Bizarre problem! C3200 uncommanded bridging???

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Bizarre problem! C3200 uncommanded bridging???

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
Bizarre problem! C3200 uncommanded bridging???
Bizarre problem! C3200 uncommanded bridging???
2017-02-11 12:10:26
Model :

Hardware Version :

Firmware Version :

ISP :

Today I was using my computer and suddenly the message "Another device with the same IP address has been detected on the network" Or something close to that, from the Mac OS.

After MANY hours of fiddling, I determined that if I turned off the 2.4G wifi on the C3200 which is my main router, the problem went away. Thinking that there is an issue with some wireless device, I then unplugged every wireless device I could find. And yet, the problem persisted. Finally I changed the network SSID by adding a "1" to the end of it, this after resetting the c3200 to factory and loading the latest firmware.

It might be important that I left the password the same.

So my old SSID was FOO and the new one is FOO1.

Added back all the wifi devices I had turned off, everything is ok. So I thought, what odd device is doing this? So I grabbed an old linksys router that had the old wifi SSID in it. Grabbed my laptop, turned OFF the wifi on the laptop, and connected up the laptop to the router to see who would try to attach to it. Sure enough, the problem popped up. Except.... one of the CLIENTS ATTACHED TO THE ROUTER WAS THE C3200!!!!

What the heck???

And of course I could browse the internet, etc.

So it seems like this might be the ultimate root of the problem, the C3200 connecting to things... I tried it with two other routers and it also happily connected to them, like it was bridging in to them. (These routers had never been turned on at the same time, ever, the 3200 is a newer acquisition)

The 3200 bridges to a router with SSID FOO when the SSID in the 3200 is FOO1 (though they have the same password). And wireless devices can attach to FOO or FOO1 and reach the internet.

I am so confused.

The ONLY connectors to the linksys (or belkin or netgear) routers are the wire from the ethernet (not WAN) port to the laptop, and the power cord. The WiFi on the laptop is OFF. The c3200 shows as a CLIENT in the WiFi page of the other router.
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