Openwrt Onemesh
Andreas Mbili
Although after Open WRT installation router signal is better, there are still some spots in my apartment with low signal coverage. Too much concrete in the walls. So, I need to add TP-Link RE 300 device in mesh configuration. Since there is no OpenWRT version for that extender, is there a way that I could Mesh TP-Link RE300 using manufacturer's official firmware with my Archer C7 Router that has OpenWrt 19.07.5 r11257-5090152ae3 / LuCI openwrt-19.07 branch git-20.363.66498-eb2cc80 installed?
I have come to the same problem, and as far is I know everywhere I search about this matter ends up on that TP-Link has done the mesh setup on their own way (not over the standards of the industry)
So there is pretty much no chance to replicate the OneMesh setup on OpenWrt so the range extender thinks that it still talks to a TP-Link original setup router.
Some people has cut some corners and they installed OpenWrt firmware on their range extenders so they can setup a mesh network with OpenWrt ways, unfortunately this isn't my case because since I have two RE205 v3.0 that there is no firmware support for them on OpenWrt. Also I have tried with some old TL-WA855RE v2 since there is a firmware of OpenWrt but for the v1 version but without any luck yet.
I have a TP link router Archer C1200 ( -link.com/fr/home-networking/wifi-router/archer-c1200/) and a TP link Archer C6 ( -link.com/fr/home-networking/wifi-router/archer-c6/). I would like to use one router as principal router, and the other one to expand my wifi network with an ethernet cable between these two devices for better stability. For now, I am using the original TP-Link firmware for both devices, and I am wondering if it will be a good idea to go for OpenWRT. However, only the archer C6 is compatible with this alternative firmware, the AC1200 isn't
I am a little bit confusing with the mesh configuration, B.A.T.M.A.N option, and 802.11s protocol which seems to be related to mesh configuration. I understood the basics principals between repeater, access point, and mesh configuration. For now, I have used my C1200 as principal router, and the Archer C6 as access point. I have use the same SSID for both routers, but I am not sure that this configuration is the best for roaming and stable wifi. For all, I am not sure to be able to mount a mesh configuration as only one of my router is compatible with OpenWRT ? But it can be an excuse to buy another compatible router
You don't need a mesh setup for this. You just configure your second router as a "Dumb AP" (eg. -user/network/wifi/dumbap). Since you have an ethernet cable for the backhaul this is generally simpler and more performant than mesh.
Oh - I forgot to add. Things are a little more complicated if you want to extend multiple SSIDs to the second AP (such as a guest wlan or an IoT wifi). These will need to be bridged with VLANs over the link between the APs.
When u want to have guest wifi, you should use VLAN tagging on the Ethernet ports.
Both routers should have OpenWRT - most other router OS wont support mutli-ssid and also no vlan. Also when they support wifi mesh, the use there own proprietary mesh protocol (like AVM does).
The Dumb AP with openwrt on the C1200 solution will work fine even if 802.11r is not possible. However, you will get short service interruptions when your devices switch between APs. This is noticeable, for example, as a short freeze if you are video conferencing while the device roams onto another AP. I and my family found this perfectly acceptable before I discovered 802.11r :-). In any case, not all clients support 802.11r.
Just remember to setup the wifi on your C1200 to use the same ssid and password as the C6 and use a different channel to the C6 (to minimise interference), either by manually setting the channels or leaving it set at "auto".
I have configured my Archer c6 as access point with the original tplink firmware. Is the openwrt dump AP mode is different from the one of TP-link? Or can I simply stay with the actual access point mode from TP-link?
However, between my principal router (Archer C6) and the AP (Archer c1200), the smartphone didn't seem to switch to the other network when the signal is low. I need to disable the wifi on my smartphone for example and enable it again, and then, it choose the strongest signal. But it didn't do it automatically
Yes, unfortunately that is normal. If you have a a lot of overlap between the coverage area of the router, then you get this. Most phones will persist with a weaker, but adequate signal on an established ssid connection rather than roaming over to the stronger signal. This is still the case if you use 802.11r as well.
