WDS on WRT54GSv4 with beta5

[eegorr]

I've been running two WRT54GSv4 routers (both running firmware v4.71.1, Hyperwrt 2.1b1 + Thibor15c) for a couple of years now. One is my internet gateway, with two computers connected by cable in the same room. The second router is in my living room, connected to the first via WDS. The router in my living room has a computer cabled in and there are sometimes as many as two laptops connected to it as well. With WDS it is set up with its own SSID so I can connect to the closest (strongest) AP when using wireless devices.

I've been thinking about doing something with the firmware for a while because it is so old and no longer supported, and I ran across yours after searching for a solution. I actually have a third WRT54GSv4 as a backup, so the first thing I did was to set it up to replace the router in my living room - all I had to do was load the lastest backup file since it was already running the same firmware. When I was sure it was working, I took the router that was in the living room previously and loaded your firmware on it - no problem there.

The problem came when I attempted to set up WDS. I was able to scan for my network and entered the WEP key - no problem. I got all the way through to the point where I am supposed to enter the "Other WDS MAC address," but when I entered it and clicked the "Add" button, nothing happened. I went ahead and tried to save the setup ("Save Changes"), but got an error popup saying that I had to set the MAC address before I could continue!

So, WDS is not working for me. Also, I noticed that there is no provision for a second SSID, which would enable me to select the strongest signal depending upon what room I am in when I try to connect a wireless device. Is this in another level of setup, or did you leave it out on purpose?

Anyway, since I couldn't get WDS working, I decided to try the wirless bridge/repeater option (with repeater enabled). This was easy to set up and appeared to be working, until I realized that the only computer that was connecting through the router running Gargoyle was the one that was cabled into it! Turns out, my two notebook computers are connected to the router in my office that is running Thibor firmware - I know this because they are in the connected device list for it and because the signal is not as strong as I would have expected.

So, unless I am missing something, neither WDS nor the bridge/repeater option is working for me, at least not the way I expected it to. Any suggestions?

[Eric]

You're right, there was a bug in the script for adding MAC addresses for WDS. It should be fixed now. Try using the latest bleeding edge firmware, now available in the download section.

[eegorr]

You didn't answer my second question: why is there no provision for a second SSID to distinguish it from the router it is repeating, in either mode? This was a deal breaker for me.

I say "was" because I decided to load tomato v1.23 firmware on my gateway router and that is working great with my remote ap running thibor 15c. Before configuring it as my gateway, I set it up as a remote ap and it has exactly the same provision for its own SSID as Thibor did.

It is taking some time for me to get used to the layout of the tomato setup gui - it is very cluttered but full of functionality. Your gui looks very nice but limits functionality (as advertised). In the end, I decided to go for functionality.

Good luck, though... your gui is probably good enough for 90% of casual users and is more suited to them. I'm sure over time you will add functionality and I may take another look then.

Thanks for the quick reply, by the way...

[aberam]

Hello,

I loaded the latest bleeding edge update and got the WDS mac pairing to work however I'm not getting an ip via dhcp on the ethernet interface of a MR3201A from the master. I tired click the routing tab but it's hanging.
I saw no option of putting an ssid in the repeaters. Will the ssid of the master be propagated to the repeaters or can I change the ssid for identification.

[Eric]

It's true that currently you can't set a different SSID when you're in bridge/repeater more. I should probably fix that so you can see what router you're actually connected to, but conceptually it makes sense -- in that mode it's one big network.

The routing tab shouldn't be active when you're configured as a bridge -- that's a bug. Routing makes no sense when you're in a WDS configuration.

I'm not sure why WDS isn't working. Are both routers atheros devices? Do be aware that WDS doesn't work between two different types of hardware. Also, are you sure you've entered the wireless MAC addresses correctly? What sort of encryption, if any, are you using?

[aberam]

Hello wasn't aware that they must be the same hardware. I had one on a linksys 54GL and the other an atheros. Thanks and yes I did pair the mac addresses and the linksys saw it as a wds device but when I connect to the ethernet port in the atheros in the next room I did not get an ip via dhcp.