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    Wireless AP with Repeaters and More Wireless APs

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Wireless
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    • johnpozJ
      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
      last edited by

      @naeemirza said in Wireless AP with Repeaters and More Wireless APs:

      TP Link CPE210 is AP for 3 more APs in range

      You mean you have 3 others repeating to this 1? Or its routing and then you have 3 others as wireless clients to it in a wireless client bridge setup?

      If your in a setup where you have to use wireless uplink to have these AP get connected... Then do that - setup a fullmesh network or get AP that actually support wireless uplink and not some client/bridge/repeater nonsense..

      Best option is run a wire to where you have need of AP for coverage.

      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
      Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
      SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

      N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • N
        naeemirza @JKnott
        last edited by

        @JKnott
        Second AP is currently configured as Repeater. I tried both AP and Repeater modes and faced same problem in both.

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        • N
          naeemirza @johnpoz
          last edited by

          @johnpoz
          I chose pfSense to use my current hardware. Since for Mesh I need to upgrade firmware which is not possible with available hardware.
          Can't run wire for almost 2 km to cross the motorway unless digged deep with right of way to cross that.
          But your answer is logical that repeating and APs in client/bridge/repeater nonsense are nonsense - lol.
          Anyway - Thanks for suggestion

          JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • johnpozJ
            johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
            last edited by

            So your "repeating/client/bridge" for 2 KM?

            Get the correct hardware for what your doing - if you can not run a wire.. You could use something like
            https://www.ui.com/airmax/nanobeamm/

            As the link to your remote location, then connect your AP to that..

            An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
            If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
            Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
            SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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            • JKnottJ
              JKnott @kiokoman
              last edited by

              @kiokoman

              i have a dlink access point that do the same (dap1620 rewrite the mac of connected devices) and there is no way to remove that behavior. i have to live with that until i change it for something better. total BS

              That doesn't sound right. If the d-link MAC address is used instead of the device MAC, then it becomes impossible to have more than one device connected. DHCP relies on the MAC address to assign an IP address. Does a device connected to it get an address from the LAN? Or a separate network?

              I have just browsed through the manual for that device and didn't see anything to indicate it operates in anything but bridge mode. I have a couple of devices, one Asus and one D-Link that can be configured in a variety of modes and they both work properly.

              PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
              i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
              UniFi AC-Lite access point

              I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

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              • JKnottJ
                JKnott @naeemirza
                last edited by

                @naeemirza said in Wireless AP with Repeaters and More Wireless APs:

                Can't run wire for almost 2 km to cross the motorway

                Consumer grade WiFi gear isn't the best way to do that. There's a variety of short haul microwave gear that's designed for that sort of situation. I have worked with equipment from DragonWave and Ceregon.

                PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                UniFi AC-Lite access point

                I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

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                • johnpozJ
                  johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                  last edited by

                  @naeemirza said in Wireless AP with Repeaters and More Wireless APs:

                  TP Link CPE210

                  Looking into these - they do support a ptp mode, as just a wireless bridge.. That is how you should set it up, and then connect a different AP to that.. So now you just use that link as backhaul..

                  ptplink.jpg

                  You would then see the mac of the end point devices.. Your ptp devices become a wire so to speak..

                  An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                  If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                  Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                  SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                  • kiokomanK
                    kiokoman LAYER 8
                    last edited by kiokoman

                    @JKnott this is the mac of one of my AP repeater 10:62:eb:f2:1f:44
                    every device connected to it become 10:62:eb:* or 10:62:* i don't remember exactly now as i'm not at home right now

                    ̿' ̿'\̵͇̿̿\з=(◕_◕)=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿
                    Please do not use chat/PM to ask for help
                    we must focus on silencing this @guest character. we must make up lies and alter the copyrights !
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                    • JKnottJ
                      JKnott @kiokoman
                      last edited by

                      @kiokoman said in Wireless AP with Repeaters and More Wireless APs:

                      @JKnott this is the mac of one of my AP repeater 10:62:eb:f2:1f:44
                      every device connected to it become 10:62:eb:* or 10:62:* i don't remember exactly now as i'm not at home right now

                      Well, better check when you get home. The situation you describe doesn't make sense.

                      PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                      i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                      UniFi AC-Lite access point

                      I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

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                      • kiokomanK
                        kiokoman LAYER 8
                        last edited by

                        @JKnott
                        Immagine.jpg

                        ̿' ̿'\̵͇̿̿\з=(◕_◕)=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿
                        Please do not use chat/PM to ask for help
                        we must focus on silencing this @guest character. we must make up lies and alter the copyrights !
                        Don't forget to Upvote with the 👍 button for any post you find to be helpful.

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                        • stephenw10S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by

                          Yup, wifi repeaters re-write the MAC address. First time I saw that it freaked me out too. 😉

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                          • JKnottJ
                            JKnott @stephenw10
                            last edited by

                            @stephenw10 said in Wireless AP with Repeaters and More Wireless APs:

                            Yup, wifi repeaters re-write the MAC address. First time I saw that it freaked me out too. 😉

                            So, how many devices can you connect via the repeater? If only one MAC is sent to the DHCP server, it will provide only 1 IP address.

                            PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                            i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                            UniFi AC-Lite access point

                            I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

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                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              I've never dug into it because it seems like black magic and best avoided but....

                              I assume it re-writes the first 3 bytes of the MAC with it's own OUI as shown by @kiokoman above.

                              Ugh... 😨

                              Steve

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                              • JKnottJ
                                JKnott @stephenw10
                                last edited by

                                @stephenw10 said in Wireless AP with Repeaters and More Wireless APs:

                                I've never dug into it because it seems like black magic and best avoided but....

                                I assume it re-writes the first 3 bytes of the MAC with it's own OUI as shown by @kiokoman above.

                                Ugh... 😨

                                Steve

                                Then you'd still have different MACs and IPs. However, according to the OP, several IPs have been assigned to the same MAC, which might not be true. However, he's only had 1 post since then and he doesn't clarify anything.

                                PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                                i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                                UniFi AC-Lite access point

                                I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

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                                • N
                                  naeemirza @JKnott
                                  last edited by

                                  @JKnott Actually I removed the simple wifi repeater and using AP now. It solved the problem. I have been experimenting with Repeater to record multiple IPs against same MAC. I will post some screenshots here later.

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                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    @JKnott said in Wireless AP with Repeaters and More Wireless APs:

                                    However, according to the OP, several IPs have been assigned to the same MAC, which might not be true

                                    Yeah my mistake. In fact that is what I've seen before, the same MAC used for all IPs coming via the repeater.
                                    Which is what the wikipedia page shows as expected: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_repeater

                                    As I said it's all voodoo! Avoid if possible. 😉

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