I have a Linksys WRT 3200ACM and been using openwrt for a while without any issues. I would now like to extend WiFi coverage to another part of the house. I have run a cable to the other room and purchased a GL.iNet GLB-1300. Question now is :
Should I use WDS for the setup? Some of the discussions mention it to be an old method and slow. Will this even work with the hardware combination I have?
Or should I use mesh networking as the second radio on the WRT3200 is sitting dormant which I could use for the uplink? The Ethernet cable run would go to waste Iām guessing with this option and Iām not sure if the clients would be able to use the 5GHz radio on the GL.iNet AP since it is being used for uplink.
Or should I simply use bridge mode in some shape or form? I read somewhere that the second AP simply needs to have identical WiFi config and clients will attach to the strongest signal.
Using wired Ethernet is the best option since you have the cable. Bridging the wired interface with the wireless interface is done automatically by openwrt when you choose "Bridge interfaces" in Physical settings, and you use the interface as network in the wireless configuration.
I think you are looking for fast BSS transition (802.11r).
Hi,
I have netgear r7800 and extender Netgear_EX6150v2.
I was wondering how can i extend r7800 wifi AP using extender... (i dont want to plug ethernet cable to extender).
Does latest openwrt supports mesh? I was thinking that extender connects to r7800 AP as client, and will extend wifi with the exactly same SSID as r7800 AP. Is that possible / doable?
No, r has nothing to do with mesh.
s is for mesh, i.e. for AP interconnection, r is for clients to better switch between APs, regardless of how APs are interconnected.
Generally, we setup a mesh between 2 or more OpenWrt devices, so we abstract from specific device models.
Since both mentioned devices are supported by OpenWrt, you can start from this: https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/mesh/80211s