Another simple and quite effective approach is to reduce the signal strength of your routers to reduce the area of overlap. You can usually do this without impacting on throughput (which is what really matters). If you do this I recommend using a wifi analyser (eg. Net Analyzer) on android to check you don't have any interference from neighbouring wifi. This actually worked quite well for me.
If you are using openwrt (I don't know about the tp-link firmware), you can also use the "distance" option to reduce the max distance from the router that the device will respond to "ACKs", which causes devices to be kicked off if they are too far away. How effective this will be depends on your router, how far apart the routers are etc.
I am started working on TL-WR1043ND router to upgrade the existing firmware with the openwrt firmware.
I am able to generate the openwrt firmware file "openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr1043nd-v3-squashfs-factory.bin" and flashed successfully.
1. wireless interface "wlan0" by default is was down and not in AP functional.
2. I try to configure the wireless interface as mesh point by using the below commands, By run these commands I am able to see the mesh interface "mesh0" but it's not functional. I mean not even single packet is going onto the air.
It's hard to find information for mesh on OpenWrt. This is the config I use in /etc/config/wireless. Note that this is not encrypted as I've not found documentation on how to do it properly. Put this on both routers and the LAN's should be connected together via the mesh. Make sure you have compiled in mesh support. Mine routers use MAC80211 drivers and it's located at Kernel modules-->Wireless Drivers-->kmod-mac80211
I ended up installing a snapshot version of openwrt and getting a fully configured 802.11r, 802.11s and VLAN setup working. I have four of these two configure, so I wrote extensive notes. I will post them here when I have a bit more time. I will say that the new driver for the chipset in snapshot openwrt works so much better. It presents the two LAN ports properly and it appears to also be much faster. I was able to get over 400mbs via iperf3 to my router which is the limit of my backbone to the router. I need to install iperf3 on something attached to the same switch and see what I can get.
My requirements are 802.11r, 802.11s, and mesh routing with wired backhaul when available. This writeup has not tested wired backhaul. The most recent openwrt at the time of this writing does not have a great driver for the chipset in a GL-iNet B1300. The development release does. These are steps I followed:
service network reload. This will activate your port on an IP that you can download software and the like with. You will now need to plug in the B1300 into a switch connected ultiumately to the internet and that can route the IPs you just entered.
Change the device to be br-lan.. should be a tagged VLAN on your switch that has the static IP address you configured as part of the VLAN. Check bring up on boot too. Give everything a look over. Click save.
The main thing is to connect it to the br_lan. interface you want to use to for the VLAN that will carry your wireless. I am going to put a management IP on here for now using DHCP, but I may remove it in the future, or make a maintenance ESSID with a different password and attach a management IP there, etc. Right now I want to keep things simple. Create the interface, bring up on boot, Save. Remember that most options like dhcp server, etc, do not matter to me. That will all just work. Save+apply.
Oh, one thing I keep forgetting. I was using an IP on VLAN 15 to do my edits when I was conneected directly to the device. However, now that they are deployed, I need to use a management IP on the VLAN associated with wireless (14 in my case).
In System, Startup, disable dnsmasq (a dhcp server) and firewall and stop the services if you have an external router that provides these services. I forgot those two steps, and they caused quite the mystery for a bit.
Another issue: I mentioned at one time using wired backhauls and mesh. It appears that you really do not want to set up two devices with wired connections AND mesh them together. It looks like a I created a layer two loop and/or macaddr flapping on some of my switches and created a real mess. Instead, I will use different meshids if I need to connect other APs using wireless mesh so I can avoid L2 loops.
A highly recommended debugging technique when working with multiple access points with the same SSID is to define extra SSIDs unique to each. Saves you the trouble of knowing what you are connected to, etc. I prefixed all the special SSIDS with S-. So, S-mymesh-D24 and S-mymesh-D5 for the AP in the den, 2.4ghz and 5ghz. Should make signal strength analyzing much easier when I get to that point.
At one point, my Wifi dropped offline, and I thought I broke the main system. It was just an AP I was working on that I forgot was turned on, but not actually connected. A few tests to the S- SSIDs showed this very quickly.
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