I have 1 flint2 running 4.7.4 and 3 marbles running 4.7.2. I have some general questions that all are related to 'why aren't they using the marbles' or 'how to determine they are using the marbles' which I think all go in the same bucket of defining interfaces for bridging when selecting AP or Extender/WDS. I'm going to use just the main router and 1 marble as initial example of problem.
On flint2, I have this as my Wireless interfaces. These were defined by normal GLINET based configuration.
On my OfficeAP which is wired uplink that I wanted to rebroadcast the Flint2 wifi and serve 1 printer off the LAN, this is my current wireless interfaces.
To me, this is telling me it isn't associated with my Flint2. It also isn't broadcasting any wifi at all. Am I incorrect?
Ultimately, I think that my OfficeAP is only bridging the LAN interface and there is no wireless radio being broadcasted or offered in this current configuration.
Also, when looking at interface options on the Marble vs Flint2. Marble states a great deal more options
I'm guessing it is version of OpenWRT, but that tells me that Flint2 doesn't support WDS (which i have experienced when trying to set the Marble to WDS mode.
Tried dropping a marble down to the stable branch by flashing it backwards to 4.5.22. Still not finding a stable/happy marble that is WDS to the Flint2 broadcast. Here are some suppositions that I'd like corrected for me (if possible):
When selecting/configuring from the GLINET main UI, scripting is setting up the configuration at the base OS and that isn't reflected in the LUCI UI.
When selecting WDS mode from the marble side (via GLINET UI), it SHOULD just work as intended. I don't need to change anything at the main router side (FLINT2) to make it recognize. (from what i read in OPENWRT documentation, that may not be true. I would need to set up a WDS AP radio on the broadcasting side as well before trying to configure a WDS client link).
What is causing my overall confusion is the a few things:
You can't change the name of the device from the GLINET UI. You need to drop to LUCI to do that. This is incentivizing me to go to Luci for some functionality which could lead to problems if you want users to stay in the default UI.
If you don't disable the default 5 & 2.4 radios in the GLINET UI, it will broadcast the generated SSIDs.
When i select Extender or WDS Network mode from the GLINET UI, i can no longer log into the UI to check status. (i think this has to do with no disabling of firewall rules to block traffic from the WAN side)
When selecting WDS mode, the marble never receives an IP from the router. Light blinks. When selecting Extender mode, the device receives an IP from the router. Light goes solid after 30seconds to a minute.
I'm feeling there is some level of me missing some instructions. I may need to drop to ssh/bash to really start inspecting which feels like excessive.
If the routers want to establish a WDS connection and they are different CPU manufacturers (like Marble is Qualcomm, Flint 2 is MTK), the primary router has worked on open-source driver firmware, and install op24 firmware, and you can establish a connection between them.
Marble is QSDK closed source firmware (without open-source driver), and may not be able to connect to MTK closed-source firmware.
You can try to install op24 firmware in Flint 2 and then connect it with WDS in Marble. If WDS mode does not work, please use extender mode.
Marble firmware uses Qualcomm QSDK closed-source driver, and QSDK may not complete support the Luci. Like the wireless part may display abnormally. Please use GL GUI.
Changing the router hostname requires modification in Luci.
When the Extender or WDS connection is successful on Marble, please check the LAN IP of Marble in the client list of the primary router Flint 2, with that IP, you can access Marble's GL GUI in LAN client phone/PC.
Thank you for the response. I think for #1, what threw me was the description of WDS configuration in the OpenWRT specifically calls out Flint2 (but does not specify stock GLINET firmware). I will need to spend some time looking into how WDS establishes the connection to fully understand.
I think #3 is a possible cosmetic/quallity-of-life submission for future functionality as trying to identify multiple accesspoints by MAC is problematic when the default is to roll/spoof the MAC.
#4 I have confirmed on Marble firmware 4.5.19. 4.5.22 and now just on 4.7.2 that the functionality of webUI is broken when converting to Extender or WDS mode. If you go into luci and delete the WAN firewall profile prior to configuring Extender or WDS in GL GUI, it will work as stated. If not, you cannot connect to the GUI. I believe that is due to requests coming across the wan interface and being rejected. You might want to validate and update the scripts to drop that rule when selecting AP, Extender, or WDS (AP functions as expected because your on the LAN side).
Thinking on the above. It may need some refining when doing this in case the user is connecting to a malicious/public network upstream. Perhaps a new profile (like WISP) that would cover that situation with clarifications on descriptions around trusted or untrusted networks upstream for Extender/WDS. It may require a new workflow/wizard redesign depending on how you want to handle user input or pull the firewall profile functionality into GUI.
