Hi to all.
I'm new to OpenWRT and this forum, too.
To gain experience i tried to build a 2.4G WiFi-Repeater,
as a next step i want to add a restricted Guest-Wifi, too.
But after 14 days reading wiki, documentation and
even tried the example "STA&AP" i fail even with the first step
and want to ask for help.
My HW: ISP-Router, IP 192.168.1.x, DHCP 192.168.1.[10-200], 2.4G and 5G WiFi
FritzBox 7312, OpenWRT 24.10.4, 2.4G WiFi only
What i have done so far:
Changed Lan-IP to 192,168.178.1, dhcp off
Configured Client with static IP 192.178.1.250 to avoid dhcp-conflict,
set channel, essid, credentials, encryption mode, network wwan (phy0-sta0)
Configured Master, same channel and encryption, mode AP, network wwan.
I changed ESSID and password, to see where i am connected.
Wireless-client seems to work, Wireless overview shows working with signal indicator.
But if i connect to AP, i see the Master under "Associated Stations" for about 4-5 secs, then he disappears. At the same time cellular tells me that it cannot get IP.
If you are talking about wifi client interface (to connect to ISP router), you have to define an static IP address on main router subnet (like 192.168.1.250).
Usually you should config master to lan network.
To obtain DHCP address from main router, you should bridge wwan and lan connections (with relayd as explained in the guide), but it implies that IP address assigned to clients connected to repeater are in the same subnet of your main router lan. If you want that repeater gives access to a guest wifi network, i would enable DHCP on repeater on different subnet and even with different SSID and password on master AP, so it behaves like a separate isolated network (like is explained in sta&ap guide).
My thougts were: use LAN only for configuration, this is why I changed IP and disabled DHCP or LAN.
For the same reason I did not follow the relayd guide because LAN seems to be bridged with the wifi-subnet.
But this is not a must.
If it's possible to add a guest-wlan with separare subnet later I will start new following he ralayd-guide.
The reason that relayd is necessary is because you cannot directly bridge a sta (client) mode connection with ethernet and/or wifi AP mode operation. This is a limitation of the wifi standards themselves (this mode was presumably not envisioned in the original standard creation), so this is true with all firmware environments.
There are a few 'workarounds' for this:
The best option, when available, is a direct wired backhaul. In that case, no workarounds necessary and everything is pretty easy. But that obviously is not workable in many situations where ethernet cabling is not possible.
The preferred wireless option is to use WDS/4addr or Mesh (802.11s), but these generally only work when the upstream (AP) and downstream (STA) devices are within the same firmware ecosystem. That is to say, it will work if both are running OpenWrt, but not if you have a different firmware on the upstream device.
A routed solution is always possible -- this makes the downstream network distinctly different than the upstream (i.e. a different subnet, usually NAT'd)
Or, the use of relayd is the final option. This is a bit of a hack, but it does work and allows a 'repeater' type operation when the upstream is not OpenWrt.
Of course you're right. I did a mistake writing in the forum.
The client interface is configured 192.168.1.250, within the main router's subnet but outside dhcp range.
The LAN is 192.168.178.1 to keep it separated
That's a lot of information for a newbie!
My plan is to expand the main router's subnet for me and family, so the clients are in this IP range assigned by DHCP of the main router.
Additionally the repeater should give a guest wifi with separate IP range (assigned from the repeater's dhcp, I think).
So it seems that i have to start new following the guide for relayd or sta&ap.
But because of the additional guest wifi sta&ap seems to be the better start.
Do you agree?
Theoretically you can make access to your private subnet with relayed guide and make a guest subnet, but I didn't see or try that setup (only private only relayed repeater or isolated network but not both). Although you can create various master ssids, bridge should be between lan and wwan so I'm not quite sure that other guest wlan interface would work because of routing problems.
Hi,
after nearly 3 days trying to do everything I could to get my FritzBox 7312 working as a Wifi repeater I want to share my experience and ask for more help.
Because @psherman and @frollic pointed me to the relayd-solution I started new from the beginning, flashing latest firmware 25.12.4. and followed the relayd-guide using Luci.
As a result, Luci was nearly unusable slow.
But I could follow the guide up to sucessfully testing the connection with "ping".
The next step " Install relayd package" ended in a mess:
I could update the package list, but anytime I tried to filter "luci-proto-relay" the FritzBox hang and rebooted after a short time, showing memory errors in the log.
So I downgraded to firmware 24.10.4 and started new to configure relayd with Luci.
I could finish the whole guide without a problem.
But my problem remains: Smartphone doesn't get an IP.
May it be that the repeater has to have 2.4GHz as well as 5 GHz, and to use these different interfaces to get relayd to work?
Hi... I made that config recently and worked, even with wifi clients assigned with IP from main router.
Your repeater doesn't need both bands, but if you have 2.4G only, that band would support main router - repeater connection and also extend wifi signal, limiting your throughput to half. relayd only makes a bridge between your wwan interface and lan interface on repeater, so they operate as they are on same subnet.
Things to check:
You rebooted your router after finishing changes?
Are you assigning wwan interface to lan firewall zone?
You deleted wan and wan6 interfaces?
Check that static IP defined for wwan interface is the same that you define in relay bridge interface (relayd).
Check that SSID, wifi password, wifi security of master wifi interface are the same that your 2.4G main router.
I assigned to lan, following the guide.
Now I see it's assigned to lan and wwan (because of the relay-bridge?)
yes
yes, IP is the same.
No, it isn't !
The credentials for client interface are the same as for the main router.
The SSID and password for the master is different from the main router.
The guide told " In the Interface Configuration section, configure SSID, security and other parameters so the Wi-Fi extender can act like an access point."
So I used the default SSID "OpenWRT" and PW "12345678" for testing , so that I can see if I'm connected with the main router or the repeater.
I will change master configuration and try this out later.
Now I changed SSID and PW of the master wifi interface to be same as for the main router.
The smartphone now connects, but with the main router, not with the repeater.
Are you using same 2,4G channel (for example 6) in main wifi router, client repeater and master repeater wifi interfaces? If you have one radio, you have to use same wifi channel.
It could take time to cell phone to make the switch from one station to another... Some devices didn't change even with very low signal (ap sticking). You can help the process enabling 802.11k and 802.11v protocolsto enable band steering if your repeater supports it, but in practice device decides to which ap connects. Repeater localization is important: if you want to cover a dead spot, don't put repeater on dead spot... Put half way between your main router and dead spot, so it receives good signal and could reach dead spot. Check that repeated signal implies an interference zone where both routers have coverage... Try to reduce that area with localization or even reducing transmit power on routers.
If you continue having problems, sure, post config file and we take a look.