Wireless Access Point

[yuker2]

Hi guys and girls

So, I wanted to add a wireless feature to my LAN environment so went out and purchased myself a Gigabyte GN-AP01G Wireless access point. Plugged it in all merry via the hub, and accessed it via my PC. Unbeknownst to me however everything around me started having a hernia. All activity on the LAN ground to a halt, yet communication with the Access Point functioned as per normal.

Internal and external mail ground to a halt, WWW proxy redirection ground to a halt... you get the idea. By the time i realised what was going on, i have to implement an entire system restart, including my DSL routers, servers, hubs, the lot.

Let the fun begin - Initially i noticed the LAN acitivity on the Access Point was going nuts, which i thought was strange. By the looks of it it was either doing a broadcast or something was trying to access the hell out of it.

Configuration -
Wingate server - IP Static no DHCP - 2 cards ( 1 x lan - 192.168.0.100 [no gateway specified]; 1 x wan - xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx [gateway DSL router])
LAN PC - IP Static PC's ranging 192.168.0.10 - 99 (gateway 192.168.0.100)
Servers - IP Static range 192.168.0.100 - 99 (gateway 192.168.0.100)
Access Point - IP static no dhcp - Lan connector 192.168.0.200 (gateway 192.168.0.100)

It all seems like a routing problem to me ie. because the Wingate server LAN card has no default gateway specified - all traffic to that card via the LAN is hunting for a gateway, and getting mixed up between the access point and the Wingate server.

As a note i have also found a new entry in my routing tables for 244.0.0.0. *EDIT* Make that 224.0.0.0

*EDIT* - As a note i see no activity under Gatekeeper for 192.168.0.200 in any logs.. anywhere. I have even set this up as an assumed user - nada.
Any ideas folks ?

[rboynton]

What is the DNS server set to in your static IP configuration? Also, are you running a domain with AD?

[yuker2]

All DNS is set directly to external ISP. Wingate DNS is inactive. No AD. Stand alones - 2k Adv. AD was too much like hard work lol.

[rboynton]

So all the clients are set to use the ISP DNS? That would be an issue, as each client should use the Wingate server's IP.

On Gatekeeper; under options, plugins, extended networking; is the NAT and enable extended network driver options checked?

[logan]

A couple of extra points to note

• Does the Wireless Access Point (WAP) have it's own DHCP service built into it? I know mine does, and when I first set it up, all my client computers ended up receiving bogus DHCP information from the WAP.
• Does the WAP broadcast RIP (Routing Information Protocol) to the network? RIP broadcasts can override the default gateway on the clients, pointing the clients somewhere other than WinGate inadvertantly.

[yuker2]

Using the ISP DNS is not a prob - It is straight passthrough. I did this to reduce the load on wingate server, nothing more.

Logan - The WAP does have DHCP but it is disabled. RIP Info - this could very well be what is causing the problem, but, this is just an AP with no routing capabilities (as far as i am aware). Is there any way i could check for this trafficwise ?

[logan]

Do a 'tracert' from the command prompt and see where the traffic is going. The first hop in the 'tracert' will be the gateway through which packets are being sent. This should be the WinGate computers IP address. If it isn't, there is likely a RIP broadcast on the network overriding the default gateway.

If it makes a difference, my WAP (Linksys brand, unsure about the model) is capable of routing, but it doesn't do NAT.

[yuker2]

I have run a tracert when this prob is occurring and it doesnt resolve ie unkown host or it is extremely slow. So RIP seems likely to be the "route" cause of the problem (sorry about that lol).

I guess i have to figure out how and if the GN-AP01G is doing this.

P.S. James... get back to work haha

[yuker2]

I have raised a call with Gigabyte to see if they can answer the RIP issue.

[logan]

"unable to resolve host name" means that the domain name couldn't be turned into a pingable IP address. Try doing a tracert to an IP address instead to bypass the turning a domain into an IP using DNS step of the process.

e.g. tracert 210.55.214.36 (the qbik websites IP)

[yuker2]

ah i see what you mean. Yeah i did that as well. Either no reply or dog slow. I will wait and see what Gigabyte comes back with and let you know.

[yuker2]

ok.. own up... who forgot to tell me i was being a class A moron ? lol

I was plugging the access point into the hub which would require what exactly ? a crossover cable perhaps !!! I didnt have one to hand so i jacked straight into the router.

For others having probs setting up WAP with Wingate (using Static IP & NAT) :

I set WAP up :
IP 192.168.0.30
DNS 192.168.0.30 (allows Wingate to handle DNS)
enabled DHCP range 31-40
set Gateway to 192.168.0.100 (wingate server)

Wireless PC's now get DHCP'd accordingly and communicate via Wingate - job done.

Anyway - in a nutshell - PROBLEM SOLVED !!

Thanks to all who gave comments/suggestions.

[logan]

Eureka! I wouldn't have thought of that myself. I'm so use to switches, and the way they just work.

[DrWho]

Just thought I'd add my 2 cents, not that it matters since you've got the problem solved. I'm using two different wireless access points (Linksys and Netgear) on my network and they function differently than you describe. They aren't capable of DHCP on their own and function by merely extending the network like a network switch. Wireless clients are automatically directed back to the Wingate machine for DHCP,etc.

It sounds like you're using a wireless router instead of a WAP. Correct me if I'm wrong.