NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
WAC104 used as a bridge disconnects
I have a pair of WAC104 Wireless Access Points providing a 5GHz bridge from my VDSL modem to my office in another part of our apartment. Working well, getting 90MB/s. However the connection is lost ...
Thanks for the follow up. I've been waiting for some time to pass to assess the reliability.
Both APs are now on the most recent firmware and I haven't had a single disconnect. So it seems to have solved the problem.
Thanks for your help.
I have a fairly complex WiFi network owing to the geometry of my apartment. From my FTTB DSL modem I run the "main" WiFi on both 2.4 and 5GHz. It's a HUWEI modem supplied by my ISP who are TPG. In Australia TPG runs their own fibre network in selected locations. Speeds are excellent, over 90MB/s.
The two Netgear APs are used solely for a bridge into my work room which can't be cabled. The master AP is ethernet cabled to the HUWEI modem. They are running on 5GHz to get full bandwidth and also because that part of the spectrum is much quieter than 2.4GHz. They perform excellently in that regard. There are no other WiFi connections over that link. From inside the work room I run another WiFi in order to get WiFi into the other end of the apartment as the "main" HUWEI WiFi signal doesn't reach there. That is provided by a Fritzbox which is also providing an ATA (analogue telephone adaptor) which connects (legacy) cordless phones to my Asterisk server. These 3 WiFi networks are all set to different channels and all have both 2.4GHz and 5GHz running.
The point of this long story is that my android devices have a lot of problems getting data. They will connect to a WiFi but get no internet connection. After 15 minutes of turning WiFi on/off, getting the initial connection standing close to the AP etc I can usually get it to work. I'm not connecting to the Netgear APs, as noted they are only used for bridging, so my issue doesn't belong in this forum. I'm just laying it out in case someone wants to make suggestions. The problem occurs whether I connect to the main WiFi provided by the DSL modem, or connect to the repeater WiFi which is located on the "island" network served by the Netgear bridge. Weird stuff.
Hi nikdow,
Welcome to the community! :)
Let us isolate the problem. Kindly answer the questions below:
a. What is the distance between the 2 WAC104?
b. Is there a line of sight between the 2 WAC104?
c. Are there any other wireless networks near the location where the 2 WAC104 are deployed?
d. What is the current firmware version of the 2 WAC104?
I suggest you to try to change the channel of your existing wireless network either to channel 1, 6 or 11. Observe if the same problem will occur.
Regards,
DaneA
NETGEAR Community Team
a. What is the distance between the 2 WAC104?
about 7 meters
b. Is there a line of sight between the 2 WAC104?
building internal walls (2) are in between.
Signal strength is quite good and the bridge gives 90MB/s performance most of the time and stays up for a day or two before disconnecting completely.
c. Are there any other wireless networks near the location where the 2 WAC104 are deployed?
Lots. Note I'm using 5GHz and I've chosen a channel which has no other detectable traffic. I'm using an Android app to detect WiFi signals.
d. What is the current firmware version of the 2 WAC104?
Have to get back to you on that because the WAC104's are in Australia and I'm currently in Japan.
I suggest you to try to change the channel of your existing wireless network either to channel 1, 6 or 11. Observe if the same problem will occur.
Those are 2.4GHz channels, I'm using 5GHz specifically because of the greater bandwith provided.
Thanks for the feedback. If ever the current firmware version is not yet the latest, I suggest you to update the firmware of the 2 WAC104 to the latest version. The latest firmware version is 1.0.4.9 and you can download it here. Be reminded to perform a factory reset after upgrading the firmware then reconfigure it from scratch in order to start clean using the latest firmware version. Then observe if same problem occurs.
Regards,
DaneA
NETGEAR Community Team
Thank you for following up. Sorry for slow response, I'm away from the office for a few weeks, will check the firmware when I get back. They are both new units.
I'm back. Interestingly the wireless bridge never disconnected while I was away travelling. The PC and the Server connected to the island network served by the WiFi bridge were turned on and were active on the network the whole time. One of the VMs on the server is an Asterisk VoIP server and I remained connected to it the whole time I was away, showing that the bridge was OK.
No sooner am I back at my office using the island network PC but the bridge is going off frequently. It goes off while I am using it, so one minute I have an internet connection, the next not. I am in the habit of testing by opening 10.1.1.4 in my browser, that is the "base" repeater and if I can't get that to respond, I know the Wireless Bridge is down (stop the train).
So I've upgraded the firmware for both. One was pre 1.0.4.1 so I did the factory reset after upgrade, then restored the configs from a saved .cfg file. The other was post 1.0.4.1 but a few minor levels behind 1.0.4.9 so I upgraded it without a factory reset, as per the upgrade instructions.
Now I will await results. I'm betting the firmware upgrade won't fix the problem, but I know support will never talk to you until every thing is at the latest level.
Sent to you via the WAC104 wireless bridge.
NETGEAR Academy
Boost your skills with the Netgear Academy - Get trained, certified and stay ahead with the latest Netgear technology!
Join Us!
