OpenWrt Mesh Station

Introduction

Mesh Stations takes advantage of the millions of existing compute devices in the community and repurpose them to provide basic communication and storage infrastructure to Private Cyberspaces.

Mesh Stations give your Private Cyberspace communication bandwidth and storage capacity at revolutionary price points by combining free yet featureful software (e.g. OpenWrt) with low cost yet powerful hardware (e.g. Raspberry Pi).

We have tested and actively support a number of operating systems (currently Armbian, Raspberry Pi OS and OpenWrt) and we welcome the community to introduce others.

meshstation_os

If you device is supported by multiple operating systems and you have no particular preference, then the recommended order to try them out is currently Armbian then Raspberry Pi OS then OpenWrt.

1. OpenWrt

OpenWrt supports more than 2000 devices, there will be some that suit your application and budget.

Mesh Stations are currently based on the OpenWrt operating system software, which supports more than 2000 devices.

https://openwrt.org/start

Mesh Station can be divided into 2 types:

  1. **Mesh Station Type 1 are Single Board Computers using OpenWrt based operating system e.g. hardware from Raspberry Pi Foundation.

  2. Mesh Station Type 2 are WiFi Routers with its original factory firmware replaced with OpenWrt based firmware e.g. hardware from GL.inet.

Like most Private Cyberspace hardware, there is normally a buy back scheme available for your Mesh Station, so others can benefit from it when you have finished with it. Check with your supplier.

2. WiFi Access Points

WiFi routers can become very cheap and very small Mesh Stations , the MW1 (58x58mm) is SMALLER than a credit card (85x35mm) looking from top, and low cost at only AU$33.06 shipped.

mesh1

  1. MW1 - Mesh Station WiFi 1
  2. MW2 - Mesh Station WiFi 2
  3. MW3 - Mesh Station WiFi 3

Select from Thousands

The idea is for everyone to participate and more importantly OWN a part of the community's communication and storage infrastructure.

Board Model Processor Ram microSD WiFi Ethernet USB Price
MB1 Raspberry Pi Zero W 1core 32bit 700MHz 512M 64G 2.4G 2 x USB2 24.50
MB1a Raspberry Pi Zero WH 1core 32bit 650MHz 512M 16M 2.4G 2 x 100M 1 x USB2 26.95
MB2 Raspberry Pi Zero 2 4core 64bit 1.4GHz 512M 16M 2.4G+5G 3 x 100M 1 x USB2 + 1 x uSD 26.95
MW3 GL.iNet GL-B1300 4cores 717MHz 256M 32M 400M + 867M 3 x 1G 1 x USB3 119.00

AU$10 was added above for a Samsung 64G microSD.
AU$13 was added above for a raspberry pi power supply.

WiFi Mesh Stations

We have select the GL.iNet GL-AR750 model for detailed discussion, some other WiFi Routers we are using as WiFi Mesh Stations include:

WiFi Model Processor Ram Rom WiFi Ethernet USB Price
GL.iNet GL-AR300M16 1core 32bit 650MHz 128M 16M 300M 2 x 100M 1 x USB2 33.06
GL.iNET GL-AR300M16-Ext 1core 32bit 650MHz 128M 16M 300M 2 x 100M 1 x USB2 43.90
GL.iNet GL-AR750 1core 32bit 650MHz 128M 16M 300M + 443M 3 x 100M 1 x USB2 + 1 x uSD 90.85
GL.iNet GL-B1300 4cores 32bit 717MHz 256M 32M 400M + 867M 3 x 1G 1 x USB3 119.00

Notes:

  1. Sample prices in Australian Dollars are on 7-Jul-2023 including tax and delivery to Australian address.

Mesh Station Addons

Buttons

All Mesh Stations have at least one programmable button to gather physical input.

  1. Push Buttons: [OpenWrt Wiki] Attach functions to a push button

USB

All Mesh Stations have at least one USB port for attachment of USB devices.

  1. Camera: [OpenWrt Wiki] USB Video Support
  2. Bluetooth: [OpenWrt Wiki] USB Bluetooth support

A bluetooth adapter is particularly useful as it can support many different bluetooth devices from a single USB port.

