Netgear WNDR3800 setup issues

[oxitran]

Setup:
Cell tower 7km away ->
4G 3 sim -> (by direct sim slot)
Zyxel LTE3302-> (by wireless, could also be wired if I wanted)
WNDR3800 with Gargoyle 1.7.1.

Speeds about 10down/5up.

I have been trying to add the WNDR3800 onto my already existing setup. I have it from a previous setup, but it never worked right, it conflicted with the Telstra modem/router and would disconnect every so often.
I want to use it now, in a different house, to allow for a stronger wifi signal in another part of the house, as the house has many 140 years old walls that are about 2ft thick and filled with slate and gravel.

On the Zyxel side, bridge mode does not appear to work. So I set up WDS with the DHCP server set to assign from 192.168.1.2 - 192.168.1.102 The problem is the WNDR3800. It appears to not accept new changes to its setup when you try and modify its IP address.

I tried these settings:
Connection -> Basic
Bridge IP: 192.168.1.2 (must be in AP subnet)
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 (same as AP mask)
AP/Gateway IP: 192.168.1.1
Wan Ethernet Port: Brige to lan
DNS Servers: use Gateway as DNS server
Connect via WDS
Repeater: Repeater enabled
Operation Mode: N+G+B
Channel Width: 20mhz
Transmit Power: Max
SSID to Join: (it scanned the correct SSID)
SSID to Broadcast: Gargoyle
Wireless Channel: 6
Encryption: WPA2 PSK
Password: ••••••••••

The router also fails to update the firmware. It gets stuck on the uploading stage for hours.

Any help?

[Lantis]

What is happening to make you think it is not accepting changes?
Switching to repeater mode (and updating firmware) are long operations, and this particular device is very slow to reboot after them.

My best advice at this stage is to upgrade to the latest version which will allow more people to assist you. Then, don’t use WDS, as it doesn’t always work right between manufacturers. Just a regular bridge will do.
Note if you update to 1.10 or 1.11 (recommended) the bridge repeater instructions are different now as to which sinners to choose.
This is covered in the wiki.