NetGear Orbi Backhaul Network Not Working Qualcomm Atheros QCA9984

nchorekchyan · April 2, 2024, 4:54pm

Sure. This is my setup and what I am trying to achieve:

I have a server infrastructure on my network.

On my RBS, I have half my server cluster plugged directly into the LAN ports (+2 other devices).

On my RBK, I have the other half (+1 other device) plugged directly into the LAN ports.

I want the RBS to talk to the RBK over the QCA9984, allowing the servers to talk to each other over potentially at 1733Mbps on a dedicated channel.

As far as regular wifi devices, I just want them to go over the radios associated with IPQ4019 and not impact (or at least, minimally impact) the server to server communication.

Honestly I don't even really need the IPQ4019 radio on the RBS for any reason, and I'd probably leave them disabled (or maybe have a separate SSID dedicated to low-bandwidth devices)

bluewavenet · April 2, 2024, 5:36pm

Get it working again with no changes.
Then show the outputs of:
mesh11sd status

mesh11sd stations

uci show mesh11sd

uci show wireless

uci show network

uci show dhcp

nchorekchyan · April 6, 2024, 9:29pm

Unfortunately, I could not get it 100% up and running. I flashed the two devices, connected the RBK to the modem, and the RBS was powered up by itself. I did not plug any other devices in this scenario.

When I was connecting, it would try to connect, connect briefly, disconnect, and repeat.

I was able to sneak in semi-reliably into SSH with the IPv6 of the router for some reason, but since otherwise it was pretty painful haha.

I know (think) the mesh was working since I was able to connect to the RBS and get to the RBK to run the commands requested, though I was still being booted periodically.

In retrospect, the only thing I can assume that it was previously working because I had my DHCP server plugged in (it is one of the devices I left unplugged)

That said, while I was in ssh via ipv6 I was able to get most of the commands run, though I think one of them might have cut out while I was spitting the data out

bluewavenet · April 7, 2024, 7:19am

You have a separate dhcp server? It would have been nice to know this.
The default auto_config mode assumes the portal mode will be running dhcp, as that is required if you want ipv4 support.

Having a separate dhcp server generally requires mesh11sd to be put into manual configuration mode. Manual mode is intended for advanced users and a separate dhcp server implies advanced configuration.

Perhaps you should share some details about your infrastructure so we can see what else is hidden away

nchorekchyan · April 8, 2024, 4:15am

How much time do you got? Lol.

Basically an updated version of this, where PiHole is running as DHCP/DNS.

https://www.prettynicetechnologies.com/?page_id=15

bluewavenet · April 8, 2024, 7:37am

That diagram is horrendous and I don't see a mesh anywhere.
Can you not sketch a diagram of your required mesh onto the back of an envelope and take a photo with your phone to post here?

I thought pihole was a dns hijacking/filter to stop your kids from watching "adult movies" and not a component of a "proper datacenter".

bluewavenet · April 8, 2024, 7:48am

@nchorekchyan
As I requested before:

But please post here, not on pastebin. I cannot see pastebin for advertisements.

nchorekchyan · April 8, 2024, 1:22pm

Wait till I tell you everything was connected over WiFi before.

Pastebin has ads? Sounds like you need PiHole or a similar dns hijacking tool

This is from my earlier run with the mesh seemingly connected but with aforementioned issues (dhcp?). I will try to get a “working” version of it tonight.

In retrospect, I think I’d need to set the IP on the router to my main internal subnet before installing mesh11sd. IIRC when it was working as expected (minus being able to switch to off auto configure) it was after upgrading my existing network, not a clean flash, so it probably kept the IP.


