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New WAX610 - Internet connectivity for laptops but not smartphones
I just installed a WAX610, hardwired to a nearby, new Netgear GS308E switch in a new office. The switch connects to the building's router, somewhere in the building. The AP has Internet connectivity, and speed tests are in the 900Mbps range.
I configured a simple guest SSID on the WAX610, taking all the default values (other than having no password).
All laptops that connect to the WAX610 have Internet connectivity, but all smartphones do not. Smartphones will connect to the AP, and will get an IP assigned in the same 192.168.1.x range as the laptops that connect to it, but the smartphones don't have Internet connectivity.
What settings on the AP must I change so that smartphones connecting to the AP have Internet connectivity just like the laptops do?
Final Update 6 Aug 2024:
The experiment to change my WAX610 from Bridge mode to NAT mode was very brief. Although smartphones finally gained Internet connectivity, the bandwidth was excruciatingly slow so as to be unusable.
Down here in the basement where all of this has been happening, the adjacent office requested the IT folks upstairs to install WiFi for them (probably since mine was unusable to smartphones). Their new WiFi antenna (I've never seen it) provides quick, reliable connectivity both to our PCs that have never had a problem, as well as our smartphones which always had a problem with the WAX610.
I have decommissioned the WAX610.
27 Replies
stewcoarchives wrote:
I just installed a WAX610, hardwired to a nearby, new Netgear GS308E switch in a new office.
I configured a simple guest SSID on the WAX610, taking all the default values (other than having no password).
All laptops that connect to the WAX610 have Internet connectivity, but all smartphones do not. Smartphones will connect to the AP, and will get an IP assigned in the same 192.168.1.x range as the laptops that connect to it, but the smartphones don't have Internet connectivity.
For completeness, please report the current installed and active firmware version on this WAX610.
Anything odd or strange when checking the WAX610 Logs?
While hard to imagine DHCP works, but the Internet access does not, please check the default settings for this SSID in regard to OWE, OWE Transition Mode, PMF, and the network mode is bridge (or NAT). Here how Insight does set such a password-free SSID:
Thanks. I upgraded the firmware from V9.6.0.7 to the newest-available, which is V10.6.0.7, but that did not resolve the issue.
Based on your settings recommendations, I then enabled Enhanced Open, as well as Allow Devices to Connect with Open. (Addressing and Traffic was already set to Bridge). But changing these settings had no effect - laptops still connected with Internet, and smartphones still connected and got an IP assigned, but with no Internet.
I then examined the WiFi settings on one of the (Android) smartphones connected to the SSID. I, admittedly randomly, changed the setting for MAC address type from Randomized MAC to Phone MAC, and the smartphone immediately had Internet connectivity through the SSID.
Latest software for your WAX610 is 10.6.1.1 and not 10.6.0.7
Months later and this problem is not resolved. All laptops connect to the WAX610 just fine, get a 192.168.1.x IP address, and have uninterrupted Internet connectivity.
All smartphones connect to the same SSID, get a 192.168.1.x IP, and immediately receive a "Connected without Internet" error message that never resolves. Rebooting the WAX610 does no good. Changing the smartphone from a randomized MAC to a phone MAC does no good.
Not sure if a warranty return is now in order, or a different vendor. I appreciate the help thus far given, but it seems no one else is having this type of phone-only blockage, so perhaps it's the hardware.
stewcoarchives wrote:
Changing the smartphone from a randomized MAC to a phone MAC does no good.
This is just to avoid overloading the DHCP server IP address pool, nothing else - matter of fact you have nothing to hide to yourself what you already know anyway.
Assuming the message does come every time, on each new connection established.
First thing I would suggest is to forget the network. On an iPhone there is an amber text stating "No Internet Connection" click on the Wi-Fi settings section, the (i) field, and tap on the Forget This Network (correct Apple language). On Android it's typically a wrong password message, there go to the Internet connections, and tap the [Forget] with the wastebasket icon. Then re-add the Wi-Fi config.
This happens when changing the AP security eg. from WPA2-Personal to WPA3-Personal or WPA2-/WPA3-Mixed Mode after the connection was configured on the smart phones.
