Assistance with two wireless networks connecting each other

RunningFromFat

RunningFromFat

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Morning guys

The two devices are :

http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/imageServlet?DOCID=emr_na-c02511837-3/c02511876.jpg

The setup is : One of them is connected in the main building to DHCP , the second one is connected to a standalone switch inside a park-home outside.

My problem : I can't get the park-home to connect to the wireless unit inside the main building.

What I'v tried :

1. Setting the device in the building as master bridge, with the secondary device as slave. I'v put the master device as the bridge parent and the secondary as the bridge child but the secondary device just doesn't get an IP.

2. Leaving both devices on bridge role AP , both with dhcp on but no luck there either.

3. I'v ensured they are using the right antenna setting (18dbi)

What am I doing wrong? All i want is the park-home device to connect to the main building device that is running on dhcp so that all my PCs in the park-home pull an IP. Am i meant to assign an ip for the second device? I'v made sure they using the same SSID and that there is no authentication even. Right now i don't even know if the park-home device can even see the master device.

Thanks
 
What is the unit in the main building connected to? Is there another device set as DHCP server as well?

Can you pick up the wifi signal of the main unit in the park-home? Use an android phone with Wifi Analyser to check the signal.
 
Hey , the main device is connected to the main switch which is connected to the server that is running dhcp. Im going to try see the unit with my iphone now. Im only picking up 11 b/g and not 11a on the laptop, is that correct? Shot
 
If the main switch is running the DHCP server both your wifi units will need to run in bridge mode with DHCP off. Try to get teh main wifi unit set up so that it gets an IP from the switch and you can connect to it's wifi and also get an IP through it. After that is working start on the second unit. I am not a networking expert, so hopefully someone else also has some advice for you. But I have struggled enough with networking to know it's not fun :mad:
 
Thanks, i can get ips on the laptop but dont know to connect the wireless device to the other one. Tried bridge/ ap / etc nothing... I feel stupid
 
You're looking for WDS which isn't really standardised. Are you using two of exactly the same devices?
 
OK, I found HP 8700 AP. Are you trying to set up WDS? That can be a pain to set up, but see if there is a guide for WDS setup for your model.
 
Yeah it's WDS , i will attach a screenshot of my exact setup.

1.jpg

Unfortunately I can't find a config guide yet. I'm pretty sure the connection is fine, it's just that I haven't set it up correctly. There are 4 bridge roles : AP / Bridge / root-bridge + repeater . I'v tried bridge with the main radio as parent and the secondary radio as child. Am i meant to setup authentication servers so it allows it properly or something? Like MAC authentication? I have dhcp on the main radio and my laptop was working fine 20m away.

TLDR: I don't know how to configure the second radio to see the first radio and receive IP's from it.
 
You have to set it as repeater, that is for WDS. Set the first one up as repeater and make sure you can access the network through it's WiFi. Then use the same settings on the second one, with exactly the same SSID, password and channel. Then it should connect.

EDIT: Repeater seems to disable the ethernet ports, so you don't want that.

From the manual's description, I would try setting the main one as the Root Bridge, with the second unit's MAC as the Bridge child. Then set the second unit as an AP, with the first unit's MAC as a Bridge parent. Each unit has to have the other's MAC for it to work.
 
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Unfortunately I can't work on it anymore as It's not our companies installation and will require a third-party to look at it. I was having fun but not so much fun trying to get it to work.

The initial problem was that the power/lan light was amber which indicates hardware/booting error. I then gave it a reset ( full knowing it would reset settings ) hoping it would stay like that to confirm it's faulty, but alas, it didn't show that error anymore...

Your suggestion makes sense but the problem is when you select bridge role AP, you cant put in the MAC, you can only put in the mac for bridge role - bridge/repeater/root-bridge.

If 3rd-party company fixes it, I'm definitely going to hop on after and see where I went wrong.
 
Ok i think i can see it now , i keep getting authentication errors and it's showing the other Mac but i cant get the IP Address of the master and the network admins cant pull it even though my laptop is connected. How to find its IP ?
 
If you're getting authentication errors make sure your encryption/authntication method is the same, as well as the password
 
i would rather just get two cheapy ubiquity outdoor routers and do away with the wds idea.
 
Thats why i need the ip of the master radio but angry ip scanner wont show it even though im connected through the network through the radio right now.
 
GaskooN said:
Thats why i need the ip of the master radio but angry ip scanner wont show it even though im connected through the network through the radio right now.
Click to expand...

Your main switch should be able to show what IP's it assigned to all connected devices, including the master radio. You can look for it's MAC address and find the corresponding IP?
 
Oh thanks furpile, that makes a lot of sense! Will ask WAN to scan that switch for me then! Unfortunately I can't get in the server room right now as the only guy that has access is off. Thanks a lot guys, hope I seem grateful because I am! Just trying to fix it asap.

Below are some attachments , the 00-18-6e-d1-7a-40 MAC is the master radio which by the logs I'm assuming the secondary radio can now see it but not authenticate? The second attachment shows my laptop has authenticated to the secondary radio. The third attachment shows my setup on the second radio, maybe atm the second radio is not configured and doesn't know it's the slave?


1.jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg
 
GaskooN said:
Oh thanks furpile, that makes a lot of sense! Will ask WAN to scan that switch for me then! Unfortunately I can't get in the server room right now as the only guy that has access is off. Thanks a lot guys, hope I seem grateful because I am! Just trying to fix it asap.

Below are some attachments , the 00-18-6e-d1-7a-40 MAC is the master radio which by the logs I'm assuming the secondary radio can now see it but not authenticate? The second attachment shows my laptop has authenticated to the secondary radio. The third attachment shows my setup on the second radio, maybe atm the second radio is not configured and doesn't know it's the slave?
Click to expand...

Can you try setting both to have no security on wireless and see if that works to get them connected (open wifi)? That will at least rule out password/security settings.

In your third pic, I don't think you should have the Main radio MAC as parent and child? (I have no idea this is just a guess based on what I have read). Does the main radio have the second radio's MAC as a child?
 
That's why I'm trying to retrieve the IP so I can check the main radio. I agree with you on the parent and child point but when you put in the parent, it also puts it under child and greys it out! Makes NO sense to me lol. There is currently no security ( my phone + laptop connect ). I think I just need to be able to login the main radio and tell the secondary radio that it's the child, will also help to see the same logs on that main radio.
 
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