BusyBox v1.36.1 (2024-01-29 09:41:19 UTC) built-in shell (ash)

  _______                     ________        __
 |       |.-----.-----.-----.|  |  |  |.----.|  |_
 |   -   ||  _  |  -__|     ||  |  |  ||   _||   _|
 |_______||   __|_____|__|__||________||__|  |____|
          |__| W I R E L E S S   F R E E D O M
 -----------------------------------------------------
 OpenWrt 23.05.3, r23809-234f1a2efa
 -----------------------------------------------------
=== WARNING! =====================================
There is no root password defined on this device!
Use the "passwd" command to set up a new password
in order to prevent unauthorized SSH logins.
--------------------------------------------------



root@meshnode-a262:~# mesh11sd status
{
  "setup":{
    "version":"3.1.0",
    "enabled":"1",
    "procd_status":"running",
    "portal_detect":"1",
    "portal_channel":"default",
    "mesh_basename":"m-11s-",
    "auto_config":"1",
    "auto_mesh_network":"lan",
    "auto_mesh_band":"2g40",
    "auto_mesh_id":"92d490daf46cfe534c56ddd669297e",
    "mesh_gate_enable":"1",
    "txpower":"20",
    "mesh_path_cost":"10",
    "checkinterval":"10",
    "interface_timeout":"10",
    "ssid_suffix_enable":"1",
    "debuglevel":"1"
  }
  "interfaces":{
    "m-11s-1":{
      "mesh_retry_timeout":"100",
      "mesh_confirm_timeout":"100",
      "mesh_holding_timeout":"100",
      "mesh_max_peer_links":"16",
      "mesh_max_retries":"3",
      "mesh_ttl":"31",
      "mesh_element_ttl":"31",
      "mesh_auto_open_plinks":"0",
      "mesh_hwmp_max_preq_retries":"4",
      "mesh_path_refresh_time":"1000",
      "mesh_min_discovery_timeout":"100",
      "mesh_hwmp_active_path_timeout":"5000",
      "mesh_hwmp_preq_min_interval":"10",
      "mesh_hwmp_net_diameter_traversal_time":"50",
      "mesh_hwmp_rootmode":"4",
      "mesh_hwmp_rann_interval":"5000",
      "mesh_gate_announcements":"1",
      "mesh_fwding":"1",
      "mesh_sync_offset_max_neighor":"50",
      "mesh_rssi_threshold":"-65",
      "mesh_hwmp_active_path_to_root_timeout":"6000",
      "mesh_hwmp_root_interval":"5000",
      "mesh_hwmp_confirmation_interval":"2000",
      "mesh_power_mode":"active",
      "mesh_awake_window":"10",
      "mesh_plink_timeout":"0",
      "mesh_connected_to_gate":"1",
      "mesh_nolearn":"0",
      "mesh_connected_to_as":"1",
      "mesh_id":"92d490daf46cfe534c56ddd669297e",
      "device":"radio1",
      "channel":"1",
      "tx_packets":"538",
      "tx_bytes":"311644",
      "rx_packets":"683",
      "rx_bytes":"87149",
      "this_node":"8c:3b:ad:cf:a2:62",
      "active_peers":"1",
      "peers":{
        "8e:3b:ad:ce:12:dd":{
          "next_hop":"8e:3b:ad:ce:12:dd"
          "hop_count":"1"
          "path_change_count":"1"
          "metric":"35"
        }
      }





root@meshnode-a262:~# mesh11sd stations
===========================================================================
Stations connected to this node:
Station 8e:3b:ad:ce:12:dd (on m-11s-1)
	inactive time:	10 ms
	rx bytes:	110669
	rx packets:	950
	tx bytes:	18744
	tx packets:	151
	tx retries:	14
	tx failed:	0
	rx drop misc:	189
	signal:  	-55 [-58, -59, -95, -95] dBm
	signal avg:	-53 [-58, -58, -95, -95] dBm
	Toffset:	1541470082 us
	tx bitrate:	300.0 MBit/s MCS 15 40MHz short GI
	tx duration:	3221 us
	rx bitrate:	270.0 MBit/s MCS 14 40MHz short GI
	rx duration:	518721 us
	last ack signal:-95 dBm
	avg ack signal:	-95 dBm
	airtime weight: 256
	mesh llid:	0
	mesh plid:	0
	mesh plink:	ESTAB
	mesh airtime link metric: 29
	mesh connected to gate:	yes
	mesh connected to auth server:	no
	mesh local PS mode:	ACTIVE
	mesh peer PS mode:	ACTIVE
	mesh non-peer PS mode:	ACTIVE
	authorized:	yes
	authenticated:	yes
	associated:	yes
	preamble:	long
	WMM/WME:	yes
	MFP:		yes
	TDLS peer:	no
	DTIM period:	2
	beacon interval:100
	connected time:	31 seconds
	associated at [boottime]:	1160.691s
	associated at:	1711146570522 ms
	current time:	1711146598997 ms
===========================================================================




