Failing to follow the guide on creating a guest network

[mlsfit138]

I'm following this guide: https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/guestwifi/guest-wlan-webinterface and it isn't really working out.

It starts going wrong at step one. We're instructed to go to the wifi page and click "new" next to the radio that you want your guests to use. There are some slight name changes, for instance my interface says "wireless", not "wifi", but that's superficial. The deeper problem is that the author uses the word "interface" here. So allegedly, when we hit that "new" button on the wifi page, we're creating a new "interface". I followed the directions here, but when I navigated to network/interfaces, the new interface does not appear here.

I pressed on at this point, manually created a new interface using the "add new interface" button at the bottom of the interface page. I used 192.168.2.1 (192.168.1.1 is taken by the private network AP) as the address, set 255.255.255.0 as the mask, setup DHCP using the default options, saved and applied.

Then I navigated BACK to that "interface" (that didn't show up under network/interfaces) that I created at the network/wireless page, edited it, and under "Interface Configuration" was able to select "GuestInterface" as my "network" (I'm not sure that was the right thing to do but I didn't get an error), saved and applied, then navigated BACK to the interfaces page to configure the firewall.

Under network/interfaces/guestInterface/firewall settings, I entered a new zone, called it guestZone, tried to save and apply, it times out after 30s, and gives me the option to dismiss, revert, or force. I chose dismiss.

I'm running stock 18.06, no packages installed, very little customization. What am I doing wrong? Why didn't my new interface show up under interfaces forcing me to manually create a new interface? Why does the operation time out when trying to create a guest zone?

I've chosen 3 names, the bssid is ssidGuest, the interface was guestInterface, the firewall zone was guestZone. Was that a mistake? I thought it would help me keep track of what I was doing better. If I just used the same name, I thought it would cause confusion, but maybe I needed to use the same name for interface and zone or something?

Sorry this is wordy, I'm just trying to include as much relevant information as possible. Thanks.

[mike]

@mlsfit138

I followed the directions here, but when I navigated to network/interfaces, the new interface does not appear here.

When making the new interface in Luci (network>wireless>interface configuration>general setup>network) there's a drop down menu to create the interface, after you've chosen the one you want to use and named it you have to hit Enter (or return on mac) and then Save and Apply to actually create the new interface, any other way will make it look like it's been created, but it actually won't be, at least that what sounds like what's happening, took me a few tries to realize that too when the new drop down menus were added in Luci.

[mlsfit138]

(I just restored from a crash after trying the "apply unchecked" option) LOL

Hmm, I think it actually was created, because it shows up under network/wireless. It just doesn't show up under network/interfaces. It makes me think that when I created the guest SSID, what I created wasn't actual an interface. (I should say that I don't know exactly what an "interface" is in this context) I should also say that I "enabled" it too. I think maybe that's what you had to do when you hit enter or return. Not sure though. Maybe I still haven't followed your directions correctly.

After the crash, I'm kind of starting over, so far I've followed step 1. In step one there is an image (the second image on the page) and it has a series of checboxes. The author has a checkbox called "guest" ticked. Is that an interface? It seems like the author actually did things in a different order. What is that "guest" network button, how and when did it get there? My only options are "lan" and "wan6". (it's a drop down, not a set of checboxes, but that probabably doesn't matter)

I think that the article is out of order or something. He must have created the interface at "network/interfaces" first. Then, created the bssid at wifi/overview/add. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had the option of selecting "guest" in the checkbox. I don't know why the whole process crashes when I try to add a new zone.

[mike]

The author has a checkbox called "guest" ticked. Is that an interface?

Yes, network and interface are essentially being used interchangeably, but that step is what creates the interface.

My only options are "lan" and "wan6". (it's a drop down, not a set of checboxes, but that probabably doesn't matter)

Right, in that drop down check the box next to create, then give it a name in the field next to create (i just used Guest here), then hit Enter (or return on mac), then Save and Apply and that's what creates the interface. Here's a screenshot of mine -

[mlsfit138]

Okay! Somehow I missed that, even though I did something similar elsewhere! Thank you!

I'll go through the rest of the guide and post if I have anymore problems.

BTW, this is a little off topic, but I've been around the Linux community for a long time, and surprisingly OpenWRT has the most positive, helpful community I've seen. Thank you!