WiFi Bridge

[guyso]

Hi. I am trying to setup a WNDR3700V2 so that I can connect to a WiFi network which I will call Network 1 and then create a separate WiFi network which I will call Network 2. I wish Network 2 to do DHCP and be invisible to Network 1. The reason is so that when travelling I can have my Chromecast on my caravan TV all setup on Network 2 and then I can use various devices as the data source on Network 1, e.g. share the data allowance of my and my wife's mobile phones, use a WiFi data modem, log in to a local WiFi network, etc. I have tried using the bridge function and this did not seem to do the job.

I have found using the following almost works, with one big problem.

On the Basic Connection screen in Device Configuration I use 'Gateway (Default)'.
On Internet/WAN I use Connect via 'DHCP (Wireless)'.
In Local Network/LAN I setup a Router IP of 192.168.23.1.
On Wireless I use Wireless mode 'Client+AP'.
I only enable the 2.4GHz connection.
For the SSID to join I put in Network 1, e.g. my mobile phone hotspot data.
For Access Point SSID I use a different SSID to the phone, let's call it 'test'.
I use WPA2 PSK encryption with appropriate password. Everything else I leave at default settings.

This all works great when first enabled, I get a 'test' WiFi network which hands out IP addresses on a different subnet to Network 1 and uses my phones hotspot for data. I can setup my TV Chromecast on Network 2 'test' and this works perfectly.

Now if I wish to use my wife's phone for the data next time. I setup my wife's phone as the hotspot and switch the Router back on. Now while the Router WiFi light is on, it does not broadcast the 'test' WiFi network. As I use a tablet to setup the router I can not connect to the router on the WiFi 'test' Network to rescan and change the network 1 SSID to join to my wife's phone hotspot. I would have thought the router would re-establish the 'test' WiFi network even if the Network 1 is not available. If it worked this way I could access the Router via my tablet WiFi on the 'test' network and change the SSID of Network 1 to join to my wife's hotspot and all would be well. It appears that once the Router is connected to a specific Network 1, it will not establish Network 2 on power up if Network 1 is not available.

Why does the Router not re-establish the 'test' network under the conditions when the SSID to join (network 1) is not available? If this can not be solved, is there another way to achieve what I am trying to do?

[Lantis]

This is a complex problem to solve (I'm working on it)

Essentially when the original Network 1 is not available, the router goes into a constant search mode and is therefore never able to establish the AP either.

This is a well known limitation of hostapd and wpa supplicant fighting each other.
The solution is a watcher script which swaps out your Wi-Fi config for a different one which does not include the connection to Network 1, allowing test to come up ok. When the watcher detects Network 1 is back, it swaps back to the other config.
In your case, you have a list of many Network 1's, which further complicated the switching a little.

There is an OpenWrt package to solve this problem called "Travelmate", which is what I'm trying to integrate into Gargoyle. However it is not compatible out of the box.

A wired device for managing the router obviously negates this particular problem, but understand that it is not always possible.

A custom script hooked into the Gargoyle ping watchdog plugin could achieve what I've written above.

[ispyisail]

+1

[guyso]

Thanks Lantis and ispyisail.

Good to know this is a known bug and a fix is in the queue.

In the meantime, is there any other way I can achieve what I am after? That is a secondary network configured and locked to my Chromecast and the ability to connect to different primary networks without changing the secondary network.

[Lantis]

Ping watchdog with a custom script.
No easy solutions.

[Forger38]

I entered the thread to write this; there's no easy way out of this one (apart from paying someone else to do it), but it'll work. I've installed such a system at my brother's house and it works fine!

[Lantis]

I'm working on a plugin which fixes this use case. I've finished the backend application, I'm just writing the GUI.

[guyso]

Hi Lantis.

Sorry to be reviving an old thread, but am interested to know if there has been any progress on this fix. Does 1.12.0 have the fix, or if not is there any beta release I can try.

Thanks for all your work on this.

[Lantis]

Yes the STA Manager plugin is available as part of 1.12.0.
It might already be installed depending on which device. Otherwise installing via the plugin manager as usual.

I hope the interface is self explanatory, but if you need help just ask.

It runs on about a 30 second resolution, so in your scenario losing Network 1 will take down Test network for about 30 seconds before it auto recovers.
If you then move back in range of either Network 1 or 2, it will take another 30 seconds to establish, and you might see a momentary drop in connectivity.

[guyso]

Thanks Lantis

I will be installing on WNDR3700v2. Can I WinSCP in and check something to tell if STA Manager is automatically installed? Would be useful to know if i have to manually install for when I do future upgrades.

Thanks