root@meshnode-a262:~# uci show mesh11sd
mesh11sd.setup=mesh11sd
mesh11sd.mesh_params=mesh11sd
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_fwding='1'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_rssi_threshold='-65'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_gate_announcements='1'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_hwmp_rootmode='4'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_hwmp_rann_interval='5000'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_hwmp_root_interval='5000'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_hwmp_active_path_timeout='5000'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_hwmp_active_path_to_root_timeout='6000'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_max_peer_links='16'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_connected_to_as='0'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_connected_to_gate='1'



root@meshnode-a262:~# uci show wireless
wireless.radio0=wifi-device
wireless.radio0.type='mac80211'
wireless.radio0.path='soc/40000000.pci/pci0000:00/0000:00:00.0/0000:01:00.0'
wireless.radio0.channel='100'
wireless.radio0.band='5g'
wireless.radio0.htmode='VHT80'
wireless.radio0.disabled='0'
wireless.radio0.country='GB'
wireless.default_radio0=wifi-iface
wireless.default_radio0.device='radio0'
wireless.default_radio0.network='lan'
wireless.default_radio0.mode='ap'
wireless.default_radio0.ssid='OpenWrt-5g-a262'
wireless.default_radio0.encryption='none'
wireless.default_radio0.disabled='0'
wireless.radio1=wifi-device
wireless.radio1.type='mac80211'
wireless.radio1.path='platform/soc/a000000.wifi'
wireless.radio1.channel='1'
wireless.radio1.band='2g'
wireless.radio1.htmode='HT40'
wireless.radio1.disabled='0'
wireless.radio1.country='GB'
wireless.radio1.noscan='1'
wireless.default_radio1=wifi-iface
wireless.default_radio1.device='radio1'
wireless.default_radio1.network='lan'
wireless.default_radio1.mode='ap'
wireless.default_radio1.ssid='OpenWrt-2g-a262'
wireless.default_radio1.encryption='none'
wireless.default_radio1.disabled='0'
wireless.radio2=wifi-device
wireless.radio2.type='mac80211'
wireless.radio2.path='platform/soc/a800000.wifi'
wireless.radio2.channel='36'
wireless.radio2.band='5g'
wireless.radio2.htmode='VHT80'
wireless.radio2.disabled='0'
wireless.radio2.country='GB'
wireless.default_radio2=wifi-iface
wireless.default_radio2.device='radio2'
wireless.default_radio2.network='lan'
wireless.default_radio2.mode='ap'
wireless.default_radio2.ssid='OpenWrt-5g-a262'
wireless.default_radio2.encryption='none'
wireless.default_radio2.disabled='0'
wireless.m11s0=wifi-iface
wireless.m11s0.device='radio0'
wireless.m11s0.mode='mesh'
wireless.m11s0.encryption='sae'
wireless.m11s0.mesh_id='92d490daf46cfe534c56ddd669297e'
wireless.m11s0.key='78c8068012f8481fec118451e1041b3751801a24ab3e222643a0a6a4424b82a1'
wireless.m11s0.network='lan'
wireless.m11s0.ifname='m-11s-0'
wireless.m11s0.mesh_rssi_threshold='-65'
wireless.m11s0.disabled='1'
wireless.m11s0.macaddr='8e:3b:ad:cf:a2:62'
wireless.m11s1=wifi-iface
wireless.m11s1.device='radio1'
wireless.m11s1.mode='mesh'
wireless.m11s1.encryption='sae'
wireless.m11s1.mesh_id='92d490daf46cfe534c56ddd669297e'
wireless.m11s1.key='78c8068012f8481fec118451e1041b3751801a24ab3e222643a0a6a4424b82a1'
wireless.m11s1.network='lan'
wireless.m11s1.ifname='m-11s-1'
wireless.m11s1.mesh_rssi_threshold='-65'
wireless.m11s1.disabled='0'
wireless.m11s1.macaddr='8e:3b:ad:cf:a2:62'
wireless.m11s2=wifi-iface
wireless.m11s2.device='radio2'
wireless.m11s2.mode='mesh'
wireless.m11s2.encryption='sae'
wireless.m11s2.mesh_id='92d490daf46cfe534c56ddd669297e'
wireless.m11s2.key='78c8068012f8481fec118451e1041b3751801a24ab3e222643a0a6a4424b82a1'
wireless.m11s2.network='lan'
wireless.m11s2.ifname='m-11s-2'
wireless.m11s2.mesh_rssi_threshold='-65'
wireless.m11s2.disabled='1'
wireless.m11s2.macaddr='8e:3b:ad:cf:a2:62'



