R6400v2 in bridge mode having issues with R6080 as primary connected to modem (Moved to this forum)

[OmgMav]

Hello,

I'm currently trying to use my R6400v2 in Bridge mode connected wirelessly to my R6080, which is connected to my cable modem, to add wired devices to my wireless network.   The R6080 and cable modem are in my living room, while the wired devices I want to connect to the network are in one of the bedrooms.

When I have just the R6400v2 in Bridge Mode with no devices connected to it, everything looks fine.  All wireless devices can connect to the R6080 on either band and they all see each other and everyone is happy.   If I remote into the R6400v2 from my desktop, it also looks happy.   It sees the network and connected devices, and says the internet status is good.

However, the moment I plug a device, for example, a PC that doesn't support a wireless connection, into the R6400v2 using ethernet cable, the band that the R6400v2 is using becomes unusable by all my other wireless devices.   They can connect, but they lose internet connectivity.   And, if I look at the status of the R6400v2, it can see the network, but says the Internet status is 'No Internet".   If I set my other wireless devices to the opposite band from the R6400v2, they are able to connect to the internet again.  During this time, the R6080 reports all devices, and shows Internet status is good.   The IP addresses and MAC addresses of all devices show they are unique.    During this time, I was able to run a ping test between the device connected to the R6400v2 and the rest of my wireless devices, with the pings sporadically timing out, having high ping values, and sometimes very low ping values.

Here is what the R6080 sees before plugging in a laptop to the R6400v2:

After this test, I forced the R6400v2 IP to be 192.168.1.100 from the R6080 LAN settings to see if it would make a difference.   It did not.  So, don't be confused by that IP in the next shot, which is the R6080 view after plugging my laptop into the R6400 in a subsequent test:

There you see the hard-wired laptop (MAV2012-PC) and that interesting unidentified mystery MAC address.  I had to move MAVS-DESKTOP to the 2.4GHz band to have access to the internet.  USNVR-L1006... is unable to connect to the internet.

Here is the view from the R6400 at this time.

Note that the mystery MAC address is actually the R6080 MAC address.  I don't know if that's normal to see, or something isn't set right.

So, the gist of all of this is that when I plug a device into the Bridge, it breaks the internet for the band that the bridge is connected to.  The other band remains unaffected.  And attempts to ping the device I've connected to the bridge are inconsistent.  

Not sure if the pictures are coming out properly.   In edit mode, they look fine.   After I post them, they look like blank triangles.

Sorry, I know this was very long.  If you made it through, and can think of why this is happening, and how or if it can be fixed, I'd really appreciate your feedback.

Thanks!

[OmgMav · Accepted solution]

So, I packed up the R6080, and put my R6400 back in as the primary.

Then went up to Best Buy and for $65  picked up the Linksys RE6300 wifi extender that comes with one ethernet port (all I really needed).

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/linksys-ac750-boost-range-extender-white/4580700.p?skuId=4580700

Setup was maybe 10 minutes.  Now everything is happy.

Based on some other reading, I decided to make both bands of the R6400 and both bands of the RE6300 share the same SSID and passwords.  Apparently, this makes it easier for all devices to connect to the same network using one SSID and password combination.   Life is good now.

Thanks again for you input.   Have a good one!

[FURRYe38]

What is the distance between the 6080 and the 6400? 

Possible that the 6080s wifi may not be stable enough to handle having a wireless bridge connected.

Try connecting the bridge to the 6080 using the 5Ghz connection? 

Try swapping in the 6400 as the primary router and see if the 6080 will connect in bridge mode if it supports it? 

[OmgMav]

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

What is the distance between the 6080 and the 6400? 

Possible that the 6080s wifi may not be stable enough to handle having a wireless bridge connected.

They are within 50 ft of each other.   The signal is strong.  The same room that the bridge is in includes my other two PC's that are connected wirelessly to the 6080 without any issues.   Also, as I mentioned, as long as nothing is hardwired to the 6400, it is happily connected to the 6080 in bridge mode.   I will test by moving it into the same room and see if it makes any difference.

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

Try connecting the bridge to the 6080 using the 5Ghz connection? 

Yes, already tried both bands.  In the screenshots, that is the R6400 on the 5GHz band.  But I've done it both ways with the same results.   Meaning, if I make the 6400 connect to the 6080 on 5GHz and attach a device to one of its ethernet ports, the 5GHz band becomes unusable by other devices, but the 2GHz band is fine, but if I switch the 6400 to bridge on the 2.4GHz band, then connect a device to one of it's ethernet ports, the 2.4GHz band becomes unusable by other wireless devices, but the 5GHz band is fine.  

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

Try swapping in the 6400 as the primary router and see if the 6080 will connect in bridge mode if it supports it? 

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Unfortunately, this is not possible.   That was my original intent, but the 6080 does not support this type of network bridging.

[FURRYe38]

Ok thanks for the additional info. 

I presume FW is upated on both units? 

I presume cable used between the PC and 6400 is of good quality and works? CAT6 is recommended. 

And you do have the PCs networking set or automatic? 

One thing to try and see as it would either rule out or point to the problem, take the 6400 and connect it up with a different wifi router. If you have one or ask a neighbor, friend or family member to try this out with a different router. Problem will follow or not. 

[OmgMav]

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

Ok thanks for the additional info. 

I presume FW is upated on both units? 

I presume cable used between the PC and 6400 is of good quality and works? CAT6 is recommended. 

And you do have the PCs networking set or automatic? 

One thing to try and see as it would either rule out or point to the problem, take the 6400 and connect it up with a different wifi router. If you have one or ask a neighbor, friend or family member to try this out with a different router. Problem will follow or not. 

---

Yes, both units have been updated with the latest firmware using the automatic upgrade feature.

All devices are set to Dynamic DNS and DHCP.  I have one device setup through the LAN settings to always be given the same address (192.168.1.6), and that works fine.   And, yes, it's a Cat 6 cable that came with the router.

I don't have another wireless router I can try it with, and no one nearby that can test it.   I'll probably return the 6080 and maybe try a wifi to ethernet adapter.   There are a couple models I can order online for cheap that may work.    I'm surprised by how few there are out there.   Guess not too many people need to adapt older devices to their wireless networks.  

Thank you for your time and suggestions.  Very much appreciated!

[FURRYe38]

If the Pc has USB, you could try a USB to wifi adapter as well. Might make the solution a bit easier aswell.

Hope you find something that works.

Good Luck. 

[OmgMav · Accepted solution]

So, I packed up the R6080, and put my R6400 back in as the primary.

Then went up to Best Buy and for $65  picked up the Linksys RE6300 wifi extender that comes with one ethernet port (all I really needed).

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/linksys-ac750-boost-range-extender-white/4580700.p?skuId=4580700

Setup was maybe 10 minutes.  Now everything is happy.

Based on some other reading, I decided to make both bands of the R6400 and both bands of the RE6300 share the same SSID and passwords.  Apparently, this makes it easier for all devices to connect to the same network using one SSID and password combination.   Life is good now.

Thanks again for you input.   Have a good one!