OpenWRT/TravelMate/OpenVPN on an RP-WD009 Travel Router - 5GHz Issues
I successfully installed OpenWRT 23.05.0, Travelmate, and OpenVPN on an RP-WD009 Travel Router. My home router (an Asus RT-AC66U B1 runing Fresh Tomato) and the RP-WD009 are both configured for country CA (Canada). My home router will transmit on 36, 44, 149, and 157 at 40MHz width - I suspect either the router hardware or the version of Fresh Tomato I am running does not allow me to broadcast on DFS channels 100-144.
OpenWRT can connect to my home router on channel 149 or 157, but not 36 and 44. The OpenWRT CA channels appear to be correct
root@OpenWrt:~# iw reg get
global
country CA: DFS-FCC
(2402 - 2472 @ 40), (N/A, 30), (N/A) 36-48, single range @ 80MHz
(5150 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 23), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW 36-48, single range @ 80MHz
(5250 - 5350 @ 80), (N/A, 24), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW 52-64, single range @ 80MHz
(5470 - 5600 @ 80), (N/A, 24), (0 ms), DFS 100-116, single range @ 80MHz
(5650 - 5730 @ 80), (N/A, 24), (0 ms), DFS 132-144, single range @ 80MHz
(5735 - 5835 @ 80), (N/A, 30), (N/A) 149-165, single range @ 80MHz
OpenWRT channels 36-64 show as disabled, 100-116 enabled, 120-128 disabled, 132-165 enabled, and 169-177 disabled.
root@OpenWrt:~# iw phy phy1 channels
Band 2:
* 5180 MHz [36] (disabled)
* 5200 MHz [40] (disabled)
* 5220 MHz [44] (disabled)
* 5240 MHz [48] (disabled)
* 5260 MHz [52] (disabled)
* 5280 MHz [56] (disabled)
* 5300 MHz [60] (disabled)
* 5320 MHz [64] (disabled)
* 5500 MHz [100]
Maximum TX power: 7.0 dBm
Radar detection
Channel widths: 20MHz HT40+ VHT80
DFS state: usable (for 191 sec)
DFS CAC time: 60000 ms
(rest removed - working as expected)
The RP-WD009 appears to be using a MT7610E module that supports 5180-5825 MHz which should include the low channels.
root@OpenWrt:/tmp# iwinfo phy1 info
phy1 ESSID:
Access Point:
Mode: Client Channel: 157 (5.785 GHz) HT Mode: HT40
Center Channel 1: 159 2: unknown
Tx-Power: 11 dBm Link Quality: unknown/70
Signal: unknown Noise: unknown
Bit Rate: unknown
Encryption: unknown
Type: nl80211 HW Mode(s): 802.11ac/n
Hardware: 14C3:7650 14C3:7650 [MediaTek MT7610E]
TX power offset: none
Frequency offset: none
Supports VAPs: yes PHY name: phy1
Any idea why the low OpenWRT channels are disabled? A quick check of logread and dmesg did not enlighten me.