Creating a repeater...

[Uncle Fester]

with dd-wrt. So I ran across a article on Lifehacker (http://lifehacker.com/5563196/turn-your-old-router-into-a-range+boosting-wi+fi-repeater?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+lifehacker/full+%28Lifehacker%29&utm_content=Netvibes) on how to use the old router as a repeater. I followed the directions to a T. I got it to work but when I tired to change a setting it messed up and now I cant get it to work properly.

My question is this. Anybody here familiar with this process? And if so mind helping a noob out?

What I have is a wrt54g v8.0. I installed the recommended version of dd-wrt for my router type. went through the process of setting all the settings to what is stated. But I get no dice when trying to connect. If you are familiar with a linksys router you know the status light on the front? Well it wont light up. and connect. At all.

I thought originally I bricked the router. But I can get into it after a hard reset. Ive reverted back to the linksys firmware and it will work fine as a normal router. But once I get the dd-wrt firmware installed it refuses to connect.

The main reason Im doing this is the pc's not within a 20 foot circle of the main router(which btw is a Netgear running dd-wrt firmware) have piss poor signal. Now when I got the linksys to work the first time, I had perfect signal at my neighbors across the street.

The netgear is a wireless n router and the linksys is a g router that is why I dont just swap them out since the netgear will work as the repeater also. Plus the linksys had a issue with the internet. If the net would burp and go offline for just a split millisecond you would have to reboot the entire network to get internet back. It also had a shitty signal as the primary router with the linksys firmware installed.

I have been running the netgear with the dd-wrt for almost 6 months now and aside from my house being a tool and blocking signal its the best router Ive had.


So tl;dr can you help me?

[Vengence Opus]

In looking at the instructions, I noticed there is a way to flash back to the original. You might want to try going back to OEM state, start with a clean slate, and check the connections often during setup. (This should point to where the bug is, aside from it being Linksys. :p)

[Uncle Fester]

In looking at the instructions, I noticed there is a way to flash back to the original. You might want to try going back to OEM state, start with a clean slate, and check the connections often during setup. (This should point to where the bug is, aside from it being Linksys. :p)
Ive reverted back to the linksys a couple times. I did forget I got the router to link up one other time. But I couldnt connect using the wireless. It would let me connect via lan cable.

Its funny I posted on the dd-wrt forums, and was told follow the directions and it should work. then another came along and said pebkac. Im sure its prolly my own error, but the fact the silly sync light wont sync up makes me think there is a problem with the firmware.

[Vengence Opus]

Did you get to this part?

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Linking_Routers

If you have, have you tried setting it up in a different configuration (Repeater Bridge vs. Universal Wireless Repeater vs. Repeater)?

I ask because one is set up on the same subnet, one is set up on a different subnet, and one is just a general range expander.

[Uncle Fester]

I did the repeater and started the repeater bridge, but got interrupted while doing it. Then did something out of order ans said screw ti instead of starting over.

The biggest problem Im having is once I get the dd-wrt firmware installed and all the new settings input, when I hit apply settings it locks up. It wont reboot and Im guessing it just wont accept the settings or something.

Im sure its something Im doing wrong but I cant rule out software issues either. Since it worked once and half worked another it makes me think the router is being a fickle bitch.

[Lain (is Bams)]

Wow I haven't done a Linksys flash in awhile but I'll input where I can. Lately I"ve been using these offbrand AP/Bridge units that come packed with an Atheros card in them and run whatever version of linux.

So after flashing with DDrt does the device work as a router/wifi ap? If I remember correctly the linksys only has a single radio yes? So you're playing pitch from one AP and catch on the other and then re-broadcasting the bridged signal with a new AP yes? Like this...

Internet --hardline-- Netgear --> Wifi --> Linksys --> hardline -- > NewWiFi ?

Doesn't ddrt allow for ssh access? It's be much better if you could ssh into that little bitch and look at the internals. I'm not much for Web Interfaces on routers.

It's possible the web interface is just throwing some sort of issue and you might be able to manually program the linksys with a console (or over ssh).

