WAN or LAN in AP mode

[tiomiguel]

I have two RT-AX57 in AP mode.

I do not like MESH because I do not need guest network and all MESH nodes run in the SAME CHANNEL, and this is stupid becvause they can overlap

A good mesh should work in more than one channel

My question is: I have read is better change WAN port to LAN port when setup done. ¿Is this true?

Another question is what would be thes best way to do the AP mode.

Asus AP mode disblas some things that are present in router mode, like DDNS etc.

I am thinking in configuring RT-AX57 as router, but if main router (RT-AX82U) is 192.168.1.1
RT-AX57 will be 192.168.1.2 and I configure it as a router with internet static IP adrress access (192.168.1.1)
If I disable DCHP in RT-AX57 I will have AP with all router features?

Resme: ¿What is the best way to implemet AP mode?

 

[ColinTaylor]

My question is: I have read is better change WAN port to LAN port when setup done. ¿Is this true?

It is not clear what you are asking. There is no WAN port in AP mode. The WAN port automatically becomes another LAN port without you having to do anything.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Asus AP mode disblas some things that are present in router mode, like DDNS etc.

I am thinking in configuring RT-AX57 as router, but if main router (RT-AX82U) is 192.168.1.1
RT-AX57 will be 192.168.1.2 and I configure it as a router with internet static IP adrress access (192.168.1.1)
If I disable DCHP in RT-AX57 I will have AP with all router features?

No that won't work.

Resme: ¿What is the best way to implemet AP mode?

Just use AP mode.

 

[Tech9]

all MESH nodes run in the SAME CHANNEL, and this is stupid becvause they can overlap

Not so stupid as it seams. All consumer "mesh" systems work on the same channels wired. They were never designed to break speed records or to scale beyond typical home use. In EU you perhaps have access to excellent quality MikroTik products and on fair prices. They can do whatever you want, but then you may complain - not user friendly enough! Perhaps you also have Omada/UniFi single plane of glass systems available as well as lower cost products from Zyxel/Cisco/Aruba. Then you may complain - too expensive!

 

[tiomiguel]

It is not clear what you are asking. There is no WAN port in AP mode. The WAN port automatically becomes another LAN port without you having to do anything.

OK let´s think WAN port becomes other LAN port, but main question ei if simple AP mode is better than configuring device as router, with DDNS -I want ASUS ddns and afraid.org DDNS- only one can be used in main router. Secondary router could run the second DDNS. AP mode hide tons of features present in router mode.

I think I,ll have to put static Ip 192.168.1 with gateway 192.168.1.1 etc. wake on lan and other features dissapear in Ap mode

 

[bennor]

AP mode disables a number of features found in router mode including; firewall, IP sharing, and NAT functions and functions that rely on those. Because there is no "WAN" option, features like DDNS may be unavailable on the router while that router is in AP mode. An Asus Support document on AP mode:

[Wireless Router] How to set up access point mode?

If one needs router features that are disabled in AP mode they may need to look at "double NAT'ing" a second router behind the main router. However, one may experience issues with "double NAT'ing". Other options are to put the second router into the first router's DMZ zone which may also present issues.

[WAN] DMZ introduction and set up

 

[tiomiguel]

IN AP mede I can connect to WAN /LAN port... is exactlyy the same??? AP can loose configuration and can disturb the entire network if WAN port if used, or not. I do not know. Users connectin in AP mode what port use????

 

[Tech9]

IN AP mede I can connect to WAN /LAN port... is exactlyy the same???

There is no WAN in AP mode. The WAN port becomes LAN port.

Users connectin in AP mode what port use???

As far as I remember ASUS recommends WAN port in AP Mode FAQ.

 

[tiomiguel]

In AP mode, I can use WAN or LAN input.
If device lose configuration and is in WAN, perhaps device becomes a router and try to order Ip,s, so it can disturb the net
IF I use LAN and devoce los configuration, perhaps is less dangerous... I do not know
Perhaps decvice lose configuration and stay waiting for new configuration... In this way it can be accessed by lan input but not by WAN input
After all this, what is better, WAN or LAN input?
This is not a trivial question.
People say en AP mode WAN become another LAN but in case of configuration trouble/loose... What is the best option?

 

[ColinTaylor]

In AP mode, I can use WAN or LAN input.
If device lose configuration and is in WAN, perhaps device becomes a router and try to order Ip,s, so it can disturb the net
IF I use LAN and devoce los configuration, perhaps is less dangerous... I do not know

No. If you use the LAN port it will create conflicts on your network. It is safer to use the WAN port.

