Issues with channel setup on a repeater

huaracheguarache · February 19, 2018, 9:45am

I have a TP-Link RE450 repeater that I want to use to extend the range of my network. To set up the repeater I followed this guide: https://openwrt.org/docs/user-guide/wifi/relay_configuration

However, it only works on non-DFS channels. Whenever I try to set up the RE450 to bridge/relay a network that is running on a DFS channels the relay network refuses to start broadcasting. Here's the syslog from when I tried to make it run on channel 112:

github.com

huaracheguarache/OpenWrt/blob/master/syslog_112

    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.notice kernel: [    0.000000] Linux version 4.9.82 (buildbot@builds) (gcc version 5.5.0 (OpenWrt GCC 5.5.0 r6038-13e8d54) ) #0 Sun Feb 18 08:21:12 2018
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.debug kernel: [    0.000000] MyLoader: sysp=692b6996, boardp=2d696996, parts=696d6d96
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] bootconsole [early0] enabled
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] CPU0 revision is: 00019750 (MIPS 74Kc)
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] SoC: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9558 ver 1 rev 0
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] Determined physical RAM map:
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000]  memory: 08000000 @ 00000000 (usable)
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] Initrd not found or empty - disabling initrd
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.warn kernel: [    0.000000] Primary instruction cache 64kB, VIPT, 4-way, linesize 32 bytes.
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.warn kernel: [    0.000000] Primary data cache 32kB, 4-way, VIPT, cache aliases, linesize 32 bytes
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] Zone ranges:
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000]   Normal   [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] Movable zone start for each node
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] Early memory node ranges
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000]   node   0: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] Initmem setup node 0 [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.debug kernel: [    0.000000] On node 0 totalpages: 32768
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.debug kernel: [    0.000000] free_area_init_node: node 0, pgdat 804ab9e4, node_mem_map 81000020
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.debug kernel: [    0.000000]   Normal zone: 256 pages used for memmap
    Mon Feb 19 10:04:14 2018 kern.debug kernel: [    0.000000]   Normal zone: 0 pages reserved

This file has been truncated. show original

And the corresponding wireless configuration:

github.com

huaracheguarache/OpenWrt/blob/master/config_wireless_112

config wifi-device 'radio0'
            option type 'mac80211'
            option hwmode '11a'
            option path 'pci0000:00/0000:00:00.0'
            option htmode 'VHT80'
            option country 'NO'
            option legacy_rates '0'
            option disabled '0'
            option channel '112'

    config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
            option device 'radio0'
            option network 'lan'
            option mode 'ap'
            option ssid 'Test5GHz'
            option encryption 'psk2+ccmp'
            option key 'password'

    config wifi-device 'radio1'
            option type 'mac80211'

This file has been truncated. show original

When I try to run it on channel 36 (non-DFS) everything works. Here's the syslog:

github.com

huaracheguarache/OpenWrt/blob/master/syslog_36

Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.notice kernel: [    0.000000] Linux version 4.9.82 (buildbot@builds) (gcc version 5.5.0 (OpenWrt GCC 5.5.0 r6038-13e8d54) ) #0 Sun Feb 18 08:21:12 2018
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.debug kernel: [    0.000000] MyLoader: sysp=692b6996, boardp=2d696996, parts=696d6d96
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] bootconsole [early0] enabled
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] CPU0 revision is: 00019750 (MIPS 74Kc)
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] SoC: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9558 ver 1 rev 0
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] Determined physical RAM map:
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000]  memory: 08000000 @ 00000000 (usable)
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] Initrd not found or empty - disabling initrd
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.warn kernel: [    0.000000] Primary instruction cache 64kB, VIPT, 4-way, linesize 32 bytes.
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.warn kernel: [    0.000000] Primary data cache 32kB, 4-way, VIPT, cache aliases, linesize 32 bytes
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] Zone ranges:
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000]   Normal   [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] Movable zone start for each node
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] Early memory node ranges
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000]   node   0: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.info kernel: [    0.000000] Initmem setup node 0 [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.debug kernel: [    0.000000] On node 0 totalpages: 32768
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.debug kernel: [    0.000000] free_area_init_node: node 0, pgdat 804ab9e4, node_mem_map 81000020
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.debug kernel: [    0.000000]   Normal zone: 256 pages used for memmap
    Mon Feb 19 10:21:49 2018 kern.debug kernel: [    0.000000]   Normal zone: 0 pages reserved

This file has been truncated. show original

And the wireless config:

github.com

huaracheguarache/OpenWrt/blob/master/config_wireless_36

config wifi-device 'radio0'
            option type 'mac80211'
            option hwmode '11a'
            option path 'pci0000:00/0000:00:00.0'
            option htmode 'VHT80'
            option country 'NO'
            option legacy_rates '0'
            option disabled '0'
            option channel '36'

    config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
            option device 'radio0'
            option network 'lan'
            option mode 'ap'
            option ssid 'Test5GHz'
            option encryption 'psk2+ccmp'
            option key 'password'

    config wifi-device 'radio1'
            option type 'mac80211'

This file has been truncated. show original

huaracheguarache · February 19, 2018, 12:58pm

I have a feeling this has something to do with my problem:

Mon Feb 19 10:05:28 2018 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0-1: DFS-PRE-CAC-EXPIRED freq=5500 ht_enabled=0 chan_offset=0 chan_width=0 cf1=5500 cf2=0
Mon Feb 19 10:05:28 2018 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0-1: DFS-PRE-CAC-EXPIRED freq=5520 ht_enabled=0 chan_offset=0 chan_width=0 cf1=5520 cf2=0
Mon Feb 19 10:05:28 2018 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0-1: DFS-PRE-CAC-EXPIRED freq=5540 ht_enabled=0 chan_offset=0 chan_width=0 cf1=5540 cf2=0
Mon Feb 19 10:05:28 2018 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0-1: DFS-PRE-CAC-EXPIRED freq=5560 ht_enabled=0 chan_offset=0 chan_width=0 cf1=5560 cf2=0

Shortly afterwards it's followed by this message:

Mon Feb 19 10:05:29 2018 daemon.err hostapd: Failed to set beacon parameters

Does anybody know what these messages mean? I can't find much documentation on "DFS-PRE-CAC-EXPIRED".

anon57995562 · February 19, 2018, 9:23pm

Correct. DFS has to be enabled in order to use DFS restricted channels.

I would not recommend it.

huaracheguarache · February 20, 2018, 7:44am

I think DFS is enabled because the syslog from my try with channel 112 shows this:

Mon Feb 19 10:05:26 2018 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0-1: interface state DFS->ENABLED

anon57995562 · February 20, 2018, 8:19am

Search the wiki for DFS.

huaracheguarache · February 22, 2018, 7:24pm

There's nothing specifically about my issue as far as I can see. I'm fairly certain this is some sort of bug and not a configuration issue on my part, although I could be missing something. At this point it doesn't matter that much because I've decided to stick with the non-DFS channels.

huaracheguarache · February 23, 2018, 1:52pm

Should I just go ahead and report this as a bug?

EDIT: reported as a bug.