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| docs:guide-user:network:wifi:dumbap [2021/09/14 00:55] – [Disable Daemons Persistently] double-quote darksky2 | docs:guide-user:network:wifi:dumbap [2024/02/01 19:55] – [Wireless Access Point (aka "Dumb" Access Point)] intro should be concise palebloodsky | ||
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| - | ====== Wireless Access Point / Dumb Access Point / Dumb AP ====== | + | ====== Wireless Access Point (aka "Dumb" |
| - | {{section> | + | This page describes how to configure your device as a //wireless access point (AP)//, sometimes called a //" |
| + | |||
| + | One common reason for this is to add additional wireless coverage to an existing network, maybe on a different floor or to cover a wireless dead spot. This setup is sufficient for small home or office network, but for larger networks a more sophisticated approach is often used. | ||
| <WRAP box> | <WRAP box> | ||
| - | **Summary:** This document describes how to create | + | Summary |
| - | that extends a network that already has a "main router". | + | - The wireless AP is connected LAN-to-LAN to the main router |
| - | It's called | + | - The wireless AP bridges its SSID wireless interface onto its LAN bridge interface. Wireless traffic on the wireless AP goes to its bridge LAN interface, then to the main router. |
| - | Here are the basics | + | - The wireless AP bridge LAN may have either |
| + | - The wireless AP gateway IP address is set to the address | ||
| + | - The wireless AP does not provide DHCP service, DNS resolution, or a firewall. | ||
| + | </ | ||
| - | The result is a bridged LAN (no internal subnets) that will work fine for home and small networks. | + | {{section> |
| - | People can connect to the Dumb AP over Ethernet or Wi-Fi (using the configured SSID/ | + | |
| - | //Note: The term "Dumb Access Point" appears | + | ===== External Videos for Reference ===== |
| - | </WRAP> | + | |
| + | Several videos are available on the topic which may be useful for background information.\\ | ||
| + | Bare in mind they are somewhat outdated and generally do not take into account everything. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Using OpenWrt v21 with DSA example: | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{youtube> | ||
| + | |||
| + | Two videos which are outdated but explain firewall and APs: | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{youtube> | ||
| + | {{youtube> | ||
| + | |||
| + | WiFi roaming is much improved in newer mobile devices so configuring Fast Roaming, aka 802.11r, may not be required.\\ | ||
| + | This video can be misleading as 802.11r has nothing to do with mesh networking. | ||
| + | {{youtube> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== Configuration via LuCI ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | These instructions refer to the interface found in OpenWrt 23.05. The interface of v21 upwards differs in significant ways from earlier versions of OpenWrt which we try to account for... but no guarantees. | ||
| + | |||
| + | This setup requires two routers, a computer with an Ethernet port, and an Ethernet cable. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Disconnect | ||
| + | Use an Ethernet cable to connect your computer to one of the LAN ports (not the // | ||
| + | If you use a notebook, turn off WiFi while configuring your AP to only have one IP connection, a wired one, to your " | ||
| + | From a browser, navigate to LuCI by going to http://192.168.1.1. Login. Change the admin password if necessary.\\ | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{: | ||
| + | |||
| + | Go to // | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{: | ||
| + | |||
| + | It is best to configure the wireless AP to use DHCP to obtain an address from the main router,\\ | ||
| + | but this guide will show how to do it the alternative way - by configuring | ||
| + | |||
| + | Give the wireless AP an IP address "next to" your main router.\\ | ||
| + | By default, the main router will have an address of 192.168.1.1, so use 192.168.1.2. (or something like that.) \\ | ||
| + | The address should be on the same subnet as your main router but out of the DHCP range used when assigning addresses to connected devices.\\ | ||
| + | By default, that means the wireless AP router IP should be between 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.100.\\ | ||
| + | If you're adding multiple wireless APs, you could use 192.168.1.3, | ||
| + | Save and apply the new IP address. | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{: | ||
| + | |||
| + | A warning screen will apear because you changed the routers IP to 192.168.1.2. Press "Apply and keep settings". | ||
| + | |||
| + | Navigate back to the address you assigned in the previous step (say, http:// | ||
| + | Make sure your browser uses the new IP address you assigned in the previous step. \\ | ||
| + | Why? Because in the next step, the gateway needs to be changed to point to the main router, and LuCI will not allow you to change the gateway to 192.168.1.1 while the wireless | ||
| + | If things are not working as expected, unplug the network cable from your computer for 10 seconds and plug in again. The currently still active DHCP Server on your wirless AP will then reasign | ||
| + | |||
| + | Login in your router and go back to //Network -> Interfaces//, | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{: | ||
| + | |||
| + | Change the IPv4 gateway to point to your main router, 192.168.1.1 by default. | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{: | ||
| + | |||
| + | Use the main router (192.168.1.1) for DNS. Same page but the //Advanced Settings// tab. Enter the IP of your main router in the //Use custom DNS servers// field and click //+//. | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{: | ||
| + | |||
| + | Use the main router for DHCP (and disable DHCP for the Wireless | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{: | ||
| + | |||
| + | Disable IPv6 DHCP. Same page, //DHCP Server// tab again, but click on the //IPv6 Settings// sub-tab. | ||