WiFi

All Mesh Stations can communicate with most WiFi devices.

Gather information from them e.g. uptime, video etc.
Controlling them

Headers

Some Mesh Stations like MS23 has headers for easy attachment of GPIO devices.

  1. GPIO: [OpenWrt Wiki] GPIO

Mesh Station Functions

1. WiFi Mesh

The WiFi on all Mesh Stations have the dual purpose of letting you access the Internet (as an Access Point) as well as being relaying neighbourhood data traffic (as a Mesh Node).

Details:

2. Bluetooth Beacon

Mesh Stations can act as both a Beacon sending out bluetooth UUIDs as well as bluetooth Detector identifying Bluetooth signals closed by.

Detect:

Broadcast Beacon:

3. Access Router

4. File Server

A SMB based disk server backed by the power of infinite disk.

Samba on Top

5. Managed Node

To enable remote management by OpenWISP.
https://openwisp.io/docs/user/configure-device.html

GL.iNET GL-AR300M16

GL.iNET GL-AR300M16 is a low-cost Mesh Station.

MS21

  1. GL-AR300M Series / Shadow - GL.iNet
  2. https://docs.gl-inet.com/en/2/hardware/ar300m/
  3. [OpenWrt Wiki] GL.iNet GL-AR300M
  4. [OpenWrt Wiki] Techdata: GL.iNet GL-AR300M v1.4.0
  5. GL.iNet GL-AR300M - TechInfoDepot

There is NO power supply (available separately for about AU$12). This is great for plugging into USB ports in the car or laptop.

Note there is another GL-AR300M16 model with external antennas, so has "Ext" at the end of the model name (GL-AR300M16-Ext). Although its removable antennas enables higher gain antennas to be swapped in to reach more neighbours when placed outdoors, in such a situation we prefer to add an extra high gain USB WiFi Adapter to the plain GL-AR300M16 model instead.

1. Purchase

Look out for frequent special deals, we bought a few at ONLY AU$33.06 in Jan-2023. If you are not a Prime member, ordering one more unit will get you free transport.

ms21_price

2. Price Performance

Unless you really need GL-AR300M16's small size and low power, the GL-AR750 (MS23) is a better deal with power supply, microSD slot and 5GHz radio.

GL.iNet GL-B1300

GL.iNet GL-B1300 is a medium-cost Mesh Station.

ms22

The USB 3 port allows portable harddisks and other high current devices to be attached easily (e.g. reducing the need to use bulky USB desktop drives that require separate power supplies).

  1. GL-B1300 / Convexa-B - GL.iNet
  2. https://docs.gl-inet.com/en/2/hardware/b1300/
  3. [OpenWrt Wiki] GL.iNet GL-B1300
  4. [OpenWrt Wiki] Techdata: GL.iNet GL-B1300

1. Price Performance

Unless you really need GL-B1300's High Performance, Gbit Ethernet or USB3 Port, the GL-AR750 (MS23) is a good deal with lower cost and microSD slot.

GL.iNet GL-AR750

GL.iNet GL-AR750 is low cost Mesh Station with A LOT of features:

  1. 1 x microSD slot
  2. 1 x USB slot
  3. 3 x ethernet ports
  4. Dual WiFi Band
  5. Serial Console (internal headers)
  6. Small Size

Unfortunately it has now been discontinued :(

ms23

The simultaneous dual band provides an extra 5Ghz channel for secondary traffic away from primary traffic on the 2.4G channel.

  1. GL-AR750 / Creta - GL.iNet
  2. https://docs.gl-inet.com/en/2/hardware/ar750/
  3. [OpenWrt Wiki] GL.iNet GL-AR750
  4. [OpenWrt Wiki] Techdata: GL.iNet GL-AR750
  5. GL.iNet GL-AR750 - TechInfoDepot

Note this is AR750 not AR750S. This is the cheaper model with only 100M ethernet we are using mostly as Internal Node to be placed inside buildings.

1. Purchase

Look out for frequent special deals, we bought a few at ONLY AU$44.99 in Jan-2023.

discount

2. Setup Guide

https://docs.gl-inet.com/en/3/setup/gl-ar750/first_time_setup/

3. Hardware Expansion

AR750's built-in USB2 ports allows the owner to add hardware peripherals easily through simple plug and play.

