I'm having a nightmare setting up my new Asus DSL-N55U router with the correct (but limited) settings provide by my ISP (Plus Net).

Apple technicians have been trying for two days to get the local Mac clients to log in to the Mac Server I have connected to the Asus. They can see it and bind to it but won't log in.

To cut a long story short, there seems to be something wrong with the way I set up the router and probably DNS on the router.

I have a static IP from my ISP.

Is anyone familiar with the latest Asus router / setup pages and can advise me on setting it up properly (the router not the server) as Apple won't touch it as it is 3rd party and I suspect Plus Net wont be if much help for the same reason and I get get in touch with Asus as their (American) website doesn't like me.

I'm having a nightmare setting up my new Asus DSL-N55U router with the correct (but limited) settings provide by my ISP (Plus Net).

Apple technicians have been trying for two days to get the local Mac clients to log in to the Mac Server I have connected to the Asus. They can see it and bind to it but won't log in.

To cut a long story short, there seems to be something wrong with the way I set up the router and probably DNS on the router.

I have a static IP from my ISP.

Is anyone familiar with the latest Asus router / setup pages and can advise me on setting it up properly (the router not the server) as Apple won't touch it as it is 3rd party and I suspect Plus Net wont be if much help for the same reason and I get get in touch with Asus as their (American) website doesn't like me.

 

So you have a server hooked upto this router and a few Mac clients, the clients cant connect to the server? is that right?

Almost correct!

Server connected by Ethernet cable to the router.

Clients connected by Ethernet (to router) or Wi-Fi.

All clients can access Internet and can see the router and the server, but when user accounts are being dished out, the users on the clients cannot log on.

No error code just a warning that they can't look on at this time.

IP Lookup returns successfully, but there is something not quite right in the router set up that is stopping them logging on.

My ISP had a look at the settings and said that I need to put it to PPPoA, but the router has two pages where I can set up WAN.

One shows PPPoA, the other doesn't have that as an option and, whatever setting I put in, it defaults back to PPPoE!

I'll post screen shots in a while.

Any thoughts?

I can't actually get hold of Asus support although did discover a UK phone number after 45 fruitless minutes last night.

I don't really understand most of this stuff, so I've probably done something wrong, but I've no idea what...

Screen shot 1: Details provided by ISP (along with a static IP address and a netmask)

 

Screen shot 2: Router config page accessed by clicking on WAN in the menu down the left and creating a PVC setting... PPPoA is an option and selected (Parts of IP address and password, etc, have been blacked out)

 

Screen shot 3: Second way to access WAN settings (note it is not highlighted on the left) is by going to 'Network Map' > Click on the 'globe' > the 'Go' under internet status.

 

I'm wondering if I should delete the PVC settings (whatever that is) and allow the router to do its own thing...

Almost correct!

Server connected by Ethernet cable to the router.

Clients connected by Ethernet (to router) or Wi-Fi.

All clients can access Internet and can see the router and the server, but when user accounts are being dished out, the users on the clients cannot log on.

No error code just a warning that they can't look on at this time.

IP Lookup returns successfully, but there is something not quite right in the router set up that is stopping them logging on.

My ISP had a look at the settings and said that I need to put it to PPPoA, but the router has two pages where I can set up WAN.

One shows PPPoA, the other doesn't have that as an option and, whatever setting I put in, it defaults back to PPPoE!

I'll post screen shots in a while.

Any thoughts?

I can't actually get hold of Asus support although did discover a UK phone number after 45 fruitless minutes last night.

I don't really understand most of this stuff, so I've probably done something wrong, but I've no idea what...

Not really a MAC guru to be honest... but it does sound similar to what is known as a Domain setup in Windows would you say that is correct? 

 

Also, are you running DNS on that Mac server?

I (by that I mean the Mac 'genius') thinks it is something to do with the way my router is handling DNS.

The server seems to be set up correctly, but the router is misdirecting things.

