[SOLVED] Slow Wireless AP on same network as Firewall Router

[Quadacon]

Hi everyone,

I recently purchased a TP-Link TL-R600VPN Firewall/VPN Router. I use a Technicolor Modem which was provided to me by my ISP, the Wi-Fi radios are off, and I have no devices connected (apart from the Firewall Router). I also have an old TP-Link N600 Modem/Router which is currently operating as a wireless Access Point (DHCP off, Modem functionality off). Here is my setup:

xxx.xxx.0.1 - Modem
xxx.xxx.1.1 - Firewall Router
xxx.xxx.1.2 - Wireless Access Point

So, the modem works great on it's own, I used to use it for Wi-Fi, Lan, and Wan with no issues. After I added the firewall router, all devices connected to the firewall routers LAN (xxx.xxx.1.1) worked great too. Lastly, I added the Wireless AP on the same network as the firewall router, so that I can manage devices connected with Wi-Fi.

Now to my problem: Despite the wired LAN working great, the Wireless performance is terrible, an internet speed test shows speeds which are expected, so the issue isn't strictly internet speed/access, instead, devices will constantly drop in and out of service, i.e the device will disconnect from the Wireless network. Loading pages in apps and on the web is also very slow (despite the internet speed being fine).

Now the N600 Wi-Fi router that I am using is very old, I am hoping it is just the device so that I have an excuse to buy a new AP.

Things I have considered and checked: Wi-Fi range - At least 2/4 'bars' throughout the building, Powerline packet collisions - I temporarily placed the AP in the same room as the firewall router and directly connected the two, same issue. Packet loss due to misconfigured security settings/firewall - I disabled most firewall options momentarily to check this, it didn't seem to help.

Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

 

[bill001g]

The firewall options should make no difference. From the firewalls perspective the device connected to the AP could be a switch rather than wifi, it does not know everything comes in on ethernet from its viewpoint. If it runs ok connected via ethernet it is not the firewall.

Maybe its a typo What actual IP did you assign the firewall it can't actually be "0" If you assigned both the firewall and the AP xxx.xxx.1.1 they will conflict.

What you might want to do to test is see how well the ISP wifi works. You would not have your VPN but it is really only to test and see if there is some wifi issue in your house or maybe the wifi radio is bad like you are considering.

There is not much you can set or change on wifi. You can try other radio channels and you can try to limit the channel width but other than that there is not much useful you can set.

 

[Quadacon]

The firewall options should make no difference. From the firewalls perspective the device connected to the AP could be a switch rather than wifi, it does not know everything comes in on ethernet from its viewpoint. If it runs ok connected via ethernet it is not the firewall.

Maybe its a typo What actual IP did you assign the firewall it can't actually be "0" If you assigned both the firewall and the AP xxx.xxx.1.1 they will conflict.

What you might want to do to test is see how well the ISP wifi works. You would not have your VPN but it is really only to test and see if there is some wifi issue in your house or maybe the wifi radio is bad like you are considering.

There is not much you can set or change on wifi. You can try other radio channels and you can try to limit the channel width but other than that there is not much useful you can set.

Thanks for your response, now that you mention the addressing, perhaps the VPN/Firewall is 1.1, and the Wireless AP is 1.2. Either way, everything seems to be working, although the AP is just causing issues.

So you think it is an issue with the AP? I will likely buy a new AP as the one I am using is quite old. I am glad that the issue is not with the firewall, I really benefit from the ip-group rules and bandwidth controls so if a new AP will mean everything can work as normal then that's great

 

[bill001g]

You should be able to test by plugging a ethernet into the AP/router. It will follow the same path as the wireless traffic except it does not use the wifi radio. It really shouldn't matter the lan ports act a simple switch when you run a router as a AP.