AP (MR46) could not get gateway, it becomes a REPEATER

[JohnPorras]

I am having a hard time to figure out why does my two MR46 AP becomes a repeater. I have checked the uplink and they have the same VLAN. I also checked the LAN cables and all are working fine. Any ideas what causes this trouble?

[Ryan_Miles · Accepted solution]

It would be caused by one of the reasons mentioned here https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/Monitoring_and_Reporting/Gateway_AP_Switches_to_Repeater_Mode

If you've tested the full path of cabling and it's checks out fine then I would open a Support case and have them look at it.

[Macguy]

I had a similar issue with a brand new out of box MR56.  I was going crazy... tested cable run, used multiple ports in classroom and directly connected to switch.  The AP would never become a gateway and always stuck in repeater mode.  Swapped out AP with support and no problems with replacement. 

[Wingbird]

This. Have an MR76 and just ordered a new one for this exact same scenario.

I'll concede that the last two times I had a WAP in repeater mode it was the cabling, but not this time. Something to note is that if I forced it to full speed rather than Auto negotiate, it wouldn't connect at all, further enforcing the belief that something was faulty

[PhilipDAth]

This happens when the AP can not get a working Internet connection via Ethernet.

If you plug a notebook into the same switch port - can you access the Internet?

[JohnPorras]

Yes, I have connectivity in our network when I tried to plug my laptop in the same switch port and also the same LAN cable. 

But the port shows "Very high proportion of CRC errors, very high rate of packet fragments" on both AP and laptop. What does that mean?

[PhilipDAth]

That is often a cabling fault.  Is it a Meraki switch - if so can you ask it to do a cable test.

If you take the AP to where the switch is, and use a patch cable to go into that same switch port does it work?

[scpswifi]

Also look at the access points ethernet port.  I had a batch that had a problem with one of the pins collapsing.  So they powered up but would not connect to the network.  Even worse was they worked at my office when I prepped them (first time plugged in) then at the site, no go.  Tersted cabling, replaced a couple then found this issue on a forum since MR3X models.  I had 30 out of 1000 that ended up like this.