| + | **In versions of OpenWrt older than 21.02.0: | ||
| + | Press " | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{: | ||
| + | |||
| + | On the " | ||
| + | Most important steps are done, your wireless AP works!\\ | ||
| - | ===== Configuration via OpenWrt Web Interface LUCI ===== | + | Review next steps for some fine tuning, enable WLAN or even add a Guest Network:\\ |
| - | Of course | + | If you plan to add a " |
| - | Once you have configured | + | **do not** do the next steps regarding turning off services labeled // |
| - | - Disconnect the (soon-to-be) Dumb AP from your network, and connect your computer to it with an Ethernet cable. | + | Deleting |
| - | - Use the web interface to go to Network -> Interfaces and select the LAN interface.\\ | + | |
| - | - Enter an IP address "next to" your main router on the field "IPv4 address" | + | - To save resources on the wireless AP router, disable unneeded services. |
| - | - Then switch to "DHCP Server" | + | |
| - | - Click "IPv6 Settings" | + | - //Note that by default OpenWrt does not enable wireless access.// So, from a default installation, |
| - | - Under " | + | Click the //Save and Apply// button.\\ |
| - | - In the top menu go to System -> Startup, and disable | + | |
| - | - Click the Save and Apply button. Hard-Restart your router if you're not able to connect anymore.\\ | + | |
| - | | + | |
| - | - Use an Ethernet to connect one of the LAN ports on your main router to one of the LAN/switch ports of your " | + | |
| - | - You are done.\\ | + | |
| + | Use an Ethernet cable to connect one of the LAN ports on your main router to one of the LAN ports (**not** the // | ||
| + | You may need to reboot or power cycle either or both routers, the device connecting your main router to the Internet, and potentially any connected devices. | ||
| + | Done!\\ | ||
| ===== Configuration via OpenWrt command line tools ===== | ===== Configuration via OpenWrt command line tools ===== | ||
| Line 65: | Line 143: | ||
| </ | </ | ||
| - | Switch configuration on WR1043ND (barrier breaker): | + | Switch configuration on WR1043ND (barrier breaker). |
| < | < | ||
| Line 93: | Line 171: | ||
| option ifname | option ifname | ||
| option proto ' | option proto ' | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Switch and dedicated WAN devices post 21.01 === | ||
| + | The syntax is slightly different for these devices. You will notice that there is a config device which lists the ethernet port(s) assigned to an interface (in this case the br-lan). It will also list the assigned port under the "list ports" clause. The gotcha here is that you must add a separate line for each "list ports" added to a device. If you try to add them to one "list ports" entry space or comma separated it will not work properly. Finally you can remove/ | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | option name ' | ||
| + | option type ' | ||
| + | list ports ' | ||
| + | list ports ' | ||
| + | |||
| + | config interface ' | ||
| + | option device ' | ||
| + | option proto ' | ||
| + | option netmask ' | ||
| + | option ipaddr ' | ||
| </ | </ | ||
| Line 147: | Line 240: | ||
| < | < | ||
| / | / | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==== Step 6: Disable wpa_supplicant (if no STA WiFi interfaces) ==== | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| ===== Apply changes ===== | ===== Apply changes ===== | ||
| - | Reloading the network config should be enough, it should automatically restart if necessary. | + | Reloading the network config should be enough, it should automatically restart if necessary. Or just reboot. |
| < | < | ||
| Line 165: | Line 262: | ||
| option reqprefix ' | option reqprefix ' | ||
| </ | </ | ||
| + | |||
| ===== Disable Daemons Persistently ===== | ===== Disable Daemons Persistently ===== | ||
| - | Note that although the start-up of daemons such as firewall, dnsmasq, and optionally odhcpd have been set to disabled, when a new image is flashed to the device, they will be re-enabled. | + | Note that although the start-up of daemons such as firewall, dnsmasq, |
| < | < | ||
| # these services do not run on dumb APs | # these services do not run on dumb APs | ||
| Line 174: | Line 272: | ||
| / | / | ||
| fi | fi | ||
| - | done</ | + | done |
| - | ===== Multicast | + | |
| + | rm / | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== Populate Hostnames in Associated Stations ===== | ||
| + | Dumb APs will not have the data to display hostnames of the associated devices. | ||
| + | |||
| + | On the router, one can extract this data with the following one-liner: | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | < dhcp.leases | awk ' | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | See the following discussion threads for additional approaches: | ||
| + | * Using fping to populate ethers file: https:// | ||
| + | * An improved fping approach: https:// | ||
| + | * Propagating dhcp.leases to secondary (dumb) access points: https:// | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | ===== Multicast ===== | ||
| - | DLNA and UPnP clients and printer or SMB discovery protocols | + | DLNA and UPnP clients, and printer or SMB discovery protocols tend to work by using multicast packets. For example |
| On WiFi the //slowest// modulation available is used for multicast packets (so that everyone can hear them). If you have " | On WiFi the //slowest// modulation available is used for multicast packets (so that everyone can hear them). If you have " | ||
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| ==== Notes: ==== | ==== Notes: ==== | ||
| - | * //The Dumb AP wireless can be configured to control access as Open/ | + | * //Dumb AP wireless can be configured to control access as Open/ |
| * //' | * //' | ||
| * //This recipe is similar to the " | * //This recipe is similar to the " | ||
| * //Firewall bridge mode support in OpenWrt is provided by the [[packages: | * //Firewall bridge mode support in OpenWrt is provided by the [[packages: | ||