WR941ND in wireless bridge mode can't ping LAN devices

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paradoxman
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:01 am

WR941ND in wireless bridge mode can't ping LAN devices

Post by paradoxman »

Hi everyone, I have a TP-LINK WR941ND ver.3.6 which works great with Gargoyle firmware as normal wireless client (I don't use AP functions), but when set in wireless bridge mode (without repeater activated) I simply cannot acces any device that is connected to the LAN ports of the client router; I am able to acces and ping the AP or any external IP adress from every device behind the wireless bridge client router, but I cannot acces or ping any device on the LAN (between them);

I am using GARGOYLE 1.4.0 and tried also a few newer versions 1.4.7 , 1.5.6 and 1.5.9 and my problem is the same;

I have to mention that my other router a Linksys WRT160NL based also on an Atheros platform works flawlessly regarding my problem with any GARGOYLE version (including 1.4.0) and I am able to see , access and ping any device connected to the LAN behind the router configured as a simple wireless bridge client (without repeater or WDS);

It is also worth mentioning that with DD-WRT firmware, in the same wireless bridge mode, the 941ND does not have this bug and also can ping any LAN device behind the router, so I don't think it is a hardware limitation of any kind;

Is there some package that is present in the WRT160NL firmware that I might/could install also on the WR941ND to add this functionality?

I am using 1.4.0 version on both routers because it is the last that gives me HT40 capability in client modes, with any other new version my routers (941ND and WRT160NL) simply cannot synchronize to turbo 2 channel HT 40 mode and use only 20 Mhz instead (I am using just client modes, I haven't tested AP functions)

Any advices are welcome
many thanks!

behappy
Posts: 84
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 5:06 pm

Re: WR941ND in wireless bridge mode can't ping LAN devices

Post by behappy »

You don't need to have the so old firmware on yr routers.

Gargoyle has to versions; openwrt Attitude Adjustment (newer ex. 15.9) and openwrt Backfire (elder ex. 1.5.6).

Use Openwrt Backfire you can bypass the wifi resctriction by using the modified crda regulatory.bin.

paradoxman
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:01 am

Re: WR941ND in wireless bridge mode can't ping LAN devices

Post by paradoxman »

I don't have any problems with regulatory.bin, I managed to bypass it by replacing it on older versions and patch it on newer versions with reghack.elf ;

However this is not my problem and I mentioned in my previous posting why I am using ancient versions of Gragoyle firmware, because I am not being able to lock in 40 Mhz mode as a client on newer versions;

if i issue a "iw dev wlan0 station dump" command on older versions I see that router can connect using 40 Mhz

signal: -61 dBm
signal avg: -64 dBm
tx bitrate: 120.0 MBit/s MCS 5 40Mhz short GI
rx bitrate: 81.0 MBit/s MCS 4 40Mhz

but if I issue the same command on newer Gargoyle versions, I get only a speed of 39 Mbit/s MCS 20 Mhz upload and download , connected to the same AP

I searched all around for an answer for my problem but didn't managed to get a possible answer;

strange is that with the same version of firmware, WRT160NL is able to access/ping all wired devices behind it set up as wireless bridge, but in the same config WR941ND is NOT able to ping any IPs of internal wired devices connected to it's LAN outputs and only being able to ping or access the AP or other external IPs

paradoxman
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:01 am

Re: WR941ND in wireless bridge mode can't ping LAN devices

Post by paradoxman »

I partially found a solution for my problem (until THE NEXT REBOOT)

I was playing around with "brctl" command to see the state of the switch buit in :

issuing "brctl show" it appears that my switch is called br-lan and every port (LAN 1-4) + WLAN are bridged together as seen in this picture

Image

Now I have to unplug my 2 devices from ports LAN2 and LAN3 and issue these commands:

"brctl delif br-lan lan2" (deleting LAN2 interface)
"brctl delif br-lan lan3" (deleting LAN3 interface)

"brctl show" proves me that they are not there anymore, so now I have to add them again to br-lan switch

"brctl addif br-lan lan2" (adding new LAN2 interface)
"brctl addif br-lan lan3" (adding new LAN3 interface)

another "brctl show" to see if they are added, and indeed they show up as expected;

Now, all I have to do is to plug in the 2 devices to my LAN2 and LAN3 slots and everything is OK, I can ping them and access them with my usual programs.
The two newly added interfaces are having also their STATE in FORWARD-ing mode as in this other picture
brctl showstp br-lan

Image

BUT after a REBOOT, everything is back and I can NOT ping or access anything plugged into the LAN ports

So my question is if there is some script to modify or some other posibility to preserve these settings after a reboot?

Thanks

EDIT

my etc/config/network file on the WR941ND doesn't have any switch configured in it and it looks like this

config 'interface' 'loopback'
option 'ifname' 'lo'
option 'proto' 'static'
option 'ipaddr' '127.0.0.1'
option 'netmask' '255.0.0.0'

config 'interface' 'eth'
option 'ifname' 'eth0'
option 'proto' 'none'

config 'interface' 'lan'
option 'ifname' 'lan1 lan2 lan3 lan4'
option 'type' 'bridge'
option 'proto' 'static'
option 'netmask' '255.255.255.0'
option 'ipaddr' '192.168.1.13'
option 'gateway' '192.168.1.1'
option 'dns' '208.67.222.222'

the same file on my WRT160NL which works flawlessly in the same configuration with the same gargoyle version looks like this:

config 'interface' 'loopback'
option 'ifname' 'lo'
option 'proto' 'static'
option 'ipaddr' '127.0.0.1'
option 'netmask' '255.0.0.0'

config 'interface' 'lan'
option 'ifname' 'eth0'
option 'type' 'bridge'
option 'proto' 'static'
option 'netmask' '255.255.255.0'
option 'ipaddr' '192.168.1.12'
option 'gateway' '192.168.1.1'
option 'dns' '192.168.1.1'

config 'switch'
option 'name' 'eth0'
option 'reset' '1'
option 'enable_vlan' '1'

config 'switch_vlan'
option 'device' 'eth0'
option 'vlan' '1'
option 'ports' '0 1 2 3 4 5'

root@Gargoyle:~# uci show network
network.loopback=interface
network.loopback.ifname=lo
network.loopback.proto=static
network.loopback.ipaddr=127.0.0.1
network.loopback.netmask=255.0.0.0
network.lan=interface
network.lan.ifname=eth0
network.lan.type=bridge
network.lan.proto=static
network.lan.netmask=255.255.255.0
network.lan.ipaddr=192.168.1.12
network.lan.gateway=192.168.1.1
network.lan.dns=192.168.1.1
network.@switch[0]=switch
network.@switch[0].name=eth0
network.@switch[0].reset=1
network.@switch[0].enable_vlan=1
network.@switch_vlan[0]=switch_vlan
network.@switch_vlan[0].device=eth0
network.@switch_vlan[0].vlan=1
network.@switch_vlan[0].ports=0 1 2 3 4 5

root@Gargoyle:~# brctl show
bridge name bridge id STP enabled interfaces
br-lan 8000.002369c7e9db no eth0
wlan0

how come that are such big difference in configuration since both routers use the same 1.4.0 version and are configured in the same way (simple wireless bridge) ?

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