Picostation2 Wireless Brige/Repeater Setup Woes

[foxyboy]

Folks,
Can someone put me out of my misery ? Can be done perahaps with some manuals mods or am i simply delusional ?

Primary Router
- Linksys WRT1200AC
- OpenWrt 19.07.5 r11257-5090152ae3
- Static IP 192.168.1.253
- Wired to cable modem (WAN) and local network (LAN)
- 2.4Ghx & 5Ghz Wifi Networks Functioning
- No Guest Wifi
- DHCP Enabled
- Static DHCP Leases Setup

Secondary Router
- TP-Link Archer A7 v5
- Gargoyle obsy 1.13.0.0pre7 (237e3df7)
- Mode Gateway
- Static IP 192.168.1.252
- Wired to Primary
- DHCP Disabled
- 2.4Ghx & 5Ghz Wifi Networks Functioning
- MyGuest Wifi B+G (to facilitate the PicoStation non N capability)
- Open Security

Wifi Repeater
- Picostation2 AR2316 (MIPS) - https://openwrt.org/toh/ubiquiti/picostation2

Goal: Setup a PicoStation2 (i know its old just have it lying around) as a Wireless Repeater for the Guest Wifi B+G from the Secondary Router above

Ive read many articles, tried many configurations
but cannot get this to function. Im wondering if this is simply beyond the units capabilities (as latest dd-wrt doesnt seem to enable the Repeater config in ots GUI)

The PicoStation2 appears to only have specific support for Gargoyle 1.10 so i TFTP flashed
https://www.gargoyle-router.com/downloa ... uashfs.bin
This is functioning. Gargoyle 1.10 does not however appear to provide the full functionality as outlined in the wiki
https://www.gargoyle-router.com/wiki/do ... e_repeater


I do however appear to be able to set the appropriate limited settings (see attached) and on a reboot connect to the repeated MyGuest network
but i cannot get a DHCP assignment so no internet etc
(see attached status on reboot)

Looking through the dd-wrt wiki regarding wireless repeater there is a lot of reference to adding firewall rules and/or using dnsmasq & vap but id really like to implement the simpler approach in Gargoyle.

Is what i want even possible with the PicoStation2 (AR2316) ?

Note- i tried to add attachments but it says board quota has been reached

[Lantis]

Can you host your screenshot elsewhere please? It will be easier to see what is going on.
Repeating guest wifi may be tricky due to the firewall isolation it performs. I've not tried it personally but others have had limited success.

[foxyboy]

Here they are
https://imgur.com/WKDvdOd
https://imgur.com/6Rq6HPC

Am i right in saying 1.10 is the last supported build for the Picostation2 ? Can this be used using ssh to /tmp and sysupgrade ? gargoyle_1.12.0-ath25-generic-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin. I did try via gui and it said it was invalid.

[Lantis]

You won't be able to update further. Small flash etc.

Your configuration won't work because it can't access the DHCP server. The guest wifi blocks it.

[foxyboy]

Thanks Lantis, i will try repeating a standard 2.4Ghz B+G with encryption and report back.

However, if at all possible I would like to leave the existing 2.4Ghz B+G+N ssid intact, is it possible to add another via uci commands and use that in the Wireless Repeater configuration ?

[foxyboy]

Lantis,

Confirmed working 100% with Gargoyle 1.10 - repeating a 2.4Ghz B+G with wpa2 encryption

[Lantis]

Set up as guest? That sounds crazy to me unless the Gargoyle router is relaying DHCP for you.
Surprising result anyway!

[foxyboy]

No, just to clarify, working for regular SSID 2.4GHz with wpa2 encryption.

However i believe ive reached the HW limitation of the unit. The whole idea of doing this was to install into a friends setup to repeate around a metal warehouse.His setup is similar to mine as i set it up.
I was attempting to repeat a 2.4Ghz ssid from a Nanostation Loco 5AC which i installed gargoyle on via serial.
Its a fair distance away ~ 150m and on scan i got 47% signal.
It would appear that isnt sufficient for the PIcoStation2 as it would NOT repeat the ssid, i was however able to ssh via Wired and it had full internet acesss.

I captured the dmesg output but it didnt realy tell me much.If the signal received is insufficient will it simply not try to repeat ? (as 47% would only result in 23% retransmitted at best)

PlanB would be to get another Nanostation Loco 5AC, install gargoyle and retry, im pretty sure that will work.

[Lantis]

For a warehouse, honestly it would be cheaper/quicker to get a spool of cat5/6 cable and just run it along the roof/rafters/walls.
Way better result!

[foxyboy]

Yeah, not really possible in this case though.

I think i was pre-mature in my success above.

Ive just reset the unit and reconfigured the Picostation2 as a repeater again and rechecking im wondering if its not repeating and i am i connecting directly to rthe source ssid as the signal strength is not 100% while sitting next to it.
Setup now is slightly different in that im connecting to 2.4Ghz with WPA2 and not a guest wifi as in image link above and i am following this setup
https://www.gargoyle-router.com/wiki/do ... e_repeater

As i cannot re-broadcast the sid with the config options listed for Client Bridge Is there anyway to categorically check whether i am connecting to a repeated SSID ?

Whats strange is when i ssh to PicoStation its got internet connectivity