Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question

Multiple Access Points

Tags:
  • Networking
  • Internet Connection
Last response: in Networking
Share
October 6, 2014 5:20:44 AM

Hi

For some time now my home network (6 point distributed from a D-Link switch) will only sustain 1 wired access point. If I add a second, I lose internet connection after several hours and need to reboot the router.

Any clues, anyone?

many thanks

Peter

More about : multiple access points

October 6, 2014 5:25:40 AM

Do you have fixed IP addresses setup for the access points (assigned by MAC address)?

Do you have DHCP turned off on all access points?

Do you have different SSID's on the access points?
m
0
l
October 6, 2014 5:30:06 AM

It should work that is the designed used in every commercial business there is. There are likely some limitation in consumer routers to how many total mac address you can have but I am sure it well above what you can manage to generate in your house.

If these are not actual AP and you are using routers be sure that they do not have conflicting IP addresses and the DHCP server is disabled on everything except for the router.

I could see issues if you were doing something like running a repeater but when you cable AP to the router it really can't detect this is a AP or say a multiport switch. By the time the router sees the data it appears as any other wired connection.

The most common suspect is a duplicate IP of the gateway. This would make the router appear to not be responding even though it like is still functional.
m
0
l
Related resources
October 6, 2014 6:02:14 AM

ronintexas said:
Do you have fixed IP addresses setup for the access points (assigned by MAC address)?

Do you have DHCP turned off on all access points?

Do you have different SSID's on the access points?


DHCP is turned off for the access points and static addresses assigned outside of the pool ie

Router - 192.168.1.1 IP range 192.168.1.10 to 192.168.1.150, Channel 6, SSID - Livebox - WEP secured
WAP1 - 192.168.1.2, Channel 11 - SSID - Study, no security
WAP2 - 192.168.1.3, Channel 3 - SSID - Lounge, no security

I also have a Sonos bridge connected to one of the WAPs with a static address INSIDE the pool and at Channel 1
m
0
l
October 6, 2014 6:08:03 AM

bill001g said:
It should work that is the designed used in every commercial business there is. There are likely some limitation in consumer routers to how many total mac address you can have but I am sure it well above what you can manage to generate in your house.

If these are not actual AP and you are using routers be sure that they do not have conflicting IP addresses and the DHCP server is disabled on everything except for the router.

I could see issues if you were doing something like running a repeater but when you cable AP to the router it really can't detect this is a AP or say a multiport switch. By the time the router sees the data it appears as any other wired connection.

The most common suspect is a duplicate IP of the gateway. This would make the router appear to not be responding even though it like is still functional.


Hi

When the connectivity loss happens, all lights on the Router are green as though it is fully functional. I have used 'INet' to scan the network and don't see any duplicate IP addresses


Default gateway is set on both Access Points to be the gateway of the router, ie 192.168.1.1. Is this my problem?. i thought they both needed this to get to the outside world

m
0
l
October 6, 2014 7:15:24 AM

It sorta depends if you need the gateway or not. This ip address is only used to manage the AP. I is not used to pass the user traffic. The user traffic is running via mac addresses and pretty much transparently passes though the AP.

If you did not set the default gateway then only ip in the 192.168.1.x network could access them. I doubt you would manage them from a IP on the internet...you would have to port forward anyway. The only reason I could see for the default gateway is if the AP has the ability to directly fetch patches from a ISP web site. It should not hurt if it is set or not.

When you run wep or unsecured networks you always are at risk there is some device causing your issues. Maybe if you leave the web page open to the router management you might get a clue. Some routers can send log messages to a log server which is just a program you can run on one of your machines.
m
0
l
October 6, 2014 7:23:44 AM

petertn said:
ronintexas said:
Do you have fixed IP addresses setup for the access points (assigned by MAC address)?

Do you have DHCP turned off on all access points?

Do you have different SSID's on the access points?


