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| docs:guide-user:network:wifi:atheroswds [2023/04/19 11:05] – Changes to improve consistency and easiness to follow the instructions. Removed claim that had no source citation. Removed dead link. icecream | docs:guide-user:network:wifi:atheroswds [2024/02/15 05:28] – [Wireless Repeater (Wireless Extender)] add relayd as alternative. bill888 | ||
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| - | ====== Wireless | + | ====== Wireless |
| - | This network setup consists of a wireless access point and a wireless repeater. The access point is the device that connects to the main network using a wired connection and enables access to the internet. The repeater connects wirelessly to the access point as a station or client device. Once connected, it acts as a bridge to provide access to that main network and to the internet for any wireless and wired client devices connected to the repeater. This setup is useful to extend the reach of your network, such as the Wi-Fi coverage on your location. | + | This network setup consists of a wireless access point and a wireless repeater. The access point is the device that connects to the main network using a wired connection and enables access to the internet. The repeater connects wirelessly to the access point as a station or client device. Once connected, it acts as a "bridge" or more accurately a point to point link, to provide access to that main network and to the internet for any wireless and wired client devices connected to the repeater. This setup is useful to extend the reach of your network, such as the Wi-Fi coverage on your location. |
| - | The method described in this article results in a transparent bridge | + | The method described in this article results in a backhaul link at layer 2 in the OSI model. All broadcast packets, such as DHCP requests, are sent in both directions over the link. The original source MAC address of the network devices on both sides are preserved over the bridge. |
| The client devices connected to the upstream access point and those connected to the repeater will be on the same subnet. In other words, they will be visible to each other and, therefore, enable the use of discovery and configuration protocols such as zeroconf. The upstream access point and the repeater remain accessible over the network. | The client devices connected to the upstream access point and those connected to the repeater will be on the same subnet. In other words, they will be visible to each other and, therefore, enable the use of discovery and configuration protocols such as zeroconf. The upstream access point and the repeater remain accessible over the network. | ||
| - | The wireless distribution system technology (WDS mode) is required to create a network | + | Two wireless protocols can be used to achieve this, " |
| + | |||
| + | This document will describe the use of WDS. | ||
| + | For 802.11s mesh see: [[: | ||
| + | |||
| + | The wireless distribution system technology (WDS mode) is required to create a network | ||
| + | |||
| + | If you are unable to use WDS or 802.11s mesh due to limiations of the Access Point, then you may wish to consider using [[: | ||
| ===== Configuration ===== | ===== Configuration ===== | ||
| Line 17: | Line 24: | ||
| * Tested with OpenWrt 21.02.3 with Linksys WRT1900ACS v2 as upstream wireless access point, and Linksys EA8500 as the repeater. | * Tested with OpenWrt 21.02.3 with Linksys WRT1900ACS v2 as upstream wireless access point, and Linksys EA8500 as the repeater. | ||
| * Tested with OpenWrt 22.03.2 with Banana PI BPI-R64 as upstream wireless access point, and Banana PI BPI-R2 as the repeater (AsiaRF AW7915-NP1 cards on both sides). | * Tested with OpenWrt 22.03.2 with Banana PI BPI-R64 as upstream wireless access point, and Banana PI BPI-R2 as the repeater (AsiaRF AW7915-NP1 cards on both sides). | ||
| - | + | The network configuration process may be performed both via the command line (with [[docs: | |
| - | The network configuration process may be performed both via the command-line (with [[docs: | + | |
| - The access point or AP. | - The access point or AP. | ||
| - The station or STA. | - The station or STA. | ||
| Line 24: | Line 30: | ||
| It is important to follow the order of the steps as failure to do so could render the routers inoperable. | It is important to follow the order of the steps as failure to do so could render the routers inoperable. | ||
| - | ==== Using the command-line over SSH ==== | + | ==== Using the command line over SSH ==== |
| === The upstream access point === | === The upstream access point === | ||
| Line 34: | Line 40: | ||
| Note that there may be multiple '' | Note that there may be multiple '' | ||
| - | This is an example of the [[docs: | + | This is an example of the [[docs: |
| / | / | ||
| < | < | ||
| config wifi-device ' | config wifi-device ' | ||
| - | | + | option type ' |
| - | option | + | option |
| - | option | + | option |
| - | | + | option country 'US' |
| - | list ht_capab ' | + | |
| - | list ht_capab ' | + | |
| - | option txpower ' | + | |
| - | option channel ' | + | |
| - | | + | |
| - | config wifi-iface | + | config wifi-iface |
| - | option device ' | + | option device ' |
| - | option network ' | + | option network ' |
| - | option | + | option |
| - | option encryption ' | + | option |
| - | option key 'wireless-secret-password' | + | option encryption ' |
| - | option mode 'ap' | + | option key 'MyWiFiPassword' |
| - | option wds ' | + | option wds ' |
| </ | </ | ||
| Once that is done, save the file and reboot the device to apply the new network settings. Make sure that wireless clients are able to connect to this wireless access point and access the internet as well as they did with the old network configuration. | Once that is done, save the file and reboot the device to apply the new network settings. Make sure that wireless clients are able to connect to this wireless access point and access the internet as well as they did with the old network configuration. | ||
