WRT3200ACM Third Radio Configuration

[tomstoudt]

Just upgraded my WRT3200ACM from Linksys factory software to LEDE Reboot 17.01.4 r3560-79f57e422d / LuCI lede-17.01 branch (git-17.290.79498-d3f0685). I have the router working, but am unsure how the third radio should be configured (third radio is second 5GHZ radio). Should I be using same of different SSID, same or different channel? Which mode? I'm not sure I need the third radio, as I have no special requirements other than getting good coverage of the house.

Thanks for your help,

Tom

[anon57995562]

See this recent thread...

Third radio in wrt3200acm?

Hey there, I just installed the latest Rango firmware. The third radio appears automatically but there doesn't seem to be any way to configure it to get it to work. Is there something I need to do to make it work. See the screenshot, it's enabled like the other APs but the icon never goes blue. [36 PM] I am not sure if it's the internal radio people are talking about here. Because it does appear to be capable of 160Mhz. Maybe there was another issue with a different radio.

[tomstoudt]

I did read that thread and all the others that seemed relevant. Maybe my question isn’t clear. I’d simply like to know how others have configured the third radio and what their experience has been.
Right now I have it configured as a secondary 5Ghz access point with its own ssid and a channel number of 48. Although it shows a higher throughput than the primary 5 GHz access point on channel 36, the range appears to be much more limited. Anything else I should consider when making channel assignments? Given its limited range, should I just leave it off?
Thanks

[eduperez]

The radio2 device is connected to a minimal internal antenna, I would not use it for anything serious. I have configured radio0 as my main 5GHz access point, radio1 as my main 2.4GHz access point, and radio2 as an auxiliary 2.4GHz access point for my internet-of-things experiments, that do not need a great bandwidth.

[tomstoudt]

Thank you. I think that answers my question. I'll save it for use in close proximity to the router in my home office. Just curious, how do you have your primary 5Ghz access point configured - does it make sense to choose a channel, or just default to auto?

[eduperez]

Currently, using "auto" for a channel in LEDE just chooses the first channel in the band; there is no benefit over choosing one channel yourself.

[ioangogo]

@eduperez

and radio2 as an auxiliary 2.4GHz access point for my internet-of-things experiments

Im also using the radio for my IoT things, mainly as it is the only one the ESP's will connect to without timing out, but have you had any issues with the radio just not responding after a while

[eduperez]

There is a (closed) issue about problems with the ESPs at https://github.com/kaloz/mwlwifi/issues/170 (but when I tried them on the second radio, it worked for me). I do am not experiencing any issues right now with this device, which version of the driver are you using?

[ioangogo]

Im currently on the one that is from before the new year kmod-mwlwifi_4.4.92.10.3.4.0-20171214-0e38a82-9322 I might try updating it now as i have noticed there are more releases

Edit: on the latest release now

[marc_o]

@eduperez

There is a (closed) issue about problems with the ESPs at https://github.com/kaloz/mwlwifi/issues/170 (but when I tried them on the second radio, it worked for me). I do am not experiencing any issues right now with this device, which version of the driver are you using?

Don't you have the radio2 disconnection issue after some time? I think it is when DFS kicks in. See here

[eduperez]

@marc_o

Don't you have the radio2 disconnection issue after some time? I think it is when DFS kicks in. See here

No, my radio2 is stable, and I can not see similar messages in the logs.

[rotaecho]

How do you set radio2 as 2.4GHz? Mine shows as 5Ghz.

Thanks!

[eduperez]

option hwmode '11g'
option channel '11'