Some background
for some time i use a Mikrotik MAP2nd while traveling. the device is not perfect but it works.
there are 2 troubles with the device.
while there is no known upstream wifi. the wifi card isn't starting. (so i need a known wifi. or an laptop to get started)
the wifi isn't stable.
both have the same reason. the wifi card is in ap and client mode at the same time.
So i was looking for a small travel router with 2 network cards.
The AP mode can be 2,4ghz only (since i only need smal coverage however no harm in having 5ghz)
the client needs to be 2,4 and when possible also 5ghz
Also..
known wifi networks (like the travelmate packages)
3 vlans / ssid's (as far as i see not a problem)
ipsec tunnel. (strongswan will do)
so i was thinking
use a raspberry pi 4 with an aditional usb dongel
All i can read here is that people advice against usb dongels.
however i have used this Realtek dongel in AP mode without any issue's on raspbian for some time. and as far as is see i simply have no other options.
So the question is....
is it possible to use an usb dongel in openwrt at all?
I prefere the Realtek because of its size (and it is native supported in raspbian so drivers should not be that hard to find)
have travelmate up&running with the built in card. so far so good.
however would prefer a seperate card for the uplink.
when i plug in the dongel dmesg shows [ 9.331541] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8187 [ 9.341247] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8xxxu
however the device isn't showing up. (the dongle is remove from a rbp2 so it should work fine)
also the command lsusb isn't known. is there some kind of tool pack that i can install?
and we learned some more. found kernal log
changed the adapter as wel.
[ 273.331117] usb 1-1.3: new high-speed USB device number 6 using xhci_hcd
[ 273.437639] usb 1-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=0bda, idProduct=8172, bcdDevice= 2.00
[ 273.446024] usb 1-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[ 273.453358] usb 1-1.3: Product: RTL8191S WLAN Adapter
[ 273.458521] usb 1-1.3: Manufacturer: Manufacturer Realtek
[ 273.464023] usb 1-1.3: SerialNumber: 00e04c000001
[ 273.472184] r8712u: register rtl8712_netdev_ops to netdev_ops
[ 273.477954] usb 1-1.3: r8712u: USB_SPEED_HIGH with 4 endpoints
[ 273.484266] usb 1-1.3: r8712u: Boot from EFUSE: Autoload OK
[ 274.025941] usb 1-1.3: r8712u: CustomerID = 0x0000
[ 274.030758] usb 1-1.3: r8712u: MAC Address from efuse = 00:87:11:12:b1:d6
[ 274.037562] usb 1-1.3: r8712u: Loading firmware from "rtlwifi/rtl8712u.bin"
when i check ip a
8: wlan1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN group default qlen 1000
link/ether 00:87:11:12:b1:d6 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
so that looks good.
however in the gui there is no wlan1 device.
Since the external card has a larger antenne, i think it make sense to configure this as the wwan client / travelmate device.
i can use the internal card as ap (most of the time we use it inside hotels or smal houses. so do'nt need that much range)
iw list
Wiphy phy0
wiphy index: 0
max # scan SSIDs: 10
max scan IEs length: 2048 bytes
max # sched scan SSIDs: 16
max # match sets: 16
Retry short limit: 7
Retry long limit: 4
Coverage class: 0 (up to 0m)
Available Antennas: TX 0 RX 0
Supported interface modes:
* IBSS
* managed
* AP
* P2P-client
* P2P-GO
* P2P-device
Band 1:
Capabilities: 0x1022
HT20/HT40
