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Asus RT-AC3200/Bridge undefined / client drops mostly hyper-v / not possible contacting gateway

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Stephans

Occasional Visitor
Hi everybody,

I have some really annoying problems with the RT-AC3200 in bridge mode (Both router are same type and firmware)
Also have updated to the latest firmware from asus but still problems with clients trying connecting to the router.
Some clients show unindentified network status (no internet) on de media bridge side. This is sometimes /random after restarting the router and/or media bridge a couple of times the client al of the sudden gets an IP and the other client wich was connected before now gets disconnected. On the router (with internet connection) side I have no problems so far. Also have tried to update with the latest merlin version wich was better but not solving all the poblems. Merlin shows more clients connected though. In de network mapping the media bridge shows more clients than on the router side. Looks like it is not syncing correctly. I also have read that that I have to turn of smart connect. but still same problem. When I try to connect the media bridge to a 5ghz-2 channel it shows undefined (smart connect turned off or on) (see attachment). Also when installing a new hyper-v client for example it cannot contact the gateway to get an IP but after a few times restarting the router all of the sudden it can. What is going on here guy's it's really driving me nuts. Right now I'm running version 3.0.0.4.378.7838 Original from ASUS. But today I'm reverting it back again to the lastest Merlin version RT-AC3200_378.55_0 wich was better but not solving. Also the merlin version shows undefined when connecting the media bridge to the router. It looks like it cannot connect to that channel. Also have done a couple of factory resets with both version (Original from asus and Merlin).

Is there also a best practice to update the firmware to the lastest merlin version?

Thanks for your time reading this and hopefully somebody can help me out here.

Thanks.

Stephan
 

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What are you bridging to? Try to find an unused channel you can use. If you bridge a 5 Ghz radio to another 5 Ghz radio you are likely going to find an empty channel you can use which helps. 2.4Ghz has more interference which can cause instability. I've not had any issues using my AC3200 as an AP mode though and i prefer to wire my wireless instead of bridging wifi.
 
I have 2 Asus RT-AC3200 routers. One operation mode as Router (the one with internet) and the other as Media Bridge. The Media Bridge is connected through the 5 GHZ-1 channel now with the Router. On the media bridge side I have a HP ML350 v2 Hyper-V server and some other stuff like a printer/PC I want to connect to the internet because I have no UTP directly to the router. Must say the speed is very nice over the 5GHZ.

I have done a full factory reset on both devices yesterday with the newest Merlin firmware. It seems like it can only connect with the 5GHZ-1 channel and not the 5GHZ-2 channel is not visible anymore for connecting a media bridge. That is not bothering me much. The connection is working now and stable for now thanks to the Merlin firmware.

The devices I have attached to my router are working without a problem. The devices on the side of the media bridge are dropping connection or just can't make a connection with the the router (gateway).
They are not getting an IP from the DHCP. If I make a static IP then also a no internet/unidentified network will show up on the network adapter.

What I also noticed is that when I connected a device it gets the same IP ( example 192.168.1.83) as another device in my network! (See DoubleIP.PNG) It also says one device is static and the other DHCP. I have double checked that and it is not static! Not on the server and not on the router. There is someting wrong with the DHCP on the RT-AC3200.

Yesterday evening I could contact some devices/virtual machines behing my media bridge (not al of them). This morning I could not contact the devices I could connect to yesterday evening. I see that the network map is completely changed and suddenly other devices are in the list that I could not connect to yesterday.

The network map on the Router is completely different than the network map on the network bridge. Some devices are on both listst. Only to those device I can connect and have a working internet connection. This is random. What is going on here?

I'm sure I have one DHCP/DNS (the one on the router).
 

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BTW: Yesterday I was able to see and connect over WiFi (Router) to the media bridge. Now (today) the media bridge is not visible on the network map and i'm unable to connect on the IP of the media bridge. This happens with a static and/or a dynamic (DHCP) adres given to the bridge.

