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Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

JTagorda
Aspirant

Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

Can't seem to find the bridge mode and I've looked everywhere. Updated to latest firmware also
Model: RAX40|Nighthawk AX4 4-Stream WiFi Router
Message 1 of 22
ThePiston450
Tutor

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

Did you end up finding it? I just pulled the trigger but will be mad if I can't use it as a bridge!

 

Message 2 of 22
Christian_R
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

Hello JTagorda & ThePiston450, 

 

The RAX35 currently supports WiFi Access Point. You may find more info on page 90 of the user manual linked below.

 

http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RAX35/RAX35_UM_EN.pdf

 

Christian 

Message 3 of 22
NetUser5
Aspirant

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

I agree there is something wrong here.  I picked up one of these (Nighthawk RAX35) routers on black friday sale and have put about 8 hours wrestling with it trying to get the AP mode to work.  Anyone get it to work yet?  I can set the unit up as a router and wireless clients will browse web as normal but when switching it to AP mode dhcp times out (computer self assigns IP) even though I have an edge router doing the dhcp.  The other oddity is this unit registers three mac addresses and I captured all of them on the edge router connect list and set a dhcp reservation so when any of those mac addresses connected it would be assigned a certain ip address.  Only during router mode will any of them show up on the edge router (which is a netgear 7450) but when switching to AP mode the unit disappears from the universe and the only way to find it is to factory reset it.  Going to try setting a static IP and see if that makes a difference. All LED's are green and showing connectivity on the router but nothing gets an IP when connecting.

Message 4 of 22
NetUser5
Aspirant

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

Replying to my own post. Reset rax35 to factory, started config over again and set to AP mode and the static ip and mac address do not show up in the edge router.  I assigned to an IP not within the dhcp range so would not conflict.  Lights are all green on router but no traffic passing through it.  I updated to the latest firmware as of 12/2/2019.  Anyone have a tech support ticket in on this yet?

Message 5 of 22
Christian_R
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

Hi NetUser5, 


Thanks for taking the time to post. I'd like for our support team to contact you for further investigation. If you wish to be contacted, please send me a message with your contact info and serial number.

 

Thanks,

Christian 

Message 6 of 22
JTagorda
Aspirant

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

yes please. 

Message 7 of 22
rewver
Initiate

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

Has anyone figured this out? I just got the RAX35 I ordered on black friday and cannot setup  bridge mode (which is the only reason I bought it). This is basic functionality, I cannot remember ever owning a router that could not bridge. I did check before ordering and this would suggest it is possible: https://kb.netgear.com/25599/How-do-I-set-up-my-Nighthawk-X4-to-Bridge-mode

Message 8 of 22
rickliu2000
Aspirant

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

same thing happened to me...

Hope this problem could be solved quickly

Message 9 of 22
rewver
Initiate

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

For my support ticket "I would like to inform you that, bridge mode is not available in Router(RAX35 )."

 

@netgear, is this a joke? I bought this to replace a 10 year old $30 router that supports bridging. The tech sheet doesn't mention anything about bridging not being supported - presumable because all wifi routers support bridging and this is only being blocked in software. This thing is more like a wireless to wiired converter than a wifi router. Have to pay for a $200+ model to get bridging support is insane. Isn't the Nighthawk supposed to be your premium consumer router? And it can't even bridge? I guess netgear just got added to my list of brands to never buy from again. I'll be returning this.

Message 10 of 22

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui


@rewver wrote:

The tech sheet doesn't mention anything about bridging not being supported - presumable because all wifi routers support bridging and this is only being blocked in software.


You can't expect a data sheet to list everything that something cannot do. The answer is to check the manuals before you part with your money. Don't make assumptions.

 

A quick check of the manuals suggests that the RAX75, RAX80 and RAX120 support wireless bridge mode.

 

It is by no means true that all wifi routers support bridging. However, quite a few other Netgear routers also support this operation. You just picked one that does not.

 

If it isn't too late, take it back and get something else.

 

 

 

Message 11 of 22
jdh2n_atl
Guide

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

 




Netgear Support. This is absolute hot garbage that you do not support bridge mode even though your documnetation says bridge mode is supported. I am returning this device and posting the worst possible review.


@JTagorda wrote:
Can't seem to find the bridge mode and I've looked everywhere. Updated to latest firmware also

 

Message 12 of 22

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui


@jdh2n_atl wrote:

 




Netgear Support. This is absolute hot garbage that you do not support bridge mode even though your documnetation says bridge mode is supported. I am returning this device and posting the worst possible review.


@JTagorda wrote:
Can't seem to find the bridge mode and I've looked everywhere. Updated to latest firmware also

 


If you read the messages before yours, you will see that some RAX models support wireless bridging. (I assume that is what you mean by "bridge", a term that gets used in different ways, including "a bridge for a port group or VLAN tag group".)

