Setting up repeater mode wound up with bridging mode?

[fullback100]

I am a noob when it comes to the networking. I've got a new TP Link router today. So I've decided to use my old Asus modem as a repeater. After I've finished setting up the new wireless TP link router for my main computer, I hooked up the old Asus to my second computer. Both routers are wireless. I was having some trouble with setting the Asus up as a repeater. I somehow happened to be able to log in the configuration page of the TP Link on my second computer that has the Asus modem hooked up to it. After that, I got an internet connection with the wired icon in the tray. I was dumbfounded at first because the internet connection was so much faster than using the small USB adapter that I previously had on my second PC. I even ran the speed test and got the full 3.0 MB. This is as fast as my main PC connected via wires.

Now I am a VERY happy camper but this was done totally out of flukes. How was this possible? Why can't I no longer access the configuration page of the old Asus modem? Am I assuming right the wireless connection is established in client bridge mode?

I am pasting the screen of IP Config setting on my SECOND PC.

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : HT-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros AR8152/8158 PCI-E Fast Ethernet C
ontroller (NDIS 6.20)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 10-78-D2-D7-D5-7A
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::748a:b13d:3d2b:b64f%11(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.106(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, March 18, 2015 8:52:48 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, March 18, 2015 10:52:48 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 235960530
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-17-B2-B0-CE-10-78-D2-D7-D5-7A

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{74AC41E0-DE22-4F9F-A664-A315BE3A52F1}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:9d38:6abd:3c:1580:b623:390b(Prefer
red)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::3c:1580:b623:390b%13(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled



If someone knowledgeable can shed some light on this, I would appreciate it.

 

[JackMDS]

Most Wireless Router can Not do Repeater as is.

Even if it can in many cases its need to have the same chipset as the source.

What most of us do is getting Routers that can be flashed with DD-WRT/Tomato/etc. the Flash both the source Router and the one that needs to be configured as a Repeater.

DD-WT Repeater - http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Repeater_Bridge

Tomato - http://www.howtogeek.com/104007/how-to-extend-your-wireless-network-with-tomato-powered-routers/

 

[fullback100]

I prefer the bridge connection than having a repeater. Bridging turn out to suit my needs better as my plan was connecting my second PC with stable internet. I was wondering how I got the bridging connection or if I can duplicate this again if the current connection is lost.

 

[avos]

I don't know enough about the situation to say for sure. But if i had to guess I would say that old Asus router was set using a subnet of 192.168.1.1/24.

The TP-Link has 192.168.0.1/24. Once you configured the bridge the dhcp response from the TP-Link was able to reach your second computer. Once that computer set itself with a 192.168.0.x address and a gateway of 192.168.0.1 it would no longer be able to reach the Asus router. I know it seems strange that your packets could go through a device and not be able to talk to it, but it is acting more like a dumb switch at this point.

Again this is only a guess, but seems probable given what you described. The other option is that the Asus was either using the same IP as the TP-Link or that when you put it in bridge mode it changed to use a DHCP IP and it has a 192.168.0.x address and you simply don't know what it is. If it was using the same IP as the TP-Link however I would expect intermittent issues.

You could test this by manually setting your second PC to something like 192.168.1.2 and see if 192.168.1.1 is the old Asus router. That is typically their default IP. If it is, change it to something in the 192.168.0.x range so you can access it without a static IP set.