Archer C7 v5 opkg fails & setting up 802.11s

Hallo,

I have OpenWrt running on a Linksys WRT1900ACS for quite a while now (currently on 19.07.2 ) and am planning to replace my other Wifi units (AVM FritzBoxes and Linksys E1700 (unfortunately unusable with OpenWrt) with more OpenWrt-capable hardware.
I've ordered a TP-Link Archer C7 v5 (AC1750) some days ago, installed OpenWrt and tried a lot to get it running smoothly. I am trying to set up 802.11s ("mesh") when getting 2 more devices, but currently I am struggeling with setting up the first one correct. It even fails to work properly itself, something I did not experience with the Linksys device.

Problem on TP-Link Archer C7 v5: opkg update fails with Failed to establish connection Failed to download the package list from http://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/19.07.3/targets/ath79/generic/packages/Packages.gz regardless if it is connected via WAN or one of the LAN ports. If it is connected to the WAN port, I do not have internet access on my connected notebook (also LAN), but https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-quick-start/troubleshooting_internetconnectivity states that the WAN port should be used.

Settings:

cat /etc/config/network 

config interface 'loopback'
	option ifname 'lo'
	option proto 'static'
	option ipaddr '127.0.0.1'
	option netmask '255.0.0.0'

config globals 'globals'
	option ula_prefix 'fd5a:1234:5678::/48' #obfuscated

config interface 'lan'
	option type 'bridge'
	option ifname 'eth0.1'
	option proto 'static'
	option netmask '255.255.255.0'
	option ip6assign '60'
	option ipaddr '192.168.27.201'

config device 'wan_eth0_2_dev'
	option name 'eth0.2'
	option macaddr 'b0:ab:ab:ab:ab:de'#obfuscated

config switch
	option name 'switch0'
	option reset '1'
	option enable_vlan '1'

config switch_vlan
	option device 'switch0'
	option vlan '1'
	option ports '0t 2 3 4 5 1'
	option vid '1'

Because I want to set up mesh / 802.11s later (based on this guide (German)) I have removed the 2. VLAN, WAN & WAN6 interface. I have also installed ath10k-firmware-qca988x kmod-ath10k wpad, according to OpenWrt 19.07.2 service release.

Currently I am trying to understand what I misconfigured, so e.g. opkg is unable to connect, the next step would be setting up 802.11s...

Thanks in advance for any help!

Hi,
you must uninstall the *-ct versions of wifi-driver and also the correspondending kernel module. You need internet access trough wire to do so.

Opkg remove ath10k-firmware-qca988x-ct kmod-ath10k-ct
Opkg install ath10k-firmware-qca988x kmod-ath10k

just from brain, don't blame me for mistakes.

Gotthard

I have done this already as it was mentioned by you in OpenWrt 19.07.2 service release. I've removed the *-ct version and downloaded the correct packages with wget on a connected device and scp'ed them to the router, installed via okpg install packagename. It was https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/19.07.3/packages/mips_24kc/base/ath10k-firmware-qca988x_2019-10-03-d622d160-1_mips_24kc.ipk and https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/19.07.3/targets/ath79/generic/packages/kmod-ath10k_4.14.180+4.19.120-1-1_mips_24kc.ipk
Still: opkg on the router fails with the above errors, I am not even close to start setting up the mesh network.

To connect to the Internet as a LAN device you need to set option gateway and option dns in the LAN configuration. Gateway is your main router's IP (192.168.27.1 ?) and usually it works to also DNS through the main router.

Thanks for that! Now my config looks like this:

config interface 'loopback'
	option ifname 'lo'
	option proto 'static'
	option ipaddr '127.0.0.1'
	option netmask '255.0.0.0'

config globals 'globals'
	option ula_prefix 'fd5a:1234:5678::/48' #obfuscated

config interface 'lan'
	option type 'bridge'
	option ifname 'eth0.1'
	option proto 'static'
	option netmask '255.255.255.0'
	option ip6assign '60'
	option ipaddr '192.168.27.201'
	option gateway '192.168.27.1'
	list dns '192.168.27.48'

config device 'wan_eth0_2_dev'
	option name 'eth0.2'
	option macaddr 'b0:ab:ab:ab:ab:de'#obfuscated

config switch
	option name 'switch0'
	option reset '1'
	option enable_vlan '1'

config switch_vlan
	option device 'switch0'
	option vlan '1'
	option vid '1'
	option ports '0t 2 3 4 5'

config switch_vlan
	option device 'switch0'
	option vlan '2'
	option ports '0t 1'
	option vid '2'

So I had to set up the second VLAN again, otherwise opkg would fail again after reboot. When adding WAN and WAN6 as interfaces, nothing worked anymore. I have to use one of the LAN ports again, which is not really a problem.
So now I can start again to set up mesh. Thanks!

Is this mesh already?
Note: I know, it's just one node yet, I have to set up all the others to really have a mesh network, but I just want to know if my configuration is already correct.

cat /etc/config/wireless 

config wifi-device 'radio0'
	option type 'mac80211'
	option channel '36'
	option hwmode '11a'
	option path 'pci0000:00/0000:00:00.0'
	option htmode 'VHT80'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
	option device 'radio0'
	option network 'lan'
	option mode 'ap'
	option key 'MYPASSWORD'
	option ieee80211w '2'
	option ssid 'MYSSID5'
	option encryption 'sae'

config wifi-device 'radio1'
	option type 'mac80211'
	option channel '11'
	option hwmode '11g'
	option path 'platform/ahb/18100000.wmac'
	option htmode 'HT20'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio1'
	option device 'radio1'
	option network 'lan'
	option mode 'ap'
	option key 'MYPASSWORD'
	option ieee80211w '2'
	option ssid 'MYSSID'
	option encryption 'sae'

config wifi-iface 'mesh0'
	option network 'lan'
	option mesh_rssi_threshold '0'
	option key 'MYPASSWORD'
	option encryption 'sae'
	option device 'radio0'
	option mode 'mesh'
	option mesh_fwding '1'
	option mesh_id 'MYMESHID5'

config wifi-iface 'mesh1'
	option network 'lan'
	option mesh_rssi_threshold '0'
	option key 'MYPASSWORD'
	option encryption 'sae'
	option device 'radio1'
	option mode 'mesh'
	option mesh_fwding '1'
	option mesh_id 'MYMESHID'

What I do not understand: https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/mesh/80211s says "Access by client devices is achieved by bridging the 'ap' and the 'mesh' interfaces." So should I change mesh1 from option network 'lan' to somethin else and if yes: to what?
Shouldn't I see and connect to MYMESHID from my mobile device? Both default_radio1 and mesh1 are enable, but only default_radio1 => MYSSID is visible. Isn't it still just dumb_ap?

I now understand that 802.11s wasn't the right solution for me, but 802.11r. So know I have changed my ap to the following:

config wifi-iface 'wifi0'
	option device 'radio0'
	option network 'lan'
	option mode 'ap'
	option key 'MYPASSWORD'
	option ssid 'MYSSID'
	option ieee80211w '1'
	option ft_psk_generate_local '1'
	option ft_over_ds '1'
	option ieee80211r '1'
	option encryption 'psk2'

Handover seems to work really fast, even with an additional ap on the same radio (for other purposes).

Thanks again!

This topic was automatically closed 10 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.