I am still a little new to openwrt and basically just took the stock configuration then added VPN (Wireguard). I also have a WiFi 6 AX3000 running Openwrt acting as an access point. I would say that everything was running quite well for a while, but recently I noticed some connectivity issues on a couple of my devices (both wireless connected primarily to the 5g network). The signal stays strong, but my connection appears to take a "break" I have seen Teams drop a conference call, my phone calls over wifi drop, and my VNC over the lan ONLY lose connection and force me to reconnect.
I am curious, are these symptoms of any one specific issue? Is there more configuration I should be doing? Is there something I can do to better monitor the situation?
If you're looking for a solution, you need to gather more information about the issue, in the sense of repeatable tests and documentation. Like documenting which (client-)devices are affected, checking logs (on both sides) when it happens, as well as testing latency and throughput while it happens. Compare the situation between different (client-) devices and look for things they have in common.
In your case, you could also test ath10k kmod and firmware packages, instead of the preinstalled ath10k-ct, but that would be for after you've gathered the baseline debugging above for comparisons.
ipq8065+qca9984 and the r7800 specifically normally work pretty well, but ath10k can be a tad temperamental.
Thanks for your reply! Can you recommend a way to collect those logs? I can start with my Windows 11 device, but I will also want to try/test my android phone.
can be a good first start on the OpenWrt side, keeping hostapd_cli -i <interface name> (from the hostapd-utils package) running while your issues are happening (and ideally already before they happen, so you see what might have triggered the issue) can also provide further information.
Sidenote: I have an extra PC and was trying with the idea of flashing openwrt onto that, then using an extra NIC to connect to my router(flash stock firmware and use as an AP). So routing would be handled by a standard X64 AMD PC and wireless by the router. Would this make for a smoother experience? My goal by using Openwrt was to ensure I had a more up-to-date device between me and the web. I also like the interface of Openwrt a little more but am slightly intimidated by whatay be running in the background.
OpenWrt on x86_64 works well, but recycling an old desktop tends to come with a hefty price tag on your electricity bill. You really want well-selected low-power components for an always-on device, which is quite different from the components typically going into last decade's gaming rig (or even office desktop).
Well selected x86_64 hardware can do its magic with around 5-15 watts on average (idle), your off the mill x86_64 desktop may vary between 30 watts to 130 watts, depending on its age and design/ components (a discrete graphics card alone will add 30+ watts to your idle power consumption, relative to CPU graphics).
What's the best setup in your case depends on a lot of factors, among them WAN speed and your requirements (e.g. inter-VLAN routing and other advanced desires) and experience (for a normal user, keeping all the network infrastructure contained in a single device is easier, the more you move into professional territory, the more likely you want to distribute individual tasks into dedicated hardware (splitting modem, router, managed switch(es), dedicated APs)). There is no one-size-fits-all solution here, only you can answer where on this spectrum you want to be.
Thanks. I was contemplating using a tiny ITX PC, not a gaming one. But, you are probably correct, it will eat more power than just using my router. I suppose I'll see about troubleshooting first, then debate a new router if needed.
There are purpose-built alderlake-n/ n100 devices on the market with two or four 2.5GBASE-T ports for reasonable prices, many of those will get along with ~5 watts on average (less than your r7800). Otherwise it is hard to select the right components for a dime, and to guess right the first time around (mainboards with multiple onboard network cards are specialty items, and anything out of the norm is hard to get and expensive).
with R7800 i had to use NSS builds (that have never been rock solid) to fully manage 1Gbit connection.
With a N100 box i have proxmox virtualizing all my local services and i can route with no problem a 2.5G connection (openWrt is a VM).
honestly i would not go back.
Thanks. I see a lot of people using the R7800 with and without NSS builds, but I am not sure whether they have any issues. I am aware that the chipset used is not the best for Openwrt...or at least less ideal?
Also, with the price of that N100, is there a better router which can be repurposed?
I use R7800 non NSS which is rock solid, uptime of months.
Build 23.05.3 but I use the non CT ATH10K firmware
I also have an R7800 with NSS for testing seems good, but I only have 600 Mb internet and the R7800 can handle that and as I am often away from home and work from abroad I need to be able to connect to my home so I need stability above anything else so my min internet connected router is running the non NSS build.
The router is providing wireless 2.4 and 5 GHz and has also Guest/IoT wifi.
Besides running Adblock and DNSMasq with DNS over HTTPS it does nothing else.
I have a separate OpenVPN and WireGuard server
Thanks for your reply! I am still a newb and have not optimized the configuration yet. Would you be able to share any of your configs so I could read/learn?
No I do not use the regular build , I compile my own builds based on the work and configs of hnyman.
hnyman tests all builds also for stability and has added some tweaks and has the usual packages so to start it is a good build.
But you can also use the firmware selector to request your own tailor made builds or compile your own build choices galore.
But if you want to start simple just use hnymans builds and you should be good to go.
But in the end hnymans builds are based on the stable 23.05.3 regular builds
ok i need to go back to the old times of ATH10K firmwares can i swap firmware by itself or have i to swap also the correpondent driver?
the config file fwcfg-pci-0001:01:00.0.txt is working also with non-ct firmware?
thanks
it seems that the issue was.. the country code
with country code HT 160MHz is enabled with both plain and ct drivers. Sadly, the R7800 without nss cores hasn't enough juice to drive connection fast enough, even if not routing.