I've done a factory reset on the router and set it up again from scratch giving it the bare minimum of info to go on.

Internet still works. Static IP is the same (automatically picked up from ISP). Primary & secondary DNS are also picked up but are different to what I had put in before.

Clients still can 'see' the server and can bind to the server via internal IP address, but can't actually log in to a network account.

Very confused.

I (by that I mean the Mac 'genius') thinks it is something to do with the way my router is handling DNS.

The server seems to be set up correctly, but the router is misdirecting things.

I've done a factory reset on the router and set it up again from scratch giving it the bare minimum of info to go on.

Internet still works. Static IP is the same (automatically picked up from ISP). Primary & secondary DNS are also picked up but are different to what I had put in before.

Clients still can 'see' the server and can bind to the server via internal IP address, but can't actually log in to a network account.

Very confused.

What is that server actually doing though? I am trying to figure out what its roll is. for example Does it serve authentication requests?

If you and your clients are getting out on the internet then you are looking at the wrong page, rather than looking at WAN you want to be looking at your LAN configuration. It would appear the internet is set-up correctly it is just the issue you are having with one internal device talking to another.

The Mac server is acting as a DNS & Open Directory server as well as an iTunes server, file server at present.

I think that the problem might lie in the server & router both trying to act as DNS servers but, turning it off on the Mac server then stops Internet access and the clients still can't log on.

I see the logic in your second post, I'll take a look at LAN settings.

I just don't get why the clients can see the server, can bind to it but get told they can't log on at this time...

The Mac server is acting as a DNS & Open Directory server as well as an iTunes server, file server at present.

I think that the problem might lie in the server & router both trying to act as DNS servers but, turning it off on the Mac server then stops Internet access and the clients still can't log on.

I see the logic in your second post, I'll take a look at LAN settings.

I just don't get why the clients can see the server, can bind to it but get told they can't log on at this time...

 

Oh right I see.. So your router is the DHCP Server, Server is DNS and Open Directory. 

 

So what I think will be happening here is the router will be giving out an IP address along with a Default GW and DNS. 

 

Try this - In your router change your DNS Servers to the fixed IP address of your MAC Server, Reboot a client machine and try connecting again - Or you could give one of the client machines a fixed IP and DNS and point the client machine to the Mac Server for DNS then try logging in to the MAC Server.

I've just tried the last one (I think) and it works!

Hopefully Apple IT man will call me back to confirm that I've done things properly, but it seems to have worked.

Thanks for you help s0niX

I've just tried the last one (I think) and it works!

Hopefully Apple IT man will call me back to confirm that I've done things properly, but it seems to have worked.

Thanks for you help s0niX

 

Defiantly DNS then... No harm in telling your router your DNS server is you MAC Server which will then forward the requests. Only downside to this is the MAC Server would need to be on at all times to get to the net, which with it being a server shouldn't be an issue

 

Glad to help;.

Although the wife keeps questioning why the server is on all the time, I now have legitimate reason.

Thank you again. I'll update if anything changes or Apple 'genius' comes up with anything else.

I'm on the verge of spitting my toys out of the pram with this Asus router now... Not happy! 

 

Aside form not actually being able to get in touch with Asus support (I'm not in N. America or Canada and their web form doesn't work) I can't get the bl00dy thing to do anything much.

 

I freely admit that I am not a network expert, but I'm also not an idiot. But why do things have to be so complicated?

 

I'm now trying to get iTunes Home Sharing to work. Works fine on clients connected to the router via ethernet, but not via wireless... (I got around it by plugging a client in to ethernet and setting it up and then unplugging it - seems to work so far!)

 

And don't even ask about iOS devices!

 

I've had eight months of anguish over setting up a simple home network consisting entirely of Apple products (apart from the Asus router), many hours on the phone to Apple support, an non-functioning network for most of that time and I've no idea how much wasted time.

