Wifi Modes of an Access point: DLink has painted a nice overview over the possible different modes of an Accesspoint:

cybersec:

from great wifi modes that allow bridging two wifi networks, it would be GREAT if vendors test their products for possible security problems and provide updates at least 10 years after release

one-liner:

su - root
ip -c a; # what is wifi nic name
service NetworkManager stop
iwconfig wlp3s0 essid 'HotelWifiWithNoPassword'
iwconfig wlp3s0 essid 'HotelWifi' key 'password'
dhclient wlp3s0

if wifi has no password set wpa_passphrase will complain and thus can not be used

is it possible, to PC <-LAN-> AP <-Wifi-> AP <-> internet?

With those TP-LINK routers, Yes it is!

Why do other routers not have this “Wifi Bridge” (!) functionality?

It is rather simple:

How to created multiple Wifi AccessPoints connecting (WDS Wifi Bridge) to one central Internet-Wifi-AccessPoint – Difference between TL-WA901N and TL-WA901ND

the TPLink unfortunatel neither provides firmware updates nor was it very reliable, it worked for several years… then it started to make problems.

update: 2021-02

Fritzboxes have upgraded WLAN security to WPA2+WPA3… it seams the WDS was disabled?

it is pretty nice what modes the TP-LINK WIFI Routers support, for example the TL-WA901ND v5 450Mbps Wireless N Access Point, it comes with PoE per default and offers those WIFI / WLAN modes:

 

Please select the proper operation mode according to your needs:

Access Point  – Transform your existing wired network to a wireless network.

Repeater(Range Extender)  – Extend your existing wireless coverage by relaying wireless signal.

Bridge with AP  – Combine two local networks via wireless connection.

Client  – Acting as a “Wireless Adapter” to connect your wired devices (e.g. Xbox/PS3) to a wireless network.

Multi-SSID  – Create multiple wireless networks to provide different security and VLAN groups.

the client mode can be especially interesting, the user can user the router like a LAN connected WIFI Dongle! 🙂

which is used on a daily basis with an older version: TP-Link TL-WR841N/ND v11

had no USB WIFI Dongle available so the question was: Why not use a spare Wifi-router as an AdHoc Wifi-Client to connect to the Wifi-internet instead of an USB dongle?

and it not only does that, but it also allows WIFI clients to connect to the Bridge and forwards the traffic to the central-internet-connected Wifi-AccessPoint (CICWAP).

Disable DHCP on the TP-LINK as the DHCP of the central-internet-connected Wifi-AccessPoint (CICWAP) will be used 😀

OpenWRT and has the WDS feature too, with TP-LINK no not even need to modify the firmware.

it is maybe not a perfect solution (dd-wrt or OpenWRT + relayd might be the cleaner solution)

Hardware used:

TP-LINK WR841N v11 00000000 in “bridge-with-ap-mode” connecting to Fritzbox 7490 Wifi (works pretty well)

what does not work so well is: TL-WA901ND <-bridge-with-ap-mode-> TL-WA901ND, get frequent disconnects/reconnects (every ~20min for 30sec?)

Firmware Version 3.16.9 Build 151021 Rel.76995n

config the router:

i assume you have factory defaults… when you connect via LAN cable to Port1 of your router – the router the first time you get an dynamic IP address 192.168.XXX.100.

So your router will be available at 192.168.XXX.1 – browse to that.

Default Username and Password are:

usr: admin
pwd: admin

1. Disable WPS, UPnP – it is a security problem – maybe also IPv6 support if you do not need it (usually not inside LANs).
2. You can leave the Firewall on.
3. Go to network settings: and change the router’s IP to something (e.g. 192.168.1.1) else than your Wifi AP’s network (192.168.0.1)

reboot the router and reconnect to the new IP…

save the settings… go to Wireless Security and give your TP-LINK a Wifi password.

then restart the router.

disable DHCP inside the TP-LINK router:

now your client’s should automatically get DHCP-assigned-IP-address from your main-internet enabled WiFi-Router.

if you need to reconnect with your router fire up a root terminal:

ifconfig eno1:0 192.168.1.123 up

and

ping 192.168.1.1

should work.

the router should now be able to connect to the internet via your other Wifi router.

if not try this:

optional: config the client(s)

but once this is configured – it works flawlessly.

the big antennas of the router provide pretty good reception.

ifconfig; # old command - not available in CentOS7 anymore :(
eth5      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:e0:6f:28:fe:97  
          inet addr:192.168.0.127  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::2e0:6fff:fe28:fe97/64 Scope:Link

ip addr show; # alternative command
2: eth5: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:e0:6f:28:fe:97 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.0.127/24 brd 192.168.0.255 scope global eth5
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 fe80::2e0:6fff:fe28:fe97/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

ifconfig eth5:0 192.168.1.123 up; # give your NIC a new IP to access the router as well as internet at the same time

ip route show; # show routes
default via 192.168.0.1 dev eth5 proto static metric 1024 
192.168.0.0/24 dev eth5 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.0.127 
192.168.1.0/24 dev eth5 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.1.123 

# you should be able to ping
ping 192.168.1.1; # the tplink router
PING 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.279 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.277 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.252 ms
^C

ping 192.168.0.1; # the router that got internet
PING 192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=4.52 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=4.64 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=3.01 ms

ping yahoo.de; # the internet
PING yahoo.de (98.137.236.24) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from aviate.yahoo.com (98.137.236.24): icmp_seq=1 ttl=46 time=193 ms
64 bytes from aviate.yahoo.com (98.137.236.24): icmp_seq=2 ttl=46 time=195 ms
64 bytes from aviate.yahoo.com (98.137.236.24): icmp_seq=3 ttl=46 time=204 ms

VOILA!

btw the probably (only?) stick that works out of the box an 99% of all GNU Linux?

EDIMAX EW-7612UAn V2 THE ONLY (?) GNU Linux WIFI WLAN Adapter that works OUT OF THE BOX on all GNU Linux systems (ODROID RASPBERRY AND Desktop GNU Linux)

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