| - | The " | + | The '' |
| **Note:** when tested on Barrier Breaker, there was no new interface created, neither on the AP nor on the STA, despite WDS working properly. | **Note:** when tested on Barrier Breaker, there was no new interface created, neither on the AP nor on the STA, despite WDS working properly. | ||
| - | The new wlan.staN interface will **not** be bridged by default with the originating WLAN interface if that interface is not itself part of a bridge. To correct this problem, you will need to create a new bridge interface in the wireless access point and associate only its WLAN interface to it. | + | **Note: |
| === The repeater === | === The repeater === | ||
| Line 75: | Line 76: | ||
| < | < | ||
| - | This line will disable the DHCP server on the LAN interface. The DHCP server should be already disabled on the WLAN interface, so save the file and close it. | + | This line will disable the DHCP server on the LAN interface. The DHCP server should be already disabled on the WLAN interface, so save and close the file. |
| **Note:** On Chaos Calmer 15.05 / LuCI (git-15.248.30277-3836b45), | **Note:** On Chaos Calmer 15.05 / LuCI (git-15.248.30277-3836b45), | ||
| Now, you need to assign a network address other than the default static IP assignment of 192.168.1.1/ | Now, you need to assign a network address other than the default static IP assignment of 192.168.1.1/ | ||
| + | This is an example of the configuration file: | ||
| - | Reboot the repeater to apply the new network | + | / |
| + | < | ||
| + | config | ||
| + | option name ' | ||
| + | option type ' | ||
| + | list ports 'eth0.1' | ||
| - | Alternatively, | + | config interface ' |
| + | option device ' | ||
| + | option proto ' | ||
| + | option ipaddr '192.168.1.2' | ||
| + | option netmask ' | ||
| + | </ | ||
| - | If you want to try that: in the '' | + | Alternatively, |
| / | / | ||
| < | < | ||
| + | config device | ||
| + | option name ' | ||
| + | option type ' | ||
| + | list ports ' | ||
| + | |||
| config interface ' | config interface ' | ||
| - | | + | option |
| - | | + | option proto ' |
| - | | + | |
| </ | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | Reboot the repeater to apply the new network settings. After it has restarted, remember to reconnect to the repeater via SSH on its new IP address. Keep in mind that the DHCP server is now disabled on its LAN network interface, so you might need to set a static IP address and subnet mask on the device you are using to configure the repeater. | ||
| **Note:** If you have set the LAN interface to use a dynamic IP address (DHCP client), you will need to search for the repeater' | **Note:** If you have set the LAN interface to use a dynamic IP address (DHCP client), you will need to search for the repeater' | ||
| - | It is time to setup the actual wireless link. Open the [[docs: | + | It is time to setup the actual wireless link. Open the [[docs: |
| + | |||
| + | Additionally, | ||
| + | |||
| + | **If you want to enable wireless access** to the repeater and, therefore, **to the main network and the Internet**, which you might want to do if your use case is **expanding the Wi-Fi coverage on your location, an additional wireless interface ('' | ||
| + | * Change the mode from '' | ||
| + | * Remove the '' | ||
| - | In this file, modify | + | In this new Wi-Fi interface on the repeater, the SSID and the secret key may be the same as the access |
| - | This is an example of the [[https:// | + | This is an example of the [[docs:guide-user:network:wifi:basic|/ |
| / | / | ||
| < | < | ||
| config wifi-device ' | config wifi-device ' | ||
| - | | + | option type ' |
| - | option | + | option |
| - | option | + | option |
| - | | + | option country 'US' |
| - | list ht_capab ' | + | |
| - | list ht_capab ' | + | |
| - | list ht_capab ' | + | |
| - | list ht_capab ' | + | |
| - | list ht_capab ' | + | |
| - | option txpower ' | + | |
| - | | + | |
| - | option channel ' | + | |
| - | option disabled '0' | + | |
| - | config wifi-iface | + | config wifi-iface |
| - | option device ' | + | option device ' |
| - | option network ' | + | option network ' |
| - | option mode ' | + | option mode ' |
| - | option wds ' | + | option ssid 'My WiFi' |
| - | option | + | option encryption ' |
| - | option encryption ' | + | option key ' |
| - | option key 'wireless-secret-password' | + | option wds ' |
| + | |||
| + | config wifi-iface ' | ||
| + | option | ||
| + | option network ' | ||
| + | option mode ' | ||
| + | option | ||
| + | option encryption ' | ||
| + | option key 'MyWiFiPassword' | ||
| </ | </ | ||
| - | See the [[docs: | + | See the [[docs: |
| Disconnect the repeater from the wired network and reboot it, for example, by using its power button. | Disconnect the repeater from the wired network and reboot it, for example, by using its power button. | ||
| - | The repeater should boot and connect automatically to the access point wirelessly. It may take a few minutes for the repeater to associate and connect to the access point. Once this has happened, and if you decided to enable the DHCP client on the LAN interface (dynamic address), the wired interface | + | The repeater should boot and connect automatically to the access point wirelessly |
| - | + | ||
| - | Any client devices connected to the repeater via an Ethernet cable (wired clients) should now be transparently bridged into the main network over the wireless (WDS) link. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | **If you want to enable wireless access** to the repeater and, therefore, **to the main network and the Internet**, which you might want to do if your use case is **expanding the Wi-Fi coverage on your location, an additional configuration step is required**. | + | |
| - | Create a new wireless interface. Create a new wifi-iface section in / | + | Any client devices connected to the repeater via an Ethernet cable (wired clients) should now be transparently connected into the main network over the wireless |
| ==== LuCI ==== | ==== LuCI ==== | ||