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WDS configuration for WAC510

CTGriffin
Aspirant

WDS configuration for WAC510

Greetings,

 

I have read the latest user manual for the WAC510.

 

I have read the various "How To" links in the kb

 

I have upgraded my three WAC510's to the latest firmware: V9.5.4.2

 

I have all three units in AP mode.

 

I have one of the units connected to the LAN via a ethernet cable.

 

The other two units are direct power only.  The locations that they will be have no easy PoE access.

 

I have successfully configured the "Base Station" unit to bridge with one of the "Repeater" units.  Works great and really helps with the desired WiFi coverage.

 

I get the attached error message when I attempt to configure the second "Repeater" unit.  Dialog box with "This radio already has a WDS client configured.  More than one WDS client not supported on same radio.  OK"

 

It was my understanding that I could configure up to four "Repeater" units.  Currently only one "Repeater" unit has come online.

 

I know I am missing something really obvious here, but it escapes me.  The fact that the "Base Station" unit is in fact talking to the "Repeater" unit and I can indeed see on my iPhone the increased WiFi coverage due to both of these units working on the published SSID tells me that the configurations are not all wrong.

 

Help get me past this error and enable me to configure the second repeater and hopefully the ability to get two more repeaters in case I need them.

 

Thank you,

 

  Christopher

 

 

Model: WAC510 Insight Managed Access Point
Message 1 of 11
CTGriffin
Aspirant

Re: WDS configuration for WAC510

As a side note, yes I have WPA2 Personal set for Authentication with a good password...

 

But everytime you toggle the enable / disable the Authentication goes back to Open and if you then tell it to go back to WPA2 Personal it defaults the password to "sharedsecret" which I find both annoying and a potential security issue.

 

see attached updated screen shot showing my "enable" attempt with WPA2 with known good password.

 

 

Model: WAC510 Insight Managed Access Point
Message 2 of 11
schumaku
Guru

Re: WDS configuration for WAC510


@CTGriffin wrote:

I have successfully configured the "Base Station" unit to bridge with one of the "Repeater" units.  Works great and really helps with the desired WiFi coverage.

 

It was my understanding that I could configure up to four "Repeater" units.  Currently only one "Repeater" unit has come online


Hi Christoper

 

Yes, you can configure four WDS Clients to form a WDS system with up to five APs.. However all four need to be linked direct to the WDS Base Station. 

 


@CTGriffin wrote:

I get the attached error message when I attempt to configure the second "Repeater" unit.  Dialog box with "This radio already has a WDS client configured.  More than one WDS client not supported on same radio.  OK"


Based on the "This radio already has a WDS client configured.  More than one WDS client not supported on same radio.  OK"  I suspect you try to from some kind of daisy chain config, what is not possible.

 

Should this message be shown on the WDS Base Station while attempting to configure the second WDS Client, it looks a bug. 

 

Regards,

-Kurt

Message 3 of 11
CTGriffin
Aspirant

Re: WDS configuration for WAC510

I get this message on the Base Station while attempting to configure the bridge to the second client.

 

I am able to successfully connect a bridge between the Base Station and the first client.

 

I am not trying to form a daisy chain topology. 

 

I want the Base Station to connect to four clients in a point to multi-point topology as spoken of in documentation.

 

 

Model: WAC510 Insight Managed Access Point
Message 4 of 11
schumaku
Guru

Re: WDS configuration for WAC510

@RaghuHR  - looks like some Web UI checks go wrong while adding a second (or more) WPA Base Station. The WPA system does support up to for WPA repeaters/clients, without a requirement to reside on different radious (what will be difficult, condidering these and many siilar WAC or WAX don't have four radios.

 

 

Message 5 of 11
RaghuHR
NETGEAR Expert

Re: WDS configuration for WAC510

Hi @CTGriffin  

 

We are selecting Root in WDS based on the MAC address of the AP. Hence, when an AP is acting as Repeater, and if you are trying to configure WDS where the MAC address is greater than the device MAC address, we are showing the message "This radio already has a WDS client configured.  More than one WDS client not supported on same radio."

