Wireless routers as Access point using LAN-LAN but no connectivity through other LAN ports, and wifi works

Question

I have followed every single step given in following page of DD-WRT page to setup a wireless access point.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Wireless_Access_Point

I have a belkin G router and a tp-link 841N router having dd wrt installed.

From belkin LAN port i ran a cable to tp-link router and configured every single step perfectly and double checked making tp-link router as Access point.

After switching on the routers and laptop and mobiles connected are working fine and able to access internet.

But from the tp-link router if i connected any device to other lan ports then those devices are unable to access the network. They are not even getting ip assigned. Even if i manually add the ip they are still unable to access.

But as per the steps given in dd wrt page it should work properly.

Main router has channel 11 and tp-link has channel 6 for wireless.

Here are the network settings of the tp-link router.

Answer 1

Depending on your network diagram I have a similar setup in place.

Router 1 {R1} - Router 2 {R2}

R1: Asus Tomato USB: DHCP provider

R2: Tp link Factory: Separate DHCP or Act as Switch

• Separate DHCP - Provides its own DHCP and separate Local IP addressing

  • Connections: R1: LAN - R2: WAN - R2: LAN - Clients
  • PS: Check for IP address, DHCP & Gateway obtained from R2 by running ipconfig

• Act as Switch - Depends on DHCP from R1 with common Local IP addressing

  • Connections: R1: LAN - R2: LAN - Clients
  • Apparently on your FW you can also assign WAN port as a Switch so no NAT happens.
  • PS: Check for IP address, DHCP & Gateway obtained from R1 by running ipconfig

Note: DHCP from R1 will forward by default, or one has to ensure that DHCP from R1 is not blocked or disabled by R2 which is acting as a switch.

Answer 2

Your configuration surely has at least one error: the static IP address you assign to your AP, 192.168.1.101 falls within the IP address pool of ... itself: from your configuration mask in fact we see that the IP address pool starts at 192.168.1.100! This alone is enough tto compromise the working of your TP-Link AP.

I suggest you correct the above as follows:

1. Under Setup -> Basic Setup-> DHCP Type, choose, in the drop-down curtain, DHCP Forwarder. This disables the DHCP server on the DD-WRT machine, something the instructions you referred to were adamant about.

2. Under Setup -> Advanced Routing -> Operating mode, choose Gateway in the drop-down curtain. Your TP-Link is not a router, the Belkin machine is.

There is another point: this is a warning, more than a key difference. Under Setup -> Basic Setup -> Wan Connection Type, I'd rather you choose Automatic Configuration -DHCP. The advantage of this is that, this way, you are sure the IP of the DD-WRT router does not conflict with any address within the lease range of the DHCP server on the Belkin Router. I will not suggest you change this at all costs, even though it would be way safer, but please do make extra sure 192.168.1.101 is not within the IP pool of the Belkin router.

You ought to set the above options, then reboot the router, and try again to see whether the wired clients of the TP-Link get an IP address, and then can communicate with the WAN.