Use TP Link repeater as router

hi, i have a tp link re350 (https://openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/re350_v1) and would like to use it as a router.

i plug WAN into the LAN port and it kinda works. it gives all the devices connected to the wifi each separate public ip, meaning they cannot discover each other. worse, it somehow makes other devices connected to the modem unable to get a connection. i want to use the LAN port as WAN port but cannot seem to find a solution. can someone help?

I'm finding this hard to understand...

WAN of what to LAN of what? Is your WAN the 'wan cable' into the (single) ethernet port of the re350?
Where does this wan cable come from? Is the upstream device a modem? router? modem+router combo unit?

Have you already installed OpenWrt onto the RE350?

I would be very surprised if you were getting multiple public IP addresses -- what addresses are your devices getting? are they 192.168.1.x? Or something else?

If your intent is to use the RE350 as a router, you need to reassign the ethernet port to act as the WAN... this is easy enough to do, but if you don't do this, the device will simply behave as a wired-to-wireless bridge.

Please copy the output of the following commands and post it here using the "Preformatted text </> " button:
grafik
Remember to redact passwords, MAC addresses and any public IP addresses you may have:

cat /etc/config/network
cat /etc/config/wireless
cat /etc/config/dhcp
cat /etc/config/firewall

thank you for the reply. WAN here means a wired connection to the modem. my isp gives multiple public ip on the multiple ports on the modem, and the repeater seems to acts as a switch and gives every device a public ip (see image below), but it also messes with devices connected to the modem.

below are the requested outputs:

root@OpenWrt:~# cat /etc/config/network

config interface 'loopback'
        option device 'lo'
        option proto 'static'
        option ipaddr '127.0.0.1'
        option netmask '255.0.0.0'

config globals 'globals'
        option packet_steering '1'
        option ula_prefix 'fded:a5ae:fea4::/48'

config device
        option name 'br-lan'
        option type 'bridge'
        list ports 'lan'

config interface 'lan'
        option device 'br-lan'
        option proto 'static'
        option ipaddr '192.168.1.1'
        option netmask '255.255.255.0'
        option ip6assign '60'
root@OpenWrt:~# cat /etc/config/wireless

config wifi-device 'radio0'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option path '1e140000.pcie/pci0000:00/0000:00:00.0/0000:01:00.0'
        option channel '1'
        option band '2g'
        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 path '1e140000.pcie/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:02:00.0'
        option channel '36'
        option band '5g'
        option htmode 'VHT80'
        option disabled '1'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio1'
        option device 'radio1'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option ssid 'OpenWrt'
        option encryption 'none'
root@OpenWrt:~# cat /etc/config/dhcp

config dnsmasq
        option domainneeded '1'
        option boguspriv '1'
        option filterwin2k '0'
        option localise_queries '1'
        option rebind_protection '1'
        option rebind_localhost '1'
        option local '/lan/'
        option domain 'lan'
        option expandhosts '1'
        option nonegcache '0'
        option authoritative '1'
        option readethers '1'
        option leasefile '/tmp/dhcp.leases'
        option resolvfile '/tmp/resolv.conf.d/resolv.conf.auto'
        option nonwildcard '1'
        option localservice '1'
        option ednspacket_max '1232'

config dhcp 'lan'
        option interface 'lan'
        option start '100'
        option limit '150'
        option leasetime '12h'
        option dhcpv4 'server'
        option dhcpv6 'server'
        option ra 'server'
        option ra_slaac '1'
        list ra_flags 'managed-config'
        list ra_flags 'other-config'

config dhcp 'wan'
        option interface 'wan'
        option ignore '1'

config odhcpd 'odhcpd'
        option maindhcp '0'
        option leasefile '/tmp/hosts/odhcpd'
        option leasetrigger '/usr/sbin/odhcpd-update'
        option loglevel '4'
root@OpenWrt:~# cat /etc/config/firewall
config defaults
        option syn_flood        1
        option input            ACCEPT
        option output           ACCEPT
        option forward          REJECT
# Uncomment this line to disable ipv6 rules
#       option disable_ipv6     1

config zone
        option name             lan
        list   network          'lan'
        option input            ACCEPT
        option output           ACCEPT
        option forward          ACCEPT

config zone
        option name             wan
        list   network          'wan'
        list   network          'wan6'
        option input            REJECT
        option output           ACCEPT
        option forward          REJECT
        option masq             1
        option mtu_fix          1

config forwarding
        option src              lan
        option dest             wan

