(Solved) Problem with Netgear R6400 as a Repeater

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Rick880
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 26 Jan 2020
Posts: 31

PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2020 0:00    Post subject: (Solved) Problem with Netgear R6400 as a Repeater Reply with quote
Hi, I need some help here. I am setting up a Netgear R6400 as a repeater (yes repeater, not repeater bridge) and encounter a problem. I use the 2.4GHz physical interface (wl0) for the repeater function and create a virtual interface (wl0.1) with a different SSID for client connections. I can connect to the 5GHz SSID and get to the internet without any problem but no such luck with the 2.4GHz SSID. I had tried to change a few things but to no avail. Things I had tried:

different wireless mode (N only instead of NG-mixed)
short/auto preamble instead of long (default)
ACK timing to 0 or 2250 (default 500)

I had the R6400 in the gateway mode (advanced routing->operating mode) from the beginning and had tried to change it to the router mode. It got worse. Connection to the 5GHz was ok but no internet. So I reverted it back to the gateway mode.

One interesting thing is in the process I did connect to the 2.4GHz SSID 2 or 3 times but once I disconnected it I wasn't able to reconnect again with/without reboot.

Thanks in advance for any help.


Edit:

Router model: Netgear R6400 v1
DD-WRT firmware used: r44236 (08-22-2020 build)
Repeater WiKi guide: https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Wlan_Repeater


Last edited by Rick880 on Sun Sep 13, 2020 15:49; edited 2 times in total
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egc
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 18 Mar 2014
Posts: 12834
Location: Netherlands

PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2020 7:50    Post subject: Reply with quote
Please follow the forum guide lines (link in my signature at the bottom) so that we can give better support.

Always state router model (you did) and build number.
Also what guides you have been following to setup.

For all we know you are using the very bad build 40599 (explained in the forum guidelines)

Repeater wiki:
https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Wlan_Repeater

_________________
Routers:Netgear R7000, R6400v1, R6400v2, EA6900 (XvortexCFE), E2000, E1200v1, WRT54GS v1.
Install guide R6400v2, R6700v3,XR300:https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=316399
Install guide R7800/XR500: https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=320614
Forum Guide Lines (important read):https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=324087
Rick880
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 26 Jan 2020
Posts: 31

PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2020 3:04    Post subject: Reply with quote
Sorry about missing the necessary information as required per forum guidelines. I had edited the original post accordingly.

Here is one thing that is kind of peculiar. I notice that the network configuration wl0.1 in Setup->Neworking->Port Setup has a MAC Address of 12:xx:xx:xx:xx:2E whereas all other MAC addresses start with 10 (10:xx:xx:xx:xx:yy and all addresses have the same "xx:xx:xx:xx"):

eth0: 10:xx:xx:xx:xx:2B
eth2: 10:xx:xx:xx:xx:3E
vlan1: 10:xx:xx:xx:xx:2B
vlan2: 10:xx:xx:xx:xx:2B
wl0.1: 12:xx:xx:xx:xx:2E

In order to get a comparison I configured the router as a Repeater Bridge and had the wirelss configured the same as in the Repeater. Here are the respective MAC addresses in Port Setup:

eth0: 10:xx:xx:xx:xx:2B
eth1: 10:xx:xx:xx:xx:2D
eth2: 10:xx:xx:xx:xx:3E
vlan1: 10:xx:xx:xx:xx:2B
vlan2: 10:xx:xx:xx:xx:2B
wl0.1: 10:xx:xx:xx:xx:2D

So where does this 12:xx:xx:xx:xx:2E (wl0.1) in the Repeater come from? Shouldn't all the MAC address have the same "10:xx:xx:xx:xx" like the case of the Repeater Bridge? Also the missing eth1 in the case the repeater doesn't look right to me. Have I looking into the right direction?
egc
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 18 Mar 2014
Posts: 12834
Location: Netherlands

PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2020 6:49    Post subject: Reply with quote
A repeater is something completely different from a repeater bridge.

My advice as you have been tinkering a lot reset to defaults by doing from the Command Line Interface (telnet/putty):
Code:
nvram erase && reboot

Put settings in manually never restore from a backup.

Follow the wiki to the letter.

VAP's on broadcom can be problematic and sometimes need a VAP workaround, see the attached document for the VAP workarounds, I have used no 4.



DDWRT Virtual Access Point Public.doc
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 Filename:  DDWRT Virtual Access Point Public.doc
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_________________
Routers:Netgear R7000, R6400v1, R6400v2, EA6900 (XvortexCFE), E2000, E1200v1, WRT54GS v1.
Install guide R6400v2, R6700v3,XR300:https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=316399
Install guide R7800/XR500: https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=320614
Forum Guide Lines (important read):https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=324087
Rick880
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 26 Jan 2020
Posts: 31

PostPosted: Wed Sep 09, 2020 15:21    Post subject: Reply with quote
egc wrote:

My advice as you have been tinkering a lot reset to defaults by doing from the Command Line Interface (telnet/putty):
Code:
nvram erase && reboot

Put settings in manually never restore from a backup.

Thanks for the important tip.

The instructions from the repeater wiki (https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Wlan_Repeater) leave the WAN in default so that the repeater can get an IP from the primary router even though there isn't cable going into the WAN port. I guess that is how the repeater get its IP assignment. I had tried to change it to "Disable" and noticed that eth1 would show up but 5GHz lose internet because there wasn't an IP assigned for the repeater from the primary router.

I will not be able to work on R6400 for a few days but will update when I get to it.
Rick880
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 26 Jan 2020
Posts: 31

PostPosted: Sun Sep 13, 2020 15:47    Post subject: Reply with quote
After I read the VAP document uploaded by egc, I realized that the virtual interface (wl0.1) in the Repeater is simply an implementation of the guest network. So setup up another subnet for it and bound it to a second DHCP did it.

Thanks, egc.
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