[SOLVED] Adding router as WAP = wifi disaster?

[linuxgrrl]

hi,
I have a FIOS-supplied Quantum Gateway router operating in dual-band wireless mode (5 GHz / 2.4 GHz). I wanted to improve the coverage at the back of the house, where luckily I have ethernet, so I acquired an ActionTec MI424WR Rev I router and configured it as a WAP per some instructions I found. The instructions I followed were basically the same as the sticky note at the head of this thread ,except using the WAN port on the second router. It worked awesome at first. Within a couple of days, though, there were speed problems and dropouts that began to affect the whole network. I tried manually setting the channel to 1 on the second router to avoid conflicts. I tried enabling hardware acceleration bridge mode on the second router. I tried disabling "self organizing network" on the main router, since that supposedly only works with "authorized" range extenders. After discovering this thread, I tried switching the incoming ethernet on Router 2 to the LAN port. And in my latest effort, I even tried giving Router 2 its own separate SSID/password, so I could at least troubleshoot better without ruining everyone else's day [entire family is here working or doing school].
Now, router 2 is refusing all connections claiming that the WPA2 password is incorrect, when it is not [I've tried to connect while literally looking at the password as reported in the router settings page, still claims incorrect]. I've rebooted everything multiple times.
What have I done wrong? I guess I will have to return Router 2 to factory settings and hope it accepts wifi connections again via password. But once I do that, how do I make this simple thing work ? Is it doomed because the Quantum is dual mode and the ActionTec is not? [seems like that should not be the case]
My family is ready to put my head on a pike , please help

 

[kanewolf]

hi,
I have a FIOS-supplied Quantum Gateway router operating in dual-band wireless mode (5 GHz / 2.4 GHz). I wanted to improve the coverage at the back of the house, where luckily I have ethernet, so I acquired an ActionTec MI424WR Rev I router and configured it as a WAP per some instructions I found. The instructions I followed were basically the same as the sticky note at the head of this thread ,except using the WAN port on the second router. It worked awesome at first. Within a couple of days, though, there were speed problems and dropouts that began to affect the whole network. I tried manually setting the channel to 1 on the second router to avoid conflicts. I tried enabling hardware acceleration bridge mode on the second router. I tried disabling "self organizing network" on the main router, since that supposedly only works with "authorized" range extenders. After discovering this thread, I tried switching the incoming ethernet on Router 2 to the LAN port. And in my latest effort, I even tried giving Router 2 its own separate SSID/password, so I could at least troubleshoot better without ruining everyone else's day [entire family is here working or doing school].
Now, router 2 is refusing all connections claiming that the WPA2 password is incorrect, when it is not [I've tried to connect while literally looking at the password as reported in the router settings page, still claims incorrect]. I've rebooted everything multiple times.
What have I done wrong? I guess I will have to return Router 2 to factory settings and hope it accepts wifi connections again via password. But once I do that, how do I make this simple thing work ? Is it doomed because the Quantum is dual mode and the ActionTec is not? [seems like that should not be the case]
My family is ready to put my head on a pike , please help

Using a router as a WAP, it is always best to use a LAN port on that router. The biggest possible problem is having two DHCP servers on the network. You need to ensure the ActionTec has the DHCP server disabled.

 

[linuxgrrl]

Using a router as a WAP, it is always best to use a LAN port on that router. The biggest possible problem is having two DHCP servers on the network. You need to ensure the ActionTec has the DHCP server disabled.

Thank you, yes, I did disable DHCP on Router 2 as my first step, so I'm afraid that may not be it. I also went back post-reboot to make sure it was still disabled.

Also, I should mention I got some wifi analysis software in an effort to troubleshoot, so if any info from those reports would be helpful, I'll post. So far, I think it is just telling me that the signal quality is, indeed, periodically dropping down near zero. It seems like there must be some interference between the two devices?

 

[kanewolf]

Thank you, yes, I did disable DHCP on Router 2 as my first step, so I'm afraid that may not be it. I also went back post-reboot to make sure it was still disabled.

Also, I should mention I got some wifi analysis software in an effort to troubleshoot, so if any info from those reports would be helpful, I'll post. So far, I think it is just telling me that the signal quality is, indeed, periodically dropping down near zero. It seems like there must be some interference between the two devices?

