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R6400v2 in bridge mode having issues with R6080 as primary connected to modem

OmgMav
Aspirant

R6400v2 in bridge mode having issues with R6080 as primary connected to modem

Hello,

I'm having a very difficult time with trying to set up my R6400v2 in Bridge Mode, connecting it wirelessly to the R6080, which is connected to my cable modem.  The short story is that it would appear I cannot share the same frequency that the R6400 is connected with other wireless devices.  And, attempts to communicate (ping for example) devices that are connected across the dual band frequencies are spotty at best.

 

Longer story:

If the R6400v2, set up as a bridge following the manual instructions for "Set Up the Router in Bridge Mode" is connected to the R6080 over the 2.4 Ghz band, no other devices can connect to the 2.4 Ghz band and access the internet (they can connect, but they cannot access the internet):Connected_NoInternet.PNG

The same is true if I connect the bridge to the 5Ghz band, at which point no other wireless devices can connect to the 5Ghz band and have internet access.   But, if I connect my other wireless devices to the opposite band to that which the bridge is connected, then they can connect and have internet access without issue.  This seems like either a setup issue or a flaw in the way the R6080 works.  Or, maybe there's a legit reason the wireless bridge cannot share the same frequency with the primary as all other wireless devices on the network.   I just haven't seen any explanation for it.

 

Now, I could live with this, except for the fact that I cannot seem to transfer data between devices that are connected to the bridge using ethernet cable and other wireless devices on my network.  I thought this was because they were split between the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands, but after turning off my bridge, and checking two laptops connected to opposite bands of the R6080, both are able to connect to the internet and to each other (using Microsoft Mouse without Borders to share one mouse across both laptops).  So, the real issue seems to be that the R6400 in bridge mode connected to the R6080 just doesn't play nice together.  For example, connecting a PC with ethernet cable to my R6400, which is connected to the R6080 2.4Ghz band, and having my laptop connected on the 5Ghz band, pinging from the  PC to the laptop often times out, but no always.  Sometimes the pings take 500+ms, and other times it's 5 or 6m...but often timing out.

 

I've gone through the various setup pages for each device, and I just can't see anything that would cause these behaviors.

The R6080, as the primary connected to the cable modem, has both Guest Networks turned off.  I use a different SSID for each band...one ends with 2G, and the other with 5G, so I know which band I'm connecting to.  Channels for each band are set to auto.  Both are set to Enable SSID Broadcast, and 2.4 is set to enable 20/40 MHz Coexistence.  Both use WPA2-PSK [AES] security.

Internet settings are No login required, Get IP and DNS Address dynamically, and use default MAC address.  I left WAN and LAN setup at the default settings.  I can provide more details if needed.

Firmware in both devices is latest:

R6080 - v1.0.0.52

R6400v2 - R6400v2-V1.0.4.120_10.0.91

 

 

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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Model: R6080|AC1000 Dual Band WiFi Router, R6400|AC1750 Smart WiFi Router
Message 1 of 5

Accepted Solutions
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: R6400v2 in bridge mode having issues with R6080 as primary connected to modem

Netgear has set up a community forum specifically for General Router products. Most of the people who watch that forum are more likely to have experience with older routers and know how to work it better than those of us who follow this router forum. Might be more likely to find someone who has a solution if the question is posted there:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/General-WiFi-Routers-Non/bd-p/home-wifi-routers-general

 

Please use this link to the main forum product list to review and choose where to make your posts. 
https://community.netgear.com/t5/NETGEAR-Forum/ct-p/en-netgear


Thank you

View solution in original post

Message 3 of 5

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OmgMav
Aspirant

Re: R6400v2 in bridge mode having issues with R6080 as primary connected to modem

Additional finding...almost completely negates everything I wrote above...almost.

 

So, I found that if I do not plug any other devices into the Bridge (R6400v2), and just let it sit there idle and connected to the R6080 on whatever band, all other devices connected wirelessly to the R6080 on the same band are connected and have internet access.  Everything looks normal until I plug a device into the Bridge using an ethernet cable.  

Sitting idle, I can see the R6400v2 is connected to the R6080 and has Good Internet status.  It sees three devices:  the R6080 at 192.168.1.1, and my two other PC's at 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.6.

 

When I plug my laptop into the R6400v2 using an ethernet cable, the other two PC's lose internet connectivity, though they still show as connected (wireless adapter shows "connected, no internet").  The status for the Bridge now says "No Internet".

If I connect these other two PC's to the opposite band, they will both connect and have internet access.

 

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

 

R6080ViewBefore.PNG

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, it 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:

 

R6080ViewAfter.PNG

There you see the laptop (MAV2012-PC) and that interesting unidentified mystery MAC address.

Here is the view from the R6400 at this time.

 

R6400ViewAfter.PNG

 

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.  

 

 

 

Edit:

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Message 2 of 5
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: R6400v2 in bridge mode having issues with R6080 as primary connected to modem

Netgear has set up a community forum specifically for General Router products. Most of the people who watch that forum are more likely to have experience with older routers and know how to work it better than those of us who follow this router forum. Might be more likely to find someone who has a solution if the question is posted there:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/General-WiFi-Routers-Non/bd-p/home-wifi-routers-general

 

Please use this link to the main forum product list to review and choose where to make your posts. 
https://community.netgear.com/t5/NETGEAR-Forum/ct-p/en-netgear


Thank you

Message 3 of 5
OmgMav
Aspirant

Re: R6400v2 in bridge mode having issues with R6080 as primary connected to modem


@FURRYe38 wrote:

Netgear has set up a community forum specifically for General Router products. Most of the people who watch that forum are more likely to have experience with older routers and know how to work it better than those of us who follow this router forum. Might be more likely to find someone who has a solution if the question is posted there:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/General-WiFi-Routers-Non/bd-p/home-wifi-routers-general

 

Please use this link to the main forum product list to review and choose where to make your posts. 
https://community.netgear.com/t5/NETGEAR-Forum/ct-p/en-netgear


Thank you


 

Thank you for your response.   I have copied the post to the appropriate forum.   

Message 4 of 5
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: R6400v2 in bridge mode having issues with R6080 as primary connected to modem

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