Hello Guys,
Thanks for visiting my post. Please have a look at the below pic for an overview of my current setup.
This is the router https://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/arcadyan/ar7516 I'm seeking help for.
Now the issues I have are as follows ...
No internet access inside the router to do any software updates or to do diagnosis
Can't access OpenWrt router default gateway from any of the devices connected via DHCP
My WISP has login portal with time out setting in which I need to login each time when new device is connected. And it automatically logs out after certain period of time when internet is not used. And also in power cut times. Looking for a hack/trick for this login such that openwrt automates the hassle.
After sorting the above main issues then I need to do the following and need help from this community
Setup DNS server for privacy and adblocking
Setup VPN/tunneling
Setup NAS
Hoping to get my issues resolved soon. Please any help is much appreciated and If possible please post a step by step guide or else doing random things will mess up. Thnx.
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Solution
Few things to know about this model before you follow the steps. This router is not a mainstream supported model where is firmware built upon the sources of other model. Due to this reason the firmware doesn't automatically pickup WAN interface where the 4 ports are generally mapped as VLAN switch with LAN interface. This is where the trouble starts if we're not aware how the switch works internally with this router. Plugging ISP to WAN cable will make the router work as DUMB AP instead of its own.But to setup as main OpenWrt router and to manage traffic we need to make sure to setup a separate WAN interface using VLAN switch. After having all these confusions I finally got help from couple of forum members and was able to solve it.
FYI I've made a small infographics image on how this router ports are physically mapped to the OpenWrt internal vlan switch, check below.
Please follow the steps below:
NB: Through out the process till the step 17 make sure you connect the LAN to either LAN2/LAN3 of the router ports because in this guide we had to do the changes for LAN1 and LAN4 and it may cause disruptions while accessing the router page. If you have any doubts in below steps then please refer to the above pic in which the overall settings for switch should be as shown.
1. Flash the OpenWrt image as per model wiki instructions
2. Using terminal telent into the router and change the root password
3. Now go to http://192.168.1.1 in browser and login to OpenWrt Luci Web UI using your root password
4. Top navigation bar go to Network>>Switch
5. Under VLANs on "eth0" (BCM63xx) at the very end of the page on left click Add button
6. A new VLAN will be created with specific VLAN ID number(Can use your own numbers if needed)
7. For VLAN ID[1] under port 3 change untagged to off
8. For VLAN ID[2] under port 3 change off to untagged
9. For VLAN ID[2] under CPU change off to tagged
10. Finally click "Save and Apply" button
11. Next from top navigation go to Network>>Interfaces page
12. Under Interface Overview bottom left click on Add new interface button
13. Name the new interface as wan (use only lowercase)
14. Next for Protocol of the new interface chose DHCP
15. Next check for Create a bridge over multiple interfaces
16. Finally chose VLAN Interface: "eth0.2" (wan) and Wireless Network: Master "OpenWrt" (lan, wan) options under Cover the following interface and click Submit button
17. Please double check all the options again and reboot the router.
18. Now plug the WISP cable to WAN/LAN4 of the router and your computer LAN to any of the LAN1/LAN2/LAN3 ports.
19. Thats it we're done now your OpenWrt works as main router with WAN being picked up with DHCP.
20. One last note for who need WiFi as its already mentioned in the model wiki page. To make the WiFi work you need to follow the instructions in wiki page and add the mac address or else it will not be picked by clients even if the radio is enabled.
I think this tutorial will help for most of the routers which are in similar construction. I tested LAN1 and LAN4 which are interchangeable to have WAN interface and pretty much same should do for the other 2 ports. If any one tested please leave a comment so that some one can benefit from google search.
However I still need to thank @RangerZ @Davie for being with me so far. And a very special thanks for @vendant who joined us lately but with a thorough investigation and quick solution. Thanks to the community
(Last edited by i0s on 6 Aug 2016, 17:37)