I am trying to use ubiquiti gear to set up a local aredn node & am trying to see if I could see all the pieces from a laptop. I have cable modem from a local ISP. Then I have a wifi extender NETGEAR AC750 WiFi Range Extender(EX6100) in my garage. I was hoping to be able to connect the airRouter & an airGateway to the Ethernet port of the extender and see the airRouter with a browser.
A local radio club member helped me set up the airRouter with a network name. I have connected the POE Adapter to an electric plug and the airGateway. The airGateway POE output is connected to the WAN port of the airRouter. I have hooked LAN1 to the ethernet port of the extender.
The extender manual says:
"Connect Ethernet-Enabled Devices
After the extender is connected to your existing WiFi network, you can connect a device to the extender using an Ethernet cable. Then that device can access your existing network through the extender-to-router WiFi connection."
When I power it all up I can see this airRouter in the list of wifi networks, but when I connect to it & give it the correct password & type localnode:8080 in a browser window, it says it cannot find anything. The "world" LED on the airRouter is not lit. I also tried connecting the LAN port of the airGateway to the ethernet port of the extender & cycling the power. Same result.
The radio club member says he does not know what the problem is, but that this should work.
It seems to me that there is a collision of the two networks going on, but I am an utter newbie @ network communications.
The manual for the extender is here:
http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/EX6100/EX6100_UM_27Oct2015.pdf
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Joe AE6XE
Now, if you go to the home network 192.168.x.x side of the fence by connecting to the airGateway wifi, check to make sure you laptop obtains a 192.168.x.x address -- that the airGateway is correctly setup in 'bridge' mode and your address came from (was assigned by) the cable modem. If so, you can now browse to see the airRouter at the 192.168.x.x address found on it's status page http://192.168.x.x:8080 .
If you have the airGateway configured out-of-box, then this adds a 3rd network to the equation...
Best talk about the end result of what you wish to do. The current block diagram is only connecting a single mesh node AREDN network to the internet (via your home network). This mesh node is the 'gateway' to the internet. But currently, this is a gateway for only devices on the LAN ports of the AirRouter (you'd need to connect the AirRouter with other AREDN mesh nodes to have a bigger network).
Fundamentally, by design, this means that devices on the internet or your home network can not talk to devices on the mesh network. This gateway is a firewall preventing that access by design. You can only see status on the airRouter from you home network side.
The intended design is to put your laptop on the LAN port of the AirRouter, then it can access all devices on the AREDN network as well as reach out to access devices on your home network and the internet.
Joe AE6XE
Hi Joe, Thanks again for your lengthy reply.
The plan was to
a) create an aredn node not on the mesh but hooked to the internet; then when that's working
b) add a nanostation/nanoloco to connect that node to the aredn mesh that can also reach into the internet.
I will follow your most recent email.
Thanks again for your help,
Bob
Thanks a lot for your help & patience. I have found a roadblock in the procedure you outlined above. Please correct me if I am doing something wrong
As indicated in my crummy diagram, the cable modem carrying the internet into my house LAN3 is connected to the airGateLAN. The airGatePOE is connected to the airRouter <...> Ethernet port.
When I connect my laptop to L1 of the airRouter & surf to localnode:8080
I see
fe80::6a72:51ff:fe6a:682 Link
fe80::6872:51ff:fe6b:682 Link
fe80::6a72:51ff:fe6b:682 Link
Is the WAN address line a smoking gun of the problem?
Please find attached a screen shot with more info
Thanks again,
Bob
1) test airRouter and cable modem: plug the airRouter WAN port directly into the cable modem. check to see (same method with laptop on AirRouter LAN port) that it is getting a WAN address 192.168.0.x in node status. Get this working to proceed.
2) test airGateway config: plug only the airGatway (LAN or POE port) to the cable modem (leave airRouter out for now). Connect to the wifi of the airGateway with your laptop. You should be able to browse the internet and see that your laptop has a 192.168.0.x address. If this and #1 are working, then connect back to the block diagram and test end to end.
The airGateway needs to have been previously setup just right. From a reset-to-factory condition, follow AirOS instructions to access it (only laptop and airGateway connected, nothing else.). Configure the Wifi as an access point-- set your SSID. Then find the setting to put in "bridge" mode. Your laptop can no longer get to the admin screen so easily as the airGateway will no longer give your laptop an IP Address. when switched to bridge mode. Plug the airGateway into the cable modem. repeat test #2 above. In bridge mode, the airGateway will pass traffic between the cable modem and any wifi client that connects -- meaning a laptop that connects will get an IP address directly from the cable modem.
Joe AE6XE
Thank You very much for your help & patience.
#1) please see the attached figure. Everything seems to be copacetic.
#2) I can connect to the network, but I cannot see the node or surf the web.
I will factory reset the airgate & try again from scratch. I suspect I have messed up here.
Thanks again,
Bob
Hello again, I hope someone is still willing to look at this thread. I had some family/work issues & had to drop this for a week.
As of now:
The airGateway seems to be up & working correctlly.
The airRouter by itself will let me connect to it directly for a short period. I mean that if I hook a piece of ethernet cable from a laptop to LAN1 of the airRouter, and surf to localnode:8080 wih a browser, I can see it as in the figures above. However, if I try to click through a few screens to take screen shots to document how it is configured, it hangs & eventually times out. I can get it to communicate again if I cycle the power.
When I connect the whole thing end to end and try to wirelessly look at the airRouter by typing localnode:8080 in a browser window it hangs and eventually times out. I have never been able to surf to localnode:8080 this way
I am starting to wonder if I used the wrong firmware to flash this thing? Would someone please be kind enough to point me at the exact version that is recommended & I can try again?
Thank You very much,
Bob
In this situation, it might be true of the cable modem too. If your cable modem can issue a range, e.g. 192.168.1.100 - 192.168.1.254, then probably not too much of a worry.
Joe AE6XE
It wanted the <WAN address>:8080.
When we added localnode:8080 to the /etc/hosts file it works
Next step add the extender & then add the nanostations & have a mesh node connected to the web
Thanks again.