Netgear R7800+WNDR3700v1 (Dumb AP) No internet connection

[Rion]

Hi there.

I have a strange problem i can't solve.

This is my setup

Netgear R7800 (Main Router)-->Ethernet cable-->Netgear WNDR3700 (Dumb AP mode)

I followed the guide from the official docs here to set up my WNDR3700v1 in Dumb AP mode using Configuration via Web Interface LUCI

I also applied the setting for For devices with switch and dedicated WAN

Now when i connect the Ethernet cable to port 1 (not the wan) on my WNDR3700 i get a connection but it's not stable, if i ping my main router 192.168.1.1 i sometimes get an answer with 1ms response time but then it goes offline again and i have no internet connection.

I have tried all the Ethernet ports but the same thing happens.
Tested the Ethernet cable directly connected to my PC and everything works just as it should there.

So i dug up an old 10/100 switch i had laying around and connected the cable from the router, then from the switch to my WNDR3700v1 and everything works.

Now why is that? What am i missing?

Firmware's used
R7800 @hnyman stable openwrt-19.07, owrt1907-r10284-a654ac0d6e-20190801 (ath10k-ct)
WNDR3700v1 @hnyman stable openwrt-19.07,owrt1907-r10284-a654ac0d6e-20190801 (ath79)

[anon50098793]

Did you try a crossover cable? Maybe some MDI-X negotiation woes.

[Rion]

I used a Cat. 6 S/FTP cable.

Edit:

WNDR3700 is listed with auto MDI/MDIX on all ports.

[hnyman]

@Rion

I followed the guide from the official docs here to set up my WNDR3700v1 in Dumb AP mode using Configuration via Web Interface LUCI

I also applied the setting for For devices with switch and dedicated WAN

Might be to too complex.

I use myself R7800 as main main router, and WNDR3700v2 (or WRT3200ACM) as a dumb AP without problems.

(I have a have a dumb switch connecting the fixed cabling between various rooms.)

I use my own simple dumb AP recipe, which only requires minimal config changes. No changes to router's switch config needed, if you just leave WAN port unutilised. The advice pretty much matches

Not accessible after disabling DHCP

Just to complement the previous advice: remember to also set the gateway and DNS address on the new dumb AP. Otherwise the router itself will be unable to access internet (although clients connected via it will be, as they use DHCP to get address from the main router.) Old advice written by me: If you connect the two routers using a fixed connection between LAN ports, the whole thing is ridiculously easy, as you can dumb down the APs. (The key to making things really easy is to NOT use the WAN…

But the R7800 + WNDR3700 combo works quite ok for me. And yes, naturally I am running my own builds in the routers.

[Rion]

Thank you for having a look at this.

I followed you guide To a T.
Even re flashed it with the same version without saving the settings, power cycle and reset the settings again after successful flash just to be sure.

Still the same problem occurs.
3700v1 reports 100BaseT full-duplex on lan1-4 (tested them all) and then shortly after reports, no link.
Stationary PC Report 1000BaseT full-duplex, so i know the connection is solid from Router to PC.

Funny thing.
When connecting to the switch 10/100 R7800 reports 100BaseT full-duplex. So that's correct. But the 3700v1 reports 1000baseT full-duplex, that's not right.

Shame i don't have a 10/100/1000 switch laying around to test with.

This reminds me of a similar problem i had many years ago with the Linksys WRT310N.
I think by that time it was a Opensource firmware bug the caused the lan ports to refuse to negotiate full speed. it was fixed with a firmware update later on.