Asus guest network doesnt connect or give an IP

[Eduard7]

Recently bought a Asus RT-AC56U router and basic things have worked so far but when I went to test guest network I ran into a wall. Asus tech support had me testing two different firmware versions but still the same issue. Even with open WiFi the router does not give an IP neither to my laptop or any of the android smartphones in the house.

 

[Ralston18]

Besides firmware "upgrades" what else did you or did Asus try?

There are quite a number of things that could be affecting the wireless connectivity...

Here is a link to the User Manuals:

http://www.asus.com/US/Networking/RTAC56U/HelpDesk_Manual/

Double check your router's configuration per the appropriate manual.

Please add some details about the overall setup and what you have done. Need to narrow things down a bit. Thanks.

 

[Eduard7]

I started by the book as always by wiring router and my laptop as described on page 11-13. Everything went well as far as start-up and internet connection. The router asked for a firmware update during this process which I did. WiFi worked as well as expected but guest network (3x for 2.4GHz and/or 3x 5GHz) never worked and seems for what ever reason this router doesn't want to give IP for any devices which I am trying to connect to guest network. Tried different channels but there is no way to have different channels for main WiFi and guest WiFi so they are always together.
I am using also Asus N66 as access point and I remembered that to stop dropping IP I had to use static WAN IP. So I tried the same on Asus RT-AC56U and configured it for my network as 10.1.2.120 but the result was the same everything is working internet, WiFi but not guest WiFi.

I am using Shaw router DPC3848V then it goes to my PFSense box with 3X LAN ports configured as 1x WAN 1xLAN1 1xLAN2.
All of my network is on LAN1 and LAN2 is for tenants. LAN1 is connected to 10x hub which is spread across the house over two floors. Asus N66 has static IP 10.1.2.101 and as mentioned before Asus RT-AC56U has static IP 10.1.2.120 both connected to 10x hub that's it. I have tried to connect Asus RT-AC56U directly to Shaw router without any improvements (I had to obviously to disable static WAN IP and enable DHCP WAN). I hope that is enough details.

Asus tech told me even though routers own firmware check shows newest firmware I can get a newer firmware from their website and if both firmware revisions didn't do the trick I would have to RMA it. But I still think it is a software bug and not hardware related. I guess at this point they want to test it themselves because they don't have any idea ;-)

 

[Ralston18]

Is the Shaw router responsible for handing out all DHCP IP addresses? It should be the only router doing so.....

Do you have a network diagram showing you the expected IP addresses and subnet masking on all devices?

I am also interested in where the routers are placed? I think I follow but need to be sure....

I understand that you want your network LAN1 (serving 10 devices via the 10x hub) kept separate from tenants. And I expect that all devices on your LAN1 need internet access and that the LAN2 (tenants) also need internet access.

However, I have a nagging sense regarding the overall configuration especially where you have assigned static IP's. And the subnet masking needs to be looked at and verified.

 

[Eduard7]

Yes, Shaw router has DHCP enabled starting with 192.168.0.1 for 252 devices. My PfSense box got 192.168.0.10/24 for WAN (input) and I configured LAN1 for 10.1.2.10/24 (DHCP range: 10.1.2.19 to 10.1.2.99) and for LAN2 10.1.3.10/24 (DHCP range: 10.1.3.40 to 10.1.3.100).
When I was setting it up I tried to have LAN2 configured as 10.1.3.10/23 but failed on PFSense complexity so I left it all on the same subnet. It works so far, probably not perfect as I would want it but never had the time to finish the project 100% ;-)

Asus N66 (AP) is 10.1.2.101 and the new Asus RT-AC56U is 10.1.2.120 both should produce WiFi are both are connected by network cable not WiFi to LAN1. Obviously there is 10xport hub in between which also serves 2x desktops directly by network cable.
I will attach network diagram later.

So I was testing today and disabled DHCP on Shaw router but AC56U didn't like that idea at all (no internet).

You are welcome to teach me about any networking I am always learning...

 

[Ralston18]

Yes, a diagram will certainly help. You are dealing with the overall physical connectivity plus the complications within the IP addressing/subnetting.

If you google "PFSense Diagrams" you will find a wide variety of possible templates - not necessarily a match for your environment per se but will give you a general sense of the big picture involved.

I can see/understand that the tenants are on 10.1.x.x but not sure about the intended purpose of /23 on LAN2 versus /24 on LAN1. Not a criticism - just curious; especially since it failed on PFSense. Isolation of LAN1 from LAN2?

You are also being very generous with the size of the available DHCP ranges in LAN1 and LAN2. Probably not a factor with regards to the problem itself - just that the network probably could not handle that much traffic if all those IP addresses were in use.

Also interested about the WAN being 192.168.0.x and the LANs being in the other private range; i.e., 10.1.x.x The Shaw is issuing 192.168 addresses and the ASUS 10.0.... addresses.

Again, I think a diagram will really help especially if you show all components (wired and wireless) and the subnetted groupings you require. Who can communicate with who, share network resources (if any) and who has internet access or not.

With any luck someone here can take one look at the diagram and say "aha" go do this and that: all fixed.

I am always learning myself: sometimes the hardest part is understanding the problem.......

Will be watching for the diagram. Thanks.

 

[Eduard7]

Here you go my little network diagram...

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8_YfBLdadw2c2gwRy1vSVJOMVE

 

[Ralston18]

Thanks. Unable to get into Google Drive. Can you post the diagram another way? I.e., no login, etc. needed.

 

[bill001g]

If you are using the asus router in AP mode you can not use the guest wireless feature. It must run in router mode and the asus must then of course give out DHCP itself.

These guest wireless feature are pretty primitive all it is doing is forcing all traffic to only go out the internet connection from the guest wireless. It is really not a separate network the way most people think of it since it uses the same ip range as its main lan.

 

[Eduard7]

If you are using the asus router in AP mode you can not use the guest wireless feature. It must run in router mode and the asus must then of course give out DHCP itself.

I figured that much.

These guest wireless feature are pretty primitive all it is doing is forcing all traffic to only go out the internet connection from the guest wireless. It is really not a separate network the way most people think of it since it uses the same ip range as its main lan. [/quotemsg]

It is not in the range of 192.168.0.1 to 254 (of the ISP router) but rather as you say is using next block for its own DHCP service which is 192.168.1.1 to 254.

 

[bill001g]

If you are running it as a router then it really does not matter what is connected upstream of it. I have set up the guest wireless a number of times on asus and never had issues getting ip addresses.

You could I suppose try the merlin software or actual dd-wrt firmware. These let you actually define a completely different network for the guest.

 

[Ralston18]

Eduard7,

Thank you. I can now see the diagram per your PM.

Responding to acknowledge and to also let other posters (bill001g especially) know that the diagram is up.

Thanks.

 

[Eduard7]

I figured what the problem was. As suspected software issue. Right from start I disabled WPS because I never like this option to be on for security reasons and now everything works just fine :-( with WPS on. Must be some setting overlap which firmware cannot handle properly. Come on Asus you guys can do better than that!

 

[7cfm]

I wouldn't normally reply to a 3 year old post, but in this case....

Eduard7 - It took me some time to find the answer to this obscure problem , thank you for the solution

Asus - Seriously? Words fail me :-(