Thousands of USB peripherals from cameras to solid state disks to bluetooth adapters are supported.

Although MS23 comes with only one USB2 port, it can be expanded easily by non-technical owners with a powered USB hub.

usb_hub

Make sure it is a POWERED hub that has independent power supply. You can get either Low Power Hubs with 5V power supplies or High Power Hubs with 12V power supply.

Below image shows a MS23 driving four USB3 disks using its single USB2 port through a high power hub.

ar750_storage_deices

4. Radio Details

There are 2 radios: 5GHz (phy0) and 2GHz (phy1) from the iw list command.

Under Supported interface modes: below, we can see that both radios support mesh point mode (802.11s).

Wiphy phy1
        wiphy index: 1
        max # scan SSIDs: 4
        max scan IEs length: 2257 bytes
        max # sched scan SSIDs: 0
        max # match sets: 0
        Retry short limit: 7
        Retry long limit: 4
        Coverage class: 0 (up to 0m)
        Device supports AP-side u-APSD.
        Device supports T-DLS.
        Available Antennas: TX 0x3 RX 0x3
        Configured Antennas: TX 0x3 RX 0x3
        Supported interface modes:
                 * IBSS
                 * managed
                 * AP
                 * AP/VLAN
                 * monitor
                 * mesh point
                 * P2P-client
                 * P2P-GO
                 * outside context of a BSS
        Band 1:
                Capabilities: 0x11ef
                        RX LDPC
                        HT20/HT40
                        SM Power Save disabled
                        RX HT20 SGI
                        RX HT40 SGI
                        TX STBC
                        RX STBC 1-stream
                        Max AMSDU length: 3839 bytes
                        DSSS/CCK HT40
                Maximum RX AMPDU length 65535 bytes (exponent: 0x003)
                Minimum RX AMPDU time spacing: 8 usec (0x06)
                HT TX/RX MCS rate indexes supported: 0-15
                Frequencies:
                        * 2412 MHz [1] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 2417 MHz [2] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 2422 MHz [3] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 2427 MHz [4] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 2432 MHz [5] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 2437 MHz [6] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 2442 MHz [7] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 2447 MHz [8] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 2452 MHz [9] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 2457 MHz [10] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 2462 MHz [11] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 2467 MHz [12] (disabled)
                        * 2472 MHz [13] (disabled)
                        * 2484 MHz [14] (disabled)
        valid interface combinations:
                 * #{ managed } <= 2048, #{ AP, mesh point } <= 8, #{ P2P-client, P2P-GO } <= 1, #{ IBSS } <= 1,
                   total <= 2048, #channels <= 1, STA/AP BI must match, radar detect widths: { 20 MHz (no HT), 20 MHz, 40 MHz }

