Netgear WNDR4300 5Ghz repeater bridge problem (bug?)

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Rick880
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Joined: 26 Jan 2020
Posts: 31

PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2021 12:12    Post subject: Netgear WNDR4300 5Ghz repeater bridge problem (bug?) Reply with quote
I picked up a Netgear WNDR4300 and installed DD-WRT r47040 firmware on it. I intended to use the WNDR4300 as a repeater bridge so I configured the 5GHz radio as Client Bridge (Routed) and the 2.4GHz radio as AP according to the instructions (https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Repeater_Bridge). But the WNDR4300 failed to connect to my main router as a client (and thus no internet). I first suspected that I might not have the right 5GHz radio configured correctly and tried to tweak it but nothing worked. Frustrated, I reversed the roles of 5GHz and 2.4Ghz radios - 2.4GHz as AP and 5GHz as client bridge - and then the WNDR4300 would work perfectly as a repeater bridge. I could get on-line through the 5GHz wifi or the direct wired connection to the WNDR4300. Suspecting that it could just be a bad firmware build, I tried a bunch of earlier firmware releases and found that r31277 firmware actually would work with both configurations. All other builds in between r31277 and r47040 that I had tried (r31825, r32170, r33006, r36247, r41686 and r47000) have the same 5GHz client bridge problem. Could this be a bug introduced after r31277 build? Or could it be just that I haven't found the right configuration recipe for the 5GHz client bridge mode.

Edit (08/05/21): Added attachments - system log and dmesg output
Edit2 (08/05/21): Added one attachment - my router configuration steps
Edit3 (08/05/21): Typo in the router configuration attachment: ath1 (wlan1) should be "N-Only (5GHz)" instead of "A-Only". Revised (my configuration v2.txt).


Last edited by Rick880 on Thu Aug 05, 2021 18:53; edited 5 times in total
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Rick880
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Joined: 26 Jan 2020
Posts: 31

PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2021 17:49    Post subject: Reply with quote
After I posted the question, I googled a little bit and found that someone on reddit had the similar problem with the exact same model about a year ago - https://www.reddit.com/r/DDWRT/comments/eh0kqx/wndr4300_24ghz_client_mode_works_but_now_5ghz/
tedm
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 13 Mar 2009
Posts: 554

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 6:54    Post subject: Reply with quote
You did not say what your main router is.

Client Bridge does not always work properly particularly when the radios are different. Do you know what radio is in use in your main router?
Rick880
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Joined: 26 Jan 2020
Posts: 31

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 15:50    Post subject: Reply with quote
tedm wrote:
You did not say what your main router is.

Client Bridge does not always work properly particularly when the radios are different. Do you know what radio is in use in your main router?


The main router is Arris BGM210 from AT&T fiber. BGM210 was configured to use different SSID for each radio. (The default was one SSID for both radios.) WNDR4300 (the client bridge) was configured to use the SSID of the same frequency.
Per Yngve Berg
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Joined: 13 Aug 2013
Posts: 6858
Location: Romerike, Norway

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 16:25    Post subject: Reply with quote
Set the 5 Ghz as Client and connect to the main router.
Set the 2.4 Ghz as AP

If you want the 5 Ghz also as AP, create a VAP.

There is no Repeater mode on the Atheros radio. Only Broadcom have that.
Rick880
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Joined: 26 Jan 2020
Posts: 31

PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2021 17:43    Post subject: Reply with quote
Per Yngve Berg wrote:

There is no Repeater mode on the Atheros radio. Only Broadcom have that.


You may want to read the link in my original posting.
kernel-panic69
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Joined: 08 May 2018
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Location: Texas, USA

PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2021 18:01    Post subject: Reply with quote
Rick880 wrote:
Per Yngve Berg wrote:

There is no Repeater mode on the Atheros radio. Only Broadcom have that.

You may want to read the link in my original posting.

You may wish to re-think this comment. https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Wlan_Repeater
Quote:
There is no "Repeater" mode on Atheros units, but you still can use it as repeater, just set the original interface as "client" and get it to connect to your AP, then create a virtual interface (VAP) to broadcast the new SSID.

