Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) connects but doesn't load Internet

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
    45 Posts 6 Posters 11.6k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • D
      doktornotor Banned
      last edited by

      No, the devices should NOT have the AP as gateway. They should use pfSense for GW (i.e., 192.168.1.170). Ditto for DNS if you expect internal LAN resolution to work. There's nothing that'd register the other LAN hosts on the AP.

      IOW, they should be configured exactly the same way as the AP. The AP is not a router, cannot act as a GW. It's just a dumb WiFi <-> Ethernet bridge.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • johnpozJ
        johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
        last edited by

        The mobile device connects the to AP.
        Mobiles IPs:
        IP 192.168.1.102
        Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0
        Gateway 192.168.1.175
        DNS 192.168.1.175

        How are they getting this info.. Are you setting pfsense dhcp to hand that out as gateway and dns?  Or is dhcp running on your AP?  If your AP is in the 192.168.10 network.. How are they getting 192.168.1 addresses??

        Seems more like your running this AP as a router/gateway..

        To use any old wifi router as just an AP.. Give its lan IP an address on the network its connected too.. In your case that sounds like it would be 192.168.10.something.  If you can set a gateway on the device so you can manage it from another network then the gateway would be pfsense IP in that network.

        Turn OFF its dhcp server..

        Connect one of its LAN ports to your network.  Shazam you have a AP..

        Clients connecting to its wifi would get IP from pfsense dhcp server on this network, they normally would point to pfsense as their gateway and dns.

        An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
        If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
        Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
        SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • E
          eiger3970
          last edited by

          The mobile in DHCP doesn't allow the gateway to be change from 192.168.1.175 to 192.168.1.170.

          The AP has DHCP on.
          I set the AP to static IP to set the below details on the AP:
          IP 192.168.1.175
          Subnet 255.255.255.0
          Gateway 192.168.1.170
          DNS 192.168.1.170

          I turned off the AP's DHCP server, but now the mobile doesn't connect to the AP's Wi-Fi?

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • D
            doktornotor Banned
            last edited by

            The AP most certainly should NOT have DHCP on. Your clients should NOT point to your AP as GW. Nothing changed here since my last reply.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • E
              eiger3970
              last edited by

              Thank you for the clarification.

              So the AP has:
              IP static: 192.168.1.175
              Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
              Gateway: 192.168.1.170
              DHCP server turned off.

              Router:
              IP static: 192.168.1.170
              Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
              Gateway: 192.168.1.170
              Wi-Fi: 192.168.10.1

              Mobile:
              Wi-Fi is DHCP:
              SSID 1 (the router): connects and loads browser pages.
              SSID 2 (the AP): Connection attempt but doesn't connect and shows
              IP: 169.254.253.87
              Subnet mask: 255.255.0.0
              Router: blank
              DNS: 192.168.1.170.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • D
                doktornotor Banned
                last edited by

                Uh. Did you enable DHCP on pfSense WIFI interface?

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • E
                  eiger3970
                  last edited by

                  Yes, the router has the DHCP server enabled.

                  The router's Wi-Fi 192.168.10.1 gives SSID 1 the following:
                  IP: 192.168.10.131
                  Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
                  Router: 192.168.10.1
                  DHS: 192.168.10.1.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • D
                    doktornotor Banned
                    last edited by

                    I'm starting to get completely confused yet again. What router?

                    IP: 192.168.10.131
                    Router: 192.168.10.1

                    Eeeh?

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • E
                      eiger3970
                      last edited by

                      Yes,
                      the router's LAN has DHCP enabled.
                      the router's WIFI has DHCP enabled.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • D
                        doktornotor Banned
                        last edited by

                        Dude that's not what I'm asking about? Why are the IPs constantly changing between your posts? And can you finally produce a network diagram because this just doesn't go anywhere? (No need to draw mobile phones and irrelevant junk, just the pfSense box, the AP and whatever is between those two.)

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • E
                          eiger3970
                          last edited by

                          The network is the same as Reply #6.

                          The IPs are only changing on the mobile device Wi-Fi connection's IP.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • D
                            doktornotor Banned
                            last edited by

                            Sir, reply #6 does NOT show your AP, which is the only relevant thing in here.

                            @eiger3970:

                            The attachment/diagram does not include the new AP device, which is to be added.

                            As such, it is utterly USELESS.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • E
                              eiger3970
                              last edited by

                              Sorry, I mentioned earlier the AP is not in the network topology, as this is the question I am asking about in this forum thread.

                              So, the AP details are:
                              IP: 192.168.1.175
                              Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
                              Gateway: 192.168.1.170
                              DHCP server: Disabled
                              SSID 2.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • D
                                doktornotor Banned
                                last edited by

                                So the AP is hanging in a blackhole unconnected to anything? Or what?

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • E
                                  eiger3970
                                  last edited by

                                  The AP has 1 LAN port with an Ethernet cable connected to the Switch, which is connected to the router.
                                  I.e. AP 192.168.1.175 > Switch > Router 192.168.1.170.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • D
                                    doktornotor Banned
                                    last edited by

                                    Wonderful. Then why on earth are you setting up IPs that are TOTALLY out of the pfSense's LAN range on the AP?!

                                    (And yeah, you are having a design problem, you won't be able to roam/extend between those. If that is desired, you need to bridge the WIFI and LAN on pfSense.)

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • E
                                      eiger3970
                                      last edited by

                                      Sorry, I'm not clear how the AP's IP 192.168.1.175 is out of the pfSense's LAN IP 192.168.1/170's range?

                                      Oh, so AP Wi-Fi extensions aren't done anywhere else? I'm surprised this is so hard. Surely someone else has extended their Wi-Fi with an AP?

                                      Ok, so if bridging pfSense's WIFI and LAN, will that still allow Wi-Fi from pfSense and the AP?

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • D
                                        doktornotor Banned
                                        last edited by

                                        God almighty. What was 192.168.10.1 is now 192.168.1.175 yet again, just minutes later, after you edited your post yet again. Yeah, you are NOT clear and my patience is running thin.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • E
                                          eiger3970
                                          last edited by

                                          The pfSense router has 3 interfaces:
                                          LAN 192.168.1.170
                                          WAN <public ip="">WIFI 192.168.10.1</public>

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • D
                                            doktornotor Banned
                                            last edited by

                                            Ugh. I'm talking about the AP. Let's summarize this:

                                            pfSense:

                                            1/ Bridge LAN + WIFI on pfSense.
                                            2/ Assign the BRIDGE to LAN interface. DHCP server MUST be enabled there.
                                            3/ Do the tunables magic: https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Interface_Bridges

                                            AP:
                                            4/ Connect the AP's LAN port to the switch connected to pfSense. The AP LAN should have a static IP (in the pfSense LAN range) or static DHCP lease on pfSense. Do NOT connect the AP via WAN port. WAN port should remain unconnected, preferably completely disabled, if not possible, just set it to DHCP. Do NOT connect the WAN port to anything.
                                            5/ Make sure DHCP server is disabled on the AP.
                                            6/ Make sure any firewall is disabled on the AP.
                                            7/ SSIDs and WPA2 PSK should be the same on both pfSense and the AP if you want roaming to work.

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.