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Bridge Configuration Issue

Apologies in advance if this has been asked/answered before but I haven't found it.

I'm using an Engenius/Senao 3220 on my boat, configured as a bridge, to access shore based access points. It is set up with an IP address of 192.168.1.3 which is used to access its internal configuration menus via http, web browser, etc.

I ran into an interesting issue this morning accessing a commercial access point which redirects all http traffic to its own sign on page. Once the bridge has been reconfigured with the SSID of this site, and has connected, I can no longer access anything else which means that I am prevented from further reconfiguration to switch the SSID back to some other access point. I thought originally that this redirection was being done with a proxy server which I could avoid by changing browser settings but that is not the case.

I was able to work around the issue by disconnecting the antenna to the 3220 which prevented connection to the commercial site and allowed me back into the internal set up pages. Although this works I'd prefer a more elegant solution which would prevent the redirection of

192.168.1.3. Sometime in the future I may remount the 3220 on a higher point which may make it difficult to access the antenna connections.

Any suggestions?

Reply to
Wayne.B
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  • That's an interesting phenomenon. I'll have to investigate these Engenius/Senao some more. But for the immediate it might be interesting for you to investigate your IP Settings while "into" that Access Point SSID of which you speak. Do an "ipconfig /all" if you are in Windows, in a CMD prompt.

Start > Run > cmd [OK].

ipconfig /all

See what ip addresses are popping up for what. Also might want to see "netstat -r" and see what your routes look like.

Is the Senao acting only as a bridge? Or also as a Bridge + Router? Because the question is where is the IP Address assignment coming from? If you are getting an IP Address on your CAT5/LAN interface on the computer, then it is coming via DHCP from somewhere. That somewhere will be the DHCP SERVER and typically the Default Gateway, and maybe even also the DNS Server. If the Hotspot took you off of the 192.168.1.X subnet then that would kill your access to your senao.

This is starting to sound like a consultation :-) Where are you located?

-- Alan Spicer PopularWireless.com Marine Forum Co-Moderator

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Reply to
Alan Spicer

Supposedly it is acting as a bridge only. There is a configuration mode for "Bridge + Router" but it is not well documented and I haven't tried it. Resetting the 3220 once it has been "bricked" via bad settings is not a fun process.

My laptop IP is coming from the 3220 which is configured as a DHCP server. It is being assigned the first IP in the specified range which is 192.168.1.50 through 192.168.1.59. Gateway IP and DNS are being assigned by the shore based AP, don't recall what they were when I was connected to the "problem" AP. I'll try it again tomorrow and take some notes.

See above.

I understand your point. Would that be the default gateway "off the subnet"? My assigned IP coming from the 3220 DHCP server should have still been within the subnet.

I'm in south western CT at the moment, getting ready to head east toward the Cape Cod islands in a day or two.

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Reply to
Wayne.B

  • I'm so used to dealing with those kinds of things that I can recover pretty quickly. You get used to it when you configure a LOT of wireless gear.

There is an article that tells how to add an additional IP Address even though a Windows 2000 or XP machine is configured for "Automatic" (via DHCP). It's not something that's *normally* available, so it is a Registry Hack. If you add an IP and Subnet Mask on the same range as the 3220 then you'll always be able to get to it.

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  • Have a look at that and see if it's something you could do. Make sure you do a "File > Export" in Regedit before you change anything, that way you can restore it if something goes wrong.

Meanwhile I've been meaning to chew on that 3220 manual a bit. I looked at it the other day and put it down. Not exactly as easy to digest as most of the gear that I deal with on regular basis. I'll let you know how I come along shortly...

Reply to
Alan Spicer

  • I seem to have come up with 2 versions of the manual for this thing. a 1.0 and a 1.36. Both seem to be pretty much the same. They don't seem to explain very well what Bridge vs Bridge Router is for or how to use it.

If you think of a Bridge as being like a 2 port Hub (or these days Fast Ethernet Switch-Hub). The 3220 in Bridge Mode would have the capability to connect to an Access Point and take care of any Security Code (if needed) and would pass DHCP and everything else directly to Ethernet. Typical Access Point or Hotspot is only going to assign 1 IP Address to one MAC address, your laptop.

To share this connection, with the 3220, I would think it would need to be in Bridge Router Mode. Else what's the point of it running a DHCP Server? As a Bridge it should pass everything to your laptop. Your IP Address would end up being an IP Address assigned from the Hotspot or Access Point. So would your gateway and DNS Server. You could get lucky on a number of Hotspot/Access Points and have them be in the same IP subnet of the 3220 and you would retain access to it. If not, as probably happened the other day, you would lose access to it.

  • As a router, such a box should take the Hotspot settings via DHCP for itself only. Via DHCP it would assign it's own address range, IP, to you, as well as DNS and Default Gateway. Default gateway should be itself as well. DNS could be repeated from the Hotspot/Access Point but more commonly it would be the 3220 itself as well. NAT would be performed as well as routing between those two subnets.

If you ended up on a Hotspot/Access Point on the same subnet as the 3220 you would be without Internet. Because a router cannot have two interfaces with the same subnet on both of them. For that reason I usually number Client Bridge devices in a different RFC 1918 address range from what typical gear uses. Which means avoiding 192.168.0 and 192.168.1.

Reply to
Alan Spicer

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