[Uncle Fester]

Wow I haven't done a Linksys flash in awhile but I'll input where I can. Lately I"ve been using these offbrand AP/Bridge units that come packed with an Atheros card in them and run whatever version of linux.

So after flashing with DDrt does the device work as a router/wifi ap? If I remember correctly the linksys only has a single radio yes? So you're playing pitch from one AP and catch on the other and then re-broadcasting the bridged signal with a new AP yes? Like this...

Internet --hardline-- Netgear --> Wifi --> Linksys --> hardline -- > NewWiFi ?

Doesn't ddrt allow for ssh access? It's be much better if you could ssh into that little bitch and look at the internals. I'm not much for Web Interfaces on routers.

It's possible the web interface is just throwing some sort of issue and you might be able to manually program the linksys with a console (or over ssh).Um wut?


Seriously tho, the way it worked the very first time was
modem...netgear...wifi...linksys...rebroadcast wifi.


the webgui is prollly the easiest for me to use.

Tho atheros cards apparently are the simplest to setup but arent as reliable iirc from the wiki.

Ill be trying this again tomorrow so I wll post my progress and or frustrations again. I can only do this for so long before I start wanting to throw things. Esp when it worked the first time.:mad2:

[Vengence Opus]

I did the repeater and started the repeater bridge, but got interrupted while doing it. Then did something out of order ans said screw ti instead of starting over.

The biggest problem Im having is once I get the dd-wrt firmware installed and all the new settings input, when I hit apply settings it locks up. It wont reboot and Im guessing it just wont accept the settings or something.

Im sure its something Im doing wrong but I cant rule out software issues either. Since it worked once and half worked another it makes me think the router is being a fickle bitch.

Yeah, I agree that the number one possibility is the router being a fickle POS. I have the very same model, and I had the very same problems with it. (Net would burp, and it would require a full-on reboot to get things running again.) It hasn't seen the light of day for a good long time.

I've noticed a lot of DIY re-purposing projects for these things lately, probably because they are not too hot when used for their intended purpose. I don't have any WiFi set up to test it, or I'd see if I could get mine to work with this setup. (I'll look later and see if I can find my PCI wireless card. :))

I find it unfortunate that, after Cisco bought Linksys, the only thing they did was slap their name on the equipment. It would have rocked if they could have, you know, actually fixed the stuff and made it somewhat manageable.

I'll let you know if I find my other card so I can do some experimenting. The only other thing I can say is maybe try setting it up as a universal repeater. This should bounce the signal to any open network, without having to worry about being on or off the same subnet. If it works like that, maybe the dd-wrt firmware is having problems negotiating the network traffic given a set route. (I'm thinking that the universal setup might broadcast to a default route, 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0)

p.s.- I had my Linksys lock up with the stock software, so I feel your pain. I'm wondering if it would make a difference if you don't access the router after flashing back to stock, just immediately flash to the dd-wrt? Just trying to come up with any possibility I can for ya within reason. If none of this works, I suggest a box pre-labeled for shipping to Linksys, one ball peen hammer, about ten minutes to turn that router to powder, and a ziploc for return shipping. :p

[Lain (is Bams)]

Basically I was asking if you could use a terminal program like SSH to shell into the router and program it by hand. That's my preffered method of doing it. Some of the DDwrt firmwares come with SSH setup out of the box. If that's the case you can use a program like puTTy to open up a terminal and connect to the router via SSH (secure shell protocol).

From then on out it's a *nix command line that you would use your standard iptable and route commands to setup your router's configuration and your wireless/wired adapter. This has the added advantage of allowing you to configure iptable rules, which is in essence allowing your router to perform firewall functions.

I tend to get a bit techy when I'm baked so apologies for the ramble. I'm a bit baked now so I'm gonna wander off but it sounds like the web interface for the firmware you are using is causing an issue. If you can get into it with SSH, you can issue an httpd restart and reboot your web interface which might do the trick (DDwrt is still using LAMP yes, the usual Apache package?).