 

*********** Rant over ************

 

Simple question: I'm supposed to 'open' three ports on the router to allow home sharing to work (no idea why as it works when connected via ethernet).

 

See screen shot:

 

How to do forward the ports correctly (the IP address shown is the static IP allocated by the router to my server - the server picks it's IP address up from the router using DHCP)?

 

I'm trying this in the vain hope that it might overcome the problem (but I doubt it).

I'm on the verge of spitting my toys out of the pram with this Asus router now... Not happy! 

 

Aside form not actually being able to get in touch with Asus support (I'm not in N. America or Canada and their web form doesn't work) I can't get the bl00dy thing to do anything much.

 

I freely admit that I am not a network expert, but I'm also not an idiot. But why do things have to be so complicated?

 

I'm now trying to get iTunes Home Sharing to work. Works fine on clients connected to the router via ethernet, but not via wireless... (I got around it by plugging a client in to ethernet and setting it up and then unplugging it - seems to work so far!)

 

And don't even ask about iOS devices!

 

I've had eight months of anguish over setting up a simple home network consisting entirely of Apple products (apart from the Asus router), many hours on the phone to Apple support, an non-functioning network for most of that time and I've no idea how much wasted time.

 

*********** Rant over ************

 

Simple question: I'm supposed to 'open' three ports on the router to allow home sharing to work (no idea why as it works when connected via ethernet).

 

See screen shot:

Screen Shot 2013-09-30 at 20.52.57.png

 

How to do forward the ports correctly (the IP address shown is the static IP allocated by the router to my server - the server picks it's IP address up from the router using DHCP)?

 

I'm trying this in the vain hope that it might overcome the problem (but I doubt it).

 

You are in the wrong section, you are in WAN.

 

You shouldn't need to set that port forward up unless your clients are connecting from the internet into your private LAN. Your server shouldn't be picking up DHCP - You should have set the server with a fixed IP address and then created a reservation within DHCP so that the router doesn't give out the IP address you have chosen for your server.

 

Not sure why it wouldn't work for home sharing over wireless, some setting within the wireless settings may need changing - Do you mind taking a screenshot of the LAN, Wireless and sending me via private message a screenshot of the Firewall section - obviously blanking out anything that is personal so I can take a look see what settings you have enabled that might be causing your issue.

Thanks for the info and the offer to help. Very much appreciated.

As you can tell I really don't know what I'm doing!

I'll PM the screen shots tonight.

This should be dead easy to fix, and as you say its all down to DNS and the default gateway. I have a full network at home and its all working perfectly through a BT HH4.

 

First off, you need to know the local LAN IP address of your ASUS router. Now follow these steps and it should work.  (assumes your router is 192.168.1.x subnet), substitute IP addresses below as required.

 

1) Setup your mac with a static IP Address

 

IP: 192.168.1.99

Subnet: 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway: 192.168.1.x (IP Address of router)

DNS: 127.0.0.1

 

2) Setup your mac server as both DHCP and DNS server.

3) Configure the Mac DHCP scope with the following settings

 

Scope Start, 192.168.1.100

Scope End, 192.168.1.250

Subnet Mask, 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway, 192.168.1.x (IP address of your router)

DNS Server 1, 192.168.1.99

DNS Server 2, the IP address of your ISP DNS.

 

Now configure the DNS server on the MAC with a forwarder to the ISP DNS server. This is important as it will forward DNS requests for unknown IP's outside your network onto the internet.

 

If you do not know the DNS server IP addresses from your ISP, then look them up in google or use google DNS or OpenDNS.

 

Now the important bit, DISABLE the DHCP server on the ASUS router so the Mac Server does it all and everything should work perfectly.

 

Restart a single computer and test, if that works restart everything.

Mannyo: thanks. I think I understand how (if not why) that would work.

I'll try it when I get home.

Is there any benefit in having the router handle DNS & DHCP as opposed to the server?

