Perhaps there's a much better supported router around a similar price point? There are so many I really can't tell which one would be best.
In general though, what I need:
Strong WiFi connection so I get very good signal when connecting wirelessly to the host network
Strong enough WiFi to cover my whole flat (c50v4 is also struggling at this)
Any ideas?
TBH, I don't own any other Mediatek based routers, so can't comment on slow upload issue. I've never witnessed it on old Atheros based routers I own.
Unfortunately, I cannot remember for certain whether I tested 'pseudo bridge' mode (see earlier post) when I did briefly own a C50v4 last summer. I think I did test it but any test would not have been for more than 15 minutes to see how it compared to my Home Hub 5A operating in same mode connecting wirelessly to my main wifi network. But I could be wrong.
The open source wifi drivers used in OpenWrt will always be inferior to closed source wifi drivers included in OEM firmwares. I'm no expert but I don't think the Mediatek wifi drivers are as mature as ath9k and ath10k which have been around for far longer.
The C50 is a low cost router at end of the day. Have you considered spending a bit more money and buying an off the shelf mesh system such as Tenda MW3 if it is available in your country if coverage is more important than speed?
Otherwise, you may have to look in the 'Hardware Questions & Recommendations' sub-forum for further advice on hardware.
Alright, I'm going to restore and return it and find another device.
Is this still the correct process for restoring factory firmware (Support for Archer c50 v4)?
Just want to be sure I do it correctly. I'd really appreciate it if you could just let me know if this is the way.
Thanks a lot for all your help and comments so far!
You wrote, you can connect to the web via WiFi. How ? Only possible on 5GHz, as 2.4 is disabled. And you configured 5GHz both as AP_and_ STA. Which will not work. As I understand, you want to use 5GHz as upstream connection (wan), so neds to be STA. And 2.4GHz as AP, to connect to clients.
My computer is connected to the c50v4 via ethernet. The 5GHz radio is used in station/client mode to connect to the target wireless network.
To be sure I've not accidentally misconfigured things, I've reset the c50v4 back to defaults using the reset button and then followed this guide: https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/routedclient
Internet works fine but the issue is the upload speed which is still around 1 to 2Mbps max.
NOTE: I've followed all the guides I could find, including using relayd but nothing at all helped with the upload speed. All other devices connected to the same target wireless network have good upload speeds when tested.
Latest snapshot firmware gives me the same results.
I can't think of anything else I can try. Do you see anything else that might be wrong?
You are (trying to) use 5GHz both as STA and AP. This does not work.
Just to be setup as a STA for the upstream WiFi, using its credentials (encryption/password) .
Apologies for any confusion. Here's the very latest configuration (which only uses the 5GHz radio to connect to target network and using which I can connect to internet from my computer connected via ethernet):
/etc/config/wireless
config wifi-device 'radio0'
option type 'mac80211'
option channel '11'
option hwmode '11g'
option path 'platform/10300000.wmac'
option htmode 'HT20'
option disabled '1'
config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
option device 'radio0'
option network 'lan'
option mode 'ap'
option ssid 'OpenWrt'
option encryption 'none'
config wifi-device 'radio1'
option type 'mac80211'
option channel '44'
option hwmode '11a'
option path 'pci0000:00/0000:00:00.0/0000:01:00.0'
option htmode 'VHT80'
config wifi-iface 'default_radio1'
option device 'radio1'
option network 'wan'
option ssid 'THE_SSID'
option encryption 'psk2'
option mode 'sta'
option key 'THE_PASSWORD'
/etc/config/network
config interface 'loopback'
option ifname 'lo'
option proto 'static'
option ipaddr '127.0.0.1'
option netmask '255.0.0.0'
config globals 'globals'
option ula_prefix 'fd6e:1691:0876::/48'
config interface 'lan'
option type 'bridge'
option ifname 'eth0.1'
option proto 'static'
option ipaddr '192.168.2.1'
option netmask '255.255.255.0'
option ip6assign '60'
config device 'lan_dev'
option name 'eth0.1'
option macaddr '98:da:c4:e1:70:95'
config interface 'wan'
option proto 'dhcp'
config device 'wan_dev'
option name 'eth0.2'
option macaddr '98:da:c4:e1:70:96'
config interface 'wan6'
option ifname 'eth0.2'
option proto 'dhcpv6'
config switch
option name 'switch0'
option reset '1'
option enable_vlan '1'
config switch_vlan
option device 'switch0'
option vlan '1'
option ports '1 2 3 4 6t'
config switch_vlan
option device 'switch0'
option vlan '2'
option ports '0 6t'
It's all default config and I've only made the changes in the ' Using MASQUERADE' part of the 'Routed Client' guide linked above.
Do I need to do something else?
Now your WiFi settings look reasonable.
As 5GHz on Mediatek chipset is seldom used, I would not rule out a possible bug here.
Having no immediate ideas any more, I would do the same as alrady suggested, to connect to upstream via LAN. And then check the speed again.
BTW: Whats the ping time to 8.8.8.8 ?
The ping to 8.8.8.8 is 13ms. Unfortunately, I can't connect via LAN as I only have wireless access.
How could we check the firmware to see if it's a bug? Is there someone who'd be able to check it easily?
ping is within expected range. Return path (download) is fast, which is in contrast to your experience.
Just a wild guess: Do you have SQM enabled, by chance ?
If yes, disable, reboot and check upload speed.
(SQM throttles uploads, by purpose. But might be misconfigured.).
I don't remember seeing SQM anywhere - where would I find this? I've gone through all settings and don't see it.
Somewhere in LuCI.
Can not say any more, as I practically never use LuCI, sorry.
Yes, @Tibit windows instructions is what I used for removing header from OEM firmware for reverting my Archer C50v4 (EU) version from OpenWrt to OEM firmware.
Perfect, thanks! I've restored it to factory firmware and returned.
I'll open another thread to figure out the best router to get instead - I've been reading the forum for hours but still can't decide what I need to get.
@bill888 @reinerotto @eduperez here's the new thread - Powerful Wireless Bridge - Which router?
If you do have any suggestions, I'd really appreciate it!
fwiw, sorry for bumping old thread.
I tested relayd with 19.07.1 on RT-AC57U (MT7621AT) and I can reproduce very poor upload speed with 5 GHz link too.
I reported my findings in this thread where another user with Xiaomi 3G (MT7621) sees same problem.
https://forum.openwrt.org/t/question-xiaomi-mi-r3g-mir3g-5ghz-relayd-19-07-upload-performance/50248
Looks like it is a Mediatek specific issue?
I don't see this issue with EA6350 v3 (IPQ4018) or Home Hub 5A (Lantiq/Atheros wifi)
I see the same issue on a Netgear R6220 (Mediatek MT7621ST) and added this information to the Bug Report to bill888. I was looking since long time on this issue and never thought it could be related to relayd
I'm sorry for bumping old thread
I'm getting the same issue with my Xiaomi Mi Router 4A (100M Edition) (which is MediaTek MT7628AN based).
Hi,
I'm having the same issue on a mesh network using a pair of Meraki MR-33 AP's with OpenWRT 21.02.1.
Firewall, dnsmasq an DHCP are stopped (devices are working as dumb APs), the mesh is using a 5Ghz link which creates a bridge between both AP ethernet ports and a 2,4Ghz SSID.
Regards.
