[mbressman]

I have a Netgear R7000 running DD-WRT v24-sp2 (04/09/15) - build 26653. I previously had a Netgear WNDR4300 running a slightly older build (from late 2014). On that older Netgear WNDR4300, I had set up multiple virtual WLAN's via this guide (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Multiple_WLANs) a while ago, and they seemed to work fine (and had secured each virtual WLAN with encryption, and then with iptables commands to keep them separate).

I recently got a Samsung Note 4, and each night at my home it was somehow losing 2.4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth (but not 5 GHz WiFi) and I had to reboot it each morning to get 2.4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth back. I figured perhaps it was an issue with my WNDR4300, so I went out and got the R7000 and have been trying to set up the virtual WLAN's for the past few hours with no luck.

First I tried following the guide above, but that didn't work. Then I tried following this guide (http://tips.desipro.de/2013/12/06/guest-wifi-setup-dd-wrt/), but that also didn't help.

The issue is that no matter what, I can connect any device to the physical WLAN interface (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz), but seem to have no luck whatsoever connecting any device to the virtual WLAN interfaces. At one point I think I had it working with no encryption at all (although it's 4 AM here so I can't recall exactly), but basically with encryption and other settings, it doesn't seem to work.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks!

[mbressman]

Anyone have any thoughts? Even if perhaps I should get a different router (and return this one) to get the multiple virtual WLAN's working - I'm willing to do that (which would also still hopefully help me resolve the issue I was having with my Galaxy Note 4 - if it was, in fact, being caused by the old WNDR4300).

Thanks!

[zip]

I have an R7000 running 26138. I had 26653 but went back for now. One thing is that it does not show wl0 and wl1 in the bandwidth page. It shows something like wlxxxxxxxxxx for both.

I set up an additional wlan for 2.4ghz using the GUI method that you referenced as your first link. I used the basic settings except for choosing a channel (some are better than others although there are no other wireless signals propagating around here), going wide on the channel width (lower extension channel), changing the beacon interval to 100, and reducing max associated clients to 10. I have bluetooth coexistence mode turned off as I don't use bluetooth much at all.

I also had the wlans separated using the same page (GUI) and added some firewall rules to prevent the second 2.4ghz wlan from being able to connect to the first.

This works fine. However, I recall that I did have a problem connecting to the R7000 with older DD-WRT firemware using my laptop that has an atheros wireless nic (only 2.4ghz G and N). I didn't use it though because I bought a 5ghz AC usb adapter to use.

That being said, it seems to work with the built in nic on 2.4ghz N with no problems now (I just checked). I also recall having a problem with the same built in wireless nic connecting to my WNDR3700v2 at one point with an older firmware trying to stay connected to 2.4ghz N. 2.4ghz G worked fine as I recall.

You might try turning off bluetooth on the phone to test and try G, N, mixed, etc on the 2.4ghz band. Just make sure you have an idea of what each setting (basic or advanced) does.

Also, you might try build 26138. It works well for me. When I got rid of 26653, I went back to stock netgear firmware after changing the wired nic on the pc I used to upload firmware to dhcp then doing an

nvram erase
reboot

using the command line.

Loaded netgear firmware through GUI interface

On router reboot...
wait several seconds for boot to complete (watching lights)
Hold down Reset for 5 to max 8 seconds

After that reboot...

I loaded 26138 using a factory-to-dd-wrt.chk file (for the first dd-wrt from stock). Then I did another

nvram erase
reboot

After that reboot completed, I added all my settings. I like some of the changes in 26653. I just like 26138 better at this point. Hopefully, a future firmware will win out so I can get some of the changes not in 26138.

I don't know if this will help, but hopefully it will. You also might play with the 2.4ghz settings in wl0 Advanced.

You probably want to reboot the router and device after changes also. It's a big pain. I've been through it before, but sometimes it finally clicks.

[mbressman]

Thanks for the helpful info zip - unfortunately still a no go.

The problem seems to be that I can't get some older clients to join the virtual WLAN's with wireless security enabled on them. I have an older iMac and a Sony Google TV and it refuses to join up when I enter the WPA2 code (or even a WEP code if I configure it that way). But it works fine with the WNDR4300 and virtual WLAN's. I'm wondering if maybe it's a Broadcom vs. Atheros thing (since the WNDR4300 is Atheros and the R7000 is Broadcom)?

I also bought a Linksys EA6900, but also a no go with that.

And I tried older versions of DD-WRT (such as 26138), but didn't seem to help.

Anyone have any ideas? I'm hoping that getting rid of the WNDR4300 and moving to a newer AC router might help with the issues with my Galaxy Note 4, but on other hand it seems to be creating issues with getting multiple different virtual WLAN's running.

Thanks!!

[zip]

Basing these comments on your last post and given what I believe it states which is assuming here that the newer devices are now connecting properly.....


Did you make sure the older devices would connect to the R7000 or EA6900 and stay connected with the stock firmware? That might give you more of an idea of what is happening.

Also, this forum post http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=282909 lists firmware by others that you might try.

Lastly, if my assumption at the beginning of this post is correct....

is there a way that you could set up the R7000 to use the first WLAN for the old devices and then have a virtual WLAN that the new devices will use, but allow/not allow any connectivity among devices that you need?

[Per Yngve Berg]

Check that the WLAN is set to "mixed" Mode. With N or AC only, B and G devices are not able to connect.