We have a wifi-capable modem/router from our ISP (Shaw/Rogers in Canada). It's called "Ignite WiFi Gateway (Gen 3) modem (XB8)" manufactured by "Technicolor".
Since the modem has better wifi, I'm considering switching from an Archer C7 v2 as wifi router to using the modem as a dumb wifi AP and then a Raspberry Pi with OpenWRT as the hard-wired router.
Can I use this modem / router in bridge mode with wifi enabled and configured? I'm not sure if it will let me configure the wifi and then set it into bridge mode.
How would I configure this type of setup? Will OpenWRT handle the traffic from the wifi part of the modem and then send it back to the modem? Will the modem know how to route that traffic to the ISP? Not sure if this will work with the wifi and the modem being in one device, but not using that device as a router.
Or, do I still need a separate dumb wifi AP (still use the Archer C7 v2), connect it to the RPi OpenWRT router, and then connect that to the modem (in non-wifi bridge mode)? If so, would I keep OpenWRT on the Archer C7 but configure it differently to get it working just as a dumb AP? How would I go about configuring that?
And just to add to the confusion I have another RPi running Pi-Hole and Unbound (for DNS) that I want to keep using.
Thanks, although that only appears to address my 2nd potential scenario. Is it possible to use the modem in the 1st scenario I described (modem as dumb wifi AP and ISP modem)?
The main issue is whether or not I can use the modem's wifi to receive packets which would then sent to the RPi router then back to the modem to be sent to the ISP. I don't think so, but that's what I'm curious about.
Assuming that you don't need the modem at all (i.e. you can plug your Pi with OpenWrt directly into the line from the ISP with no additional media conversion or modems required), you may be able to setup the ISP device as a basic bridged AP. It is out of scope for us to know what features and configurations are available on your ISP router, but if you can set the IP address of the lan interface of the modem and then also turn off the DHCP server, you should be able to achieve the general goal of using the ISP device as a wifi AP. It's like this: https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/wifiextenders/bridgedap
That said, if you require the modem to handle the incoming signal (that is to say it's not an ethernet line entering into the device), you probably cannot separate the wifi functionality from the modem.
looks like this is a cable modem so you can't actually replace it with the rpi router - only set it in bridge mode and then you won't be able to use its wifi at all
Yeah, I think it's not going to work. I'll probably just wind up getting in a new wifi router like the Flint 2 (GL-MT6000). Any thoughts on that device, by the way?