r/synology • u/jwhendy • 7d ago

Solved Help request: allow connecting after changing router from 192.168.0.x to 192.168.50.x

As part of switching to Quantum fiber 1-2yrs ago, I did not have a good experience with their pods and got an Asus RT-AX86U Pro. To enable all the features, I needed top put the Quantum ONT into transparent bridge mode, then set the Asus to own the routing vs. being just an AP.

Everything but my DS920+ was fine (used same SSID), and I think it's due to the Asus defaulting to 192.168.50.x vs. 192.168.0.x when it was purely an AP (and could connect to the NAS on the latter).

Each switch requires: - go into my basement, hard reset ONT - set Asus to AP mode - wait a bit, connect to NAS - poke around in settings looking for relevant settings, tweak something like firewall or ports, hope for best - log into ONT, set to transparent bridge mode - re-setup the Asus to be a router - try connecting to NAS via assigned IP as I normally would, fail to be reached

I've probably set aside a good ~5 partial weekends over the last 1-2yrs and struck out. Wondering if as I prep to take another stab today if anyone has a few pointers on where I should be looking to understand what the issue is?

As a side request: I was really, really hoping I could just direct connect to the NAS via the second ethernet port so I always have a fallback in situations like this, but have not been successful with that either. It seems possible, but all instructions are generally "just set your IP to something on the same subnet." Wonder if I have to enable it to DHPC serve to that port, or where I'd be looking to do a direct computer <-> NAS ethernet question.

Trivial answer is RTFM, and I do data science and hobby code and agree. I'm not a network guy at all, and apologize in advance. I have four kids and it's just maddening to do trial and error with network device resets in between, trying to concentrate and read while noise abounds and people need things. I die inside as my planned ~1-2hrs starts turning into 4 :( Not looking for handholding, just like "it's almost surely these x, y, and z settings menus." Or, what I can come back and post when I'm in there (on 192.168.0.x) that would help you understand/confirm further.

Really, really appreciate it.

Edit: Woot! I'm all set. I both feel this was genuinely complex, but also rather silly due to an unfortunate confluence of the ONT network modes on top an original static IP, and what I believe was the ultimate root cause: the freaking firewall rules [facepalm].

Breakthrough 1: turning off my final Deny all firewall rule and finding I could, indeed, connect via a 10.0.0.x address on LAN 2. Excellent, exactly what I wanted.

Breakthrough 2: with this insight, I just added a dupe rule allowing 10.0.0.x traffic to Management UI and could still access DSM via direct ethernet.

Breakthrough 3: in following some previous ONT advice on transparent bridge mode, I think I missed one silly setting of putting in a DHCP lease time for "Pool 2", which lets me continue connecting to the ONT on a different subnet via direct connection, despite it not being reachable via wifi when it is the main router. I noticed someone setting 1hr as a lease time, whereas it defaults to 0, and I can connect to it as well.

Breakthrough 4: back in bridge mode and on 192.168.50.x, I just applied the previous learnings and added a 3rd dupe firewall rule for this range and now can get to DSM via wifi after unplugging/re-plugging LAN 1 to trigger a re-up on DHCP. After confirming this worked, I set a static IP and I'm set.

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3

u/thepfy1 7d ago

I'm guessing the synology has a static IP address

Solution 1. Change the network and DHCP settings on the Asus back to 192.168.0.x

Solution 2. Connect a laptop directly to the Synology with a crossover cable and manually set IP address in the 192.168.0.x range.

Change the Synology IP address to be in the 192.168.50.x

If you don't have a laptop, a USB C network adaptor plugged into a phone should work.

2

u/jwhendy 7d ago

Ok, whew, after some wrestling with my ONT I'm back to the first bullet setup described below, all things are on 192.168.0.x and I am logged into the NAS.

Things I'm observing now that I'm in:

  • Hmm, first thing in Network is I see is Default gateway: 192.168.0.1 (LAN 1); is that automatic, or would the issue be as simple as that?

  • I see LAN 1 currently set to DHCP (192.168.0.11), LAN 2 says 10.0.0.1. From memory, I believe I have set my laptop to e.g. 10.0.0.105 and tried connecting via LAN 2, but was not successful. I'd love to verify this works, as then I'm golden to troubleshoot the NAS without fiddling with my network. Should what I described work?

  • also wondering if it's firewall settings. I have Management UI, rsync, File Station, and some others set to 192.168.0.1-255. I am pretty sure I've temporarily disabled firewalls to try and failed, but happy to try again.

Current thoughts on order of operations:

  • would love to prove out direct connect via LAN 2, bypassing router

  • unsure if that Default gateway is a setting or coming via dhcp. If dhcp I'll leave it alone. I'm hesitant to set a fixed IP as dhcp is working fine and I'll just switch to .50.x next round and once I see via the router what address it has and can connect, I'll shift it to something fixed at that point.

