Bridging a RAXE500 and RAX10

[Giles_Gilbert]

I have a RAXE500 configured to share a SSID on all bands and am trying to connect a RAX10 in bridge mode to it. The RAX10 in bridge mode connects correctly when set to 2.4Ghz, but when set to 5Ghz it fails to connect.

I've read all that I can find about setting up bridges and the differentiation between 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz so I tried switching off the 2.4Ghz transmitter but that didn't help. Changing the security to None didn't help either.

Any ideas of how to get the 5Ghz channel to work with the bridge?

Thanks!

[Giles_Gilbert · Accepted solution]

SOLUTION: The router must be set to a channel in the non-DFS range for a bridge to work. Makes sense given that the DFS channels can be changed automatically. Bridges are supposed to be reliable and hence not subject to sudden changes.

[michaelkenward]

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@Giles_Gilbert wrote:

I have a RAXE500 configured to share a SSID on all bands and am trying to connect a RAX10 in bridge mode to it.

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In the wonderful world of network devices, "bridge mode" means different things for different devices in different contexts. In your case, I suspect that you mean what the manual describes as Router/ AP / Bridge Mode. Is that it?

If you compare the descriptions from "bridge mode" in your two routers, you may see that they describe different operations, wired and wifi.

Does the RAX10 offer a wifi bridge mode?

Maybe someone familiar with these two devices can step in.

[Giles_Gilbert]

You are correct in that I am referring to the various modes of operation which include router, access point and bridge.

The RAX10 does indeed have these modes and I am selecting Bridge, entering the band I want, 5Ghz, SSID and password along with the security type that matches the main router.

According to the book it should work and it indeed does when using the 2.4Ghz band, but not when setup for 5Ghz.

I suspect something needs changing in the RAXE500s configuration.

Also, I have tried setting up different names for each band and explicitly using the 5Ghz name and still no connection.

Thanks!

[Giles_Gilbert]

Minor update. I was able to connect the RAX10 in bridge mode to an old 802.11n router that I have, so that part is working. It must be something to do with the RAXE500 ... ????

[Giles_Gilbert]

Next test ... that failed:

Setup a guest network on 5Ghz, broadcast SSID, WPA2 Personal [AES]. No joy.

[Giles_Gilbert]

I double checked that it was working on the old router and it turns out that it was stepping down to the 2.4Ghz band. Forcing it to only use the 5Ghz band didn't work ... so it is a problem with the RAX10?

[Giles_Gilbert]

Major Update: It appears this is a channel number problem. Dropping it to a very low channel number it appears to have started working, all be it slowly. Not satisfied to call it solved yet but on the right path.

[Giles_Gilbert · Accepted solution]

SOLUTION: The router must be set to a channel in the non-DFS range for a bridge to work. Makes sense given that the DFS channels can be changed automatically. Bridges are supposed to be reliable and hence not subject to sudden changes.

[FURRYe38]

For the RAX10 to work in wireless bridge mode with the RAX500, the 500 would need to be in either router or AP mode. Bridge on the RAXE500 would not work. 

Glad you got it working.