Belkin RT3200/Linksys E8450 WiFi AX discussion

For Developers
467

Actually I am not entirely certain. I will try to test further.

Has anyone tried setting up 2x RT3200 to extend wireless with Wi-Fi (not wired) link? I am contemplating purchasing another to test.

Is it known where the Wi-Fi aerials are located on the RT3200, i.e. which side when looking at the LEDs on the front? From my minimal testing it seems the coverage is influenced by the angle of rotation.

468

Thank you @nbd and @daniel, appreciate your effort on this. I will check this later today with latest snapahot.

469

I'm i'terrested too I think download packages
Mesh open ssl then for configuration I don't know :thinking::slightly_smiling_face:

470

With only two units I'd just run AP(WDS) - STA(WDS).

The wifi in these is not particularly strong.

The antennas are printed circuit dipoles mounted in the top of the case. The top of the motherboard and heatsink is only a little higher than the top Ethernet port, the rest is empty plastic except for antennas. Based on this arrangement I'd expect slightly better signal broadside to the unit, i.e. the other station facing its side panel, not the front or the back.

2 Likes
471

I've been able to enable 160MHz on the 5GHz band (DFS centered on 114) and then connect my second RT3200 radio to it using the full 160MHz channel.

2 Likes
472

I get my next week maybe i have fun with it. So in webconf i install snapshot sysupgrade not ubi one? or how that order to flash goes, luci have to install manualy once it connects to internet probably after flash haveto reset conf too.

473

I got 160Mhz to work in LuCi (channel 36). Just had to set country code.

For your 2x RT3200 are you using one as extender? I want to do this does it work well? What bandwidth can you achieve? Do you use WDS? Is it stable?

1 Like
474

If you really want it in a wireless extension mode, I'd recommend you go with BATMAN instead of WDS. Overall better support, and you can easily add further APs later on.

475

While you can theoretically run batman-adv also on AP-STA links, it is commonly used in mesh configurations, ie. IBSS/Ad-Hoc or 802.11s mesh mode without the forwarding part.
While this offers a great degree of freedom when it comes to topology, performance is much worse when compared to AP-STA links, for several reason but a big one is that many hardware offloading features are only available for AP-STA links (and hopefully all work well with WDS, ie. 4-addr-mode AP-STA links, as well).

3 Likes
476

Is the performance better than 80MHz with 160MHz compatible clients?

477

I've already order a second RT3200 about a week ago and itā€™s supposed to be delivered today.

I've been having difficulties upgrading via auc to the newest snapshot: radio1 disappears, the routerā€™s WAN interfaces are assigned IPs and pass diagnostic test, but the LAN interfaces canā€™t access the WAN, and the router becomes largely unresponsive, which makes it difficult to debug the issue. The CLI is responsive, but I didnā€™t expect to shutdown our network for an extended period, so I keep reverting back to r17351-9a79fe20e8 via the CLI, which works, but the kernel is incompatible with a fair number of packages Iā€™ve tried to install.

Iā€™m new to OpenWRT but have been using Unixes for years

Once I get my second RT3200, Iā€™ll be able to tinker with the new one without shutting down my entire householdā€™s inter- and intranet. Iā€™ll then post a dmesg and logread.

1 Like
478

Well I was going to pick one of these up. After reading this thread I think I will wate for a wile! Thanks for your hard work in getting OpenWrt running on these routers.

479

'netsh wlan show interfaces' reports significantly higher rates, but I haven't been able to test yet.

Has anyone been able to beat 20Mbyte/s between clients on WiFi? If so what is your config? I was able to reach 30Mbyte/s with Asus RT-AX86u (although that suffered from general weird instability issues and dropouts, whereas this RT3200 has been rock solid for me).

@tapper this router has been very stable for me so far.

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480

I can confirm that client to client communication is working with the latest snapshot. Thank you guys.

2 Likes
481

I am getting 20+ MB/s transfer over wifi but I won't be bothered about that as I get aroud 75+ MB/s between wired and wireless. This may differ based on the distance from the AP and the obstructions betweem AP and clients.

2 Likes
482

I'm using the second one as a WiFi bridge (client bridge). I'm trying not to mess with it too much at the moment.

483

A few posts above call into question the strength of the WiFi on this router, but this is the first router that covers the entirety of my three floor house and garden from a suboptimal location at one of the ends. And this is with 2.4Ghz set to 40Mhz width and 5Ghz set to 160Mhz (albeit zero interference). I am thinking I can get away with no extender for the first time.

I would still like to know how to beat 20Mbyte/s between WiFi clients.

For those operating in the US*, I suggest setting the country code to US for the increased transmit power.

*those not living in the US will simply have to resist the temptation of course.

2 Likes
484

yes is a good news you said than use 2.4 in 40mhz and 5ghz on 160mhz

is possible in france you think

i'm lost ot my configuration of wifi thanks

1 Like
485

Are these errors during boot okay? Im running UBI version from git, latest recovery is installed too

[    8.682861] mt7530 mdio-bus:00 lan1: Link is Down
[    8.692032] procd: - early -
[    8.695016] procd: - watchdog -
[    8.858248] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev mtdblock2, sector 256 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[    8.869681] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev mtdblock2, sector 256 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[    8.880219] Buffer I/O error on dev mtdblock2, logical block 32, async page read
[    9.157654] random: crng init done
[    9.231454] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev mtdblock2, sector 256 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[    9.242561] procd: - watchdog -
[    9.245025] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev mtdblock2, sector 256 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[    9.256245] Buffer I/O error on dev mtdblock2, logical block 32, async page read
[    9.266792] procd: - ubus -
[    9.325243] procd: - init -
[    9.656263] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev mtdblock2, sector 256 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[    9.669151] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev mtdblock2, sector 256 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[    9.679742] Buffer I/O error on dev mtdblock2, logical block 32, async page read
[    9.694038] urngd: v1.0.2 started.
486

Harmless.

1 Like