Losing DHCP through bridged interface.

[mrguy]

Ok, before I go into my issue here's my hardware

ASROCK Q1900DC-ITX/2GB mem

WAN: Realtek RTL8111GR (onboard) - re0

LAN: Intel EXPI9404PTL PRO 1000 PT Quad Port Gigabit - em0-3

Switch: Dell Powerconnect 2708

I want to run wired traffic on one port (em0) and wireless on another (em1). There is no real point to this other than personal quirks in how I organize things:)  Anywho, I'm using an Asus RT N66U set to access point for wireless access.

My problem is this, when I connect the N66U to em1 it will work perfectly for a time and then suddenly quit working. Sometimes these outages are temporary (30 seconds) sometimes they are permanent and require the Ethernet cable be unplugged and plugged back in. One odd tidbit is that during these outages the Windows comps/tablets report limited network availability and no internet connection. The IP addresses sometimes will revert to APIPA addressing. When that happens I can set the IP manually and that particular device will connect to the Internet/Network again without issue.

Now if I connect the N66U to the Dell switch there are no problems. I know the easy answer is to just leave the AP connected to the switch, but I've had a similar drop out when using PC connected directly to the bridged port. I'm thinking it might be something with the way I bridged the interfaces?.

I,
activated the port (OPT1) in the interface tab
IPV4 - none
IPV6 - none
everything else unchecked/blank

Created a bridge between the em0 - em1

Created an interface group

Set up DHCP server

Created rules using the interface group tab on the firewall page

Note: I rebooted between each step just to be sure about the settings took.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.