Asus Networking Help Needed

[Brett Olbrys]

I have my main Wireless Router setup as the DHCP server. I have 4 additional wireless router's in my house that are all hardwired to the main router and their DHCP server is disabled. They each have their own unique IP addresses and all have the same network name, passwords, security, etc...so that I can use my devices anywhere in the house without issue.

But, I am having an issue with the Asus router. The hardwire connections from this router are working fine, they are getting their IP addresses from the main DHCP server and the connected devices work great. But, when I try to connect to this router via a wireless connection, I get an error page that brings me to the IP address of the router and says Reason for failed connection is "The network cable is not connected". Why am I getting this error via WiFi when the hardwire connections are working correctly?

My incoming connections are in ports 1, 2, and 3. Port 4 has no wire to it and I don't have a wire to the WAN port either.

Thanks

Brett

 

[rototiller]

I would change the channels on your network like in the 2.4 ghz mode to 1, 6, and 11 if applicable to prevent radio saturation and use different SSIDs and passwords also for troubleshooting reasons and security issues. Clients these days remember that stuff pretty easily these days.

 

[ColinTaylor]

It would be better if you setup your Asus in Access Point mode than the Router mode with DHCP disabled. If you insist on leaving it in Router mode make sure that WAN > Internet Connection > Redirect to error page is set to Never.

 

[Brett Olbrys]

It would be better if you setup your Asus in Access Point mode than the Router mode with DHCP disabled. If you insist on leaving it in Router mode make sure that WAN > Internet Connection > Redirect to error page is set to Never.

Thanks Colin. The problem I am having is that now that it is in Router mode, it is not giving me the option to set it up in Access Point mode, which means I will have to reset the settings...unless you have a some guidance as to how to change modes without doing a reset?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Hi Brett,

You don't say what router model or firmware you are using so mine might be different from yours. But on my router I can go to Administration > Operation Mode and choose "Access Point(AP) mode".

 

[Brett Olbrys]

Hi Brett,

You don't say what router model or firmware you are using so mine might be different from yours. But on my router I can go to Administration > Operation Mode and choose "Access Point(AP) mode".

Colin, thanks for your advice. I decided to simply start from scratch and I now have the router in AP mode and it's working great. I wonder what the difference is between "AP mode" and "Router mode with DHCP turned off" because I have (3) other routers I'm using as Access Points in the "Router mode with DHCP turned off" because they don't have the dedicated "AP mode". They seem to be working, but I'm wondering if I may be able to improve their performance if I have things turned on that shouldn't be in a pure "AP mode" configuration. Any thoughts?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Hi Brett,

I don't think there would be any difference in terms of performance either way. I'd guess that for 99% of use cases both modes would be the same.

There will possibly be some services running (and firewall rules, etc.) that relate to the disconnected WAN interface so if possible manually set the "WAN connection" to disconnected (if there's such a setting). Otherwise it might constantly be trying the restart the WAN interface. Likewise the router's date and time will probably be wrong as it can't connect to an NTP server (through its WAN).

Coincidentally I was discussing a possible issue yesterday here where a user couldn't access his router (in "Router mode with DHCP turned off") from an OpenVPN client. I suspect that was because of the router's default route now being invalid. That problem and the NTP issue above might be resolved by manually setting the route on the router, but that would depend on the specific router in question.