 

You  try to establish WDS in another radio, as an alternative method.

 

Please find the document attached, for establishing WDS between 3 APs, in the same radio.

 

Hope this helps. 

 

Raghu

 

Message 6 of 11
schumaku
Guru

Re: WDS configuration for WAC510

Would a list of WAC510 MAC help to define which box shuld be installed on the wired connection, so it can become and remain the root? @RaghuHR pls.

Message 7 of 11
CTGriffin
Aspirant

Re: WDS configuration for WAC510

Interesting.

 

So the two newly purchased WAC510 both have Ethernet and Wireless MAC addresses that are numerically greater than the existing Base Station (which is wired Ethernet) circa 2019.

 

After reading the documentation it seemed logical to leave the circa 2019 WAC510 as is whereis and there was no mention in the extensive WAC510 User Guide of the need to sort my MAC addresses prior to configuration.

 

Please for the sake of clarity when using the term MAC to specify whether it is device ethernet MAC or one of the many wireless MAC.  MAC is no longer a single know all designator for a given device.

 

Currently physically:

 

WAC510 Base Station circa 2019 MAC range 3C-xxxx

WAC510 Repeater 1 circa 2022 MAC range 6C-CD-xxx

WAC510 Repeater 2 circa 2022 MAC range 6C-CD-xxx (greater than Repeater 1)

 

If I understand your WDS with 3 AP document, then no wonder I have that error message when configuring my circa 2019 WAC510 to be a Base Station with the Ethernet wire to perform WDS with the two new WAC510's.  The newer purchased WAC510 will most likely always have a "greater" MAC (address range for both physical and wireless).

 

This really sounds like a GUI problem of presenting and checking MAC address (of which the ones for the "local" WDS setup are fixed and understandibly unchangeable.

 

I know the topology I want and I know my local network devices, but for the love all things technical why force me to sort my devices based upon MAC address to decide which WAC510 becomes the Base Station de jour.  

 

Consider the confustion when I go get two more newer WAC510 to add to the mix.  They surely have greater MAC's than the existing ones in my local network.

 

So my bottom line is:

 

REALLY???

 

 

Model: WAC510 Insight Managed Access Point
Message 8 of 11
schumaku
Guru

Re: WDS configuration for WAC510

Appears it's not "just" a GUI problem. It's the WDS implementation going away from what the usual networking logic would expect: The one we configure first, and then the same again the same device where we add more clients to it is "magically" changed dynamically away from the master to a client - based on a hmmmm random priority based on a MAC address.

 

Its interesting this problem did not came up before in the community - probably because of WDS is a niche application, even more if paired with more than two devices. And that's potentially he reason why it did not made this information into the UM, too.

 

Agree with your bottom line of course. 

 

PS. A big thank you goes to @RaghuHR picking this thread up ,ways off business his usual business hours!

Message 9 of 11
CTGriffin
Aspirant

Re: WDS configuration for WAC510

Greetings @RaghuHR ,

 

Thank you for your WDS with 3 APs document.  The diagrams call out the various cases nicely.

 

For clarity on properly configuring WDS using the local device web interface using the Wireless Bridge page the field named "Wireless Network Name (SSID)" where the default name is given as Netgear-WDS-x where x is 1, 2, 3 or 4 is in fact the SSID for the Bridge Network referenced by WDS-1, WDS-2 in your diagram, right?

 

That name for WDS-1 and WDS-2 are unique, right?  And not to be re-used or can they be named the same?  This is never called out explicitly in any of the How To or the User Manual.

 

Thanks again and have a great day.

 

--Christopher

 

 

Model: WAC510 Insight Managed Access Point
Message 10 of 11
schumaku
Guru

Re: WDS configuration for WAC510

Yes, and yes on both points. Each WDS link must have it's own dedicated SSID, different from the "production" SSIDs. Enjoy!

Message 11 of 11
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