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From: John Navas on 29 Jun 2006 21:59
On Thu, 29 Jun 2006 21:17:30 -0400, Robert Coe <bob(a)1776.COM> wrote in
<4qt8a29j1qg72lknva0uf1stb21elm511b(a)4ax.com>:

>On Sun, 18 Jun 2006 14:52:25 -0400, Robert Coe <bob(a)1776.COM> wrote:
>: The other day I upgraded the firmware on one of my Linksys WAP54G access
>: points from 2.08 to 3.04. I did it remotely from a PC in another building. All
>: went well until the upgrade was declared complete, whereupon the access point
>: became totally unresponsive. It continued to serve wireless clients, but could
>: not be managed. Even manually rebooting didn't help. I finally had to swap it
>: out, reset it to factory settings, and reconfigure it from scratch. (The
>: upgrade did "take"; the displayed firmware level is now 3.04.)
>:
>: Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, I did the same thing to another WAP54G
>: over the weekend, from home. Now I can't contact that one either, so I guess
>: I'll have to swap it out tomorrow and reconfigure it from scratch.
>:
>: Is this a known problem? Is there a workaround (installing an intermediate
>: upgrade, for example)? I've got about a dozen more WAP54Gs I'd like to
>: upgrade, and swapping them all out would be a pain.

>Just on the off chance that anyone is still interested, I finally figured out
>the answer to this problem. The upgrade changes some, but not all, of the AP's
>settings. The critical one changed is the default gateway, which is set back
>to 192.168.1.1, even if the AP is set to get its IP settings via DHCP. So if
>you're trying to manage the AP from a computer on a different subnet, the
>upgrade causes the AP to lose the ability to respond to your commands, because
>it can no longer find you. A reboot doesn't help; all you can do (short of a
>reset to factory settings and full reconfiguration) is to log into a computer
>on the right subnet, set the AP to a static IP, change the default gateway to
>the correct value, and then set it back to DHCP. Damn.

The gateway isn't a factor in the browser interface, which is actually
just its LAN (as compared to WAN) address. The gateway is for routing
traffic off the subnet; e.g., to the Internet.

Also, DHCP (client) has no bearing on this, since that's used to set the
WAN (not the LAN) address.

Finally, the router doesn't need to "find you" -- you need to find the
router.

My guess is that the LAN address is what's being changed, so you aren't
able to access it at the old LAN address. If you know the new LAN
address, use that, manually configuring the PC to the same subnet
temporarily if necessary.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_How_To>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>
From: Robert Coe on 30 Jun 2006 20:49
On Fri, 30 Jun 2006 01:59:22 GMT, John Navas <spamfilter0(a)navasgroup.com>
wrote:
: On Thu, 29 Jun 2006 21:17:30 -0400, Robert Coe <bob(a)1776.COM> wrote in
: <4qt8a29j1qg72lknva0uf1stb21elm511b(a)4ax.com>:
:
: >On Sun, 18 Jun 2006 14:52:25 -0400, Robert Coe <bob(a)1776.COM> wrote:
: >: The other day I upgraded the firmware on one of my Linksys WAP54G access
: >: points from 2.08 to 3.04. I did it remotely from a PC in another building. All
: >: went well until the upgrade was declared complete, whereupon the access point
: >: became totally unresponsive. It continued to serve wireless clients, but could
: >: not be managed. Even manually rebooting didn't help. I finally had to swap it
: >: out, reset it to factory settings, and reconfigure it from scratch. (The
: >: upgrade did "take"; the displayed firmware level is now 3.04.)
: >:
: >: Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, I did the same thing to another WAP54G
: >: over the weekend, from home. Now I can't contact that one either, so I guess
: >: I'll have to swap it out tomorrow and reconfigure it from scratch.
: >:
: >: Is this a known problem? Is there a workaround (installing an intermediate
: >: upgrade, for example)? I've got about a dozen more WAP54Gs I'd like to
: >: upgrade, and swapping them all out would be a pain.
:
: >Just on the off chance that anyone is still interested, I finally figured out
: >the answer to this problem. The upgrade changes some, but not all, of the AP's
: >settings. The critical one changed is the default gateway, which is set back
: >to 192.168.1.1, even if the AP is set to get its IP settings via DHCP. So if
: >you're trying to manage the AP from a computer on a different subnet, the
: >upgrade causes the AP to lose the ability to respond to your commands, because
: >it can no longer find you. A reboot doesn't help; all you can do (short of a
: >reset to factory settings and full reconfiguration) is to log into a computer
: >on the right subnet, set the AP to a static IP, change the default gateway to
: >the correct value, and then set it back to DHCP. Damn.
:
: The gateway isn't a factor in the browser interface, which is actually
: just its LAN (as compared to WAN) address. The gateway is for routing
: traffic off the subnet; e.g., to the Internet.

