Does Asus 'Access Point Mode' Kill Wired (LAN) Connections? (rt-n56u)

KrisAK · Nov 16, 2013

I've got at very specific question regarding Asus "Access Point Mode" configuration. The documentation is a bit sketchy, so I thought I'd just lay out my plan here for review:

A wired router serves a home office on the second floor. That will remain my primary router; I've got no need for wireless there, at least not yet. What I'd like to do is string an Asus rt-n56u to the first floor (via existing Ethernet), switch it to "Access Point Mode", and have it magically provide both WiFi for holiday guests AND wired connections for a PC and a streaming box.

Can anyone with first-hand experience with Asus "Access Point Mode" confirm that this will work; i.e. that the wired LAN ports continue to work in "Access Point Mode." (I've read conflicting reports online, many from folks who have never used an ASUS router.)

Thanks.

RealBeast · Nov 16, 2013

There is no magic, you can even do it manually -- it is quite simple and I've done it dozens if not hundreds of times.
If you connect the AP router to the main router with an Ethernet cable and use AP mode, or better just manually configure it for better control -- the wireless and wired ports will work.

The AP must have DHCP turned off, it should have an address in the network range but outside the main router DHCP range (so if the gateway router is 192.168.0.1 make the AP 192.168.0.2 and set the main router DHCP range to 192.168.0.3 - .254. You must assign the AP static address in the main router using the AP router MAC address (it sounds hard but is very easy). Turn the AP wireless radio on, give it an SSID that is cool like Joe's Network, turn on WPA2 personal/AES security, set a passkey (write it down -- you will need it in the future for all connecting devices). The print up a set of little handouts for all the guests that list the SSID and the passkey so that they can connect.

It really is easy. And if it is only for a night or two at the holidays, you can just turn your wireless security off so that no passkey is even needed (and your router has a guest mode that does the same thing), but do not operate in that mode regularly as others with abuse your network.

The real key is to set it up and test it BEFORE the guests arrive.

And yes, as best I can recall when I used my ASUS routers in main and AP mode the wired connections on the AP mode device worked as they would on any normally configured AP, but it's been a while and I always configure things manually for total control, so test it out to be sure ahead of time.

KrisAK · Nov 16, 2013

Thanks, RealBeast.

Testing in advance? Oh my, yes. Although I won't be pushing any envelopes, since my only WiFi device is a Kindle.

And I like the idea of handouts for guests. I wouldn't have thought of that, otherwise.

RealBeast · Nov 16, 2013

KrisAK :

I've actually done that a couple of time the past few years and it works great.

Just make your WPA2 passkey an easy and fun one to type in, not some random sequence, so like bigturkey would be good for Thanksgiving, that sort of thing. People actually still talk about some passkeys that I've used for parties over the past few years.

Sirkassad · Apr 23, 2014

RealBeast :

I tried to get this to work last night and failed.. Let me tell you what i've got going:

Primary router is ASUS RT-AC68U that connects to cable modem and has wireless and wired clients. I have an RJ-45 cable from a LAN port on the AC68U to another ASUS router - a RT-N56U. The RT-N56U also has wired and wireless clients, but I want all clients connecting to both routers to be on same 192.168.0.xxx subnet and get there IP addresses from the primary AC68U router. Since the two routers already have a wired connection I don't want to connect them via wi-fi. I basically want the RT-N56u to act as a DHCP forwarder, allowing its wired and wireless hosts to get their 192.168.0.xxx address from the AC68U router, sort of act as an extension of the primary RT-AC68U router. So it seems I need to turn off DHCP on the N56U. Does the RJ45 cable from the AC68U connect to the WAN, or LAN port of the N56U? Do I turn off WAN on it?

RealBeast · Apr 26, 2014

You should connect the N56U with an LAN to LAN connection, then configure it as an access point. On the N56U turn off DHCP, give it an IP address that is in the network range but not in the AC68U DHCP range (so if the AC68U is 192.168.0.1, make the 56U 192.168.0.2 and then set the AC68U DHCP range to start at 192.168.0.3 or higher if you need more static addresses potentially -- I usually leave ten or so free for future use, so I would use a DHCP range on the AC68U of like 192.168.0.12 to .254).

Also set the N56U address in the AC68U in the static address table (you will need to enter the 56U MAC address to do it), or alternatively you can just use address reservation for the N56U address in the AC68U router. Use different radio channels on the 56U and you can use either the same or different SSIDs and passwords depending on your needs in access control to the entire network.

Oric1 · Sep 2, 2014

RealBeast :

Hi RealBeast,

I've followed the steps above (1st para) and it works. I did not do the MAC address part (2nd para).

My question is: How come without doing the 2nd para, I'm still able to use the AP (secondary router). Isn't the 2nd para redundant?

I'm using ASUS RT-AC87U as the main router & ASUS RT-N66U as the secondary router.

Thanks

RealBeast · Sep 2, 2014

You don't *need* to do it (p#2) on most routers as long as you are sure that the address of the AP is outside the DHCP range.

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Does Asus 'Access Point Mode' Kill Wired (LAN) Connections? (rt-n56u)

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