For a short period, set the ActionTec to an unencrypted WIFI. Verify that you can connect to that.
Simplify your password to ensure you don't have any prohibited characters -- Password123 or something.
Ensure that you have the channel numbers set manually. 1, 6, 11 for 2.4Ghz and start with 36 or 40 for 5Ghz. That will ensure you don't have any geographic restrictions.

 

[linuxgrrl]

Thank you - I reset the actiontec to factory settings, simplified the wifi password, and reduced security to WEP for the moment. This enabled me to access the wifi of the actiontec.
I re-did all the steps on the sticky-note in this forum, this time connecting using a LAN port on the Actiontec . I have checked there are no channel conflicts (Actiontec is channel 1, Quantum is channels 11/149)

Unfortunately, internet on the WAP is now even SLOWER than before. It just sits there for several minutes (!) before loading a site.

I havent made the SSIDs / passwords to match as of yet, because I don't want to FUBAR the entire network.

Is there anything more I can do to figure out what is wrong with the ActionTec? I must confess this is very maddening.

 

[kanewolf]

Thank you - I reset the actiontec to factory settings, simplified the wifi password, and reduced security to WEP for the moment. This enabled me to access the wifi of the actiontec.
I re-did all the steps on the sticky-note in this forum, this time connecting using a LAN port on the Actiontec . I have checked there are no channel conflicts (Actiontec is channel 1, Quantum is channels 11/149)

Unfortunately, internet on the WAP is now even SLOWER than before. It just sits there for several minutes (!) before loading a site.

I havent made the SSIDs / passwords to match as of yet, because I don't want to FUBAR the entire network.

Is there anything more I can do to figure out what is wrong with the ActionTec? I must confess this is very maddening.

I have never used an ActionTec FIOS type router as an AP. There might be something about bridging the coax or something else weird about them. Or maybe the reason that unit was on E-Bay was because it had a problem.

 

[linuxgrrl]

Yes, I'm afraid that might be the case.
There is now something else bizarre that I've learned. There's another wifi device on my network, a controller for lawn sprinklers, that was showing (on its own screen) that it had the same IP address that I had manually assigned the ActionTec. This is strange on many levels:

1. The Fios Quantum did not show this rogue device with any connection, let alone using that address
2. the address is outside the DHCP range that the Quantum assigns (on purpose, as i reserved it for static IP)
3. I was able to log onto the ActionTec at the correct address, so I don't see how/why the Quantum would have give the exact same address to a second random device via DHCP.

Anywhoo, I restarted the sprinkler so it now has its own unique IP within the proper range. However, the ActionTec's wifi continues to be flaky. I will try restarting everything tonight after everyone is offline, but:

Is there another cost-effective WAP hardware that would be recommended, to add to my Verizon network, taking advantage of the fact that I have ethernet running to that exact spot?

 

[kanewolf]

Yes, I'm afraid that might be the case.
There is now something else bizarre that I've learned. There's another wifi device on my network, a controller for lawn sprinklers, that was showing (on its own screen) that it had the same IP address that I had manually assigned the ActionTec. This is strange on many levels:

1. The Fios Quantum did not show this rogue device with any connection, let alone using that address
2. the address is outside the DHCP range that the Quantum assigns (on purpose, as i reserved it for static IP)
3. I was able to log onto the ActionTec at the correct address, so I don't see how/why the Quantum would have give the exact same address to a second random device via DHCP.

Anywhoo, I restarted the sprinkler so it now has its own unique IP within the proper range. However, the ActionTec's wifi continues to be flaky. I will try restarting everything tonight after everyone is offline, but:

Is there another cost-effective WAP hardware that would be recommended, to add to my Verizon network, taking advantage of the fact that I have ethernet running to that exact spot?

I am a fan of used Asus RT-AC68U routers. They have a one-button toggle to AP mode. They are AC1900 devices. They have excellent second source "Merlin" firmware. They are under $70 on E-Bay. If you want cheaper, the RT-N56U is around $20. Still one-button toggle. The second source firmware for the N56U is "Padavan".