The DNS forwarder will send unknown dns requests to the internet (www.google.co.uk for example). The default gateway is what is used to route traffic not on your subnet, so in this case your ASUS router.

 

Using the router has its down sides, the biggest being that its not a DNS sever, so all DNS requests are sent over the internet. That means unless your devices support NBNS broadcasts they will not see each other. What essentially happens is that it tries to resolve your local computer names on the internet, and that just does not work.

I wouldn't say there is any benefit, in fact you will probably find that it will integrate better on the Mac side if the Apple Server handles it all. The only downside is that if the Server is off - you won't have DHCP or DNS services on your network.

Thanks all.

No problem with leaving the server on if I have to, but what I don't get is that when my ISP was Orange and I used their little black router, it all worked fine with no set up issues!

Have I wasted money buying a decent router/modem when I could have had the ISP (Plus Net) provided box for £5 p&p and less hassle?

What would I be missing out on other than wireless range and speed?

This should be dead easy to fix, and as you say its all down to DNS and the default gateway. I have a full network at home and its all working perfectly through a BT HH4.

 

First off, you need to know the local LAN IP address of your ASUS router. Now follow these steps and it should work.  (assumes your router is 192.168.1.x subnet), substitute IP addresses below as required.

 

1) Setup your mac with a static IP Address

 

IP: 192.168.1.99

Subnet: 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway: 192.168.1.x (IP Address of router)

DNS: 127.0.0.1

 

2) Setup your mac server as both DHCP and DNS server.

3) Configure the Mac DHCP scope with the following settings

 

Scope Start, 192.168.1.100

Scope End, 192.168.1.250

Subnet Mask, 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway, 192.168.1.x (IP address of your router)

DNS Server 1, 192.168.1.99

DNS Server 2, the IP address of your ISP DNS.

 

Now configure the DNS server on the MAC with a forwarder to the ISP DNS server. This is important as it will forward DNS requests for unknown IP's outside your network onto the internet.

 

If you do not know the DNS server IP addresses from your ISP, then look them up in google or use google DNS or OpenDNS.

 

Now the important bit, DISABLE the DHCP server on the ASUS router so the Mac Server does it all and everything should work perfectly.

 

Restart a single computer and test, if that works restart everything.

 

Good explanation.  

Thanks all.

No problem with leaving the server on if I have to, but what I don't get is that when my ISP was Orange and I used their little black router, it all worked fine with no set up issues!

Have I wasted money buying a decent router/modem when I could have had the ISP (Plus Net) provided box for £5 p&p and less hassle?

What would I be missing out on other than wireless range and speed?

 

I wouldn't say so no... It just needs a little more configuration than your previous device.

 

Do what Mannyo suggested and you shouldn't have any problems bud

I think I've followed mannyo's instructions to the letter (substituting my IP addresses).

Although there are some differences in terminology on the Mac, I'm pretty sure I've got it right.

Mac Server is dishing out IP addresses;

Clients can log on (wired or wireless);

However, still no home sharing on wireless devices (Ethernet connection works fine).

Any other suggestions on this one?

Can all your devices browse the internet, have your tried pinging all the devices (including the wireless ones) from an ethernet connected device. Perhaps from your mac server, go into utilities and terminal and ping from there.

 

Make sure you have restarted each device, make sure that they are actually using an ip address from your mac by checking the address leases.

 

Check the mac firewall settings as well, system preferences, security and privacy. Also check the sharing settings.

 

Unless your going out over the internet, the ASUS router should just be behaving like any other 10/100/1000 network switch and not filter anything.

 

If you want to revert back to how you were before, disable DHCP and DNS on the mac server, and turn DHCP back on in the router.

 

Whilst all my client devices are Apple (iMac, Macbook Pro, iPhone and iPod) at home, the server I run here is Windows Server 2012 based so I don't have direct access to OSX server. All my devices can see each other, with the setup I posted.