Hello,
Noob issues and I've tried to search the forum for answers but must be missing the answers or direction. Any help is greatly appriciated.
Background > I have a fiber connection (900+ up/900+down) and have an older WDR4500 acting as only a router (this has gig ports - FW1.01.46) and up to now, my R7800 has been my AP with a static address (x.x.1.100) using one of those gig ports from the router. This has been working fine as an iPhone would receive 400/400mbps and directly off the switch portion of the AP was the same as the router at 900/900mbps. A few months ago I started to note that the output wireless was low on the R7800 at 50/50mbps. So I connected to the AP via hardwaire and the output of the switch was at 90/90mbps. I tested the line from the router and it was giving 900/900mbps, so the source was good.
Things I've tried to fix this >
1)update to Netgears latest FW - no dice
2)full reset - this works, but only for a couple days and I'm back down to slower speeds
3)pull power - this has worked, but again only for a couple days
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So now I look around for answers and really not finding anything of value on the inter-tubes. I find Voxel's FW and decide to give it a try (.46 and the newer .47). I fully reset the R7800 and then with my notebook hardwired, I upload the FW.
Now at this point I need to put it into AP mode and can do one of two options: 1)allow the WDR4500 DHCP to give it an address 2) set my own IP/subnet/DNS. I have tried both options and the unit is nowhere to be found on the network with either of the two choices. The WDR4500 has not assigned an IP (as I look for connected devices with the R7800 MAC) or does the AP respond to the IP I gave it in option 2. I do an ARP command and still nothing matching with the MAC of the R7800.
So here is the kicker > I fully reset the R7800 again so it is back in router mode and setup all my previous wifi settings prior to selecting AP mode. Once AP mode is activated the R7800 disappears and I can no longer connect to it, however I can connect to the wifi I set up and it works.
The problem with this is if I want to make any changes or update the FW I would have to do a full reset (not what I want or I'm sure anyone for that matter would).
So I'm trying to look through the Voxel readme again to find any information and the only thing I can think of is I need to now access this AP through SSH?? But why wouldn't the AP IP be able to be seen through te router or the arp table? Does SSH hide this all from the network?
I'm by far an expert in networking and must be a dunce as when reading the SSH "how to", it nearly looks like a foreign laungage to me and I'm not 100% sure I understand it (plus I don't have a computer with Linux). But before I go digging down the path more of SSH just want to make sure this is why I can no longer access the AP.
Thank you in advance for any help or suggestions. My main focus was to resolve the issue with the wifi and switch speeds of the R7800. I may need to go back to the defalt FW and find a different answer to why the R7800 is dropping off in speed.
There is a know issue with NG core AP mode feature currently. This is not Voxels code. This comes from NG code:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/R7800-FW-1-0-2-4...
and the 4500 as a 2ndary AP.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/custom-firmware-build-for-r7800-v-1-0-...
So your best work around woud be to do the manual AP mode, set a Static IP address on the R7800 from 192.168.1.1 to 1.100, disable DHCP services, unp and firewall and any other WAN feature. Configure the wireless radios as you need. Then connect the R7800 via it's LAN port to the LAN port on your main host router. Then you'll be able to access the R7800 at 192.168.1.100. Until NG fixes this.
I presonally would use the R7800 is the main host router and the
Thank you for your reply.
Interesting you say this AP problem is an issue with NG as I've been running with this configured as an AP just fine (purchase almost 2yrs ago) all the way up to now (with the exception of the original issue that sent me this direction of it losing speed).
I did actually try to set the R7800 static in the main setup while troubleshooting (instead of the area in AP selection in Advanced) and it still doesn't respond nor can I find it. Doesn't setting it to AP turn off DHCP? I could try it all again and make sure I crossed all T's and dotted the i's. May just go back to the original firmware and see if this does the same, but wanted to see after a couple days if I lose speed and see if this FW fixes that. The speed loss is the real core of the matter and I would like to resolve that more than anything.
SIDE NOTE: The 4500 is fine as a router and horrible as a wifi unit in todays speeds (unless there is a really good reason you know of to have one over the other), beside the fact that my network closet is on one side of the house and the AP is in the middle of the house for better overall coverage. Since I had the 4500 before, it can use its processing as the router and the 7800 can focus all its processing on 2.4 and 5GHz. Unless I'm thinking of that all wrong and it doesn't quite work that way.
I'll report back after I try this again once more with the original FW.
Let us know what you see with OEM FW. Again, there is an issue with AP mode. NG needs to fix this. Happens on mine as well when I tested for this.
The 4500 was a good router and I'm sure works for your needs, however the R7800 has better CPU processing speeds and a bit newer with better tech under the hood. You could run the R7800 as the main host router and use the 4500 as a 2ndary AP in a remote location from the R7800. Just a suggestion.
Keep us posted. Were hoping that the next NG OEM FW will have the fix for AP mode. IF you reivew the links, you can get AP mode to work with v3# FW then directly upgrade to v4# with out doing any factory resets I belive is the process that works. NG is is aware of it and should fix it. I hope.
@e38BimmerFN
Sorry it took me a bit to get back to this.
I did try everything in the book 9 different ways to Sunday, but ended up with the same result - no device visable on my network. You were correct and I thank you for the info to get me back to square one with the AP > I reset the 7800, used the FW v38 which allowed me to get the AP portion to work and then upgraded to Voxel v47SF. Everything is currently working as it should. Over the next couple weeks I will continue to test/monitor speeds on the R7800 to see if (the original reason I upgraded the FW to something different) this remains constant or I slowly lose speed on WiFi and hardwaire connection.
Thanks for the suggestion - sadly the 4500 doesn't do very well with WiFi in 5Ghz (very short range) - 2.4Ghz is ok, but the speeds from either are no where near as fast as the R7800, and it doesn't handle multiple clients like the R7800 MU-MIMO. I agree that the tech is newer and I do like it more, my thought was just to off load some of the backend to a piece I wouldn't care to use because of its lack in WiFi speed/range. However, my thought and reasoning could be all wrong in how to set up a network like this. I'd gladly like to learn more if I'm wrong in this thought.
Again many thanks for the links - its up and running now...like I'm sure everyone has reiterated, crazy how NG just lets this kind of stuff go for so long. The AP is a major issue and a funtion that is part of this unit not one to be taken lightly.
Off topic: What I really want is to get a proper router (no WiFi) to do the job of router and DHCP...one feature I really want is that when I reserve an IP on a MAC address, that is what the Router gives to that client. Neither the 4500 or the 7800 do this. So why have that feature included? Anyway - love to look into something that is not to fully break the bank and be reliable (HA....does that exist?)
Yes. Most routers do this already. Even the R7800 does this. Mine does.
I should say the MAC address is seen and included in the reservation. I some routers you can enter in a MAC address. I presume some Mfrs may not allow this as it can cause problems or on a client side, the MAC can be spoofed or changed. So maybe one reason why router Mfrs are not letting users set with a MAC address.