Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here

HansSolo · Nov 12, 2022, 9:13 PM

Hello,
I have been working on this issue for a few days and have decided I don't know what I'm doing.
I have a web server (for LAN ONLY) in my local network. I can reach it via ethernet connected computers on the LAN network.

But I cannot reach it from WiFi on the LAN network.

LAN Address - 192.168.0.1
WiFi Router - 192.168.0.5
Opt1 - 192.168.4.1
Local Server - 192.168.4.12
The switch is dumb...non configurable. TL-SG108

I have tried the following rules
LAN - ANY PROTOCOL, ANY SOURCE, ANY PORT ANY DESTINATION
OPT1 - ANY PROTOCOL, ANY SOURCE, ANY PORT ANY DESTINATION
Every other combination of connections back and forth I can think of in both the LAN and Opt1 pfsense Rules.

Still I can't get a connection with WiFi from any device on the LAN Network to Opt1 via WiFi.
I have verified that I can connect from the LAN Network connected computers to WiFi.
I have made sure there is no MAC filtering in the WiFi Router
Wifi works perfectly fine to any LAN Net WiFi device.
I have tried disabling ALL firewalls (temporarily)

I cannot use NAT since that for EXTernal connections to Internal PORTS
Maybe I need a ROUTE?

One question.....where should the ethernet cable from 192.168.4.12 be connected? Directly to the Opt1 port on pfsense of the LAN switch?

A suggestion would be appreciated.

Here is a illustration of the situation

viragomann · Nov 12, 2022, 9:25 PM

@hanssolo said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

where should the ethernet cable from 192.168.4.12 be connected? Directly to the Opt1 port on pfsense of the LAN switch?

To pfSense OPT1.

So the wifi router is set in dump access point mode, I guess, since the wifi device has an IP in LAN subnet.

Did you try the access from different devices?

Possibly you set up a sort of guest wifi?

SteveITS · Nov 12, 2022, 9:34 PM

@hanssolo How are you accessing the server, by IP or hostname?

Is there a firewall on the server and does it allow the other subnet?

HansSolo · Nov 12, 2022, 10:39 PM

@viragomann

Yes. I tried it form other WiFi devices with LAN IP address. No go from all of them.

Jarhead · Nov 12, 2022, 10:56 PM

@hanssolo So clearly not a pfSense issue since wired works.
Look at the AP config.
Is it actually an AP or is it a router being used as an AP?
How is it connected? Does it have a WAN and LAN port?

HansSolo · Nov 13, 2022, 9:56 AM

@jarhead said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

@hanssolo So clearly not a pfSense issue since wired works.
Look at the AP config.
Is it actually an AP or is it a router being used as an AP?
How is it connected? Does it have a WAN and LAN port?

The Mode is choice 1).

Standard Wireless Router

It is connected to the LAN, not a modem. Yes, it has one WAN port and 4 LAN ports. I am unly using LAN ports on it.

HansSolo · Nov 12, 2022, 11:51 PM

I just tried to PING and TRACEROUTE from logged into the wireless router to the Opt1 interface and both failed.

Then I tried to ping from Opt1 to 192.168.0.5 (WiFi Router) and that also failed.
However, the firewall logs show an entry for the ICMP as if it succeeded.
Nov 12 18:48:03 ► LAN let out anything IPv4 from firewall host itself (1000004765) 192.168.4.1 192.168.0.5 ICMP

HansSolo · Nov 13, 2022, 12:05 AM

When I use the pfsense DIAGNOSTICS......

I can successfully ping from the LAN to Opt1 and from Opt1 to LAN.

However, the problem is from LAN Wifi to Opt1

Jarhead · Nov 13, 2022, 12:25 AM

@hanssolo Is the AP's IP static?
Did you set the correct gateway?

HansSolo · Nov 13, 2022, 2:51 AM

@jarhead said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

@hanssolo Is the AP's IP static?
Did you set the correct gateway?

Hi Jarhead.
Yes, the AP's IP address is static and set to 192.168.0.5

The Gateway is set to the LAN IP Address of 192.168.0.2

Wifi Seems to work great other than this WiFi connection attempt to the server on Opt1
Since the connection from the LAN works fine on ethernet, I'm thinking it must be a WiFi routing issue but that's a guess.

I tried to set up a static route from 192.168.4.1 to LAN Gateway 192.168.0.2 but the WiFi router will not allow it regardless of the subnet mask. (bummer)

Jarhead · Nov 13, 2022, 2:51 AM

@hanssolo The gateway should be .1, not 2.

HansSolo · Nov 13, 2022, 3:44 AM

@jarhead said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

@hanssolo The gateway should be .1, not 2.

It is (was) 192.168.0.1

The 192.168.0.2 above was simply a typo on my part. Sry.

This is definitely a WiFi issue since it works perfectly over ethernet.

viragomann · Nov 13, 2022, 9:56 AM

@hanssolo said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

The Mode is choice 1).
Standard Wireless Router
It is connected to the LAN, not a modem. Yes, it has one WAN port and 4 LAN ports. I am unly using LAN ports on it.

So it's a wifi router wrongly used as as an AP.

If it has no real AP mode replace it with a real one.
You may also consider to install OpenWRT on it if you want to take the challenge, but it's only supported by elder versions.

I just tried to PING and TRACEROUTE from logged into the wireless router to the Opt1 interface and both failed.

At least this should work, since you said communication between wifi and LAN devices is working.
Run a packet capture on pfSense, while you try to ping its LAN IP, and see if the packets are arriving in the interface.

I tried to set up a static route from 192.168.4.1 to LAN Gateway 192.168.0.2 but the WiFi router will not allow it regardless of the subnet mask.