Static SM Power Save
RX HT20 SGI
No RX STBC
Max AMSDU length: 3839 bytes
DSSS/CCK HT40
Maximum RX AMPDU length 65535 bytes (exponent: 0x003)
Minimum RX AMPDU time spacing: 16 usec (0x07)
HT TX/RX MCS rate indexes supported: 0-7
Frequencies:
* 2412 MHz [1] (20.0 dBm)
* 2417 MHz [2] (20.0 dBm)
* 2422 MHz [3] (20.0 dBm)
* 2427 MHz [4] (20.0 dBm)
* 2432 MHz [5] (20.0 dBm)
* 2437 MHz [6] (20.0 dBm)
* 2442 MHz [7] (20.0 dBm)
* 2447 MHz [8] (20.0 dBm)
* 2452 MHz [9] (20.0 dBm)
* 2457 MHz [10] (20.0 dBm)
* 2462 MHz [11] (20.0 dBm)
* 2467 MHz [12] (disabled)
* 2472 MHz [13] (disabled)
* 2484 MHz [14] (disabled)
Band 2:
Capabilities: 0x1062
HT20/HT40
Static SM Power Save
RX HT20 SGI
RX HT40 SGI
No RX STBC
Max AMSDU length: 3839 bytes
DSSS/CCK HT40
Maximum RX AMPDU length 65535 bytes (exponent: 0x003)
Minimum RX AMPDU time spacing: 16 usec (0x07)
HT TX/RX MCS rate indexes supported: 0-7
VHT Capabilities (0x00001020):
Max MPDU length: 3895
Supported Channel Width: neither 160 nor 80+80
short GI (80 MHz)
SU Beamformee
VHT RX MCS set:
1 streams: MCS 0-9
2 streams: not supported
3 streams: not supported
4 streams: not supported
5 streams: not supported
6 streams: not supported
7 streams: not supported
8 streams: not supported
VHT RX highest supported: 0 Mbps
VHT TX MCS set:
1 streams: MCS 0-9
2 streams: not supported
3 streams: not supported
4 streams: not supported
5 streams: not supported
6 streams: not supported
7 streams: not supported
8 streams: not supported
VHT TX highest supported: 0 Mbps
Frequencies:
* 5170 MHz [34] (disabled)
* 5180 MHz [36] (20.0 dBm)
* 5190 MHz [38] (disabled)
* 5200 MHz [40] (20.0 dBm)
* 5210 MHz [42] (disabled)
* 5220 MHz [44] (20.0 dBm)
* 5230 MHz [46] (disabled)
* 5240 MHz [48] (20.0 dBm)
* 5260 MHz [52] (disabled)
* 5280 MHz [56] (disabled)
* 5300 MHz [60] (disabled)
* 5320 MHz [64] (disabled)
* 5500 MHz [100] (disabled)
* 5520 MHz [104] (disabled)
* 5540 MHz [108] (disabled)
* 5560 MHz [112] (disabled)
* 5580 MHz [116] (disabled)
* 5600 MHz [120] (disabled)
* 5620 MHz [124] (disabled)
* 5640 MHz [128] (disabled)
* 5660 MHz [132] (disabled)
* 5680 MHz [136] (disabled)
* 5700 MHz [140] (disabled)
* 5720 MHz [144] (disabled)
* 5745 MHz [149] (20.0 dBm)
* 5765 MHz [153] (20.0 dBm)
* 5785 MHz [157] (20.0 dBm)
* 5805 MHz [161] (20.0 dBm)
* 5825 MHz [165] (20.0 dBm)
valid interface combinations:
* #{ managed } <= 1, #{ P2P-device } <= 1, #{ P2P-client, P2P-GO } <= 1,
total <= 3, #channels <= 2
* #{ managed } <= 1, #{ AP } <= 1, #{ P2P-client } <= 1, #{ P2P-device } <= 1,
total <= 4, #channels <= 1
max # scan plans: 1
max scan plan interval: 508
max scan plan iterations: 0
Supported extended features:
* [ 4WAY_HANDSHAKE_STA_PSK ]: 4-way handshake with PSK in station mode
* [ 4WAY_HANDSHAKE_STA_1X ]: 4-way handshake with 802.1X in station mode
* [ DFS_OFFLOAD ]: DFS offload
* [ SAE_OFFLOAD ]: SAE offload support
* [ 4WAY_HANDSHAKE_AP_PSK ]: AP mode PSK offload support
found out that the card is actualy working.
however it replace the on board wifi of the raspberry.
when the usb is plugged in the card is only 2,4ghz. when i unplug the card radio0 is supporting 2,4&5ghz (the on board card of the raspberry)
so how can i split them?
Move your /etc/config/wireless file to a backup, or just remove it. Then reboot with the USB adapter plugged in. When no /etc/config/wireless is found, the system should generate a new one by probing for all radios. Check that your new file has two radios.