 

[tiomiguel]

explain please

 

[ColinTaylor]

If the AP reverts to being a router and it is connected to your main router via its LAN port you will have two DHCP servers running on the same network which will be in conflict with each other. You will also have two gateway devices, one of which doesn't have a working internet connection. Clients may randomly connect to either router so some clients will have no internet connectivity.

If you use the WAN port instead and it reverts to being a router, it should detect any conflicts with the main router and also create a separate subnet for itself and any devices that connect to it.

 

[jzchen]

In AP mode, I can use WAN or LAN input.
If device lose configuration and is in WAN, perhaps device becomes a router and try to order Ip,s, so it can disturb the net
IF I use LAN and devoce los configuration, perhaps is less dangerous... I do not know
Perhaps decvice lose configuration and stay waiting for new configuration... In this way it can be accessed by lan input but not by WAN input
After all this, what is better, WAN or LAN input?
This is not a trivial question.
People say en AP mode WAN become another LAN but in case of configuration trouble/loose... What is the best option?

Hard to say. ASUS routers tend to have Automatic selection of WAN port, aka WAN discovery. As long as you connect to a WAN/LAN port barring any bug the router will detect a WAN and request an IP. If it recognizes the same subnet as default, it will change its subnet to a different one. This may cause a headache as you have two subnets. If you connect to a LAN only port, the default subnet will be kept and as long as long as the device does not request an IP, will stay on the same subnet...

EDIT: The way the ASUS DHCP server randomizes IP addresses assigned, meaning it doesn't got 192.168.50.2, .3, .4, .5, pretty hard for a collision...

 

[ColinTaylor]

ASUS routers tend to have Automatic selection of WAN port, aka WAN discovery.

This is not applicable in his case as his router only has one WAN port.

If you connect to a LAN only port, the default subnet will be kept and as long as long as the device does not request an IP, will stay on the same subnet...

This is a bad idea IMHO, see my previous post. In this hypothetical scenario I'd say it's better to have a working network with two separate subnets rather than a non-working network. You can then come back and fix the AP problem at your own convenience rather than fighting random network issues (which would force you to address the underlying problem anyway).

On the other hand, you could make the argument that you want your network to break so the problem becomes obvious to you as soon as possible, rather than discovering it hours or days later.

 

[jzchen]

@ColinTaylor

Sorry I tried to delete that last post as I think my logic was failing me, my apologies. I did not realize the router in question has a single WAN port...

Debating this is all very silly....

I have woken up one day and a router had overnight factory reset. The only thing you get is the setup screen. In that case I'd want to be connected to a LAN port because WAN port can not reconfigure my now reset router...

 

[ColinTaylor]

I have woken up one day and a router had overnight factory reset. The only thing you get is the setup screen. In that case I'd want to be connected to a LAN port because WAN port can not reconfigure my now reset router...

I've not seen this spontaneous reset scenario myself so I wasn't sure what state the WAN would be in.

Even without a working WAN port on the "AP-now-router" I'd definitely prefer it to be uplinked via the WAN port. All that means is that anything connected to the AP-now-router doesn't have internet connectivity, so it's only effecting an isolated part of your network. Whereas if it's uplinked via the LAN port the whole of your LAN is randomly broken.

Given that in this scenario anything connecting to the AP-now-router would hit the quick setup page it should be fairly obvious and quick to fix. Better that IMHO rather than scratching my head trying to understand why I had random network problems.

 

[jzchen]

I think that spontaneous reset may be linked to Automatic Updates being turned on.... It could also be a dream (sadly) as I should have been woken by our burglar alarm, unless the timing was right and it reset close to when I woke....

@tiomiguel
People don't usually choose the port WAN/LAN vs LAN based on what might happen in a failure.
All those features that you seem to think you lost, would be provided by the RT-AX82U (main router) in your case. DDNS does not work behind a double NAT, as it would track the WAN IP of the RT-AX82U. This is part of what you lose when you switch from AiMesh node to AP, which is configuration access through the main router/RT-AX82U. If you could find me a mesh system that runs on different frequencies on each node and provides seamless roaming, I have some money given me for taking over 4 months to repair my car and inheritance money to buy one, (probably cost a lot a lot of money).

For simplicity of access to the AP configuration pages you'll want to set up a static IP address, find the IP assigned in the client list of the main router, or use ASUS device discovery (which I think works for APs as well as AiMesh nodes)...

To "properly" set a static IP to an AP you'll want to set a static IP around the DHCP server set range, but within the same subnet.

No two devices should have the exact same IP address, at least locally, on the same network. I hope you had gotten your network a set up a long time ago since this thread started May 20 of last year....