SEE LOG IN ATTACHMENT
 

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Set your DHCP server to give IP addresses outside the range of devices you give static IP to. I usually give a range from 50-250 to give me 49 ipv4 addresses for any static IP stuff. You can also run DHCP on your other AC3200 and divide the IP between them. For example you can give 100 IPs to each DHCP server (155-255 and 54-154). Ive seen this problem before because it requires the media bridge to always be connected and if for instance a device connected and the media bridge is unstable or down than it could cause that to happen.

You can also try DHCP relay. These devices should have it otherwise its an overly priced router. Running DHCP relay on your 2nd AC3200 could solve the problem.
 
Thanks for replying and the help :)

I already have done that and unfortunately no luck. When I turn the router into a media bridge the dhcp option is totally gone. The DHCP can only be controlled in the main router.
When I look at the activity on the router and the media bridge (network maps) and hold them next to eachother it looks like when turning the router into a media bridge the dhcp option is still enabled in background of the media bridge because the network maps are switches alot with IP adresses and such. I'm not sure and I could be wrong though.

Right now I have turned OFF the DHCP server on the router and have given the Media Bridge a static IP. Both RT-AC3200 are now connected to each other.

RT-AC3200 as Router <--> RT-AC3200 as Media Bridge

I have running a DHCP and DNS server on a windows platform now. For now, so far so good! No weird disconnecting clients and everything is online with a working network and internet connection.

RT-AC3200 as Router <--> RT-AC3200 as Media Bridge <--> Windows platform with DHCP and DNS

I hope it stays this way. IF this is working for a while i'm for sure that the DHCP on the Asus router has a bug. A big bug! :confused:

If this stays this way (or not) I let you know if this was a good workaround. :cool:
 
Very strange that asus does not have a solution yet. Many people (like me) pay alot of money for it and its just not working. :mad:

So far so good and stable here.
One thing; when I assign a new static IP on a client at the media bridge side I have to reboot the router to push the IP through to the router.
Then it is stable and have a working internet connection and reachable client. Still some bugs I gues even when the DHCP is turned off.

Is there a road map for the asus firmware? :rolleyes:
 
Even i paid 50% more for my AC3200 than it is now (in the UK everything is more expensive) and i am annoyed that i cant even use trend micro on LAN instead of having to utilise it's WAN.

The other alternative is to get a proper wired router instead. Mikrotik has routerOS and routerboards that work and dont have this bug not to mention the amount of control and features you get. Its not a consumer router and requires skill to configure but it is easier to configure than a full linux server. You can also use cisco (not cisco RV) and juniper too. Before you get one, try connect your DHCP server to the AC3200 acting as a router and see if everything still works. When choosing a routerboard do note that the listed performance is for layer 3 routing, not NAT.

You can try Merlin firmware too.
 
I totally understand. Just can not believe that Asus is so negligent.
Thanks for the advise m8. :D

Right now my enviroment is stable and will continue to work with the workaround.
Still have to reboot the router and the bridge to push internet connection to the virtual machines though but after the reboot it's stable.

I have installed the Merling firmware and works so much better than the Original Asus firmware.
So @RMerlin thanks for the good work! Sorry Asus but with your firmware right now the router/bridge is worthless.
I also have asked Rmerlin for help but unfortunately he does not supported the media bridge.
Have to contact Asus wich I understand.

What I can tell. And if other people read this. If you want to use the combination of the The asus router AC3200 and bridge. Don't do/buy it!
The DHCP on the router in combination with a media bridge of same type of router has a very BIG bug!
If you bought already an AC3200 use Merlin firmware instead!
 
Merlin and asus exchange fixes from time to time. The difference is that ASUS firmware is geared towards people who are likely to screw up their own network via configs while Merlin's firmware tries to unleash the features and potential of ASUS firmware so they are very similar. Aside from some feature differences Merlin fixes some bugs contained in ASUS firmware and at times ASUS would also have fixed bugs that were in their older firmware which takes time before Merlin implements the fix using the updated ASUS firmware.
 

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