[SOLVED] router + switch + wireless AP + wireless range extender = no internet

Oct 18, 2019
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Hi guys.
After hours of banging my head against the wall I thought I would post a question. Hopefully one of you can help.
I have a home network that has functioned properly for 5 years. I can access the internet from the AP no problem.

Comcast surfboard cable modem
Luxul XBR 4400 router
Luxul XMS 1024P switch
Engenius EAP 1750H wireless AP

Yesterday I purchased a Netgear N300 wireless range extender which I planned to use as a wireless bridge so I could provide access to the internet to a device via the ethernet port. I could NOT get this N300 to produce an internet connection. It was correctly connected to my wifi network but would not pass along an internet connection.
Today I gave up and returned the N300 and purchased a TP Link TL-WA860RE range extender. Unfortunately I'm having the same exact problem now. Both range extenders show that they are connected to the network. Furthermore, neither of these range extenders are showing up as connected to the network on the web gui for Luxul or Engenius. I've tried both Dynamic and Static IPs.

The useless level one tech support at Netgear tried to tell me yesterday that the N300 was not compatible with wireless access points and that I would have to purchase a new router that produced a wifi signal. She didn't even understand what an access point was.

What would you recommend that I try in order to further troubleshoot this problem? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Nick
 
Solution
My guess would be that the router and AP do not have a feature called WDS enabled. It would be very rare on a AP but many routers have it. The feature is considered a security exposure in some cases so it is not enabled by default in many routers. Some router you must actually key in the mac address of the extender to allow it to connect.

If all you are going to do it plug 1 pc into the extender...basically using it as a wifi nic. You should be able to set the device to client-bridge mode rather than repeater. This mode does not require the WDS feature.

WDS is hack that allows more than1 device to share a single wifi connection. It is actually not part of the official standard but many routers still implement it the same...
My guess would be that the router and AP do not have a feature called WDS enabled. It would be very rare on a AP but many routers have it. The feature is considered a security exposure in some cases so it is not enabled by default in many routers. Some router you must actually key in the mac address of the extender to allow it to connect.

If all you are going to do it plug 1 pc into the extender...basically using it as a wifi nic. You should be able to set the device to client-bridge mode rather than repeater. This mode does not require the WDS feature.

WDS is hack that allows more than1 device to share a single wifi connection. It is actually not part of the official standard but many routers still implement it the same way.
 
Solution
Oct 18, 2019
5
0
10
My guess would be that the router and AP do not have a feature called WDS enabled. It would be very rare on a AP but many routers have it. The feature is considered a security exposure in some cases so it is not enabled by default in many routers...

Thank you VERY much. This worked.
The 2.4GHz antenna in the Engenius AP had an option to select WDS Access Point instead of just Access Point. I tried this and now the range extender is functioning correctly.
I really appreciate the help.

Nick "junky"