Bought TP-Link RE450v2, should i exchange for a v1

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

Hello folks, brand new OpenWRT user here!
Successfully running on Netgear R7800 and wanted to add a simple AP and a TP-Link RE450 seemed sensible.
I ended up with a v2, and it looks like it has only snapshot support.
So, i have basically 3 options:

  1. Take a chance with a snapshot build
  2. Wait for official support
  3. Take it back to the store and see if it can be exchanged for a v1 unit. (I do think i saw some on the shelf)

Thoughts?

2

"Release" support is, in my opinion, overrated. 19.07 should be out sometime in the next couple of months as well. Unless there is a significant hardware advantage to the v1, I'd stick with the v2.

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Something of a "push" to me, 64 MB RAM will be a problem in a couple years, but the v2 has a slightly faster processor. Personally, I prefer devices with at least 16 MB of flash and at least 128 MB of RAM.

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3

Cool, thanks!
I figured for $59 it was a good deal. (still think it is, once the software version is figured out)

Question about the snapshot builds. In the snapshot tree https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/ar71xx/generic/
i can see an image for re450-v1 but not v2.
Which image is suitable? the v1 ?

4

Look at https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/ath79/generic/ instead, ar71xx is deprecated.

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5

Thanks! Awesome!
I will totally try that build

6

yes, exchange it for v1 if you can

7

So, I did go exchange it for a v1 unit.
I installed 18.06.4 and that worked well.
Wired to my hub, gave the GigE a useful IP.
I brought up the 5GHz interface on a channel (120 i think) and set 40MHz
Gave it the same SSID and WPA settings as my R7800.
My iPhone seemeed to switch just fine between the RE450 and R7800 when I disabled various radios, but my laptop on Windows7 had all kinds of problems. I was never able to get that guy talking to the RE450/5GHz while the R7800/5GHz was down.

The RE450 wasn't able to do a radio0/5GHz scan when set to channel 120. is channel 120 problematic in general (I'm in the US)

I'll keep testing with my various Rokus and such.

8

"Wasn't able to do" or "rejected operation on channel 120"?

Looking at the logs in LuCI or with logread should be able to differentiate between the two.

9

Looks like 120 is a bad combo with 40MHz width. 118 or 126 looks better
The scan just never completed and never produced a matrix of neighbor stations as the 2.4GHz scan did.
I haven't looked at the logs for it, i will when i get back home

10

hostap is pretty picky about things when it comes to channel width and "base" channel.

Based on that and http://www.revolutionwifi.net/revolutionwifi/2013/03/80211ac-channel-planning.html (without looking at the hostap sources), I'd guess that "116" would be the 40-MHz channel that utilizes the 120 slot.

11

I'm getting confused by the channel pairing from various sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels#5_GHz_(802.11a/h/j/n/ac/ax) says 40MHz centered on 118
http://www.revolutionwifi.net/revolutionwifi/2013/03/80211ac-channel-planning.html says the same thing

Are they using the central (=118) or lower (=116) for the 40MHz channel that uses 116,118,120?

12

The hostap sources are what determine what the "base" channel needs to be.

http://w1.fi/cgit/hostap/tree/src/common/hw_features_common.c?h=hostap_2_9#n87

int allowed_ht40_channel_pair(struct hostapd_hw_modes *mode, int pri_chan,
			      int sec_chan)
{
	int ok, first;
	int allowed[] = { 36, 44, 52, 60, 100, 108, 116, 124, 132, 140,
			  149, 157, 165, 184, 192 };
13

Awesome! Thanks! I think I have it figured out. I will make base channel 108 to use the non-overlapping 40MHz channel covering 108,110,112.
It seems the 120 is close to radar block so i will try 108.

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14

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