Home Network Issue - Asus Routers fighting each other?

[killramos]

Well i am coming to my wits end with this issue so i am wondering if any of the IT/network experts/professionals on beyond can help me find a solution to a problem. If i can't figure this out the new piece of hardware that I picked up that is causing the problem is going to have to go back to the store which is very frustrating.

Ok so super quick description of my current setup:

Bridged shaw cable modem run into an Asus Ac68U which handles all routing and DHCP. That is connected to a gigabit switch which distributes wires around the house. One thing connected is an old 802.11n airport extreme that provides wifi to my basement and acts as a switch in my media cabinet, in bridge mode so no DHCP.

That all worked pretty well 100% but i decided to swap out the airport with something more modern as i have a few AC devices now and i had some issues with multiple clients connecting to it a few weeks back.

In comes a new second Ac68U, which is set up all in Access point mode ( no dhcp enabled etc.) with mirrored said and passwords to the main asus effectively extending the wireless network to the rest of the house.it is wired to the rest of the system.

So after setup i dropped it in to where the airport was and expected to revel in my new high speed wireless for the basement. WRONG.

So as soon as i plugged the second asus in my entire network went to shit, kind half working with webpages half loading. netflix dropping in and out. speed tests dropping to 20% of what they were before with high pings.

This wasn't just for devices connected to the new device either.

I check the logs for the main router and it seems like the new device is fighting for an IP with the main router, which makes no sense.

Mar 4 14:29:25 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Mar 4 14:29:25 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Mar 4 14:29:25 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Mar 4 14:29:25 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Mar 4 14:29:25 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Mar 4 14:29:25 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Mar 4 14:29:25 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Mar 4 14:29:25 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address
Mar 4 14:29:25 kernel: br0: received packet on vlan1 with own address as source address

error sample above.

If i unplug the new access point everything goes back to normal and the error messages stop as a note. So pretty sure its the culprit in some form.

I tried setting it a new manual ip outside of the normal pool, both in the router and the AP's settings. Didn't work.

Tried changing the router to a non standard default IP outside of the pool in case of some kind of default query. Still doing the same thing.

Upgraded all the firmwares to asus's latest. Still no dice.

Tried restoring both routers to factory and re setting up. Nope.

Does anyone on here any any experience with such an issue or setups with multiple asus routers?

I have been trouble shooting it for hours last night and today with no progress in sight and i am pretty much to the point of returning the new access point for being obviously defective.

Thanks in advance!

edit: Speedtest with new AP installed ( computer not even in the same part of the house )

Disconnected:


makes a massive difference in network quality.

For those who are familiar with asus's settings, a dummy UI.
http://event.asus.com/2012/nw/dummy_ui/en/index.html

[revelations]

1) check IP address pool and see if another device is using the AP IP that you originally manually assigned to it - I had a static IP on a printer once that conflicted with AP IP

2) do the issues affect WIFI only (does the AP function ok with LAN cable connected to your device? )

3) probably unrelated,, but is switch unmanaged?

4) If you can migrate settings, I would try to swap devices and see if problems happen on the DHCP end with the new unit. Its rare, but I have seen bad routers out of the box.

[killramos]

1. AP is using and assigned the IP I specified ( 192.168.1.2 in this case) , it is also sort of accessible at the IP ( the network issues make it touch to get passed the log in screen reliably)

Router is 192.168.1.3

Pool is 192.168.1.5-254 so no issues there

2. I am administering from my wired desktop so no its not wifi ( initially thought it might be when i was trying to set this up with my surface but i switched to my iMac once i eliminated that as a possibility).

3. Umanaged gigabit switch. Netgear GS108 i believe. Pretty standard.

4. Not sure if settings migration or backup is an option but i like the idea of just swapping the units and resetting them all ( i have done it a few times anyways so whats one more time). Will try that.

[rage2]

It's an Asus bug (and now you know why I didn't have any Asus APs in my old setup). Turn off spanning tree, that seems to fix it for some. It somehow loops VLAN1 when you have 2 Asus devices on the same network. Don't ask me how that's remotely possible.

I ran into the exact same problem with 2 Asus routers/APs which got returned next day. Google the error, tons of hits. Fucking bug takes out the entire network, wired or wireless lol.

Go and order 2 UniFi access points and call it a day.

[killramos]

k so now debating whether or not its the new router...

Just brought it up to my office to do some firmware resets and swaps etc. and had it working perfect when wired right to the other Asus router. No speediest drops, all the ethernet ports worked great.

I figured maybe i did something different this time. So back downstairs to drop it in where it belongs. Come upstairs to test. Nope its fucked again.

Next candidate is going to be isolating the switch ( which was working perfectly fine before this ) to see if that affects it or if cables between office and basement are a concern.

[rage2]

Here's a thread talking about it, and tricks to supress the error message. I'm guessing the error messages gets logged so fast it kills the router?

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/ker...address.21877/

Fucked up that they still haven't fixed it yet. That thread is from last year.

[locust]

It's a major bug with the ASUS firmware.
Have you tried disabling NAT acceleration? It's under LAN>Switch Control
Also have you tried disabling ipv6?

[revelations]

I have setup APs with Asus-Asus in the past without issues (my home is all Asus, AP, 2 bridges, etc.) - are these issues confined to a particular model number (set)?

[killramos]

Yea this seems really fucked. stp disabled on router one, issue still going on. Now i need to access the other one to enable telnet and repeat. Fucking embarrassing.

[rage2]

Originally posted by revelations
I have setup APs with Asus-Asus in the past without issues (my home is all Asus, AP, 2 bridges, etc.) - are these issues confined to a particular model number (set)?

Not sure, seems like a whole bunch of models suffer from this problem. The 2 I used were these guys:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...01a77ec682en02

Probably about a year ago now.

Originally posted by killramos
Yea this seems really fucked. stp disabled on router one, issue still going on. Now i need to access the other one to enable telnet and repeat. Fucking embarrassing.

Wait till you trying to get roaming working haha.

[killramos]

debating cutting my losses and just returning it now if this is going to require me to fuck with the firmware and hidden settings just to get it to work as advertised. My airport extreme wasn't that bad. heck i might just replace it with my time capsule, at least its dual band.



Whats Memory Express's return policy on stuff like this. Seems to me like this is justified as the product not working.

i expected some fiddling with trying to get roaming to work better. but I have spent more time fucking with this than bad roaming has cost me in 3 years.

[locust]

It's 7 days as long as you have all the packaging and receipt

[revelations]

Def return for refund if less than 7 days. The guys at the service counter usually know about these issues.

[killramos]

K i know when i am beyond my league, it wasn't exactly cheap.

Going back tonight.

Thanks for the help all

( and Rage you could have , you know, warned me in the other thread when i said i was going to do this exact thing ).

[rage2]

Originally posted by killramos
(and Rage you could have , you know, warned me in the other thread when i said i was going to do this exact thing ).

TBH I totally forgot about this issue till you brought it up. That and you'd think they would have fixed it after a year.

[killramos]

Yea, whatever i am going to wait until the RP-AC68U Access Point comes out.

Considering its access point only it should have this issue fixed since it would completely invalidate its existence, right?

RIGHT?!?!?!

Im pseudo committed to Asus for the time being. Like it or not ( my other one can't be returned or else i would consider going with a whole new setup).

on to the next order of network related business. Calling shaw retentions to give them a chance to keep my business after a door to door telus salesman gave me a long term equivalent package for 60 bucks less a month.

it never ends.

[rage2]

You don't need to return the other one. Simply turn off wifi as you still need a router since the unifis are access points only. That's why I created the other thread, it's a solution to a long running problem with consumer grade wifi equipment. Everyone in the house loves how wifi just works now haha.

[phreezee]

Have you tried any Merlin firmwares? http://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/

[killramos]

Even the guy who writes the merlin firmware can't fix it without behind the scenes settings hijinks like Rage said.

Also score! Got a decent discount on my shaw service from retentions. Apparently the key is having a signed service agreement from telus with a booked install date on it to email to them

Good point though rage. I might have to consider that then. Ill look at pricing and feature later.

This is what i like about this website. 30 minutes on here beats hours of troubleshooting and browsing dedicated forums and support documents.

:thumbs:

[Mibz]

Originally posted by killramos
Apparently the key is having a signed service agreement from telus with a booked install date on it to email to them

[email protected] could use a copy of that service agreement.