Access Point can't access the internet but clients connected to AP can?

[ZakO 471]

Hey,

 

I know nothing about networking so this might be a silly question but I didn't find much about it when searching so I'd appreciate any help.

 

I have a spare router (D-Link DIR-868L) I've set up as an access point on my current network to get better range for outside usage. On the DIR-868L I've:

 

• Reset it to factory defaults
• Plugged in a RJ45 from my existing router to LAN1 
• Configured the router IP address to be within the existing router's IP Address Range
• Disabled the DHCP server

 

All the wireless clients connected to the DIR-868L now get internet access great, but... the router itself doesn't. If the router wants to do something requiring internet access (i.e. sync time with a NTP server) it fails. Does anyone know what I have to change to get this working? Thanks in advance.

[+BudMan 3,460]

And does your LAN ip you set have a gateway set?  Most soho consumer crap wifi have no way to set a gateway on lan.. So no they not going to be able to talk to the internet.  Why would it need to?  What exactly is it doing that internet is of use to it?  Set the time on the AP - why?  Is it logging anything you are looking at?

 

Can you put 3rd party firmware on it - ddwrt for example?

[Xahid 5,326]

if you want to give your "Wifi Access point" internet, you have to put the wire in "WAN" port of access point, but then all the client connected thro AP will be disconnected and required DHCP to use Internet.

[satukoro 1,349]

18 hours ago, ZakO said:

Hey,

 

I know nothing about networking so this might be a silly question but I didn't find much about it when searching so I'd appreciate any help.

 

I have a spare router (D-Link DIR-868L) I've set up as an access point on my current network to get better range for outside usage. On the DIR-868L I've:

 

• Reset it to factory defaults 
• Plugged in a RJ45 from my existing router to LAN1 
• Configured the router IP address to be within the existing router's IP Address Range
• Disabled the DHCP server 

  

All the wireless clients connected to the DIR-868L now get internet access great, but... the router itself doesn't. If the router wants to do something requiring internet access (i.e. sync time with a NTP server) it fails. Does anyone know what I have to change to get this working? Thanks in advance.

As Budman said, this seems like a gateway issue on your spare router (D-Link DIR-868L)

 

You can try plugging an RJ45 into the WAN port on your secondary router and the LAN port on your primary and see if it'll grab a dhcp address that way.

You can also try putting your secondary access point on a different subnet, and then configure a static route to point to your base subnet.

[+BudMan 3,460]

While you could plug it into the wan - unless it has a "AP" mode where it bridges everthing your gong to just complex your setup with a double nat.  Again will ask why do you need this AP to have internet access?  Is it logging something you need accurate time via ntp?  Why not just point it to ntp server on your local lan?  Does your main router prove ntp?

[ZakO 471]

Thanks for the replies, the main reason I wanted the router to have internet access was for the "media server" option the router has built-in which seemingly refuses to work unless the router can ping the dlink website ?

 

It seems as you said the stock firmware doesn't have a way to configure the gateway IP, I did manage to get it working through the WAN port but then connecting clients to the network was a PITA.

 

Ended up flashing OpenWRT onto it, the 3rd party firmware supports everything I wanted to do without having to mess around. Thanks again.

[Brandon H 2,864]

OpenWRT ftw. for being open-source it's an amazing firmware on every device; especially now that they've merged with the LEDE group; version 18 is looking great in the snapshots.

[+BudMan 3,460]

Great - yeah the 3rd party options for sure can make it possible to actually use the hardware vs the nonsense of the firmware these makers put on t that just is plain ###### 9/10 times.  And then won't even be updated 6 months after, because they want you to just buy their new shiny model.

[+Fahim S. 1,086]

I have the same unit as my AP running DD-WRT. It just works - and I would highly recommend it (both the unit, and running DD-WRT on it). 

 

You do lose all the “special” features (like the media server) but they suck anyway. 

[Brandon H 2,864]

On 6/28/2018 at 8:27 PM, Fahim S. said:

I have the same unit as my AP running DD-WRT. It just works - and I would highly recommend it (both the unit, and running DD-WRT on it). 

 

You do lose all the “special” features (like the media server) but they suck anyway. 

HA, you can just use plex or another alternative on DD-WRT/OpenWRT anyway

 

the only 'Special' feature I haven't seen well replicated in the WRT builds yet is good simple device prioritization. (like I want the PS4 or the HTPC to have bandwidth priority for example)

[+Fahim S. 1,086]

5 hours ago, Brandon H said:

HA, you can just use plex or another alternative on DD-WRT/OpenWRT anyway

I didn't know that... do you have a good link I can read about it?

[Brandon H 2,864]

6 minutes ago, Fahim S. said:

I didn't know that... do you have a good link I can read about it?

it looks like the plex projects were abandoned (sadly) but you can do standard DLNA on Open-WRT pretty easily

 

https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/services/media_server/dlna

 

I myself just use a simple samba share though with an attached hard-drive 

[+BudMan 3,460]

The hardware is a DIR-868L, its not going to be a media server   that anyone would want to use..

 

if you really want tiny low power media server - go grab a pi or something...