Access Point with Merlin Firmware Questions

[Ebartone]

Hello everyone,

I recently added an access point to my small network. My main router is an AC68 running Merlin 38_2 and my new access point is an N66 also running Merlin 38_2. I have set the ap with common ssid and passwords as the main router for both the 2.4 and 5g, although each band has a different ssid. So far the system is working great, and clients seem to do a good job choosing the better signal to log into. But here are my questions to you:

1) I set the ap up using the ap mode. I wonder if this is the best choice, vs leaving it in the router mode, disabling dhcp, etc. I ask this because in the ap mode I get very little information - I mean in ap mode of course the firmware does not track any traffic data, and really the only way I even know if someone logged onto the ap is by looking at the wireless log. What do you think? Ap mode seems to make the unit fairly "dumb".

2) Regarding IP, i set my 68 so the dhcp range starts at 192.168.1.3. Next I went into the ap and told it not to get an ip, but rather I told it to manually use 192.168.1.2. Was this the best approach, vs telling the ap to automatically get the ip from the 68, and then setting a fixed ip in the 68 for 192.168.1.2 for the ap Mac? Or does it really even matter?

3) Strangely in both the 68 and ap (66) I am seeing an error message over and over in the log that looks like this in the 68:

Jan 18 23:35:07 kernel: br0: received packet on eth1 with own address as source address\
Jan 18 23:42:23 kernel: br0: received packet on eth1 with own address as source address\
Jan 19 01:51:15 kernel: br0: received packet on eth1 with own address as source address\
Jan 19 07:18:55 kernel: br0: received packet on eth1 with own address as source address\
Jan 19 07:43:47 kernel: br0: received packet on eth1 with own address as source address\
Jan 19 07:56:25 kernel: br0: received packet on eth1 with own address as source address\
Jan 19 07:57:03 kernel: br0: received packet on eth2 with own address as source address\
Jan 19 09:39:57 kernel: br0: received packet on eth2 with own address as source address\
Jan 19 13:21:46 kernel: br0: received packet on eth2 with own address as source address\
}

And this on the 66:


\outl0\strokewidth0 \strokec2 Jan 1 01:16:32 kernel: eth1: received packet with own address as source address\
Jan 1 01:31:46 kernel: eth1: received packet with own address as source address\
Jan 1 03:24:58 kernel: eth1: received packet with own address as source address\
Jan 1 09:08:11 kernel: eth1: received packet with own address as source address\
Jan 1 09:16:06 kernel: eth1: received packet with own address as source address\
Jan 1 09:30:06 kernel: eth1: received packet with own address as source address\
Jan 1 09:35:33 kernel: eth1: received packet with own address as source address\
Jan 1 11:46:04 kernel: eth2: received packet with own address as source address\
Jan 1 11:46:32 kernel: eth1: received packet with own address as source address\
Jan 1 12:18:39 kernel: eth1: received packet with own address as source address\
Jan 1 12:26:37 kernel: eth2: received packet with own address as source address\
}

Again, both systems with Merlin 38_2. Really this error does not seem to effect anything, even so it's in the log so I'm concerned. Thanks all.

 

[ScottW]

1) I recommend sticking with the AP mode -- that's what it is for. You're likely to be chasing a lot of other issues if you try to "force" the router mode to behave as an AP by disabling service services piecemeal.

2) Either way will work fine. I prefer setting the AP to DHCP and creating a reservation for it on the Router -- just because I like having all IP assignments controlled from one place, and being able to control/change reserved IP assignments from the Router. But you'll find others who prefer it the way you have done it (exclude the desired address from your router's DHCP range, and set static IP on the AP). I really don't think it matters -- just personal preference.

3) I have these messages as well. For me, they seem to occur whenever a device transitions from the Router to the AP, or back. I *suspect* it has something to do with a few packets (or acknowledgements, or retransmits) disrupted during the disconnect from one AP and connection to the other, and the sending device seeing them come from a route different from which they were sent. THAT'S JUST SPECULATION. I have done quite a bit of searching, and have yet to get a good explanation, but have seen reports of that message from people running a variety of firmwares (not just ASUS, not just Merlin). In any case, they don't seem to cause any problems for the network or any of the devices involved.

Hope that helps!

 

[Ebartone]

Thanks!

Thanks ScottW! I agree on the IP assignment, I've gone back and had the AP get an IP from the 68 - and set a static IP of 192.268.1.2 Strange about the error messages, but as you said, I don't seem to see any problems.

Thanks again!