Wireless bridges can't access Internet on Linksys E4200

[satwar]

Configured exactly the same as a Linksys WRT610N, which works flawlessly with WET610N bridges.

Any ideas on what is wrong ? I'm amazed that Linksys can develop a router product that is not compatible with their current line of bridges.

My setup is Modem -> Internet port (blue) on SPA2102 (VOIP) ->Ethernet port (yellow) on SPA2102 ->Internet port (yellow) on WRT610N (or E4200)

The SPA2102 router has address 192.168.15.1 and it's LAN is comprised of 192.168.15.2 (E4200) or 192.168.15.3 (WRT610N)

The E4200 & WRT610N (only one used at a time) has address 192.168.0.1

The wireless bridges are very happy with the WRT610N (Internet Access) but when I swap in the E4200, the bridges are denied Internet access. The bridges IP Address are configured "Auto DHCP". I have attempted to change bridge IP Address to "Static IP" and configure Default Gateway to 192.168.15.1 but bridge will not accept because it's IP address is 192.168.0.xx

 

[overdrive31]

So the bridge(s) work with the WRT610N, when using DHCP? Are you using WPS to make the connection? A bridge behind a NAT router, the gateway will then be the NAT routers LAN IP(192.168.0.1).

 

[satwar]

Yes they work with WRT610N.

WRT610N & E4200 are both set with DHCP Sever enabled. I've tried setting WET610Ns Static IP outside router automatic assignment range, with default gateway 192.168.0.1. I've also tried auto DHCP on WET610N. Neither IP config gets me Internet access.

I assume WPS stands for "wifi protected setup". Yes I used those buttons to set security for the WET610Ns

 

[overdrive31]

Sounds like a bad link or WPS isn't working right, try manually entering wireless details. Use the site survey tool on the bridge to judge on a good placement with decent signal. Should never rely on WPS alone, remember with 2.4GHz to stay on 20MHz channel width, also wireless N requires WPA2 AES or encryption off to work.

 

[satwar]

Yes the security is all good.

I'll read up on optimizing router performance again.

It looks like I'll have to live with this strange bridge behavior, not a deal breaker but annoying

 

[overdrive31]

Are the clients on the bridge side receiving DHCP?

How are you determining that the link between router and bridge is working?

Are you able to access the bridge from a client that is connected to the router(this would confirm a wireless link)?

Are you accessing the bridge via it's wired side using an static address on the client(this would require either proper DNS and gateway entry on the client for internet, or to ping the router IP, verifying a wireless link)?

Lastly of course, if the client wired to the bridge were issued an address via DHCP from the router would confirm a wireless link, but without internet connectivity would be puzzling.

Just pushing the WPS buttons and plugging in devices isn't always going to be magical.

Log into the bridge and write down the WPS PIN #. Enter the PIN # for the bridge on the router's WPS setup page to see if it works rather than pushing of the buttons. If WPS fails to work using the PIN also, then set things up manually.

How does the bridge/router determine what radio frequency(2.4 or 5GHz) it will use to connect with WPS?

Any specific reason for using the E4200?

Please be more specific with your answers.. "Yes the security is all good", doesn't explain much.

 

[satwar]

I'm really struggling to answer your questions, my technical understanding of routers & bridges is rather slim.

Let me explain why I posted. I used to have a fully functional (Internet Access) wireless link to my WRT610N by plugging in a WET610N to the Ethernet port on my laptop. I preferred the WET610N, rather than the laptop built-in wifi because I could tweak the location of bridge to optimize reception in a very old plaster & lath wall house. I turn off the built-in wifi radio and plug in the WET60N. I run media extenders off my laptop to show movies stored on my HP Home Server to TV sets. The E4200 was advertised as the ultimate home theatre router, so since that is a major function of my home network, I thought I'd give it a try. But, when I plug in the WET610N to the Ethernet port of my laptop, with the E4200 router in place, I get this warning about my laptop not having Internet access. This is annoying because I used to have full, optimized performance for local & Internet access through the WET610N using the WRT610N router. With the E4200 I can no longer use the WET610N wireless link for Internet access.

 

[satwar]

Please see my responses below (not final, still under review):

Are the clients on the bridge side receiving DHCP?
Response: I don't think so. When I use Windows to troubleshoot my laptop's Ethernet adapter with WET610N plugged in, it comes back saying there is no response from DNS Service. How the E4200 affects this, where the WRT610N allowed it to work, is beyond me.

How are you determining that the link between router and bridge is working?
Response: Good question. One thing I noticed is that my media extenders (connected to E4200 using WET610Ns) stream movies to my television sets. I can use either built-in wifi or WET610N to connect my laptop to the media extenders

Are you able to access the bridge from a client that is connected to the router(this would confirm a wireless link)?
Response: I can login to any WET610N (7 of them) through my laptop Ethernet port fitted with a WET610N. All WET610Ns are configured with Static IP addresses, which may explain

Are you accessing the bridge via it's wired side using an static address on the client(this would require either proper DNS and gateway entry on the client for internet, or to ping the router IP, verifying a wireless link)?
Response: My laptop Ethernet port connected to the wired side of the WET610N is configured for auto DHCP and DNS. I can not ping the E4200

Lastly of course, if the client wired to the bridge were issued an address via DHCP from the router would confirm a wireless link, but without internet connectivity would be puzzling.

Just pushing the WPS buttons and plugging in devices isn't always going to be magical.