        HT Capability overrides:
                 * MCS: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
                 * maximum A-MSDU length
                 * supported channel width
                 * short GI for 40 MHz
                 * max A-MPDU length exponent
                 * min MPDU start spacing
        max # scan plans: 1
        max scan plan interval: -1
        max scan plan iterations: 0
        Supported extended features:
                * [ RRM ]: RRM
                * [ FILS_STA ]: STA FILS (Fast Initial Link Setup)
                * [ CQM_RSSI_LIST ]: multiple CQM_RSSI_THOLD records
                * [ CONTROL_PORT_OVER_NL80211 ]: control port over nl80211
                * [ TXQS ]: FQ-CoDel-enabled intermediate TXQs
                * [ AIRTIME_FAIRNESS ]: airtime fairness scheduling
                * [ SCAN_RANDOM_SN ]: use random sequence numbers in scans
                * [ SCAN_MIN_PREQ_CONTENT ]: use probe request with only rate IEs in scans
                * [ CAN_REPLACE_PTK0 ]: can safely replace PTK 0 when rekeying
                * [ CONTROL_PORT_NO_PREAUTH ]: disable pre-auth over nl80211 control port support
                * [ DEL_IBSS_STA ]: deletion of IBSS station support
                * [ MULTICAST_REGISTRATIONS ]: mgmt frame registration for multicast
                * [ SCAN_FREQ_KHZ ]: scan on kHz frequency support
                * [ CONTROL_PORT_OVER_NL80211_TX_STATUS ]: tx status for nl80211 control port support
Wiphy phy0
        wiphy index: 0
        max # scan SSIDs: 16
        max scan IEs length: 199 bytes
        max # sched scan SSIDs: 0
        max # match sets: 0
        Retry short limit: 7
        Retry long limit: 4
        Coverage class: 0 (up to 0m)
        Device supports AP-side u-APSD.
        Available Antennas: TX 0x1 RX 0x1
        Configured Antennas: TX 0x1 RX 0x1
        Supported interface modes:
                 * IBSS
                 * managed
                 * AP
                 * AP/VLAN
                 * monitor
                 * mesh point
                 * P2P-client
                 * P2P-GO
                 * P2P-device
        Band 2:
                Capabilities: 0x196f
                        RX LDPC
                        HT20/HT40
                        SM Power Save disabled
                        RX HT20 SGI
                        RX HT40 SGI
                        RX STBC 1-stream
                        Max AMSDU length: 7935 bytes
                        DSSS/CCK HT40
                Maximum RX AMPDU length 65535 bytes (exponent: 0x003)
                Minimum RX AMPDU time spacing: 8 usec (0x06)
                HT TX/RX MCS rate indexes supported: 0-7
                VHT Capabilities (0x33800132):
                        Max MPDU length: 11454
                        Supported Channel Width: neither 160 nor 80+80
                        RX LDPC
                        short GI (80 MHz)
                        RX antenna pattern consistency
                        TX antenna pattern consistency
                VHT RX MCS set:
                        1 streams: MCS 0-9
                        2 streams: not supported
                        3 streams: not supported
                        4 streams: not supported
                        5 streams: not supported
                        6 streams: not supported
                        7 streams: not supported
                        8 streams: not supported
                VHT RX highest supported: 0 Mbps
                VHT TX MCS set:
                        1 streams: MCS 0-9
                        2 streams: not supported
                        3 streams: not supported
                        4 streams: not supported
                        5 streams: not supported
                        6 streams: not supported
                        7 streams: not supported
                        8 streams: not supported
                VHT TX highest supported: 0 Mbps
                Frequencies:
                        * 5180 MHz [36] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 5200 MHz [40] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 5220 MHz [44] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 5240 MHz [48] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 5260 MHz [52] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5280 MHz [56] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5300 MHz [60] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5320 MHz [64] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5500 MHz [100] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5520 MHz [104] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5540 MHz [108] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5560 MHz [112] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5580 MHz [116] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5600 MHz [120] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5620 MHz [124] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5640 MHz [128] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5660 MHz [132] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5680 MHz [136] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5700 MHz [140] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5720 MHz [144] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5745 MHz [149] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 5765 MHz [153] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 5785 MHz [157] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 5805 MHz [161] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 5825 MHz [165] (30.0 dBm)
                        * 5845 MHz [169] (27.0 dBm) (no IR)
                        * 5865 MHz [173] (27.0 dBm) (no IR)
        valid interface combinations:
                 * #{ managed, P2P-client } <= 16, #{ P2P-GO } <= 3, #{ AP } <= 16, #{ IBSS } <= 1,
                   total <= 16, #channels <= 1, STA/AP BI must match, radar detect widths: { 20 MHz (no HT), 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz }

        HT Capability overrides:
                 * MCS: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
                 * maximum A-MSDU length
                 * supported channel width
                 * short GI for 40 MHz
                 * max A-MPDU length exponent
                 * min MPDU start spacing
        max # scan plans: 1
        max scan plan interval: -1
        max scan plan iterations: 0
        Maximum associated stations in AP mode: 0
        Supported extended features:
                * [ VHT_IBSS ]: VHT-IBSS
                * [ RRM ]: RRM
                * [ SET_SCAN_DWELL ]: scan dwell setting
                * [ FILS_STA ]: STA FILS (Fast Initial Link Setup)
                * [ CQM_RSSI_LIST ]: multiple CQM_RSSI_THOLD records
                * [ CONTROL_PORT_OVER_NL80211 ]: control port over nl80211
                * [ TXQS ]: FQ-CoDel-enabled intermediate TXQs
                * [ AIRTIME_FAIRNESS ]: airtime fairness scheduling
                * [ AQL ]: Airtime Queue Limits (AQL)
                * [ CONTROL_PORT_NO_PREAUTH ]: disable pre-auth over nl80211 control port support
                * [ DEL_IBSS_STA ]: deletion of IBSS station support
                * [ SCAN_FREQ_KHZ ]: scan on kHz frequency support
                * [ CONTROL_PORT_OVER_NL80211_TX_STATUS ]: tx status for nl80211 control port support

