hAP Lite isn't getting an IP assignment

13 posts / 0 new

Tue, 02/09/2021 - 18:36

AH6LE

Hi all

I'm just getting started with AREDN (and MESH) so I'm going through growing pains apparently

I have the firmware loaded in my hAP Lite and have NO issues talking to it via one of the LAN ports, using my laptop's browser. But I can't get the hAP Lite to connect up with my home LAN router.

It never even requests an IP from the router so, as a test, I set a static IP in the SETUP on the same subnet as my router and it still isn't seen (nor reachable) on my network. I know it's not my CAT5 nor my router as my laptop will happily request (and receive) an IP assignment from the router, using the exact same port on the router and CAT5 cable.

Might I have a bad hAP Lite?

Ken

Tue, 02/09/2021 - 20:36

K6CCC

DHCP not Static

First of all, if you set a static IP on the WAN port of the hAP, it's not going to request an address from your router. In order for it to do so, you would need to set the WAN port of the hAP to DHCP. That would be my first recommendation. The other really easy test is to verify that the connection or activity lights come on at both the router and the hAP when a cable is connected between the two.

Tue, 02/09/2021 - 21:18

AH6LE

Chuck - yes, of course, the

Chuck - yes, of course, the WAN Port

K6CCC - I only tried the static IP setup after the hAP didn't request an IP (obviously when selected for DHCP). And I just noticed the LED light on the router lights but not on the hAP (more accurately, the WAN Port LED doesn't light but the 1st LAN Port (which my laptop is connected to) does light. Which makes sense as I can talk to the hAP from my laptop's browser

Wed, 02/10/2021 - 10:55

(Reply to #3) #4

K6CCC

OK, if the port is not going

OK, if the port is not going active, you have a problem right there. Just to confirm, when you connect a cable from your router into port 1 (labeled as internet above the connector), the indicator light for port 1 (the LED closest to the middle of the box) does not come on. However, if you connect a cable from your laptop into port 2, the LED for port 2 does come on. Assuming that is the case, with no other cables plugged into the hAP, plug the cable from your laptop into all five ports (one at a time) and confirm that in each case, the corresponding LED does or does not come on. Don't worry about being able to communicate with the hAP - you're just checking to see if the LEDs come on. If port 1 is the only port that does not come on, carefully visually inspect the pins of the connector to make sure that two of the pins are not crossed over. If they are, usually you can fix that with a very small screwdriver or a small wire with a hook on the end.

Entertaining note about the label on the hAP about port 1 being internet. Even with using RouterOS, there is absolutely zero requirement to use port 1 as the internet connection. Port 1 is the WAN in the factory default configuration, but it can be set any way you want in RouterOS.

BTW, I am going to extreme detail on this message because you have not been at all forthcoming on the details. We are not mind-readers. If you want our help, tell us the whole story, not just parts. For example, in your first post, you said you were using a static IP on the WAN port of the hAP and that the hAP was not requesting an IP from the router. This is of course how it's supposed to work. You did not mention that you had started with DHCP until queried about that. Further, you did not mention that the port status light was not coming on. There are important details.

Wed, 02/10/2021 - 10:28

km6zpo

Just curious...

Before you flashed it with the AREDN firmware, was it able to capture an IP with the default Router OS?

Wed, 02/10/2021 - 11:00

AH6LE

Yup. I replaced my home's

Yup. I replaced my home's Cisco router with it to test it and make sure it was working. Which it was.

One thing (not sure if it matters) but when I did the AREDN firmware thing, I didn't use a switch because I didn't have one laying around. The various YT videos I watched hinted that a switch wasn't necessary but made life easier. I wonder if this is what they meant

Wed, 02/10/2021 - 11:07

K6CCC

The reason for the switch

The reason for the switch between the PC and soon to be AREDN node when doing the initial flash has little to do with the node. It keeps the port active on the PC when the node is rebooting. Keeps the PC from doing anything strange with the port if / when the PC sees the port go inactive.

Wed, 02/10/2021 - 11:13

AH6LE

I used an old hub to keep the

I used an old hub in place of a dumb switch, in order to keep the LAN port on my laptop active when I disconnected/powered down the hAP. Good enough?

Wed, 02/10/2021 - 11:37

(Reply to #8) #9

K6CCC

Yep. All you need is

Yep. All you need is something to keep the port active on the PC.

Wed, 02/10/2021 - 12:15

#10

AH6LE

Well then I don't know what

Well then I don't know what the issue is. I'm going to try the whole AREDN procedure again and see what happens (what have I got to lose?)

Wed, 02/10/2021 - 12:58

#11

AH6LE

That was it - I started over

That was it - I started over from the beginning and voila! All appears to be fine now. The hAP receives an IP assignment from my router and I can access it via the network. Now to get the tunneling client installed......

thanks to all who responded

Ken, AH6LE

Wed, 02/10/2021 - 14:25

#12

K6CCC

Glad you got t working...

Sat, 08/21/2021 - 22:04

#13

va7edu

Possible solution to the problem of port 1 inactive

I realized it's a few months later but I had exactly this symptom.

I realized it was because I had enabled WiFi WAN and you can't have both the port 1 Ethernet WAN and the WiFi WAN enabled. I deselected WiFi WAN and rebooted. Port 1 went active, lights on and it received a DHCP assigned address. Now the option to enable WiFi WAN is hidden. I suspect if I selected protocol disabled under the WAN option it would re-appear. It's probably a UI bug or limitation that it shows both during inital setup.

Hope this saves someone from re-flashing and starting all over again.
73

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