Well, ah, no. The WAP54G is an access point, not a router. It has only one
address.

: Also, DHCP (client) has no bearing on this, since that's used to set the
: WAN (not the LAN) address.

See above.

: Finally, the router doesn't need to "find you" -- you need to find the
: router.

I (well, my computer) knew where the access point was. But the AP couldn't
respond because its gateway address was guffed.

: My guess is that the LAN address is what's being changed, so you aren't
: able to access it at the old LAN address. If you know the new LAN
: address, use that, manually configuring the PC to the same subnet
: temporarily if necessary.

Your guess is a bit wide of the mark, but thanks anyway.
From: John Navas on 1 Jul 2006 00:30
On Fri, 30 Jun 2006 20:49:03 -0400, Robert Coe <bob(a)1776.COM> wrote in
<cugba2h9gmnkmfucir2gegdvt7cuah2up6(a)4ax.com>:

>: The gateway isn't a factor in the browser interface, which is actually
>: just its LAN (as compared to WAN) address. The gateway is for routing
>: traffic off the subnet; e.g., to the Internet.
>
>Well, ah, no. The WAP54G is an access point, not a router. It has only one
>address.

Read what I wrote more carefully. The gateway address isn't relevant.
That 'one address' is just the LAN address of its browser interface.

>: Also, DHCP (client) has no bearing on this, since that's used to set the
>: WAN (not the LAN) address.
>
>See above.

Ditto.

>: Finally, the router doesn't need to "find you" -- you need to find the
>: router.
>
>I (well, my computer) knew where the access point was. But the AP couldn't
>respond because its gateway address was guffed.

Not really. The AP is just a bridge, which knows nothing about
gateways. It simply responds to the address that made the connection to
its browser interface.

>: My guess is that the LAN address is what's being changed, so you aren't
>: able to access it at the old LAN address. If you know the new LAN
>: address, use that, manually configuring the PC to the same subnet
>: temporarily if necessary.
>
>Your guess is a bit wide of the mark, but thanks anyway.

Since you know it all, I won't waste any more time trying to help.

Have a nice day.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_How_To>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>
From: William P.N. Smith on 1 Jul 2006 08:11
Robert Coe <bob(a)1776.COM> wrote:
>I (well, my computer) knew where the access point was. But the AP couldn't
>respond because its gateway address was guffed.

Ah, I see where the confusion is coming from! You were updating it
using the wired interface, but you were on a different subnet (on the
other side of some other router), and when it set the default gateway
back to 192.168.1.1 it couldn't talk to you any more.

Looks like you'll have to update the WAPs from the subnet they are on
and then reconfigure them from there, yes? Hopefully it's easier to
hook into their subnets than to replace them...

Thanks for the heads-up on this, BTW, I've got a couple of WAPs to
update that are in _really_ inaccessable locations, and knowing the
gotchas is going to help a lot!
From: Robert Coe on 1 Jul 2006 09:33
On Sat, 01 Jul 2006 08:11:12 -0400, William P.N. Smith
<news2006c(a)compusmiths.com> wrote:
: Robert Coe <bob(a)1776.COM> wrote:
: >I (well, my computer) knew where the access point was. But the AP couldn't
: >respond because its gateway address was guffed.
:
: Ah, I see where the confusion is coming from! You were updating it
: using the wired interface, but you were on a different subnet (on the
: other side of some other router), and when it set the default gateway
: back to 192.168.1.1 it couldn't talk to you any more.

Yes, exactly.

: Looks like you'll have to update the WAPs from the subnet they are on
: and then reconfigure them from there, yes? Hopefully it's easier to
: hook into their subnets than to replace them...

The WAPs' own subnets are a little less accessible than the one I was trying
to use, but that solution is certainly simpler than going to several other
buildings, finding the janitor to let me into the wiring closets, etc.

: Thanks for the heads-up on this, BTW, I've got a couple of WAPs to
: update that are in _really_ inaccessable locations, and knowing the
: gotchas is going to help a lot!

Well, I'm glad I posted the solution! I almost didn't, since I thought people
might be tired of hearing me whine about it.

What kept me from seeing the issue clearly from the beginning was that only
some of the AP's settings got reset. The instructions didn't say that could
happen, and no Linksys upgrade has done that to me before. I probably would
have realized what was happening a lot sooner if, as John Navas proposed, the
AP's own IP address had gotten reset, but it didn't. In fact I believe the AP
was still querying the DHCP server correctly; it was just ignoring the gateway
address the DHCP server gave it. Very strange behavior.

Bob
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