From "valid interface combinations" entry above, this hardware can have up to 2048 simultaneous interfaces (total <= 16 ) on the 2.4G band. Those interfaces can have up to 2048 of wifi client (managed ), up to 8 of wifi access point (AP ), up to 8 of wifi mesh point (mesh point ), up to 1 of wifi peer (IBSS ).

Software Hacking the GL-AR750

1. OpenWrt

Latest stable release is 22.03.3
2023-01-09

https://openwrt.org/releases/22.03/notes-22.03.3

If there is no major problem found, a new built for MS23 will be made by end of 2023-02 and over-the-air (OTA) updates to all opt-in MS23 in will finish by end of 2023-03.

2. Rapid Setup

  1. Plug in power
  2. Login to WiFi Signal using information printed on the back of the MS23 (e.g. GL-AR750-881)
  3. Browse to the IP address printed on the back of the MS23 (e.g. 192.168.8.1)
  4. Update Firmware from factory firmware to 88.io firmware.

If in doubt ask your Application Integrator or your Area Stewards for help.

3. MicroSD Support

We have assumed that all MS23 will have a microSD card with minimum capacity of 64GByte inserted.

System Partition

The first 32GB will be a fixed ext4 formatted partition, typically partitioned in the following way:

  1. swap file - 2GB
  2. root directory expansion- 6GB
  3. infinite disk basic client - read mount cache - 6GB
  4. infinite disk basic server - write sparse file - 8GB
  5. infinite disk basic server - read sparse file - 8GB
  6. infinite disk basic server - temp storage - 2GB

User Partition

The microSD normally have at least 32GB enough capacity more partitions can be created e.g. to provide additional storage to one of the usage types in the Fixed Partition.

By replacing the factory firmware with our own firmware, the factory limitation of 128GB microSD size no longer applies. The in-built GL857L chip's microSD 2TB capacity is now realised.

The remaining space on the microSD card must have another ext4 formatted partition to be used for:

  1. infinite disk basic client - write sync storage (minimum 32Gbyte)

All files in this Storage Partition are encrypted and then synchronised to the infinite disk backend at least once a day - at night randomly between 12am to 5am.

Additional synchronisation can be requested manually at anytime through the Personal Console or automatic

4. Included Packages

  1. remote management - based on openwisp
  2. smb server - based on samba
  3. bluetooth - based on bluez
  4. infinite disk basic client
  5. infinite disk basic server
  6. virtual private mesh

5. Hardware Watchdog

Hardware Watchdog is turned on by default, but you can double check with ubus command:

# ubus call system watchdog
{
        "status": "running",
        "timeout": 30,
        "frequency": 5,
        "magicclose": false
}

Hardware Hacking the GL-AR750

GL-AR750 hardware is great for hacking (making it work in unexpected ways) to suit your individual requirements.

1. Processor

AR750 comes with a low cost QCA9531 processor, which supports hardware expansion using USB2, I2C and UART.

2. Federal Communications Commission

The FCC Report is here:

3. Firmware

End-User loves AR750 based in original GL.iNet firmware:

Our own Mesh Station firmware improves on that substantially with much newer kernels and extra features (like Infinite Disk and Virtual Private Mesh).

4. Power Supply

AR750 comes with an approved power supply.

5. Internal Headers

For hardware hackers, I2C and UART headers inside the GL-AR750 enables it to be expanded with thousands of add-ons.

GL-AR750_Inside

Accessing the built-in headers is NOT for the faint hearted, you have to pry open the case yourself.

