Deco M9 router on bridge ISP box does not work at all

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Deco M9 router on bridge ISP box does not work at all

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Deco M9 router on bridge ISP box does not work at all
Deco M9 router on bridge ISP box does not work at all
2021-03-15 13:43:14 - last edited 2021-03-21 13:42:54
Model: Deco M9 Plus  
Hardware Version:
Firmware Version:

Hi,

 

At first very satisfied by the stability of the M9 wifi network, I've lost an entire weekend trying to configure my network to no avail. I need help, otherwise I'll just send it back to the vendor since I cannot make use of it...

 

Setup : ISP Free with Freebox Delta and Devialet player, a simple TPlink switch, a synology DS220+ and connection cables all checked (and some replaced).

 

First try : What worked somewhat well was to add my decos on top of the existing network. I deactivated the wifi on my ISP box, plugged the decos in available slots, configured (router mode and default settings), and voilà. Wifi worked well except the double NAT configuration was troublesome to access my synology over wifi, and connect devices with my home assistant software running on the syno...

This was just to test it out, wifi stability and range was a lot better than the ISP box. Now I had to remove the double NAT roadblock. That's when trouble started.

 

Second setup :

- Only plugged the main Deco on the ISP box that was set to bridge mode

- Plugged the switch on the Deco's second plug

- Deactivated temporarily all antivirus options fearing it may block some things (probably not but wasn't sure)

Result was stable network, but synology completely invisible. Impossible to find in any way. The Deco did not see it, the synology assistant neither, the ISP box neither, all domain names and IPs pointing to it unresponsive.

 

Found that the Deco's network was 192.168.68.xx while the syno was on 192.168.0.xx so I supposed that the Synology was maybe stuck to its old IP (static but only from the ISP box settings so I don't know why it persisted). Of course tried to restart everything from the synology to every router and the box.

Also tried to reset the network configuration of the synology, no change, it stayed invisible.

 

Third setup :

- Changed LAN IP of main deco to 192.168.0.1 and DHCP to include syno's old IP so from 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.250. Rebooted everything

Result was VERY unstable network. Every device connected to either wifi or cable had trouble connecting to the internet, sometimes it worked sometimes had weird errors like timeouts or DNS not found. Tried to add 8.8.8.8 to Deco DNS setting, no change.

 

Figured it was probably an IP address conflict, so I tried unplugging every device

 

Fourth setup :

- Only the Deco plugged to the ISP box.

Result was : No change !! Could not believe it. Tried everything from reboots, trying every port on the ISP box thinking "maybe that one was reserved ?", to resetting the Deco to factory settings.

That last one broke something. I don't know why but since then the Deco only shows a red light. Cannot get the wifi up again it just won't connect.

At that point I gave up.

 

So, Have done everything wrong ? And if so what exactly ? What else can I try ?

Edit : I've just found the synology network reset deleted my Virtual Machine, so now basically I have to start my Home Automation again from scratch and I'm thoroughly pissed at the decos...

 

Thanks for any help !

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1 Accepted Solution
Re:Deco M9 router on bridge ISP box does not work at all-Solution
2021-03-15 16:10:25 - last edited 2021-03-21 13:42:54

@RoomTiger Strange problems. I have Deco M9+ V2 in router mode, and my ISPs Zyxel fiber "home central" in bridge mode (500/500 fiber). I also have a TP-Link switch and a Synology DS218+ NAS, and quite a few other things. Two of the M9+ boxes are connected using CAT6 cables via the TP-LINK switch. The third Deco is wireless. I experience no issues with this. My point is that what you describe should probably work, so somewhere in your system there might be faulty hardware or software?

 

My Synology Diskstation is visible as a "client" if I log into the Deco web interface , i have Deco firmware 1.4.3 Build 20200921 Rel. 42500. I can also see it from Windows 10 Network, and I connect to it from Ubuntu as well.

 

 

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Re:Deco M9 router on bridge ISP box does not work at all
2021-03-15 15:48:38 - last edited 2021-03-16 00:25:40

@RoomTiger 

 

If you decided to return your Decos to the seller, remove them first from Deco mesh, in Deco app. As a courtesy to whoever else will end with your "slightly used, excellent condition" Deco units.

 

You have ended with bricked Deco unit, unless you can recover it not much else you can do. Try resetting it again, according to TP-Link manual. See article Deco M4 became brick during update? If nothing helps or you don't want to bother, returning that Deco set is only option. What else you can do.

 

I am assuming you've already restored your home network to what it was before Decos. Will continue under that assumption.

 

If you recovered your Main Deco, or if after returning that set you've decided to buy another set of Decos and try again, these would be my recommendations on how to deploy them.

 

You have more complex that average home network, so ask yourself if you want Deco mesh for WiFi coverage or for other features. I, too, run file server, also I have backup server and print server on my home network. When I got Decos I configured them to run in Access Point mode. They provide excellent WiFi coverage over my house, and the rest of network runs undisturbed.

That would be my suggestion: instead of running Decos in default router mode, configure them in Access Point mode. That'll make your life much easier.

 

In case you want such features as parental controls, traffic filtering, antivirus - that would be Deco in router mode. You were almost there, your "Second Setup," when you went the wrong way with troubleshooting.

