Dual Wifi Setup for Travel Trailer?

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jasper502
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 24 Jul 2010
Posts: 15

PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2023 20:46    Post subject: Dual Wifi Setup for Travel Trailer? Reply with quote
Looking for a dual network setup in my travel trailer. One internal network for the smart TVs etc. and second to connect to either the home wifi or campground wifi to share to the internal network.

The off the shelf system is like this:

https://kingconnect.com/king-swift-omni-directional-wi-fi-antenna-bundle/

I dabbled with DD-wrt many years ago and figured this might be a better and way cheaper solution.

Any thoughts?

Ideally a router that has the option for an external antenna / booster etc.
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SurprisedItWorks
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 04 Aug 2018
Posts: 1444
Location: Appalachian mountains, USA

PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2023 23:26    Post subject: Reply with quote
I do this using a Linksys WRT1900ACSv2 configured with dd-wrt as a travel router using the Client Mode approach detailed in the wiki: https://forum.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Client_Mode. I use the 2.4G wifi in Client Mode (Station Mode seems the new name for this, at least for some routers) to connect to the host system, and the 5G wifi then provides access for all my devices in the hotel room or RV/camper. I have to have a laptop along to use to put the host SSID and password into the Client Mode wifi interface in dd-wrt.

It works great with low-budget host setups like you find at campgrounds and at budget hotels. Corporate-chain hotels though are unpredictable.
Some of them, probably half of all hotels I've tried, use "captive portal" login procedures that typically defeat my attempts to connect my travel router. Occasionally I can get around the captive-portal issue by first connecting to the host with my phone. I note the MAC address of my phone's wifi as seen by the host, and then I set up "MAC Address Cloning" in dd-wrt to make my travel router appear to be the phone. I'm of course careful not to use the phone on the host system again. Don't want the same MAC appearing in their system twice! And I'm careful not to name my router anything like "MySneakyRouter" that might show up on someone's log! (I actually have the router name set to a single space, something you can do using the CLI.)

None of this is unique to me or original with me. Quite a few folks in these parts have done similar.

BTW, if management ever challenges you on why you are doing this, point out that you are providing your own firewall for safety, in case theirs is poorly configured or in case you accidentally connect to some hacker's lookalike "Guest" system by mistake. If you are set up to route your traffic through wireguard or OpenVPN to a VPN server somewhere, you are quite well protected, even if you are going through a hacker system on the way to the internet!

To clarify, I'm affirming the OP's goal as reasonable and advocating Client Mode as the technique to look into, but I'm not advocating the specific router I am using myself. It's a great router, but as pointed out below, it is overkill. (For me it doubles as the backup main router for my home.) More importantly, it's not available new or used anymore with any regularity. It's just too old now.

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2x Netgear XR500 and 3x Linksys WRT1900ACSv2 on 53544: VLANs, VAPs, NAS, station mode, OpenVPN client (AirVPN), wireguard server (AirVPN port forward) and clients (AzireVPN, AirVPN, private), 3 DNSCrypt providers via VPN.


Last edited by SurprisedItWorks on Wed Apr 26, 2023 14:34; edited 1 time in total
jasper502
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 24 Jul 2010
Posts: 15

PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 5:57    Post subject: Reply with quote
How do you compare these units?

I had a Linksys E4200 v1 recommended also. The 1900 has external antenna's so it would seem to be better for range etc.

There is a used 1900 local on FB Marketplace for $80 (CND) and the seller notes it's already running OpenWRT version 22.03.2.

How would OpenWRT stack up to DD-WRT? I would assume I could re-flash this from OpenWRT to dd-wrt?
egc
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 18 Mar 2014
Posts: 12837
Location: Netherlands

PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 8:18    Post subject: Reply with quote
The Linksys WRT1900ACSv2 is perhaps a bit overkill in your situation, if you want something more portable and without external antennas then the E4200v1 is not a bad choice.

Note only the v1 is supported

_________________
Routers:Netgear R7000, R6400v1, R6400v2, EA6900 (XvortexCFE), E2000, E1200v1, WRT54GS v1.
Install guide R6400v2, R6700v3,XR300:https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=316399
Install guide R7800/XR500: https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=320614
Forum Guide Lines (important read):https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=324087
jasper502
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 24 Jul 2010
Posts: 15

PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 5:22    Post subject: Reply with quote
Probably overkill but was easier to find at a decent price. The ability to add upgraded antennas seem to be the upside for me. I could even mount external ones for better signal strength etc.

Took not much to get up and running. Curious to test it out on the first trip of the year.
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