[Uncle Fester]

Veng its weird tho. It worked once, but since I cant get full function out of it. Its lame tho linksys doesnt support repeater in their firmware. My netgears stock firmware has the ability to be a repeater.

I havent messed with it today I woke up late and felt like shit. Maybe tomorrow or something.

[Uncle Fester]

Basically I was asking if you could use a terminal program like SSH to shell into the router and program it by hand. That's my preffered method of doing it. Some of the DDwrt firmwares come with SSH setup out of the box. If that's the case you can use a program like puTTy to open up a terminal and connect to the router via SSH (secure shell protocol).

From then on out it's a *nix command line that you would use your standard iptable and route commands to setup your router's configuration and your wireless/wired adapter. This has the added advantage of allowing you to configure iptable rules, which is in essence allowing your router to perform firewall functions.

I tend to get a bit techy when I'm baked so apologies for the ramble. I'm a bit baked now so I'm gonna wander off but it sounds like the web interface for the firmware you are using is causing an issue. If you can get into it with SSH, you can issue an httpd restart and reboot your web interface which might do the trick (DDwrt is still using LAMP yes, the usual Apache package?).
The guide has me install a bit of code that kills the linksys firmware. Then either use the webgui to install the prep firmware or use tftp to flash it with the prep and then the final install of dd-wrt.

Im not sure about lamp although I do remember reading on the wiki about it. Ive come to the conclusion its the router being fickle. The people at dd-wrt are imo a bit arrogant in the responses they give so I havent been back to respond to my thread.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day than today. And I can get some things done. Thanks again for you guys input and help.

[Lain (is Bams)]

Yeah the people tend to be a tad on the arrogant side over there. People tend to forget that before they learned how it worked they didn't know shit either, and that if someone hadn't written most of the tools they're using they'd still be using stock routers.

Normally I would use an old Wrap board or something to pitch and catch a signal, but those are a bit of work to get running even with pre-programmed images. You said you're netgear had a bit of a weak signal to do the bridging... is there an ext connector on it you could always get a high gain antenna or even a booster (they're like CB radio or HAM radio linears but for 2.4ghz).

This sounds silly as hell but if you have an ext connector you can build yourself a Pringles can antenna and it will let you direct the signal from the one AP to the other. Those work better than you would imagine being a Pringles can and all. There's tons of instructions on the net for building those (I think it's like $5 in hardware).

[Uncle Fester]

Yeah the people tend to be a tad on the arrogant side over there. People tend to forget that before they learned how it worked they didn't know shit either, and that if someone hadn't written most of the tools they're using they'd still be using stock routers.

Normally I would use an old Wrap board or something to pitch and catch a signal, but those are a bit of work to get running even with pre-programmed images. You said you're netgear had a bit of a weak signal to do the bridging... is there an ext connector on it you could always get a high gain antenna or even a booster (they're like CB radio or HAM radio linears but for 2.4ghz).

This sounds silly as hell but if you have an ext connector you can build yourself a Pringles can antenna and it will let you direct the signal from the one AP to the other. Those work better than you would imagine being a Pringles can and all. There's tons of instructions on the net for building those (I think it's like $5 in hardware).
Yeah I looked at those. I tried it a couple weeks ago it worked but I live in a old modular home and some days the signal is freaking awesome other days it sucks balls. with this I should have a great signal all the time.

[Forest]

No lolcats yet? I'm out of here. This thread sucks.

[Lain (is Bams)]

I've noticed the tech threads always seem to end nice and quietly without the lolcat banter. It's kind of nice now and then. :bong:

[Jorus]

Yeah the people tend to be a tad on the arrogant side over there. People tend to forget that before they learned how it worked they didn't know shit e
Yeah I looked at those. I tried it a couple weeks ago it worked but I live in a old modular home and some days the signal is freaking awesome other days it sucks balls. with this I should have a great signal all the time.

Try a cheap metal collander. Sounds stupid but I've seen huge boosts in signal with one.