WIfi issues on Linksys MR8300 + Optimization tips

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

Hey all.

I have a slight issue with my current build of OpenWrt (SNAPSHOT r22658-2c530fcb97) where at random intervals a specific model of android phone my family has keeps on disconnecting from the wireless network and will not reconnect.
My phone and other devices haven't had an issue however it says the wifi password is wrong and the only way for it to re connect is to turn the wifi on the device off and back on or re input the password.

In the syslogs i can note a line
daemon.info hostapd: phy2-ap0: STA <redacted> IEEE 802.11: deauthenticated due to local deauth request

I didn't have any issues until i decided to completely restart my config with different wifi ssids and a different ip.

everything else about the wireless config is the same as before except for the ssid's and longer than before passwords .

i have a feeling its because of wpa3 and the fact that I forgot what packages i had installed on the previous working setup.

What I have tried is adding wpad-wolfssl as it was recommended for wpa3, this did not seem to help
I then thought it might be related to the firmware from Candela Technologies as that is the only difference I can recall from my previous firmware before starting fresh.

after changing to the "unoptimized" base firmware and kmod the issue seems to be better than before but returned as soon as a installed the kmod-ath10k-ct.

I thought perhaps since the drivers from Candela Technologies are 3 years old something may be broken hence why I am coming here for help.

I also noted that wifi speeds were about half with the Candela Technologies compared to the base firmware and kmod when going wireless to lan (tested with iperf3).

On another note I would also like to hear any other tips or tricks from other MR8300 owners.

Probably something stupid im forgetting as im still learning OpenWrt

2

Do you have a duplicate SSID on both 2.4 and 5ghz WiFi?

I have a Nokia 5 that only supports 5ghz 802.11a and 2.4ghz 802.11bgn.

3

Please post content of /etc/config/wireless
I'm also using a snapshot for this device, but with the base firmware/kmod (I mean non-CT drivers as in default build).

4

Yes i have 2 Networks
OpenWrt Master (2.4 + 5ghz) and
OpenWrt Dedicated (5ghz only)
Both seem to have issues with the Samsung a21s

Here is the config


config wifi-device 'radio0'
	option type 'mac80211'
	option path 'soc/40000000.pci/pci0000:00/0000:00:00.0/0000:01:00.0'
	option channel '157'
	option band '5g'
	option htmode 'VHT80'
	option cell_density '3'
	option country 'GB'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
	option device 'radio0'
	option network 'lan'
	option mode 'ap'
	option ssid 'OpenWrt Dedicated'
	option encryption 'sae-mixed'
	option key '<redacted 23 character pass>'
	option max_inactivity '1000'
	option dtim_period '1'
	option skip_inactivity_poll '1'

config wifi-device 'radio1'
	option type 'mac80211'
	option path 'platform/soc/a000000.wifi'
	option channel '1'
	option band '2g'
	option cell_density '0'
	option beacon_int '100'
	option htmode 'HT40'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio1'
	option device 'radio1'
	option network 'lan'
	option mode 'ap'
	option ssid 'OpenWrt Master'
	option encryption 'sae-mixed'
	option dtim_period '3'
	option max_inactivity '1000'
	option key '<redacted 22 character pass>'

config wifi-device 'radio2'
	option type 'mac80211'
	option path 'platform/soc/a800000.wifi'
	option channel 'auto'
	option band '5g'
	option htmode 'VHT80'
	option cell_density '0'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio2'
	option device 'radio2'
	option network 'lan'
	option mode 'ap'
	option ssid 'OpenWrt Master'
	option encryption 'sae-mixed'
	option dtim_period '3'
	option max_inactivity '1000'
	option key '<redacted 22 character pass>'
1 Like
5

I would recommand

  • use WPA2 instead of 3
  • set a country for radios 1 and 2.
  • set a separate SSID for each radio. Using the same SSID for both a 2.4 and 5GHz may lead to switch.
  • is there a reason why you use channel 157 on radio0 ? It may interfere with radar (DFS). I prefer using auto. The device scans for radars and selects the best channel.
1 Like
6

Awesome I'll give those a try and see if stability improves.
As for the channel 157 it is the channel that most of my devices can see and the router will actually use.
Most of the higher channels are too high for my devices to see therefore I need to lock it to a specific channel

A few questions though,
What would the differences between wpa2 and 3 be, are there any benefits or drawbacks besides security?

7

A general optimization for the MR8300 is to scale up the processor faster. For small loads like DNS there isn't enough load to increase MHz so this router lags and there is a lot of latency.

Add this to your startup to scale up faster and scale down slower:

#Change % when cpu scales up
echo "5" > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/ondemand/up_threshold

#Multiple of sampling rate (.02 seconds) to scale down = .04 seconds
echo "2" > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/ondemand/sampling_down_factor
8

Cool ill give that a try thanks.
for most of the time i kept the cpu at max freq with
echo performance > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/policy0/scaling_governor
as I didn't see a better way of keeping performance in short bursty loads

the trade off was the cpu was hitting 80 degrees :smiley: so i added a cooling fan.

9

image
image1574×270 26.3 KB

Seems legit XD

10

@badulesia
Im going to test using the CT drivers tonight and see weather the problem occurs again.

I will report if it fails to stay connected.

Also would i be able to use base firmware with the CT kmod as the base kmod does not have the temperature sensors

11

Well that can hurts.
Another simple thing to try is to flash a default image, no settings, and reconfigure from scratch.

whatever ? wherever ? :wink:

12

Apologies for my spelling mistakes, I typed fast and didn't check grammar XD

Would an attended sysupgrade with the different packages have the same outcome as reflashing a default image?

13

Now it seems im getting a new issue
daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap0: STA <redacted> IEEE 802.11: disconnected due to excessive missing ACKs

Would disabling Disassociate On Low Acknowledgement help the issue or is it not recommended to disable it?

14

Yes, I would disable that.

1 Like
15

Well, I haven't been notified of any more issues with the wifi connection.

In the end, I separated and disabled the 5Ghz on radio 2 and left the 2.4Ghz on its own ssid.
Alongside that, I changed all ssids to use wpa2 and set a country.
I then asked my family to only use the dedicated 5Ghz from radio 0.

thank you to everyone for the help.

I will keep the topic open until it auto-closes in case anyone has any extra tips to add.

16

Alright I'm starting to see a few
daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap0: AP-STA-DISCONNECTED <redacted> and
daemon.notice hostapd: phy1-ap0: AP-STA-DISCONNECTED <redacted> for a different device same model

any idea what can cause this?