Next time, if you deployed mesh and it runs file, but single device (NAS) can't connect to it - instead of messing with mesh focus on that device. You got it right that it probably stuck to its old IP address, but if you have figured how to unstuck it or how to force it request new IP address - you'll be done with setup. 

 

That would be my suggestion for next time: go after NAS, search for forums of NAS users, google it - you can't be the only one whose DS220+ NAS can be stubborny stuck to its old IP address.

If it is stuck with old IP and not visible when connected to Deco, bring back ISP router in router mode, plug NAS to ISP router, gain full access to its configuration settings online, and start from there.

After done, ideally by removing DHCP reservation from ISP router, ensuring NAS gets dynamic IP address after each restart, plug NAS back to Deco.

 

After you managed to make NAS get IP address from Deco IP range, you can make it static by going through Deco router configuration settings and making DHCP reservation for NAS that Deco mesh now sees.

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Re:Deco M9 router on bridge ISP box does not work at all-Solution
2021-03-15 16:10:25 - last edited 2021-03-21 13:42:54

@RoomTiger Strange problems. I have Deco M9+ V2 in router mode, and my ISPs Zyxel fiber "home central" in bridge mode (500/500 fiber). I also have a TP-Link switch and a Synology DS218+ NAS, and quite a few other things. Two of the M9+ boxes are connected using CAT6 cables via the TP-LINK switch. The third Deco is wireless. I experience no issues with this. My point is that what you describe should probably work, so somewhere in your system there might be faulty hardware or software?

 

My Synology Diskstation is visible as a "client" if I log into the Deco web interface , i have Deco firmware 1.4.3 Build 20200921 Rel. 42500. I can also see it from Windows 10 Network, and I connect to it from Ubuntu as well.

 

 

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Re:Deco M9 router on bridge ISP box does not work at all
2021-03-16 08:28:23 - last edited 2021-03-16 10:43:37

I've tried again, this time without messing with the deco's settings. Seems to be working surprisingly well after I let it "sleep" for a night :

- put the secondary deco as main after a reset, worked well. The other one wouldn't connect after several attempt but I let it "sleep" the night and this morning it was connected ^^

- removed every static configuration on the NAS and temporarily lowered its MTU on a friend's advice

- kept the router mode of my modem (I'm not sure why it's not on bridge mode I may have just forgotten to reboot it yesterday evening)

- This morning after booting up the NAS, no change in its IP (still on the modem's network) but weirdly enough it is detected on my computer which is not on the same subnet.

 

The double NAT seems to be working well without blocking anything now. I don't get how.

Will see for a while how it works I'm afraid to put it in bridge mode now

 

Thanks to both of you for your help, really appreciate it.

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Re:Deco M9 router on bridge ISP box does not work at all
2021-03-17 09:15:24 - last edited 2021-03-17 18:51:58

Update : As I feared, putting the modem back in bridge mode brings everything down.

VERY unstable wifi and cable connection with DNS errors. Cannot connect to decos using the app, even with reboots its light stays solid red.

The NAS was offline, so not his fault.

As soon as I put the modem back in router mode, green light on the deco.

Edit : It has been confirmed that the culprit is a broken bridge mode on my ISP's modem. Bummer. I'm forced to use the router mode.

 

Can I keep both in router mode ? What are the drawbacks if any ?

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#5
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Re:Deco M9 router on bridge ISP box does not work at all
2021-03-17 09:24:37
Maybe I can use a DMZ on the modem in router mode instead ?
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Re:Deco M9 router on bridge ISP box does not work at all
2021-03-17 19:52:32

@RoomTiger 

Edit : It has been confirmed that the culprit is a broken bridge mode on my ISP's modem. Bummer. I'm forced to use the router mode.

Can I keep both in router mode ? What are the drawbacks if any ?

 

So the guess that something in your system was broken was correct then. I would just go back to router mode, you already confirmed that double NAT didn't cause any problems.

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Re:Deco M9 router on bridge ISP box does not work at all
2021-03-20 08:19:05
Well it does now... My ISP lists an IP and MAC adress for the deco that is not the one in the TPlink app (1 digit different)... So I'm having trouble forwarding a port from the modem to the deco to the device... I'll have to try access point mode and forget about all of the Deco router functions. I hate to pay for a product I can't use fully... Damn ISP Any advice to switch to access point only ?
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Re:Deco M9 router on bridge ISP box does not work at all
2021-03-20 11:53:58

@RoomTiger 

 

Deco unit has multiple MAC addresses, because it has Ethernet card and wireless. The one that is on the bottom sticker of device is its Ethernet MAC address.

 

Still, I am not sure what MAC address has to do with port forwarding. Port forwarding done by the router (Main Deco in your case) using destination IP address inside the network and port number(s). You usually need that only if you run server you want to expose to the Internet.

 

You may be able to get help here if you can describe what you want to achieve instead of what you are doing. 

 

Example: "I have Web server running on my home network, I want it to be accessible through ports 80, 443 and 8080 from the Internet."

 

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Re:Deco M9 router on bridge ISP box does not work at all
2021-03-21 13:42:25

@Alexandre.  Got what I needed by switching to access point mode.

A bit sad to lose all the router functionality of the decos, but that will do for now, at least I don't have any double NAT problems now...

Thanks a lot to everyone who helped here !

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