Repeater mode - WBRsG54S

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vintagepen
DD-WRT User


Joined: 01 Apr 2007
Posts: 140

PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 22:30    Post subject: Repeater mode - WBRsG54S Reply with quote
I have a very specific setup which I implemented myself quite easily in DD-WRT+v3.0-r44715, the micro version

I am using a Buffalo WBRsG54S solely to connect a Tivo to the internet. I set it up myself, quite easily as I remember it and connected the Buffalo to my Linksys EA 3200 on a network called DD-WRT. I seem to remember setting it up as a repeater, whereby the Buffalo links to the Linksys, picks up an IP from my network and lets the Tivo connect to its home service. The system worked fine for a few years until someone gave me a Linksys EA6800.I installed it with the same network name, - DD-WRT and the same password, thinking that I should be able to let the TIVO's network setup automatically log in to the new router in the same way as i logged into the old one! No, obviously the MAC address is different but I never really thought I should be able to log the Tivo through the Buffalo into the EA6800 and pick up where I left off.

But my TIVO system has never actually logged through the buffalo into the new linksys router! The Buffalo has never since the change repeated any signal! And what is worse, I can't figure out how within 44715 Micro I can scan around, choose the DD-WRT network, and pick up the Linksys wifi signal to log into it!!

Can someone please tell me what blindingly obvious point I am missing? And even worse, when I went into the Buffalo's wireless settings, I found it mysteriously changed to Client or something and not on REPEATER at all!
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dale_gribble39
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 11 Jun 2022
Posts: 1899

PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 0:28    Post subject: Reply with quote
WBR2-G54S* I presume:

Buffalo_WBR-G54_WLA-G54_WLA-G54C_WBR2-G54_WBR2-G54S - DD-WRT Wiki

Are you sure that your TiVO isn't connected to this device via wired ethernet cable?

I'm sure someone will also nudge your to upgrade your WBR2-G54S to a more current release.

https://ftp.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/betas/2022/08-29-2022-r49976/broadcom/dd-wrt.v24_mini_generic.bin

https://ftp.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/betas/2022/08-28-2022-r49934/broadcom/dd-wrt.v24_mini_generic.bin

_________________
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep." - Robert Frost

"I am one of the noticeable ones - notice me" - Dale Frances McKenzie Bozzio

<fact>code knows no gender</fact>

This is me, knowing I've ruffled your feathers, and not giving a ****
Some people are still hard-headed.

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egc
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 18 Mar 2014
Posts: 12837
Location: Netherlands

PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 5:55    Post subject: Reply with quote
It is possible that the Linksys is on autochannel and is constantly switching channels or is using a channel your Buffalo cannot see (e.g. some regions allow channel 13 but your buffalo migh only go up to channel 11)

So set the EA6800 on a fixed channel and only 20 MHz width no fancy things enabled like TurboQAM.
You can use an app on your phone (e.g. WiFi analyser) to find the best channel (1,6, 11)

It is unclear to me if the Tivo is wired to the buffalo if so you have to use Client Bridge if the Tivo is connected via Wifi to the buffalo you have to use Repeater bridge:
https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Linking_Routers

Normally we tell users to upgrade, you are using an old and outdated build, but as this router is not directly connected to the internet and development for these routers is actually stopped, I would not bother if you can get it to work with this build.

_________________
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
vintagepen
DD-WRT User


Joined: 01 Apr 2007
Posts: 140

PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2022 21:45    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yes, that was what I was thinking about upgrading with this one-trick-pony usage. I didnt need much and if it was working fine, why change anything?

I am of course using an ethernet cable between the tivo and the buffalo, I can't see why i would connect wirelessly to the bufffalo instead of directly to the Linksys! More specifically I lost my wifi card for the Tivo!

But I still cant see how I link up the buffalo to the linksys without some sort of scan function on the dd-wrt software? Or do I enter the Linksys's MAC address somewhere in the buffalo's software?
dale_gribble39
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 11 Jun 2022
Posts: 1899

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2022 2:45    Post subject: Reply with quote
The wireless interface on the Buffalo should be in client mode, and the SSID should match the Linksys' AP's SSID and passwords should match.
_________________
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep." - Robert Frost

"I am one of the noticeable ones - notice me" - Dale Frances McKenzie Bozzio

<fact>code knows no gender</fact>

This is me, knowing I've ruffled your feathers, and not giving a ****
Some people are still hard-headed.

--------------------------------------
Mac Pro (Mid 2012) - Two 2.4GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5645 processors 64GB 1333MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM OpenSUSE Leap 15.5
redhawk0
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 11563
Location: Wherever the wind blows- North America

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2022 11:29    Post subject: Reply with quote
I'd set it up as a Client Bridge. The router will act as the wireless card for your TiVo. Give the Client Bridge the SSID of your router (DD-WRT as you stated earlier)...and the password for the main router. Plug the TiVo into a LAN port of the WBR unit.

Don't configure the router from your current state. Do a reset of the WBR first so your starting from scratch.

You've been around long enough (I remember you from the olden-days...hahaha) to know that you want use the Linking Routers procedure in the wiki. I won't go into great detail since you've done it before.

redhawk
vintagepen
DD-WRT User


Joined: 01 Apr 2007
Posts: 140

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2022 14:34    Post subject: So I was right thinking I could use same SSID/Passwd! Reply with quote
Thank you for that Redhawk and Dale_Gribble, it is very gratifying to be remembered! Even for the wrong reasons, - I am the annoying guy who found a build number which involved the famous promiscuous router configuration and subsequently didn't want to update it to a later configuration which didn't have this feature.

Now it is completely clear how to proceed and this also explains why, while I was trying to repeat the Linksys signal, I shouldn't have been in repeater mode! The Tivo sees the internet through the Linksys if the Buffalo is set to be its CLIENT, - or a bridge as a client to the linksys!

Though it doesn't matter much, my original problem remains, which is that having set it up once, seen it work for a year or so, amd then changed Linksys routers for a more powerful (?) one, I cant understand why the Buffalo didn't just "see" the new Linksys router after I had changed router while carefully maintaining the same SSID and password in the EA6800?

My mistake was to go into the settings when the Buffalo first started not repeating the Linksys' signal and wonder why it had become set to client mode. I changed to repeater signal mode and started going about trying to enter the new MAC address into the Buffalo's configuration files. Things never went right after that catastrophic mistake for obvious reasons!
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