:
- RT-AC87 in router mode (stock 3.0.0.4.376.2769): hardwired to cable modem on wanport, two DLNA servers and a standard windows box on lanports. Everything set up as usual, DHCP on, client isolation off.
- RT-AC68 in media bridge mode (stock 3.0.0.4.376.1663): wirelessly bridged to AC87 via 802.11ac, hardwired clients are a PS3 and a media streaming box.

Do I need to add some routing rules on the AC87 to get all traffic meant for the clients on the bridge to go over the bridge?

All the inbound connection problems are resolved if I switch to wireless repeater mode, but I'd rather not use that mode if possible, as I don't want to have additional signal on that side of the house or cut the bandwidth to the bridged devices in half.

 

[old_school]

I too have issues with RT-AC87R & RT-AC68R connectivity in a similar config. With the 87 as router and 68 as bridge the 68 lan ports have no wan connectivity at all. I tested the 87 as router and 68 as repeater and clients could connect to the 68 @ 866Mhz but the actual WAN (via the 87) throughput was very slow, so slow I did not even measure it. Asus indicated the Auth method must be Open System but that change did not help either case. Both systems are on current firmware as of yesterday. I will continue to experiment but suggestions would be welcomed.

When both the 87 and 68 are online I get the following system log storm which may be enough to cause the issues but I am no expert.
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: net_ratelimit: 5138 callbacks suppressed
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:16 kernel: net_ratelimit: 3870 callbacks suppressed
Oct 22 20:22:16 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address

 

[dsring]

I too have issues with RT-AC87R & RT-AC68R connectivity in a similar config. With the 87 as router and 68 as bridge the 68 lan ports have no wan connectivity at all. I tested the 87 as router and 68 as repeater and clients could connect to the 68 @ 866Mhz but the actual WAN (via the 87) throughput was very slow, so slow I did not even measure it. Asus indicated the Auth method must be Open System but that change did not help either case. Both systems are on current firmware as of yesterday. I will continue to experiment but suggestions would be welcomed.

When both the 87 and 68 are online I get the following system log storm which may be enough to cause the issues but I am no expert.
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: net_ratelimit: 5138 callbacks suppressed
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:11 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Oct 22 20:22:16 kernel: net_ratelimit: 3870 callbacks suppressed
Oct 22 20:22:16 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address

I had similar errors in my RT-AC87R system log. I have managed to eliminate most of the packet errors by disabling NAT Acceleration, and disabling Beamforming in the router settings. I did report this issue to Asus. Maybe it will be fixed in the next firmware release.

 

[old_school]

Thank you for the heads up. I just purchased the ac87 yesterday so I did not get a lot of testing done last night. Today I made sure that the bridge was running on the 5G and any attached clients (to the extender ac68) connected on 2.4G and I moved my NAS to LAN3, so far the errors are gone. If things change I'll test NAT/beamforming settings. Even though it is not real throughput I am pleased to see the ac68 connect to the ac87 at 704-866Mbps from 35ft. Up 21 hours so far.

 

[jashsu]

Thank you for the heads up. I just purchased the ac87 yesterday so I did not get a lot of testing done last night. Today I made sure that the bridge was running on the 5G and any attached clients (to the extender ac68) connected on 2.4G and I moved my NAS to LAN3, so far the errors are gone. If things change I'll test NAT/beamforming settings. Even though it is not real throughput I am pleased to see the ac68 connect to the ac87 at 704-866Mbps from 35ft. Up 21 hours so far.

I had a ton of "received packet on xxx with own address as source address" errors on my AC87 and AC68 too. A quick Google turned up many other threads here on SNB and other sites about it but no concrete explanation on what effects it may have (someone said it usually precedes performance degradation and then disconnection) or how to completely avoid it.

I was thinking about trying to do a WDS bridge instead of the Asus modes (the ones under Admin tab) but apparently Asus WDS implementation only supports Open and WEP security, which is a total non-starter. In the end I caved and changed my AC68 to Repeater mode and set the SSIDs to be slightly different than my AC87 SSIDs (so none of my wireless clients will attempt to connect to AC68 wirelessly). Reported linkspeed from the AC68 admin page hovers between 500-800 mbps. Can generally stream live HD from my HDHomeRun or Nvidia Gamestreaming without cutouts. Will have to see if any received packet with own address errors pop up over the next few days.

I still hope the issues with Wireless Bridge mode get worked out though.

 

[old_school]

Agree on the bridge, I have a use too. Regarding repeater/extender mode my 5g band is dedicated to the 'wireless bridge' between the 87 and the 68 but I do have several 2.4g clients attached to the 68 and no log issues for 12hrs+. I just completed a MSFT download for Windows server 2012 that was 800M and I measured rates at the 68 as high as 750Mbps so I am a happy guy right now.