What is experimental_driver for Netgear R8000?

Post new topic   Reply to topic    DD-WRT Forum Index -> Broadcom SoC based Hardware
Author Message
Tectonic Plates
DD-WRT User


Joined: 02 Oct 2012
Posts: 65
Location: Canada

PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2022 16:47    Post subject: What is experimental_driver for Netgear R8000? Reply with quote
Hi,

The firmwware download for Netgear-R8000 contains 2 sets of *.chk and *.bin


  • factory-to-dd-wrt.chk
  • netgear-r8000-webflash.bin
  • experimental_driver/factory-to-dd-wrt.chk
  • experimental_driver/netgear-r8000-webflash.bin


The experimental_driver directory doesn't exists for the Netgear-R7000 and yet I believe they have the same Broadcom BCM4709A0 processor.

Q1. What is the difference between the "experimental_driver" firmware and the "normal" one? Which one is recommended.

Q2. The Netgear R8000 is currently on original firmware 1.0.3.46-1.1.3.2. Do I need to flash the latest Netgear firmware 1.0.4.84 before flashing DDWRT factory-to-dd-wrt.chk file?

Q3. I'd like to setup this R8000 as WiFi access point (no router) to complement an existing R7000 WiFi Access Point. How to make the two WiFi APs to collaborate as a single WiFi network? What is this technique called? I guess I can disable DHCP, set WiFi mode as "AP", configure same SSID and pwd as the existing WiFi AP. But I am not sure if they will fight each other instead of collaborating.


Last edited by Tectonic Plates on Sun May 15, 2022 18:11; edited 1 time in total
Sponsor
egc
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 18 Mar 2014
Posts: 12837
Location: Netherlands

PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2022 17:13    Post subject: Reply with quote
Q1 The experimental driver is eh experimental, it is experimental in the wifi department the R8000 and R7000P use DHD bus (not my favourite).
Is the experimental driver better?
I do not know, I am staying away from those (R8000 and R7000P) routers

Q2 No

Q3 Set up as Wireless Access Point (WAP):
https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Linking_Routers

Just my two cents Smile

_________________
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
Tectonic Plates
DD-WRT User


Joined: 02 Oct 2012
Posts: 65
Location: Canada

PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2022 19:34    Post subject: Reply with quote
egc wrote:
Q1 The experimental driver is eh experimental, it is experimental in the wifi department the R8000 and R7000P use DHD bus (not my favourite).
Is the experimental driver better?
I do not know, I am staying away from those (R8000 and R7000P) routers


Would like to get more opinion about that experimental driver. I've read about DDWRT no longer have access to Broadcom driver. But I don't know if this is still true and what is the real impact from the end-user point of view.

egc wrote:

Q3 Set up as Wireless Access Point (WAP):
https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Linking_Routers


Thanks. So WDS (Wireless Distribution System) that is! The link you suggests has a warning:

Quote:
WDS extend the Wireless access area using more routers connected WIRELESSLY. WDS is a mesh network. Routers must almost always have the SAME chipset type for WDS to work, and any non dd-wrt routers must be WDS compatible. Using identical routers is best, but not always necessary if all devices have the same chipset types. (All Broadcom or all Atheros etc)


This page NETGEAR R8000 Nighthawk X6 First Look shows that R7000 and R8000 have different chips model number for WiFi radio ( Broadcom BCM43602 vs Broadcom BCM4360 and Skyworks SKY85309-11 vs Skyworks SE2623L). I didn't test yet but are they within tolerance of WDS standards (different chip models but same manufacturer)?
kernel-panic69
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 08 May 2018
Posts: 14125
Location: Texas, USA

PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2022 21:33    Post subject: Reply with quote
WDS doesn't work on Broadcom ARM devices in DD-WRT.
Quote:
WDS does not work on Broadcom ARM devices (only MIPS<->MIPS) & bridge modes on k4.4 devices may sometimes work
in some configurations for certain builds but are not supported by the bcmdhd driver. Try client or repeater modes, but YMMV.

A little more due diligence (and reading in the forum and wiki) on your part would be advised.

