rayp Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 This one's got me scratching my head..I have a SMC 7004VWBR Barricade router connected to a cable modem and 4 PCs connected via CAT5 cable on the LAN side of the router. Also have a Linksys WAP11 access point connected to the LAN at the other end of the building to extend the wireless coverage, since the SMC can't make it that far on 2.4 GHz.About every 3 or 4 days, the WAP11 stops communicating with the SMC in the TCP/IP layer. There are 2 people with notebooks and if they connect to the LAN through the WAP11, they can't ping the router or get through it to the Internet.. BUT.. the router is also the DHCP server, and it will still assign an IP address to either of the notebooks, so it appears that the MAC layer is still working. Also, the laptop users can still see and ping any of the other PCs connected to the LAN (192.168.1.xxx). And if a laptop is brought within wireless range of the router, it connects through the router's wireless transceiver and works fine.The WAP11 and the router are on two different frequencies as well as being physically far enough apart that they couldn't hear each other anyway, so data looping is pretty much ruled out as a probable cause. If the router is reset by powering off and on, everything works as it should.. so it's not too difficult to work around the problem. Needless to say neither SMC nor Linksys cares to talk about the problem other than to blame each other. Anybody had a similar experience that they fixed and would care to share it?thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scot Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 I have heard of lots of problems like this. I've seen a few myself. Based on what you're telling me, I'd have to guess that the problem is with the WAP11. However, I personally have had more issues with the SMC config sw than any other. With SMC access points, I had to actually send one back and get it replaced because it kept locking up periodically as you describe.If you haven't tried resetting the WAP11 (I have two of these and have found them pretty reliable), I would start there. Not just powering on and off, but resetting, and then starting over with the config software.But honestly, this is why I recommend using a wired network that just uses access points. Because you should probably reset that wireless router too. It's just more trouble than it's worth IMO to use a wireless router -- or any more wireless than you have to use.-- Scot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac~ Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 RayP,Okay. Question. You mentioned that both the SMC router and the Linksys router are on 2 different frequencies.They're both 802.11b. Do you mean 'channels'? How do you have the Linksys WAP11 configured? As DHCP or a Gateway?What about the SMC 7004VWBR?Isaac~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayp Posted May 28, 2003 Author Share Posted May 28, 2003 thank you both for taking the time to reply.Resetting the WAP11 either by power cycling or with a hard reset makes no difference.. neither did it seem to matter whether I set its IP address manually or let it get one from the DHCP server (the router). Also I had another WAP11 which behaved exactly the same way, so I am 99.9% confident that the router is the root of the problem.I agree that it's better to stick with the wired network, but I need both the router to connect the LAN to the Internet and the wireless for the laptops to connect. As I stated in my first post, power cycling the router always fixes the problem for two or three days.. I can probably live with that but my curiosity keeps driving me to answer the question as to why it's doing this. I will probably end up throwing in the towel and just buy another router and if that fixes it then I'll eventually find another use for the router.. I can always use it as a switch or if worse comes to worst, a paperweight. :)As for the distinction between channels and frequencies, they are the same. There is a spread of about 85 MHz between the lowest and highest.There is only one DHCP server, and that's in the router which is also the gateway. The WAP11 doesn't have a DHCP server in it and it's just configured as a straight access point.. all the settings are the defaults except for the IP address and of course the gateway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac~ Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 RayP,Could it be that your SMC is not setup to automatically renew it's IP address from your Cable Internet Provider!Since you mentioned that it works for about 3 or 4 days, then your SMC may not be accepting the new IP address properly.Have you looked to see if there is a Firmware update for the SMC? http://www.smc.com/index.cfm?sec=Support&p...prod=258&site=cWhat is the firmware version that you have?Isaac~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scot Posted May 29, 2003 Share Posted May 29, 2003 Also, I'm just curious too, both are set up in infrastructure mode?-- ScotP.S. I'm moving this thread to Security and Networking to see if we can get some other folks looking at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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