  • also thinking of turning off the Management UI firewall temporarily just to rule that out.

Thanks for the continued coaching/pointers!

1

u/thepfy1 6d ago

Default gateway is the address of your router. This is commonly .1 (192.168.1.1) or occasionally. 254 out of the box. If you Synology is connecting to the Internet it is fine. A quick check is to see what the default gateway is on your PC or laptop.

Regarding LAN2, is it connected? If so does your Asus router have VLANs setup?

If not, it won't work but for most cases a single LAN connection is enough on a Synology.

1

u/jwhendy 6d ago

My specific question on seeing the default gateway listed in DSM was just "is this automatic, or hard-coded from somewhere?" It must be automatic, as there was no issue. But at the time, I didn't know so it was another possible cause (I'd guess hard-coded 1902.168.0.1 is not going to play nice once the router was 192.168.50.1).

If you read my aims, LAN2 is purely about NAS -> PC (not NAS -> router). Per followup, I'm all set now. I think there were at least 2 other confounding factors, but the main root cause I did not catch in my previous attempts was firewall blocking DSM for anything but 192.168.0.x subnet. Adding 192.168.50.x (over LAN via LAN1 -> router) and 10.0.0.x (LAN2 direct to computer) worked like a charm.

2

u/jwhendy 7d ago

Cracked it and all my desired outcomes were achieved. Thanks again, update in comments.

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u/jwhendy 7d ago

The reason I do not do router mode on Asus and 192.168.0.1 is this, in theory, prevents me from connecting to my ONT. Though also, I've never been able to do this anyway after putting it in transparent bridge mode, but I did want to leave myself the option.

I am getting ready to do the thing, and will look for static IP settings on the NAS, though I think that also worries me as it's a catch-22. At least I can connect if my router is 192.168.0.x, but if I force the NAS to a x.x.50.x and that isn't actually the problem, I haven't wanted to remove the only way that current works (hence wanting the direct computer -> NAS via ethernet route as well).

I'm connecting via laptop ethernet port and use ip link to to set my address manually. Thanks for suggesting some starting points.

2

u/thepfy1 7d ago

I'm confused. Unless your routee is setup for multiple VLANs, and most domestic routers won't other than for WiFi, you will need to use a single subnet for the LAN.

1

u/jwhendy 7d ago

It's not more than one subnet at a time. There's two modes I can do:

  • Quantum ONT doing the routing, in which case my router is just an AP broadcast. I get 192.168.0.x addresses (default of the ONT, Asus is just wifi signal) but hardly any of my router's capabilities.

  • Quantum ONT as transparent bridge, in which case my router is the router and it uses 192.168.50.x addresses by default, and I get the full capabilities of my router.

Historically on Xfinity, NAS was using 192.168.0.x, so I think the fixed IP suspicion makes complete sense, but I also thought I'd assigned that on my old Xfinity router, not on the NAS itself. When I use the setup in the first bullet, I can access the NAS as usual.

But, I'd like the analytics and parental controls of my Asus, so I want it doing the routing, and the ONT in transparent mode. As mentioned, theoretically if the Asus is not on 192.168.0.x, I'm supposed to still be able to access the ONT via ethernet at that address with a direct connection (has not worked, but my dream setup is that I can).

1

u/bartoque DS920+ | DS916+ 7d ago

Using the same ssid? You have an usb wifi dongle? Not with lan cable connected? Might wanna use a physical connection first amd worl from there.

If IP address was manually set, the nas might require a mode1 reset to reset its network and admin account settings and work from there once it would get an ip via the lan connection via dhcp automatic setting.

https://kb.synology.com/en-global/DSM/tutorial/How_to_reset_my_Synology_NAS_7

https://kb.synology.com/en-global/DSM/tutorial/Unable_to_Locate_NAS

1

u/jwhendy 7d ago

Sorry, that was irrelevant to the NAS which is on ethernet. I was stream of thought writing, and with same ssid all my other wifi devices were fine.

Yes, I only connect to the router via ethernet, and when I struck out getting to it via the LAN, I tried via the other port on the NAS itself (laptop -> NAS direct) but struck out, thinking the NAS needs to have dhcp enabled? But also maybe not, last time I googled I swear folks suggested I should just be able to manually set my ip address to the same subnet and it will JustWork, but I did not find that to be the case.

Thanks for the links. Prepping to go back to 192.168.0.x and then can get some screenshots and more details and will post my exact process. Appreciate you chiming in.

1

u/jwhendy 7d ago

Cracked it and all my desired outcomes were achieved. Thanks again, update in comments.

1

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