_________________
"Life is but a fleeting moment, a vapor that vanishes quickly; All is vanity"
Contribute To DD-WRT
Pogo - A minimal level of ability is expected and needed...
DD-WRT Releases 2023 (PolitePol)
DD-WRT Releases 2023 (RSS Everything)

----------------------
Linux User #377467 counter.li.org / linuxcounter.net
Tectonic Plates
DD-WRT User


Joined: 02 Oct 2012
Posts: 65
Location: Canada

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2022 5:49    Post subject: Reply with quote
kernel-panic69 wrote:

A little more due diligence (and reading in the forum and wiki) on your part would be advised.


One more little help plase. What is the proper way to find relevant documentation in this forum?

I used the search function of the forum. Typed "experimental+driver" or "experimental driver". There are 180 pages returned. Scrolling through the titles, I think the subject of the posts is not about "experimental driver"

I opened the Wiki space https://forum.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Wanted to search about WDS and "experimental driver" but there is no search function on this Wiki page.
egc
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 18 Mar 2014
Posts: 12837
Location: Netherlands

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2022 7:12    Post subject: Reply with quote
In general use the forum guidelines as a start:
https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=324087
Many helpful tips.

You can search for: ddwrt wiki <subject>

Look at the stickies (the first few important threads) in the relevant forum, for you that is the Broadcom forum as the forum guidelines will show you.

Look in the build threads if other users report about your router (and also report yourself)

and you can always ask here in the forum Smile

Unfortunately in your specific case the R8000 is not much used (because of the wifi drivers) so not many users who can share their expertise with this router.

_________________
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
blkt
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 20 Jan 2019
Posts: 5660

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2022 13:30    Post subject: Reply with quote
Tectonic Plates wrote:
...180 pages returned. Scrolling through the titles...

DD-WRT search "experimental driver r8000" and be sure to select "Search for all terms", "Display results as: Posts"
and "Return first 1000 characters of posts". As you can see, only 42 results from 3 pages and also very few reports.

I understand you may not want to test yourself. Since you want WDS, save yourself heartache. Buy Atheros.
Recommended: R7800 (XR450/XR500), R7500v2, EA8500 (serial flash), R9000 (R8900/XR700), x86 (J4125).
decentralized.moss
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 09 Jul 2022
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 22:56    Post subject: R8000 wifi drivers issue? Reply with quote
egc wrote:
Unfortunately in your specific case the R8000 is not much used (because of the wifi drivers) so not many users who can share their expertise with this router.


Would you be able to elaborate on what you mean about the R8000 wifi drivers? What is the issue with the wifi drivers for the R8000 and how does it affect DD-WRT? I am considering flashing DD-WRT to this router and have been having trouble finding information on it in the forums like you mentioned.

Thanks!
Mile-Lile
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 24 Feb 2013
Posts: 1634
Location: Belgrade

PostPosted: Sun Jul 10, 2022 6:23    Post subject: Reply with quote
@Tectonic Plates Q1

ddwrt broadcom experimental builds uses brcmfmac driver... brcmfmac has FOSS (Fully open-source support) and is developed and maintained by linux devs and community... about firmwares, there are couple of "branches"... there is
linux official, there is cypress and there is moded ddwrt fw
I am using experimental R8000 builds and I can tell you that is not for productional enviroment, yet... but it is stable... things like SU beamforming and similar features doesn't work... If you enter wrong regdomain-chanspec-tx settings wifi interface will disapear but if you know what you are doing it will work great for you Wink How fast is going development you can see on

patchwork you will notice that Aren Van Spriel and couple of other broadcom senior developers contribute to it as well...

if you are trully linux-open source user I would allways reccomend you experimental build and brcmfmac... eventually brcmfmac will work as good as ath11k some day... for now I would call it "in development stage"...

on the other hand normal brcm builds uses closed source wireless drivers (binary blobs) which they are not allowed to redistribute freely (dhd)... everything works but you will never get wpa3 on dhd, managed frame protection FT etc... but on brcmfmac it is working, but disabled for the moment on ddwrt... so I guess it will be enabled one day:)
Display posts from previous:    Page 1 of 1
Post new topic   Reply to topic    DD-WRT Forum Index -> Broadcom SoC based Hardware All times are GMT

Navigation

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You can attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum