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Question

Network disconnect/DNS issue while using access point

Mar 24, 2016 7:29PM PDT
Setup Details:

I know this is a lot of information but if you have the patience read on and lets solve this puzzle.

I have 1 router, 1 extender and 1 access point in my home which creates my network. Here are the products. All products have the newest firmware.

1. Router
2. Range Extender
3. Access Point

Problem:

The problem is that when the access point is plugged in via the ethernet cable, which goes to an unmanned switch and then to the router, DNS resolution problems seem to occur on the entire WIRED network as well as ONLY the access point when connecting to it via wireless. When I say "entire network" I mean my desktop, which is wired, cannot connect to the internet because of an DNS resolution issue according to windows troubleshooter and my Amazon Fire Box (media box) loses internet and some other WIRED devices but not all. Wireless works on router and extender. However, almost immediately when I physically remove the ethernet cable from the access point all problems vanish. Which tells me something is up with the access point.

Troubleshooting Steps Taken:

Problem occurred before I introduced the extender so we can rule the extender out. I believed it might of had something to do with the DHCP settings in the router and access point conflicting since they were both set to start and end from the same IP range. And I didn't think I needed two DHCP servers running so I turned off the DHCP server on the access point but left the DHCP server on the router on but problem still seems to occur. And when I remove and then plug back in the ethernet cable to the access point when the problem occurs, everything functions correctly for several days. The problem does not occur immediately. It seems that it takes a while for the problem to occur.

I then tried turning both DHCP servers on for both the router and the access point but gave them their own respective starting and ending of their IP ranges. The router would cover the first half of the IP scheme (1-127) and the access point would cover the other half (128-254) but the problem still persisted.

Questions:

1. Am I right that there should only be 1 DHCP server running on my specific network setup and thus I should turn off the DHCP server on the access point and leave the DHCP server running on the router?

2. Can an access point connect via ethernet to an unmanned switch and then to a router? Could this cause IP conflicts with any wired connections on that unmanned switch or anything on that wired network?

3. Any other troubleshooting steps I should be taking or any ideas as to why the problem is happening?


Thanks!

Discussion is locked

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Answer
1. Yes.
Mar 24, 2016 7:47PM PDT

2. Yes. There have been long, old, discussions about IP conflicts. This is one ancient protocol (IP networking) so you must assign IPs outside the DHCP range or use DHCP only.

3. This may sound awful but I never install range extenders. I install WAPs. I leave range extender support to its maker and seller. I don't want to feel the burn.

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More Information
Mar 25, 2016 7:00AM PDT
Thanks for the reply R. Proffitt.

When you say "WAPs" are you referring to Wireless Access Points? Which is the same as just an Access Point because Access Points I thought were assumed wireless. Not sure how you would have a wired only access point. That would be called a switch IMO.

The range extender isn't the problem because the problem persisted before I ever installed the range extender. I have had the wireless access point for a couple years and it always caused havoc with my network so I left it unplugged. So I got the range extender, no problems with it and then tested out the wireless access point again and then a couple days later BAM network problems with IP conflicts. As soon as I sever the ethernet cable from the access point problems go away almost instantly. Plug it back in and a couple days later problem creeps back.

Question.

Why do you recommend Wireless Access Points over Range Extenders?
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WAPs are that.
Mar 25, 2016 8:24AM PDT

But if the connection to the WAP is wireless then it's the old range extender. So the WAPs we deploy use Ethernet to the WAP and that is very reliable. The office has never sod or deployed range extenders because our clients are pretty demanding.

I hope this clears that up as to why we don't bother with range extenders.