Heya, I've been strugelling with this on and off for years now - it should be so simple!
I need to setup a WR703N as a client for an existing network that listens for websocket and HTTP requests on port 7890 from any remote host - https://github.com/nemik/fadecandy-openwrt
I can get the 703N setup as an access point no problem but cannot for the life of me configure it to connect to another router. The final setup will have at least 4x 703Ns connected to an AP (not openwrt). My laptop will then connect to this and send data for lighting control
please can someone shed some light on the configuration for a basic client mode - ideally with a static IP. There is no need for internet connectivity or use of the ethernet port - all will be done via wifi and data is fed out via the usb socket.
The important thing to know here is that a client of a regular AP cannot be in a bridge such as the LAN is. It needs to be its own network by itself.
Usually when Internet access is the primary function, the wifi would be WAN and the existing LAN would support a wired user routing out to the WAN. Here you don't need that sort of function, so you can just make another network (not a bridge), give it a static IP (that doesn't overlap the LAN) and put it in the lan firewall zone.
If you do go with conventional LAN and WAN, the LAN and WAN still need to have different IP subnets. The default firewall wan configuration rejects incoming connections, so you will need to open each port on the firewall to accept connections from the wan network. Typically that would be port 22 for SSH, 80 for http, and 7890 for your custom application.
A mesh topology could also be considered. Here there would be a mesh interface that is bridged into the LAN, and when the node is brought up it becomes part of a larger LAN.
The wifi interface that connects wan to the main router must be mode 'sta' not AP.
Do not run a DHCP server on wan.
wan should be either DHCP client or static IP with an IP in the range of but different last number than the main AP and its other clients.
lan should be static IP with a different IP range than wan.
Do run a DHCP server on lan.
Points 2, 4, and 5 are the default configuration and point 3 is a minor change. When someone has been trying many different configurations unsuccessfully it is advisable to reset to default and start over.
Just realised while I can use the router no problem over wifi my LAN settings are incorrect as I cannot ssh into it over ethernet...
I'm not sure what relationship gateway, dns and the ip address should have to each other, I've tried a few variations and even removing them but no dice yet. Any tips or suggestions?
This isn't critical as the WAN works but I'd like to understand it more for the future - cheers