PYB is probably one of the *most* knowledgeable folks on this forum. Don't be surprised if your comment goes *poof!*... you have been warned. Now, without any config details, syslog output, serial console output, *any* helpful and complete information, we don't know how to help you sort this out or see if something needs to be fixed in the source code. Let's focus on that, perhaps?

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Rick880
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Joined: 26 Jan 2020
Posts: 31

PostPosted: Tue Aug 03, 2021 23:03    Post subject: Reply with quote
I got some free time to revisit the problem and found that the function was broken between r31571 (03-04-2017) and r31690 (03-17-2017). "dmesg" indicated that the 5GHz (ath1) was abled to be authenticated by the main router but failed to associated with. So I went to Timeline (trac) and search for changes between them and saw the only change that could be remotely related is "Ticket #5699 (ddwrt channel listing for qualcomm 5ghz is a mess & incorrect) reopened by tatsuya46" - https://svn.dd-wrt.com/ticket/5699#comment:24.

Edit: All tickets involved in r31699
https://svn.dd-wrt.com//?from=Mar+17%2C+2017&daysback=15&authors=&ticket=on&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&update=Update#
ho1Aetoo
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 11:30    Post subject: Reply with quote
Tthis is an old ticket from Tatsuya that refers to the Master Mode (AP) and not to the Station Mode (Client) and it's all fixed now.

All this was fixed much much later >> https://svn.dd-wrt.com/ticket/6965

There is no point in digging up old tickets especially if the relation to your problem is questionable

By the way, the tickets don't matter, the source code changes are relevant.

https://svn.dd-wrt.com/log/src?action=stop_on_copy&mode=stop_on_copy&rev=31690&stop_rev=31571&limit=200&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=#
https://svn.dd-wrt.com/timeline?from=17.03.2017&daysback=13&authors=&changeset=on&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&update=Aktualisieren#

If r31571 was the last working one then I don't see much there (only some backports "various backport fixes for ath9k" or "fix wrong max rate, sgi was ignored due missing zero termination" etc)
kernel-panic69
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 14:55    Post subject: Reply with quote
No syslogs, no serial logs, no debug information. Last I knew, the bridge modes were in the state that they are, there isn't any further "fixes" to do, but if I contact the developer, I have to have some information to give him other than "it don't work".
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ho1Aetoo
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 15:26    Post subject: Reply with quote
The settings are also missing (AP + Client)
They are also not completely irrelevant
Rick880
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 5:12    Post subject: Reply with quote
kernel-panic69 wrote:
No syslogs, no serial logs, no debug information.

I have system log and dmesg output here - https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1242611#1242611
Rick880
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Joined: 26 Jan 2020
Posts: 31

PostPosted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 5:19    Post subject: Reply with quote
ho1Aetoo wrote:
The settings are also missing (AP + Client)
They are also not completely irrelevant

I started with AP+Client configuration actually but later dropped AP (Virtual Interface). The results are the same - good or bad.
ho1Aetoo
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 8:21    Post subject: Reply with quote
The virtual interface is called VAP (Virtual Access Point).
But that is not what I was talking about.

The AP is the provider router in your configuration
and the client in your configuration is the dd-wrt router in client or client bridge mode


As I said, normally you post your settings when you have problems.
In your case from the main router (AP) and the router that is configured as a client bridge.
From the logs you can not see what is set there (network mode, etc.)

Otherwise, without background information it will be somewhat difficult to reproduce problems and it may be a known configuration error.

Quote:
N-Only is broken on many units for some time
kernel-panic69
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Location: Texas, USA

PostPosted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 15:30    Post subject: Reply with quote
Rick880 wrote:
kernel-panic69 wrote:
No syslogs, no serial logs, no debug information.

I have system log and dmesg output here - https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1242611#1242611


Which you should've included in the OP of this thread; either by this link or by attachment. Please refer to the forum rules and guidelines about providing all applicable information in your OP.

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