Installing Wireless Distribution System (WDS)

There is a WiKi Page which describes how to do this. However, in the section Access Point (& then 3 paras down) , it says this:

Note that there may be multiple wifi-iface sections in this file, especially if the router is a dual band device, in which case you need to ensure that you're editing the correct section.

Unfortunately, it fails to offer any advice on which is the correct section! I suspect that almost all modern devices will be dual-band these days (late 2020) resulting in a file with ...

config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'

... and

config wifi-iface 'default_radio1'

... in it.

Which section should I use "radio0", "radio1" or both?

Regards, Martin

It is up to you. Usually the uplink to the internet is the 2,4GHz and the 5GHz band is used for access point.

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Yes, I know. But what are the issues?

If I add ...
option wds '1'
... to "radio0", I'm guessing only radio0 will take part in WDS?

But what happens if I add it to both "radio0" & "radio1"? Is it exclusive?
What happens if both radios are using the same SSID and only one radio has the wds=1 option added?

One way to find a possible answer it to try it? But at the head of the WiKi is a dire warning about the possibility of bricking the router if you get the instructions wrong!

Regards, M.

WDS is a per interface feature, not per radio. Configure it in the wifi-iface section.

In other words you can mix WDS and non-WDS APs or STAs on the same radio.

You do not want to make two connections (one over each band) over WDS between two routers.

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Exactly, that will make a layer 2 loop which will render the devices unusable.

Thank you all very much for your advice and help.
Unfortunately, WDS has proved too difficult for me! Taken the Relayd route instead.

Regards, M

If your problem is solved, please consider marking this topic as [Solved]. See How to mark a topic as [Solved] for a short how-to.

If you are happy with relayd... well, I am also happy for you. But I would always prefer to use WDS (when available) over relayd.

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I'd love to be able to compare WDS & relayd!
But unless I can find a "how-to" that I can understand and follow, I'm stuck with relayd?

I'll leave the Subject Line open for a day or two (just in case this How To turns up) and then I'll mark it as CLOSED.

Regards, M.

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I am attempting (so far without sucess) to set up two WiFi domain with WDS.
The hardware I have to hand are a pair of BT Home Hub 5A. Both have OpenWrt 19.07.4.

If I issue iw list command, I get this (abridged) output:

root@OpenWrt3:~# iw list
Wiphy phy1
        max # scan SSIDs: 4
        max scan IEs length: 2257 bytes
        max # sched scan SSIDs: 0
        max # match sets: 0
        max # scan plans: 1
        max scan plan interval: -1
        max scan plan iterations: 0
        Retry short limit: 7
        Retry long limit: 4
        Coverage class: 0 (up to 0m)
        Device supports AP-side u-APSD.
        Device supports T-DLS.
        Available Antennas: TX 0x3 RX 0x3
        Configured Antennas: TX 0x3 RX 0x3
        Supported interface modes:
                 * IBSS
                 * managed
                 * AP
                 * AP/VLAN
                 * monitor
                 * mesh point
                 * P2P-client
                 * P2P-GO
                 * outside context of a BSS
        Band 1:
                Capabilities: 0x11ee
                        HT20/HT40
                        SM Power Save disabled
... output truncated here...

... is this a show-stopper (no WDS in the "Supported interface mode")?

Regards, M.

No, it isn't.
did you try the LuCi procedure on the Wiki page?

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Do you mean the WiKi I pointed to in the opening post? If so - yes. But fell at the first hurdle!
But If I were to try again, how should I implement these instructions?

Main Heading: SSH
Sub Heading: The Access Point

Once logged in, edit the /etc/config/wireless file. In the existing wifi-iface section that is being used, add a line with option wds '1'. 
Note that there may be multiple wifi-iface sections in this file, especially if the router is a dual band device, in which case **you need to ensure that you're editing the correct section**. 

Considering that this is my /etc/config/wireless contents:

onfig wifi-device 'radio0'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option channel '36'
        option hwmode '11a'
        option path 'pci0000:01/0000:01:00.0/0000:02:00.0'
        option htmode 'VHT80'
        option country 'GB'
        option legacy_rates '1'
        option __toggle 'Enable'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
        option device 'radio0'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option ssid 'myAP1'
        option encryption 'psk2'
        option key '**********'
        option wds '1'    ##### Here?

config wifi-device 'radio1'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option channel '11'
        option hwmode '11g'
        option path 'pci0000:00/0000:00:0e.0'
        option htmode 'HT20'
        option country 'GB'
        option legacy_rates '1'
        option __toggle 'Enable'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio1'
        option device 'radio1'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option ssid 'myAP1'
        option encryption 'psk2'
        option key '**********'
        option wds '1'    ##### or Here?

... and why? Does this decision have any influence on the clients at the "far-end" (the ones being served by the WDS extension as they will IOT devices with only 2.4GHz radios.

I know I have asked this question before but I suspect the respondents have credited me with a greater understanding than I really possess!

Regards, M.

Just follow the instructions in the "LuCI" chapter, further down on this wiki page.

Non-WDS clients can also connect to an AP that is in WDS mode. It will work like a regular AP for them.

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The first is 5GHz, the second is 2,4GHz. It is up to you. 2,4 has longer range, but 5 can achieve higher throughput. Definitely not both.

Thank you. My fault not asking the question correctly. No matter....

Can you confirm another point for me? The Wiki at https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/atheroswds. Is this the correct one?

If so, can you confirm that I SHOULD be able to get WDS working using ONLY the Luci instructions in the lower-half.

Regards, M.

They look fine to me. However it is not that difficult to give it a try yourself and report back here if there are any issues.

Yes, I have been trying (for the last two days!). This is what I have been doing. The bullets are from the wiki..

  • For the wireless access point, just set the wireless mode to “Access Point (WDS)”

The BT HH5a has two radios, so I set them both. This puts the option wds '1' in the /etc/config/wireless file.
So far - so good. On we go...

  • On the LAN Interface, change the default IP to a different one within the target subnet and disable the DHCP server.

Again, this seemed straight forward (apart from the darn thing rolling back before I could make a connection!). My Base AP is 192.168.0.1 and my new WDS AP to 192.168.0.2.

  • For a wireless interface (working on the same frequency band as the Access Point), click Scan, join the previously created wireless network and when asked, set the firewall zone to lan. The wireless mode should be Client (WDS) and the Network in Interface Configuration has to be changed from wwan to lan.

My understanding (and probably wrong!), is that the new WDS AP will have one radio "looking" back for communication to/from the Base AP and the other will be the access point for the additional WDS Clients I am hoping to service. Thus, as directed, I created the Client (WDS) using the 5GHz radio. Saving the 2.4GHz radio for later (Final step in wiki)

The next three steeps: setting the DNS Forwarding, IP4 Gateway & STP in the LAN interface are again apparently quite simple steps.

At this point, I figure that I could try testing. So ...

ssh root@192.168.0.2
ping 192.168.0.1

Nothing!!!!

Well, if you look for trouble, you get trouble.

It really can't be any easier than seeing WDS in LuCI.

All you have to do is basically set a WDS AP on the main router using ONE radio, and connect to it from the other router. All using LuCI and all as per the Wiki page.

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