Sometimes, it's required to Reset the Network Settings in the Reset menu, and re-configure accordingly.
That's everything coming into my mind on these issues.
Hello JulienCM,
And welcome to the NETGEAR Community! 🙂
Aside from what schumaku suggested, can you check if there is any type of ACL configured, either on the WAX610 or the router? For WAX610 please see page 222 of the link below:
https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/WAX610/WAX610_WAX610Y_UM_EN.pdfIf the router has WiFi can you try and connect to that SSID and check to isolate?
Have a lovely day,
RennaD
NETGEAR TeamNeither the WAX610 nor the router have an ACL implemented.
The router does have WiFi, and smartphones that connect to its SSID have Internet service, always. Trouble is, the router is on the main floor of our building and we're in the basement - that SSID isn't even visible to us when our devices in in the basement.
I installed the WAX610 in the basement to get WiFi service down here. It's hardwired to a Netgear GS308E that in turn connects to a router port upstairs. Our laptops connect to the WAX610 and always have Internet, but smartphones that connect to the WAX610 get 'Connected without Internet.'
I can do a network reset on my Android and sometimes it might connect briefly, but the next day I come to the office, it's back to 'Connected without Internet.'
No fancy configurations on the WAX610 - just the OWE feature previously suggested.
Is it possible that my issue is not with the WAX610, but the router above it? I've found a path to success that is repeatable, but I don't understand it.
My Android smartphone has always failed to have Internet connectivity after it successfully authenticates to the WAX610 and receives an IP address from the router.
Based on that behavior, I logged into the router and reserved an IP address for my smartphone's physical MAC. That did not improve the situation - my smartphone does get that assigned IP address from the router upon authenticating to the WAX610, but still does not have Internet connectivity.
But if I then log into the router, and use the router's internal Ping Test utility to ping the IP of my smartphone that has just connected to the network, suddenly my smartphone has Internet connectivity.
Why would issuing a ping from the router to my smartphone suddenly make my phone have Internet connectivity?
And to test this behavior further, I removed the IP reservation in the router for my Android's physical MAC address, then switched my Android's WiFi connection to the WAX610 SSID from Static back to the DHCP default.
My Android reconnected to the SSID and immediately threw the typical "Connected without Internet" error that has plagued me for months. I noted the new IP address that my Android had just gotten from the router, then pinged that IP address from within the router. My Android instantly started having Internet access.
Why does my smartphone require a ping from the router to get to the Internet, but our laptops in the same office do not?
Hi stewcoarchives ,
Is the SSID to which clients are connecting is a "Guest or Captive Portal" SSID? In this case, a pop up should come up for authentication.
Are you connecting laptops and mobile devices to same SSID or different SSID?
Thanks!
Pramendra
stewcoarchives wrote:
Is it possible that my issue is not with the WAX610, but the router above it? I've found a path to success that is repeatable, but I don't understand it.
Yes, indeed. Have we talked or heard about the router in place (make, model, firmware, ...) already? The only reference I see is "no ACL" on the router.
Understand there is a GS30xE in the data path between the WAX610 and the router, unlikely causing an issue.
Have already captured the traffic between the WAX610 and the router plus the diagnostics on the WAX610 and shared this with Netgear?
When you mean Guest SSID, are you turning on "Captive Portal" on the SSID ?
Is it the "Basic Captive portal" or ICP/ECP?
Is it managed by NETGEAR Insight portal or the AP is running as standalone AP (managed via local GUI on the AP)
If you have a captive portal enabled :
On the phone, can you open the browser and open this URL
http://www.msftconnecttest.com/connecttest.txt
see if the Captive portal pop's up.
Here is a valuable blog that explains how different OS and devices detect a Captive portal on the Guest SSID for Internet access. https://captivebehavior.wballiance.com/
If you still have issues getting Internet on mobile phones, a laptop or MacBook works fine. Check if the MAC ACL is enabled by choice or accident.
If the problem continues, don't hesitate to contact support via Chat or prowifidesign https://www.netgear.com/av/services/prowifi-designsupport/. You can ignore nonmandatory questions in forms.
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