Hiya, I am running into an issue that I am struggling to resolve. I recently moved to a new property that has a main house and a Casita out back. To extend internet to the Casita, we installed about 100 feet of Cat5e running from our Cox Gateway (router+modem) to the Casita. We picked up an AX1800 hoping to set it up in the Casita via access point Mode to get both WiFi and Ethernet in the Casita.
When I went through the setup, I had some issues getting into the router, but ultimately got through the setup and set it to dynamic IP and turned on AP Mode. I got booted from the AP network as expected, but when I attempt to connect to the wifi it does not work.
I went back to the main house and logged into my Gateway (primary router) it does not show the device in the DHCP server. To troubleshoot, I brought the AX1800 back to the main house and connected it to the Gateway using a different cord right next to the Gateway. The Gateway picked it up and assigned an IP, and everything seemed good.
But when I bring it back out to the Casita, same issue. Doesn't show up as online and can't connect to it's wifi. I tested the 100-ft Ethernet cable on a laptop in the Casita and got full speed no issue so ruled the cable out (I think?)
Things I am thinking but really don't know: - Should the Ax1800 actually be running in Bridge mode? - Should I assign it a static IP (does that matter?) - Is this type of setup incompatible with Cox Gateway devices / should I pick up another router to be used in bridge with my cox modem?
I'm fairly beginner in networking, so this has me perplexed.. I would like to solve this not just for getting internet, but to learn as well.
If anyone has some troubleshooting suggestions, I would love to hear. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I greatly appreciate it.
@Paulwright44 wrote: I went back to the main house and logged into my Gateway (primary router) it does not show the device in the DHCP server. To troubleshoot, I brought the AX1800 back to the main house and connected it to the Gateway using a different cord right next to the Gateway. The Gateway picked it up and assigned an IP, and everything seemed good.
Sort of suggests that there is nothing wrong with the router in AP mode. Looks like the cable link to the AP is the issue.
I assume that the AP is a RAX10. AX1800 is just a label for the wifi technology it uses. Netgear made a handful of AX1800s.
Does the RAX10 work as expected in AP mode when it sits next to the gateway?
When you connect at the remote end, does the RAX10 show a connection on the Internet LED?
Things I am thinking but really don't know: - Should the Ax1800 actually be running in Bridge mode? - Should I assign it a static IP (does that matter?) - Is this type of setup incompatible with Cox Gateway devices / should I pick up another router to be used in bridge with my cox modem?
Bridge mode needs a wifi link back to the router. 100 feet is a stretch for that.
Netgear does not recommend using a fixed IP. I have no idea why. I use that and it works just fine. You could try it.
Your own experiments suggest that there are no compatibility problems with the gateway.
@Paulwright44 wrote: I went back to the main house and logged into my Gateway (primary router) it does not show the device in the DHCP server. To troubleshoot, I brought the AX1800 back to the main house and connected it to the Gateway using a different cord right next to the Gateway. The Gateway picked it up and assigned an IP, and everything seemed good.
Sort of suggests that there is nothing wrong with the router in AP mode. Looks like the cable link to the AP is the issue.
I assume that the AP is a RAX10. AX1800 is just a label for the wifi technology it uses. Netgear made a handful of AX1800s.
Does the RAX10 work as expected in AP mode when it sits next to the gateway?
When you connect at the remote end, does the RAX10 show a connection on the Internet LED?
Things I am thinking but really don't know: - Should the Ax1800 actually be running in Bridge mode? - Should I assign it a static IP (does that matter?) - Is this type of setup incompatible with Cox Gateway devices / should I pick up another router to be used in bridge with my cox modem?
Bridge mode needs a wifi link back to the router. 100 feet is a stretch for that.
Netgear does not recommend using a fixed IP. I have no idea why. I use that and it works just fine. You could try it.
Your own experiments suggest that there are no compatibility problems with the gateway.
Factory reset it. Push and hold reset for 7-15 seconds while powered on.
During the re-install don't change any settings. Leave them default. Just go through the basic install process and change the ssid/password to what you'd like.
Once its installed, then change it to access point mode.
Not sure what/why you changed it for dynamic IP when that should be disabled in AP mode. Maybe its causing some conflict
Okay so I fixed it but the solution was not all that satisfying.
I factory reset and ran through setup again. Used the same setup as before --> dynamic IP + AP mode. I did notice this time around there was a firmware update available which I downloaded.
Per the first poster - "Sort of suggests that there is nothing wrong with the router in AP mode. Looks like the cable link to the AP is the issue."
When I brought it back out it still didn't work. So I decided to re-terminate both ends of the cat5e cable (RJ45 end connectors) and alas it worked after that. What is bizarre is that the cable worked when I used it on a laptop. I'm not familiar with architecture of ethernet cables but I guess it was poorly terminated and not working well enough for the router, but just well enough for the laptop. Just bad craftsmanship on my part!
Thanks all for the thoughts and suggestions, very helpful for consolidating the issue.
Most likely, the chip set behind the Ethernet ports on the router is different than the one behind the port on your laptop. One was more tolerant of a marginal signal than the other.
