Devices on network with AP

Installing and Using OpenWrt Network and Wireless Configuration
1

I set up a Netgear WNDR4300 using the relayd instructions on the site. All seems to be working well. My printer no longer has signal dropouts, etc because it uses the Netgear as an AP.
Side note: I have found devices that do not switch to the AP seem to have more reliable connections to the main xfinity gateway. Like the AP is boosting the signal.
The xfinity gateway lists the devices on the network, but I get strange readings. For example, it lists a device: Netgear - 10.0.0.155
However, 10.0.0.155 is the printer, connected to the Netgear AP. If I turn it off, the xfinity gateway goes back to displaying HP Envy - 10.0.0.155
It's like listing the AP and will show a random device connected to the AP as the IP and the devices connected to the AP do not show in the gateway list of connected network devices.
I install an app that lists all devices, and if the tablet is connected to the main network, it displays devices connected to main network in black text and AP devices grayed out - not connected, and if I switch tablet to use the AP and run the app again, it reverses, all AP connected devices are black text and main gateway devices are "not connected"...
Is that normal with an AP connection or there is something I should change ?

Thank you.

2

Did you configure the Netgear with this address? If so, make sure that each device has its own unique address. But my guess is that you didn’t overlap IP addresses and that what you’re seeing is a side effect of relayd.

Relayd is a bit of a hack, but is a necessary method if you are unable to use a wire (best option) or wds/mesh 802.11s (which will only work if the main router is also OpenWrt).

3

No, Printer static IP 10.0.0.155
Netgear Info from LuCI as configured how it was suggested in a previous post...
Interfaces>>Bridge: 10.0.0.3
Interfaces>>lan
Screenshot 2024-10-01 125429

Interfaces>>wwan

Screenshot 2024-10-01 125729
Screenshot 2024-10-01 125729514×619 13.3 KB

I was trying to avoid spending $120 for a WiFi Pod from XFinity. The signal is weird in the condo (built in 80s) and I had the Netgear router just collecting dust. :slight_smile: I will just live with it. I thought I set up something wrong because I also have an extender at 10.0.0.99 (SSID: MB_Print) and my 3D printer connected to that using 10.0.0.196 and both show up as WiFi connections in the Xfinity gateway interface.

Thanks,
Mike

4

Perhaps this:

openwrt relayd changes mac address. please fix

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

In OpenWRT, when using relayd to set up a bridge for a wireless extender, it can cause client devices to appear with the MAC address of the relay device, leading to issues such as devices being assigned new IPs or having trouble connecting. This occurs because relayd operates at layer 3 (IP routing) rather than layer 2 (transparent Ethernet bridging).