Don't add additional static routes. It is sufficient if the pfSense LAN IP is set as default gateway on all LAN devices.
But you can recheck the network settings, especially the mask on all involved interfaces. Maybe there is something wrong.

Jarhead · Nov 13, 2022, 8:17 PM

@hanssolo said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

@jarhead said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

@hanssolo The gateway should be .1, not 2.

It is (was) 192.168.0.1

The 192.168.0.2 above was simply a typo on my part. Sry.

This is definitely a WiFi issue since it works perfectly over ethernet.

Well, it isn't a "wifi" issue, it's an issue with the AP itself.
You said you can't ping from the AP to OPT1, that would use the wired part of the AP. That's why I suggested checking the gateway.
You need to go over the config on the AP. Has to be something wrong there.

johnpoz · Nov 13, 2022, 1:26 PM

@hanssolo said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

I am unly using LAN ports on it.

Did you turn off its dhcp sever? If you want to use wifi router as AP that does not have AP mode. Then yes you connect it to the network via lan port, but you also need to disable its dhcp server. or wifi clients will get the wifi routers IP as its gateway.

Also what wifi router are you using.. It rare that they allow for setting a gateway on lan unless your using 3rd party firmware on it. Setting the gateway on the wifi router wan, that you are not using would be not work.

edit: But the AP not being able set a gateway is not really an issue for using it, since its wifi clients would be using pfsense as the gateway. If you need/want to admin the AP from another network, the easy solution if you can not run 3rd party or actually set gateway on the lan interface - I don't recall ever seeing native wifi router firmware supporting that.

You can do a source nat on pfsense, so traffic from another network looks like its coming from the pfsense IP when going to the AP IP address. So then you can access its web gui from your other networks.

HansSolo · Nov 13, 2022, 8:15 PM

@viragomann said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

So it's a wifi router wrongly used as as an AP.

Yes

If it has no real AP mode replace it with a real one.
You may also consider to install OpenWRT on it if you want to take the challenge, but it's only supported by elder versions.

OK.

At least this should work, since you said communication between wifi and LAN devices is working.
Run a packet capture on pfSense, while you try to ping its LAN IP, and see if the packets are arriving in the interface.

I did and they do not seem to be. I need to check to make sure ICMP is allowed.

Don't add additional static routes. It is sufficient if the pfSense LAN IP is set as default gateway on all LAN devices.
But you can recheck the network settings, especially the mask on all involved interfaces. Maybe there is something wrong.

OK. will do and thanks. Since it works perfectly over ethernet to the same destinations, it seems it may be the wifi router? What do you think? I have installed a different WiFi router and set it up in AP mode. I have the same problem.

HansSolo · Nov 13, 2022, 8:17 PM

@jarhead said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

@hanssolo said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

@jarhead said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

@hanssolo The gateway should be .1, not 2.

It is (was) 192.168.0.1

The 192.168.0.2 above was simply a typo on my part. Sry.

This is definitely a WiFi issue since it works perfectly over ethernet.

Well, it isn't a "wifi" issue, it's an issue with the AP itself.
You said you can't ping from the AP to OPT1, that would use the wired part of the AP. That's why I suggested checking the gateway.
You need to go over the config on the AP. Has to be something wrong there.

It's a TP-Link WR940N.
I can't set a Gateway for the Network. There's no place for that in the Router in question.
But I would think you must be correct. Something with the AP not playing nice with the gateway or something like that (maybe, I don't know)

HansSolo · Nov 13, 2022, 8:20 PM

@johnpoz said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

@hanssolo said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

I am unly using LAN ports on it.

Did you turn off its dhcp sever? If you want to use wifi router as AP that does not have AP mode. Then yes you connect it to the network via lan port, but you also need to disable its dhcp server. or wifi clients will get the wifi routers IP as its gateway.

Also what wifi router are you using.. It rare that they allow for setting a gateway on lan unless your using 3rd party firmware on it. Setting the gateway on the wifi router wan, that you are not using would be not work.

edit: But the AP not being able set a gateway is not really an issue for using it, since its wifi clients would be using pfsense as the gateway. If you need/want to admin the AP from another network, the easy solution if you can not run 3rd party or actually set gateway on the lan interface - I don't recall ever seeing native wifi router firmware supporting that.

You can do a source nat on pfsense, so traffic from another network looks like its coming from the pfsense IP when going to the AP IP address. So then you can access its web gui from your other networks.

Hello,
DHCP is off. I use static IPs

I'm using a TP-Link WR940N

I'll have to read and study the Source Nat suggestion a while. It's above my network pay grade so I have to really think about it.
Thanks much.

viragomann · Nov 13, 2022, 8:25 PM

@hanssolo said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

Since it works perfectly over ethernet to the same destinations, it seems it may be the wifi router? What do you think?

The reason could also be wrong network settings on the wifi device. Therefore I asked you to check it.
So what is the network mask?
What is the gateway set to?

johnpoz · Nov 13, 2022, 10:14 PM

@hanssolo said in Difficulty reaching Opt1 via LAN WiFi - Internet is not an issue here:

DHCP is off. I use static IPs

Are you still having issues with connectivity - you don't have a conflict? Your AP lan IP is set different than pfsense IP?

I really never understand why not just use dhcp - that for starters validates connectivity. Unless there is no dhcp server to use, its better to use dhcp.

I have gone over source natting multiple times - if that is your only problem left is getting to the AP gui, I can link to multiple threads where I go over it. Its a simple outbound nat on the interface for the network your AP is on.

But again not being able to set a gateway on your AP has nothing to with clients working or not.