# IP camera issue with wireless Access Point



## brainiii (Dec 9, 2017)

Hi, so I bought an IP camera, when connected to my main router (the one my provider gave me), after setup it connects and can access it wirelessly from my LAN and from external networks both using the Android App and a browser link.

However, I bought it to secure my front door (my house is 2 storeys) and downstairs, I have a Bufallo Airstation *WHR-G300N* set to work as an access point (I run an ethernet cable from the main router to Buffalo, then other devices connect to the Internet trhough Buffalo).

Problem is that I can't connect the camera to Buffalo in AP mode (as it doesn;t seem to give the camera an IP address).
So, I changed Buffalo from AP to router mode. Now the camera does connect from the Android App ONLY, and can't connect from any browsers/PC or whatever else, I also suspect I won't be able to connect from external networks.

More details:
the main router  on my network has this address: 192.168.0.1
The Buffalo in router mode starts at: 192.168.11.1 and the camera has this ip: 192.168.11.7 (whereas in AP mode buffalo had 192.168.0.10, and camera no ip address).
*I'd like to be able to access the camera from browsers/external networks. Please help, I'm a noob as far as networks are concerned.*


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## Solaris17 (Dec 9, 2017)

So basically that router has a "mode" switch? You might be better off.

Getting an actual AP they arent expensive.

or

flashing to like DDWRT if it supports it.

or

see if you can manually set the type in the firmware.


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## Kursah (Dec 9, 2017)

Set back to AP mode. Set a static IP and make sure its gateway address is pointing to your main routers LAN address (example 192.168.0.1). AP mode + dhcp for AP can be troublesome with home-grade gear at times. But really it should be passing wireless traffic.

Can you confirm if other wireless devices can connect to the wireless network broadcasted from when in AP mode?

I would also set the IP Camera with a static (fixed) IP as well. It'll be helpful to make sure to next part remains consistent.

Then to access from the Internet you need to familiarize yourself with port forwarding on your main router. Find out what port it uses and forward to the IP Camera's IP address. 

It should work in most cases. But as @Solaris17 said you might need to buy a real AP (Ubiquity UniFi is a good option) and/or try a custom firmware for your devices from DD-WRT or Tomato if available.


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## newtekie1 (Dec 10, 2017)

It might be something as simple as moving the network cable on the AP. Most of the home routers I've used, when you turn DHCP off and run them in AP mode, you need to plug the network cable coming from the main router into one of the LAN ports on the AP router.


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## brainiii (Dec 10, 2017)

newtekie1 said:


> It might be something as simple as moving the network cable on the AP. Most of the home routers I've used, when you turn DHCP off and run them in AP mode, you need to plug the network cable coming from the main router into one of the LAN ports on the AP router.



the buffalo device has a seperate/distinct ethernet port that plugs into the main router.



Solaris17 said:


> So basically that router has a "mode" switch? You might be better off.
> 
> Getting an actual AP they arent expensive.
> 
> ...



yeah the router has an actual switch, with 3 settings: router on (auto enables DHCP as I described), router off, and Auto (AP mode with other router).
The device doesn't support DDWRT. I'm not buying any other device, the Buffalo has served me very well over the years and is rock solid, I'm sure this is a setting issue. 
Manually set the type to what?


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## brainiii (Dec 10, 2017)

Kursah said:


> Set back to AP mode. Set a static IP and make sure its gateway address is pointing to your main routers LAN address (example 192.168.0.1). AP mode + dhcp for AP can be troublesome with home-grade gear at times. But really it should be passing wireless traffic.
> 
> Can you confirm if other wireless devices can connect to the wireless network broadcasted from when in AP mode?
> 
> ...



the above sounds like good advice.
However, in AP mode, it doesn't show any options. I can only see the gateway options, nowhere to input static ip. see photos:

*In router mode: I see several options but it won't let me set the ip addresses I want, see picture and error message in red colour:
*


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## Mussels (Dec 10, 2017)

disable DHCP on the second router/AP, and connect the cable to the LAN port instead of WAN

you wont be able to log back in until you factory reset it (so set wifi password + make a backup first), but it'll stop them being on seperate subnets


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## brainiii (Dec 10, 2017)

Mussels said:


> disable DHCP on the second router/AP, and connect the cable to the LAN port instead of WAN
> 
> you wont be able to log back in until you factory reset it (so set wifi password + make a backup first), but it'll stop them being on seperate subnets



And my wireless devices will still be connected to the second router just like before?

Just tried connecting from an external network. To my surprise it works (only from the app on the phone), but still!


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## Mussels (Dec 11, 2017)

brainiii said:


> And my wireless devices will still be connected to the second router just like before?



think of that method as turning your router into a standard gigabit switch, just with wifi on top. It becomes a 'passive' device and passes everything through to the first router


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## brainiii (Dec 26, 2017)

well I connected the second router as you said, indeed it stayed on the same subnet, but wouldn't give ip address to the camera, not in router or in AP mode.
*However, I managed to solve the problem even with 2 subnets.
On the primary router, I port forwaded port 80 to the ip address of the secondary router.
On the secondary router, I port forwaded port 80 to the ip address of the ip camera.

Now I can access the ip camera from the mobile app AND from any pc/browser externally.*

solved, thanks for the suggestions


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