root@meshnode-a262:~# uci show network
network.loopback=interface
network.loopback.device='lo'
network.loopback.proto='static'
network.loopback.ipaddr='127.0.0.1'
network.loopback.netmask='255.0.0.0'
network.globals=globals
network.globals.ula_prefix='fd35:4404:9002::/48'
network.@device[0]=device
network.@device[0].name='br-lan'
network.@device[0].type='bridge'
network.@device[0].ports='lan1' 'lan2' 'lan3'
network.lan=interface
network.lan.device='br-lan'
network.lan.proto='static'
network.lan.ipaddr='192.168.1.1'
network.lan.netmask='255.255.255.0'
network.lan.ip6assign='60'
network.@device[1]=device
network.@device[1].name='wan'
network.@device[1].macaddr='8c:3b:ad:cf:a2:63'
network.wan=interface
network.wan.device='wan'
network.wan.proto='dhcp'
network.wan6=interface
network.wan6.device='wan'
network.wan6.proto='dhcpv6'



root@meshnode-a262:~# uci show dhcp
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0]=dnsmasq
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].domainneeded='1'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].boguspriv='1'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].filterwin2k='0'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].localise_queries='1'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].rebind_protection='1'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].rebind_localhost='1'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].local='/lan/'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].domain='lan'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].expandhosts='1'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].nonegcache='0'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].cachesize='1000'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].readethers='1'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].leasefile='/tmp/dhcp.leases'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].resolvfile='/tmp/resolv.conf.d/resolv.conf.auto'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].nonwildcard='1'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].localservice='1'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].ednspacket_max='1232'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].filter_aaaa='0'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].filter_a='0'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].authoritative='0'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].logfacility='-'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].quietdhcp='1'
dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].server='24.188.104.1' '24.188.104.1' '24.188.104.1' '24.188.104.1' '24.188.104.1' '24.188.104.1' '24.188.104.1' '24.188.104.1' '24.188.104.1' '24.188.104.1'
dhcp.lan=dhcp
dhcp.lan.interface='lan'
dhcp.lan.start='100'
dhcp.lan.limit='150'
dhcp.lan.leasetime='12h'
dhcp.lan.dhcpv4='disabled'
dhcp.lan.dhcpv6='disabled'
dhcp.lan.ra='disabled'
dhcp.lan.ra_slaac='1'
dhcp.lan.ra_flags='managed-config' 'other-config'
dhcp.lan.ignore='1'
dhcp.lan.ra_default='2'
dhcp.wan=dhcp
dhcp.wan.interface='wan'
dhcp.wan.ignore='1'
dhcp.odhcpd=odhcpd
dhcp.odhcpd.maindhcp='0'
dhcp.odhcpd.leasefile='/tmp/hosts/odhcpd'
dhcp.odhcpd.leasetrigger='/usr/sbin/odhcpd-update'
dhcp.odhcpd.loglevel='4'

bluewavenet · April 8, 2024, 7:27pm

I assume you do not want to share what the layout of your network actually is.
The diagram in the link you posted bares no relationship to what you are trying to do according to the title of this thread.
This makes it near impossible to talk you through the issue you say you are having.