DHCP is turned off for the access points and static addresses assigned outside of the pool ie

Router - 192.168.1.1 IP range 192.168.1.10 to 192.168.1.150, Channel 6, SSID - Livebox - WEP secured
WAP1 - 192.168.1.2, Channel 11 - SSID - Study, no security
WAP2 - 192.168.1.3, Channel 3 - SSID - Lounge, no security

I also have a Sonos bridge connected to one of the WAPs with a static address INSIDE the pool and at Channel 1


What hardware are you using for the APs
m
0
l
October 6, 2014 7:34:49 AM

TP-LINK, TL-WR740N and TL-WR841N and the Router is WPA/WPA2 secured not WEP, sorry
m
0
l
October 6, 2014 7:46:14 AM

bill001g said:
It sorta depends if you need the gateway or not. This ip address is only used to manage the AP. I is not used to pass the user traffic. The user traffic is running via mac addresses and pretty much transparently passes though the AP.

If you did not set the default gateway then only ip in the 192.168.1.x network could access them. I doubt you would manage them from a IP on the internet...you would have to port forward anyway. The only reason I could see for the default gateway is if the AP has the ability to directly fetch patches from a ISP web site. It should not hurt if it is set or not.

When you run wep or unsecured networks you always are at risk there is some device causing your issues. Maybe if you leave the web page open to the router management you might get a clue. Some routers can send log messages to a log server which is just a program you can run on one of your machines.




Sorry, I misled you, I have WPA/WPA2 security on the router. So how might I get 'duplicate IP of the gateway'?

I'll try removing the gateway from the WAPs
m
0
l
October 6, 2014 8:09:07 AM

You won't if things are correct. Pretty much if a different device decides it is 192.168.1.1 then the 2 devices compete. If things are configured correctly this never happens.

Your problem is really strange. Maybe next time it happens plug your PC directly into the router and remove the cables for all the other equipment. You should set a fixed IP on your PC in case it is a DHCP timeout issue.
m
0
l
October 7, 2014 6:32:53 AM

bill001g said:
You won't if things are correct. Pretty much if a different device decides it is 192.168.1.1 then the 2 devices compete. If things are configured correctly this never happens.

Your problem is really strange. Maybe next time it happens plug your PC directly into the router and remove the cables for all the other equipment. You should set a fixed IP on your PC in case it is a DHCP timeout issue.


So it happened again several hours later. I disconnected the router from the network and plugged in my Mac direct to the router - No internet connection. I had to reboot. Overnight I left two access points on and the Sonos bridge on, nothing else on the network neither Ethernet nor wireless. I heard the router reboot @ 7.30 this morning (the internet phone rings when connection is made). I have since given a manual address to the Mac (I have a Windows Laptop but that isn't on that much) outside the pool to ensure no possible conflict; and told the router of the static IP wrt the MAC address of the Mac

I am awaiting the failure ;-(

Do you thin k there might be an issue with the switch 9I have renewed the cable from the router to the switch)?



It failed and keeps on failing

If I am unaware (not at home) after several hours the router reboots itself

The system worked fine for 3 years then suddenly started to fail. I really haven't a clue what has happened
m
0
l
October 10, 2014 12:57:25 AM

Does anyone else have any ideas? it seems to be happening every 4-5 hours
m
0
l
October 10, 2014 1:14:34 AM

You are at the point of desperation here I suspect. A router rebooting almost always means there is either a firmware or hardware error. This is very different than it just runs really slow or works when you unplug other equipment.

So first step is firmware upgrade but I suspect you will have to get a different router to really be sure.
m
0
l
October 10, 2014 10:24:30 AM

bill001g said:
You are at the point of desperation here I suspect. A router rebooting almost always means there is either a firmware or hardware error. This is very different than it just runs really slow or works when you unplug other equipment.

So first step is firmware upgrade but I suspect you will have to get a different router to really be sure.


Hi bill

Router is an Orange (Sagem) Livebox2 and has recently been exchanged after the problems started. When first connected it did a firmware upgrade and now allegedly has the latest version

Since last post, I have removed my Sonos equipment, changed the switch and disconnected my UPS all to no avail. I still can't have 2 APs on the network for more than 4-5 hours
m
0
l
October 10, 2014 11:56:02 AM

Who is your ISP? Your setup is valid....I do not see what could be creating the problems.....standard access points should not create any issues. The only thing I can think of would be the lease on the IP expires and the access points aren't refreshing for some reason....
m
0
l
!