Log into the bridge and write down the WPS PIN #. Enter the PIN # for the bridge on the router's WPS setup page to see if it works rather than pushing of the buttons. If WPS fails to work using the PIN also, then set things up manually.

How does the bridge/router determine what radio frequency(2.4 or 5GHz) it will use to connect with WPS?

Any specific reason for using the E4200?

Please be more specific with your answers.. "Yes the security is all good", doesn't explain much.

 

[overdrive31]

If you don't understand how to get the WPS PIN # from the bridge and enter it on the router, nor manually configure wireless, then just go back to using the WRT610N. I explained simply how to use the WPS PIN #, to set it up. It is obvious the wireless connection between the bridge and E4200 is not connecting using the WPS buttons, so if you don't want to look up how to manually enter wireless configuration, go back to using the WRT610N. There is really no major difference between the two routers, other than the E4200 supports 3 stream in 5GHz, but the bridges only use 2 stream in either radio, so no real use in your situation. Save your money and use what works, you wouldn't have gained much had it worked anyway. If you're set on getting it to work, hire a geeky neighbor to do it for you.

 

[satwar]

wait a minute, please be patient. I know how to configure the bridge security manually, i'm just not sure that it is the issue. You've asked for a lot of stuff and it will take time.

Well I used the Pin# method for one of my WET610N and both the router and bridge say Congratulations but no progress. I've entered the security manually on both E4200 & WET610N and configured the bridge with static IP. No progress.

 

[overdrive31]

So the client is receiving DHCP(this would confirm wireless works) from the router in order for you to be able to login to the bridge to begin with? If not, your client would require being setup with a static address to access the bridge for setup. If you can access the bridge with a client using DHCP, then you shouldn't have a problem pinging the router or logging in to it as well as receive internet(if DNS was correct).

You have IPv4 properties in Windows set to Obtain IP address automatically(DHCP) as well as Obtain DNS server address automatically(DHCP)? If not, then your client is using a static address. If either static address on the client or bridge exists in the routers DHCP pool(DHCP IP address range), it will cause you problems.

Try plugging a wired client using DHCP into the router to see if it allows proper addressing for local and internet to work. Has local network been working, just not internet? You said you got media streaming(local) to work, this would mean only internet DNS(if you're using DHCP on the client), or when using a static client address leaving DNS or even the gateway blank/incorrect, could be your problem. If internet doesn't work and local does, then you may need to assign a couple static DNS servers in the router or on each client. You could use your ISP, OpenDNS, or even Google DNS servers. I read your post on Cisco's forums, if your wireless radio gets proper DNS for internet, then your wired is not setup correctly for DHCP, or the bridge doesn't want to play nice with the E4200. Try testing static DNS(setting under IPv4 properties of LAN Connection) on a wired client connected to a bridge using Google DNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

I asked before how the bridge decides what radio it will use, and have noticed people say it boots up randomly using one or the other. Looking at emulators for both the routers shows the E4200 using identical SSID names for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz(manual says for seamless roaming purposes. But, will the bridges roam?), try changing them to unique SSID names to distinguish them from one another.

The E4200 is a first generation 3 stream router for Linksys, or in other words beta. Future firmware updates may solve the problems and maybe not. The marketing caught your eye, but there really is no benefit to using it over the WRT610N.

 

[satwar]

Well this is too much router for me. I've spent a week trying to get these bridges to work with no luck.

I'll wait for more firmware, but I won't hold my breath. Thanks for trying to help.

 

[overdrive31]

I posted this over at Cisco forums on your thread.

Traditionally, a bridge doesn't require an IP address of it's own on the sub-network. These days, using consumer brand bridges, they do get assigned IP addresses on your network for simplicity. This difference could be the cause of internet communication troubles for some devices that utilize such a bridge. The bridge, not connected to a router, in DHCP mode defaults to 169.254.1.250 with subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 to support any wired DHCP clients connected to the bridge getting an APIPA address in the range of 169.254.0.0 -169.254.255.255. The bridge, connected to the router, in DHCP mode will get an IP assigned by your router's DHCP server, thus changing it to an IP on your network(not like a traditional bridge). What if you assigned the bridge an static IP of 169.254.1.250 with subnet mask of 255.255.0.0(the default in DHCP mode while not connected to a router), then connected it to the router using wireless. It now would be operating like a traditional bridge, and chances are your problems may go away.

 

[satwar]

Well the WRT610N tolerates that default bridge configuration, but doesn't improve the situation with E4200.

 

[Max_460]

satwar,
I have went through two different e4200 routers and about ready to take the 2nd back to exchange for a different one. I have several WET610N bridges in my network and what I found was the clients were able to see the local network, except the router(e4200), but were not able to access the internet. I use DHCP reservations and once I removed these clients from the reservations listing they instantly gained access to the internet.
In all of the different forums I've been reading there are some who have been able to use all of the features of this router without problem, but there are others who are dealing with similar issues.
I am also having problems connecting my 360s to my Media Center PC and I just had the wireless network drop out on me last night.
Cisco needs to release an updated firmware for this router soon. Can't believe they've release something with so many problems.

 

[satwar]

My God, you're right, thank you for that tip. I'm not sure what all the implications of using static IP will be, but I'll find out.

It also seems that some clients, behind the bridge, benefit from overdrive31 suggestion of using the default Static IP WET610N address 169.254.1.250 (subnet 255.255.0.0). Both tricks were required to get my Media Center Extenders behaving properly.

What a pain this product is.