From the output of mesh11sd status, the mesh is working and passing traffic:

      "tx_packets":"538",
      "tx_bytes":"311644",
      "rx_packets":"683",
      "rx_bytes":"87149",
      "this_node":"8c:3b:ad:cf:a2:62",
      "active_peers":"1",
      "peers":{
        "8e:3b:ad:ce:12:dd":{
          "next_hop":"8e:3b:ad:ce:12:dd"
          "hop_count":"1"
          "path_change_count":"1"
          "metric":"35"
        }

The output also shows the node is also connected to an upstream network (presumably an Internet feed).
This is indicated by:

      "mesh_connected_to_as":"1",

This means this node is a Mesh Portal and as such it will be autoconfigured as an ipv4 router with dns and dhcp.

Of course if you also have another dhcp server on the lan, the results will be indeterminate.

Why do you want/need a separate dhcp server?

The mesh11sd stations output shows details of the other meshnode.

	mesh connected to auth server:	no

This indicates the other meshnode does not have an upstream connection and has autoconfigured as a mesh peer and does not do any ipv4 or ipv6 routing, and does not run a dhcp server.

The two nodes are passing traffic on the mesh backhaul.
The mesh is working.

Now from this point you would customise the mesh, including:

setting your actual country code (it is currently defaulting to dfs_etsi, the safest default.
Changing to the required radio
Setting a mesh id string and a mesh key string to secure the mesh

Note: autoconfigure does not change any config files in /etc/config. Instead it uses uci to dynamically set config options. Stopping the mesh11sd service will revert all uci configs.
(This is why I asked for uci show wireless instead of cat /etc/config/wireless, and the other configs.)

nchorekchyan · April 8, 2024, 9:01pm

I see, I think there was some miscommunication.

My network, with the exception of the initial tests where I installed the packages on top of my existing setup, did not exist. The problem was on a freshly flashed, nothing but modem plugged in setup.

My "production" setup is not relevant since it was unplugged, but it has a "home" side (which I use pi-hole and it's associated dns/dhcp server for), and a "production" side, which is underneath an LXD Cluster and Open Virtual Network. LXD/OVN controls and manages many layers of DNS/DHCP/BGP/Switches, but I dont know what the final setup is until I can see what I can do with OpenWRT.

DHCP/DNS is separate because I want to be able to easily manage the blocklists, and not have any dependancies on edge devices. IE: Each component is being designed to behave as a standalone pod that can be moved / deployed in any setup with minimal configuration, either in part or as a whole.

To clarify, the setup I was trying to address, and the scenario for the logs/data collection I gathered (I think at least):

RKB
-4 ports, WAN port connected to modem. Nothing else plugged in.

RBS

4 ports, nothing plugged in.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I think I have most the info I need to troubleshoot and investigate independently.

If I find the fix I will post at the end of this thread.

nchorekchyan · April 24, 2024, 10:41pm

I was finally able to revisit this. Unfortunately, I was not able to get the mesh11sd working, or at least I got another method working first and am calling it there.

I'm suspecting the issue I was having, using a pre-configured download with the mesh11sd and required packages, makes it try to set up the mesh before the IP of the device is configured. This would explain why it was working when I installed over an existing, working setup vs the preconfigured install. That said, at that point I'd need to go through the manual config route.

I did eventually reference the logs collected earlier and found the following radio config worked

Device Config

Mode AC
Channel 157
Width 80
Power 20 dBm
Country Code GB (I'm in the US)

Interface Config:

Mode: 802.11s
MeshID : whatever
Encrpytion WPA3-SAE
RSSI threshold for joining: -65

I also changed some bridge / firewall settings to allow the LAN on the satellite to get DHCP via the primary device (and in my case, my separate DHCP server), but thats not entirely relevant.

system · May 4, 2024, 10:42pm

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