# We need to accept udp packets on port 68,
# see https://dev.openwrt.org/ticket/4108
config rule
        option name             Allow-DHCP-Renew
        option src              wan
        option proto            udp
        option dest_port        68
        option target           ACCEPT
        option family           ipv4

# Allow IPv4 ping
config rule
        option name             Allow-Ping
        option src              wan
        option proto            icmp
        option icmp_type        echo-request
        option family           ipv4
        option target           ACCEPT

config rule
        option name             Allow-IGMP
        option src              wan
        option proto            igmp
        option family           ipv4
        option target           ACCEPT

# Allow DHCPv6 replies
# see https://dev.openwrt.org/ticket/10381
config rule
        option name             Allow-DHCPv6
        option src              wan
        option proto            udp
        option src_ip           fc00::/6
        option dest_ip          fc00::/6
        option dest_port        546
        option family           ipv6
        option target           ACCEPT

config rule
        option name             Allow-MLD
        option src              wan
        option proto            icmp
        option src_ip           fe80::/10
        list icmp_type          '130/0'
        list icmp_type          '131/0'
        list icmp_type          '132/0'
        list icmp_type          '143/0'
        option family           ipv6
        option target           ACCEPT

# Allow essential incoming IPv6 ICMP traffic
config rule
        option name             Allow-ICMPv6-Input
        option src              wan
        option proto    icmp
        list icmp_type          echo-request
        list icmp_type          echo-reply
        list icmp_type          destination-unreachable
        list icmp_type          packet-too-big
        list icmp_type          time-exceeded
        list icmp_type          bad-header
        list icmp_type          unknown-header-type
        list icmp_type          router-solicitation
        list icmp_type          neighbour-solicitation
        list icmp_type          router-advertisement
        list icmp_type          neighbour-advertisement
        option limit            1000/sec
        option family           ipv6
        option target           ACCEPT

# Allow essential forwarded IPv6 ICMP traffic
config rule
        option name             Allow-ICMPv6-Forward
        option src              wan
        option dest             *
        option proto            icmp
        list icmp_type          echo-request
        list icmp_type          echo-reply
        list icmp_type          destination-unreachable
        list icmp_type          packet-too-big
        list icmp_type          time-exceeded
        list icmp_type          bad-header
        list icmp_type          unknown-header-type
        option limit            1000/sec
        option family           ipv6
        option target           ACCEPT

config rule
        option name             Allow-IPSec-ESP
        option src              wan
        option dest             lan
        option proto            esp
        option target           ACCEPT

config rule
        option name             Allow-ISAKMP
        option src              wan
        option dest             lan
        option dest_port        500
        option proto            udp
        option target           ACCEPT

# allow interoperability with traceroute classic
# note that traceroute uses a fixed port range, and depends on getting
# back ICMP Unreachables.  if we're operating in DROP mode, it won't
# work so we explicitly REJECT packets on these ports.
config rule
        option name             Support-UDP-Traceroute
        option src              wan
        option dest_port        33434:33689
        option proto            udp
        option family           ipv4
        option target           REJECT
        option enabled          false

# include a file with users custom iptables rules
config include
        option path /etc/firewall.user


### EXAMPLE CONFIG SECTIONS
# do not allow a specific ip to access wan

Remove the list ports lan line from the br-lan device definition.

Then create a wan:

config interface 'wan'
        option device ‘lan’
        option proto 'dhcp'

where the device lan is actually the Ethernet port. Reboot the repeater and see if that works.

It works perfectly now, thank you very much.

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