WN3000RP-200UKS causes seemingly odd behaviour with WNDR4500 v2

Question

There appears to be an issue connecting Netgear’s WN300RP WiFi Extender to NetGear’s WNDR4500 Wireless Router. If WPS is used to pair the devices, then SSIDs, Passphrases, and IP addresses (and maybe more) appear to get scrambled in the router. If, however I setup the Extender manually via the web-interface, then the extender appears to work for a limited time before it somehow causes the Router to lose LAN IP allocation information and the network must be rebooted.
Does anyone have any ideas about what’s happening, or how to setup a seamless pairing of the two devices?

schumaku · Answer

AndyOxon wrote:In fact, I noted on the routers ‘connected devices’ page that the extender (when seeming working correctly) has two MAC address 1) 02:0F:B5:xx:xx:xx and, 2) A6:2B:8C:xx:xx:xx [the Unique Identifiers (represented here by x’s) are the same for both MACs].&nbsp;The same client is represented to the (W)LAN by a mapped MAC address when conncted to the extender ... that's how these extenders work, these are not fully transparent layer 2 bridges. Nohting wrong that far.AndyOxon wrote:But unlike the first MAC, A6:2B:8C:xx:xx:xx has no name, IP, or association with any of my wireless networks. Is this normal behaviour?As the same client will become visible to the (W)LAN on the router by the mapped MAC address, the same name would be visible (as requested) and another IP address would be assigned _if_ the clients would be associated to the extender WLAN and properly MAC "mapped" only.&nbsp;Afraid, just information - this won't help to fix the issue Netgear support has to look into, however.&nbsp;&nbsp;

DarrenM · Answer

Hello AndyOxon

&nbsp;

Do you have some type of modem/router combo that the WNDR4500 is connected it?

&nbsp;

DarrenM

AndyOxon · Answer

Thanks for replying Darren. Of course,&nbsp;the latest&nbsp;Virginmedia Modem/Router (in Modem mode) is installed on WAN. And, both WN300RP &amp; WNDR4500 have up-to-date firmware.

DarrenM · Answer

Hello AndyOxon

&nbsp;

I would double check the modems settings to make sure DHCP is disabled on it.

&nbsp;

DarrenM

AndyOxon · Answer

Thanks again Darren. The Virginmedia SuperHub has recently been replaced. Upon inspection, I found that&nbsp;the installation engineer had left the unit in router-mode, and the different subnets were causing networking&nbsp;issues. However, I have since corrected this problem by putting the SuperHub into Modem-mode.&nbsp;The only settings available now are Hub Password, Remote Access (off), Disable Modem-mode, LED Brightness, and Factory Reset.&nbsp;There has been 2 SuperHubs since the purchase of the extender. The issue has been present throughout.&nbsp;My understanding is that if more than one DHCP server is present on a network, it would cause problems with or without the extender attached. But network issues only occur when the extender is paired and in-use. Although unlikely, I will almost certainly triple-check that no other devices are providing DHCP services.

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WN3000RP-200UKS causes seemingly odd behaviour with WNDR4500 v2

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