Hi there, I'm trying to create a WDS bridge between a Xiaomi Router 4A 100M International Edition running OpenWRT and a TP-Link W8961N to enable the TPLink to act as a wireless repeater, the setup for TP Link to create a WDS setup requires the Xiaomi to also connect to the TP Link in WDS mode by inputting it's MAC Address and same WDS password, Is it possible to do so by joining network on OpenWRT or will it take down both networks ? I'd rather not test as family will be very distraught if the internet goes down.
And no, I can't turn the Xiaomi into the repeater, family orders.
That is not possible, there is no such thing as "WDS" as a standardized feature - only vendor specific (not interoperable) implementations. The one available to mac80211 based drivers would be called "4addr", it works as long as all repeaters involved are indeed mac80211 based (~= mainline drivers), but the proprietary vendor drivers are not mac80211 based and can't use this framework (neither technically, nor legally in a license compliant way).
relayd would (or routed client) would be the only alternative for mixed situation like this, but that's basically broken by design (huge problems with multi-cast, not supporting IPv6, lots of other quirks and bugs).