I am searching for a router which support WDS with stock-firmware to test if the router signal is strong enough for my needs, if that works, I want to install openwrt.
A simple szenario for my needs:
A device without Wifi, but with ethernet, like a tv, webcam, a.s.o
This device is connected to the "bridge-router"
the "bridge router" connects via Wifi to another 2nd router, note: ethernet is not possible!
The 2nd router connects to the intenet
This should work with the 5Ghz band,
There are some routers with stock firmware, that can be configured with WDS, but the ones I found, have a Broadcom chip or another chip like Mediatek which doesn't work with 5GHz and openwrt.
So can you recommend a router for my needs? Please note, first I have to test with the stock firmware and later openwrt will be installed. At the moment I have a working setup with a few TP-Link TL-WR1043ND, but this router doesn't support 5GHz and sometimes the connection is interrupted when streaming videos.
Archer C7 v2 "works fine" with WDS, as should "most" Atheros-based devices. With "stock firmware"? No clue. I can't remember running "stock firmware" in as long as OpenWrt has been around.
Are you aware that both wireless devices need to support WDS, and in the same "flavor"? You can't just hook a new device with WDS to an AP that isn't providing WDS.
Routing is another possibility for providing connectivity to Ethernet-based devices, that just requires client ("managed") mode on the target. It does require straightforward routing on the AP or router. Routing does not support on-link broadcast protocols to other subnets, such as mDNS or proprietary protocols, such as sometimes used for cell-phone control of in-home devices.
The latest version for the Archer C7 is v5, which is not supported anymore. I read at dd-wrt that it will probably never supported and I read that openwrt-users bricked the c7 with v5.
I have a working scenario with TP-Link WR1043ND v1.8. It works fine, but it is too slow for video streaming, so I want to replace them. Now I use 3 of them, earlier 5.
They have Backfire (10.03.1, r29592) installed and I have them to reset once a year or maybe after 2 years. In the meantime I found, that this version is not the correct one for v1.8 (should use a newer one) but it works fine, so I don't change it. The problem with newer version is, that it is unstable from time to time.
I want to use 5GHz too, so I want to buy 2 new devices minimum.
My first wish is to use openwrt, did not get familiar with dd-wrt. But before I want to test, if 5Ghz works better than with my old TP-Link. So I need WDS, wifi bridge, media bridge or however it is called with stock-fw.
If I get no suggestion for openwrt, I fear I have to check dd-wrt with broadcom-devices, but it looks hard to find a device with dd-wrt too. WDS has to work with 5GHz and 2.4GHz.
The 2nd device doesn't need to be a "router", it could be a "wds-repeater" or however it is called. An Asus EA-AC87 comes close to my needs, but it works with 5GHz only and isn't supported by an alternative OS.
I agree with @jeff, if your end user device on the linked router is a typical IoT device that only needs to connect to the Internet to reach the manufacturer's server, use a routed client. WDS is only necessary if you need a "seamless" LAN between the two locations.
Quite a few devices support routed client or "extender" operation in the stock firmware. The AP serving a routed client works as a regular AP, no special software or setup is needed at all.
I am sorry, I am not sure what I need. The mentioned scenario is one of many. I need a lot of mobile phones connected and at the moment I cannot say if I need WDS for it. I have to test in a house with thick walls, where connections are on the limit at the moment.
I run now SNAPSHOT r9104-fe7d965 on my Archer C7 v5. after some attempts the LED will also work with the following settings:
archer-c7-v5:green:wan - switch0 - Switch Port Mask 0x02
archer-c7-v5:green:lan1 - switch0 - Switch Port Mask 0x04
archer-c7-v5:green:lan2 - switch0 - Switch Port Mask 0x08
archer-c7-v5:green:lan3 - switch0 - Switch Port Mask 0x10
archer-c7-v5:green:lan4 - switch0 - Switch Port Mask 0x20