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Aprel
join:2013-09-14

Aprel

Member

[Config] Has anyone got a WRT54GL as a repeater?

I've got a couple WRT54G(L)s lying around and tried to configure one as a wireless repeater.

I flashed OpenWRT to the WRT54GL and followed a guide on the OpenWRT website (I can't find it now). Tried several times and couldn't get it to work. I settled on setting it up as a wireless access point and taking another WRT54G with stock firmware and connecting the WAN to this access point. This two-router setup has been reliable.

Has anyone managed to use a single WRT54GL to repeat a wireless network? I remember that the walkthrough I followed implied that this router was capable of it, but that was inconsistent with my experience setting it up.
HELLFIRE
MVM
join:2009-11-25

HELLFIRE

MVM

You may have better luck with this in the Linksys forum

Regards
Aprel
join:2013-09-14

Aprel

Member

said by HELLFIRE:

You may have better luck with this in the Linksys forum

Thanks! Missed that one in the list of forums.

Maybe a mod can move it over for me. Don't want to double-post.
Finger2208
join:2001-04-07
Lindale, TX

1 recommendation

Finger2208 to Aprel

Member

to Aprel
I have a WRT54G working as one now so the GL should work basically the same. I used DD-WRT and followed the guide at the link below. The only change I made to get mine to work was where you plug in the IP and Subnet Mask for the repeater the guide shows leaving Default Gateway and Local DNS blank. I had to plug in the IP (192.168.1.1) of my main router here to make the repeater work. I hope this helps!

»lifehacker.com/5563196/t ··· repeater
Aprel
join:2013-09-14

1 edit

Aprel

Member

Thanks! Great article and suggestion.

Another question: the guide says that the repeater must broadcast a different SSID than the main, or to use the pseudo-workaround of turning off the SSID broadcast on the repeater. I know, for example, some companies offer extended Wifi coverage with Access Points connected to the main router over MoCA, and these APs broadcast the same SSID, and there are no problems.

Is it possible to use the same SSID on the repeater?

Edit: Apparently this is done by setting the MoCA AP to broadcast on a different wireless channel than the main router. Wonder if that would do the trick in the repeater config....
Aprel

Aprel

Member

said by Aprel:

Edit: Apparently this is done by setting the MoCA AP to broadcast on a different wireless channel than the main router. Wonder if that would do the trick in the repeater config....

Answering my own question...looks like you can do this, but then wireless clients have to decide which channel to connect to and may choose the inferior repeater network when the main router is well in range, or require each client to be configured separately as to which channel to prefer. So setting a separate SSID for the repeater seems like the best way to go.

Hopefully I'll get to this this weekend and let you know how it goes.
Finger2208
join:2001-04-07
Lindale, TX

1 recommendation

Finger2208

Member

Sorry for the delayed response but we had to set a separate SSID for the repeater. And yes, clients often connect to the repeater when the main router is well within range. We mainly use the repeater with our smartphones while other wireless devices are only configured to connect to the main router.

Good luck this weekend! I'm sure you will get the repeater working...
Aprel
join:2013-09-14

Aprel

Member

Everything went well without a hitch! Had this in since Saturday and no connectivity issues yet. Internet is noticeably more responsive than the horrible double-router setup I had before.

Coming from OpenWRT made it especially easy. I didn't follow the guide verbatim and just downloaded the standard dd-wrt bin for the WRT54GL and flashed it in the OpenWRT web gui. Did a hard reset and it was up and running. The guide's instruction to set it to Repeater mode worked from there without modification. Note that this was a WRT54GL which has more RAM and makes getting open firmware easier. If you've got the WRT54G, you'll probably need to stick to the guide and use the mini binary.

Finger2208, thanks again for the help!
Finger2208
join:2001-04-07
Lindale, TX

Finger2208

Member

Awesome Aprel...glad it worked out well for you!