Switching Operation Mode to Access Point (AC) issues

[pcfr33k]

Happens to all my routers RT-AC68U, RT-AC1900, ART-C3100 and RT-AC5300 running on the latest firmware 384.12 and most likely not related to Merlin's Firmware at all and some issue with Asus's Wizard design.

If I switch from Wireless Router Mode to Access Point I get the Asus Wizard and fill in some data. I have tried Automatic IP and Manual IP it does not matter, what happens is I am no longer able to connect to the Router though the normal means the Lan Port to continue configuring it.

I keep reseting to factory and start all over again trying Automatic, Manual etc. I wonder if I need to put in a specific change to the MacBookPro Ethernet settings such as changing it from DHCP to something else to make the connections to the router as Access Point?

Does anyone have a link on what setting should be entered into the Asus Wizard to be able to get connections to the router to continue configuring it or modifications that need to be done on the client PC connecting to the router?

Thanks!

Solved downloaded Asus Device Discovery Tool and it immediately connected to the router. Without this tools there is no other way to connect unless anyone has suggestions of other ways. I know one other way is to place it within the network then I can connect to it that way though the browser but I would like to connect to it through the lan port and complete the configuration.

Well after really looking more carefully I see the Ethernet keeps connecting then disconnecting so there must be some further configuration needed for the Ethernet on the Client PC connecting to the router. If I turn off the PC wifi even the Asus Device Discovery Tool connected then disconnects but if I leave the WIFI on the PC the Asus tool will force connect and remain connected.

 

[dlandiss]

Well after really looking more carefully I see the Ethernet keeps connecting then disconnecting

I have seen similar symptoms when two clients on my network accidently have the same IP Address -- happens frequently if I am setting up a new router for a customer and forget that my own router is already on 192.168.1.1.

When setting up my own access points I avoid that by configuring their addresses somewhere in the 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.5 range BEFORE switching to AP mode.

For a nuclear solution I have an old router on my network whose WAN side is in the 192.168.1.xxx range, but whose LAN side is 10.0.0.xxx. Nothing I set up on that side conflicts with my household LAN.

 

[pcfr33k]

I have seen similar symptoms when two clients on my network accidently have the same IP Address -- happens frequently if I am setting up a new router for a customer and forget that my own router is already on 192.168.1.1.

When setting up my own access points I avoid that by configuring their addresses somewhere in the 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.5 range BEFORE switching to AP mode.

For a nuclear solution I have an old router on my network whose WAN side is in the 192.168.1.xxx range, but whose LAN side is 10.0.0.xxx. Nothing I set up on that side conflicts with my household LAN.

Thanks for the reply, I change my gateway router to 192.168.11.100 to 254 range and and reserve anything below that for the Router IP address the one gateway and two Access point routers. So there are no IP addresses using 192.168.1.1

I think everything goes wrong when I change from Get Lan IP automatically from Yes to No it no longer will connect through the Lan port only through the Web GUI once I place the router within the network, it is then I have no issues connecting using HTTPS.

My only solution at this point is to leave that part until the very end and make all the changes I need like setting up HTTPS and changing IP from 192.168.1.1 to the one I want to assign my AP router to under 100. After I apply all these changes I can connect one last time and change that one setting then place it into the network then connect via GUI HTTPS.

I'll check again if its just that one setting or is it a combination of changing the default IP 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.11.13. This could still be some ASus Bug. This is really problematic especially when you have to factory reset every time you change something it won't connect/login. I even played around with the PC's ethernet settings changing from DHCP to manual entering a different IP address and that did not help.

Actually now that I am thinking more about this does the AP router assign the WIFI IPs or does the gateway router do that because if the AP router is doing that it could assgin an IP address other than 192.168.11.100 through 192.168.11.254 since it's not actually connected to the network it could theoretically assign any IP or as and AP router it does not assign IPs only the gateway router DHCP does?

Unrelated question:

One last question I noticed DNS server fields both under Lan and Wan for the gateway router I am assuming if you choose your own DNS server like google etc you enter that values under WAN DNS Setting and not under LAN DHCP Tab DNS and Wins Server Setting?

 

[dlandiss]

My only solution at this point is to leave that part until the very end and make all the changes I need like setting up HTTPS and changing IP from 192.168.1.1 to the one I want to assign my AP router to under 100. After I apply all these changes I can connect one last time and change that one setting then place it into the network then connect via GUI HTTPS.

It goes the quickest and smoothest for me if I configure as much as possible: LAN address; Wi-Fi channels, SSIDs and passwords, etc. all before I switch to AP mode.

If at any time you suspect that some of the devices are on a 192.168.1.xxx subnet while your final intention is 192.169.11.xxx, change the mask to 255.255.0.0 and then only the first two octets need to match for the devices to communicate.

Yes, ignore the LAN DHCP setting unless you have your own DHCP server at home.