 

The way to work out what a device can do is to look for "Set Up the Router in Bridge Mode" in the manual. It will appear alongside "Set Up the Router in Router Mode".

 

This appears in the manuals for thew RAX120, RAX75 and RAX80.

 

The same explanation appears in manuals for a handful of other routers. (In the current range, the R7000 is probably the most pop[ular.) Older manuals sometimes use the term Wireless Distribution System (WDS) to describe this function.

 

As you would expect, the data sheets for devices describe what they do support, not what they don't support. So the manual really is the only place to confirm that a router does what you want.

 

If you can point to documentation that claims support for "wireless bridging", just shout and we'll see that it gets through to the right people.

Message 13 of 22
jdh2n_atl
Guide

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RAX35/RAX35_UM_EN.pdf

Tip: If the router is in access point mode or bridge mode and you do not know the IP address that is assigned to it, first try to use an IP scanner application to detect the IP address. (IP scanner applications are available online free of charge.) If you can detect the IP address, you don’t need to reset the router to factory default settings.

This is not talking about vLan bridge but wireless bridge.
Message 14 of 22

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui


@jdh2n_atl wrote:
http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RAX35/RAX35_UM_EN.pdf

Tip: If the router is in access point mode or bridge mode and you do not know the IP address that is assigned to it, first try to use an IP scanner application to detect the IP address. (IP scanner applications are available online free of charge.) If you can detect the IP address, you don’t need to reset the router to factory default settings.


Good one.

 

You may also be able to use one of the desktop "genies" to sniff out the IP address of the things on your network.

 

Find the IP address and throw a browser at it.

 

Another possible idea for future reference is to fix the IP address of a device in bridge mode and then you can always use that address for management without having to track it down again.

 

Message 15 of 22
NetUser5
Aspirant

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

The router seemed to have ping turned off by default and would not respond to network scanner software. Only way I could detect it was it was listed in the edge routers dhcp attached client page.  Using the routerlogin.com or .net always brought up my other netgear router on my network.  (that needs fixed...if you have two routers that dns entry doesn't know why router to you are trying to get to).  I noticed there was no bridging when I go into it initially but when it would not pass DHCP addresses through it when in AP mode from my other DHCP server on the other router that was it for me.  This was after tech support help. I took back to store and will look at other models or brands.   I do have the 7450 which has worked for a year and is a great router so far, I may just need to get another 7450.   After seeing some of these other posts it now seems the rax35 needs some tweeks on their firmware and make finding the unit easier on the network.  And not passing traffic when in AP mode is also a deal breaker.

 

Message 16 of 22
NetUser5
Aspirant

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

Yes, I agree, needs a better way to find the router when in AP mode.  Factory resetting takes way too long.  It boots up slow and then you get hit with all the registration, password and security question set up pages....all just to make any adjustments to what settings are left available in AP mode.

Message 17 of 22
oopsyourhead
Tutor

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

I'm having the same issue once I enable access point mode. None of my devices receive an IP address from my modem/router. My previous router did this just fine.

 

Modem/router is connected by a wired connection to the WAN port of the RAX35. The DHCP function on my Router/modem (PACE 5268AC) is not able to be turned off (no pass through mode)

Message 18 of 22
WeidnerJ
Aspirant

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

Yes,

 

I put in a support ticket(s):

 

NETGEAR Support Case #41988819
NETGEAR Support Case #41999187

 

Spent hours and hours on the phone with Netgear, and even took one router back and got a different one to do the same thing.

 

I will call B.S. on AP mode and the RAX 35.  It has it's own menu option (attached).

 

They only offered a half baked solution was to disable the internal DHCP server and connect to my Google Fiber router using a LAN port (instead of the WAN) port.  Now I watch for updated firmware from time to time - which will hopefully fix this issue.

Message 19 of 22
jdh2n_atl
Guide

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

It’s disabled in the firmware. The html code is commented out and the .cgi file that controls the connection to another AP SSID is missing. Netgear did not include the functionality for the RAX40 and RAX35... you can download the open source Firmware code and see for yourself.
Model: RAX40|Nighthawk AX4 4-Stream WiFi Router
Message 20 of 22
WeidnerJ
Aspirant

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

I won't disagree with you, but can't argue that the option is in the GUI, and according to the changelog:

 

https://kb.netgear.com/000061320/RAX35-Firmware-Version-1-0-3-62

 

Bug Fixes:

  • In AP mode, blocked device can now display the access control blocked page.c
  • The Wireless AP page under advanced settings can now scroll to the bottom

Sad because this is really basic networking stuff that Netgear has been doing for a long time.

Message 21 of 22
jdh2n_atl
Guide

Re: Rax35 Wireless Bridge Mode unavailable in web gui

Being a developer myself, I can read the code and see the the html was commented out. This is the that displays the option for wireless bridge mode. Also, change log says “VLAN bridge mode now works.” I am talking about wireless bridge mode... very different...
Message 22 of 22
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