Note location of the headers are just underneath the 5G antenna, so if you are attaching cables to them, then do NOT screw the cover back fully, leave a gap so the cables do NOT touch the antenna above it.

To access the headers jumper cables can be used and the lid needs to be risen so the 5GHz antenna does not touch the cables.

ar750_open_top_view

The 7mm vertical gap is enough to for the cables to not touch the 5GHz antenna at the underside of the cover.

ar750_closed_back_view

Looks OK from the top, but still need sticky tape or cable ties to secure the now loose cover with the main unit.

ar750_closed_top_view

6. Reverse Engineering (in Russian):

ar750_top

ar750_bottom

7. WiFi 5GHz

Qualcomm QCA9887

Peak Speed: Up to 433 Mbps

Generation: Wi-Fi 4, Wi-Fi 5

Standards: 802.11ac, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n

Spectral Bands: 5 GHz

Channels: 20 MHz, 80 MHz, 40 MHz

MIMO Configuration: 1x1

Spatial Streams: Up to 1

Security: WPA2

Features: MU-MIMO

Interfaces: I²C, UART, PCIe 1.1, SPI, JTAG

General Purpose I/Os: 18

Layers: MAC, PHY

8. USB2 Hub & SD Card Reader

Genesys Logic GL857L - USB and MicroSD Controller

Genesys-Logic-GL857L-HHY10_C136619.pdf (659.3 KB)

Despite the manufacturer saying that the microSD in the GL-AR750 only supports up to 128GByte, the GL857L chip inside supports SDXC which can go up to 2TByte. MicroSD cards up to 1TByte has been tested to work.

9. SPI Flash

Macronix KH25L12835F - 16MByte internal serial flash memory.

KH25L12835F-macronix.pdf (1.4 MB)

10. Lights

https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/hardware/led/start

AR750 Installation

Step 1: How to flash the image

Download Firmware

GL-AR750
Download from https://provision.oztralia.com/softwarestore/openwrt-ath79-generic-glinet_gl-ar750-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin to your computer.

  • Plug in the WAN port of the GL-AR750 to the network and power on the GL-AR750. Using your computer's WiFi, search for the GL-AR750 WiFi SSID, which is normally in the format of GL-AR750-xxx. The default WiFi password is goodlife.

  • Open your browser and go to http://192.168.8.1 or http://192.168.1.1 and you will be prompted to enter the **Admin Password" if this is your first time.

  • In the left sidebar, click on More Settings > Advanced and click on the install Luci on the right hand side. Do not close the browser or turn off the GL-AR750 until the pop-up window that shows Luci has been installed successfully is displayed.

install_luci

luci_installed

  • Click on the URL and after entering the password and click on the Login button, go to System -> Backup/Flash Firmware -> Flash new firmware image, locate the openwrt-ath79-generic-glinet_gl-ar750-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin previously downloaded and Upload.

WIFI AUTOMATICALLY DISABLED AFTER FIRMWARE UPGRADE - MORE TESTS NEEDED

IMPORTANT: you must tick the Keep settings and retain the current configuration otherwise the WiFi will be disabled after the firmware upgrade has been completed. DO NOT turn off or disconnect the power until the firmware upgrade has been completed which normally takes approximately for 5 minutes. During the firmware upgrade, Power LED blinks first for some time, then it alternates between steady and blinking until it finally steadies.

keep_settings

  • If the GL-AR750 WiFi is not detected after the firmware upgrade, you will need to plug in a LAN cable from your computer to one of the LAN ports on the GL-AR750.

Step 2: Set up OpenWISP (can also be built into the firmware)

To install the packages needed, login using the LuCI web interface, click on System -> Software -> Update lists button. There are three software packages needed:

  1. openwisp-config
  2. openwisp-monitoring
  3. luci-app-openwisp

Once the "Update Lists" process has been completed, in the "Filter" field, type in "openwisp" and the three openwisp packages will be shown. Click on the Install button and once the installation for the package has been completed, the button will be greyed out.

openwisp

Once all the three packages have been installed, reload the page, and go to System -> System to change the Hostname according to your preference. Then go to Services -> OpenWISP

  1. Enter the Server URL: https://mesh.vahfoom3iquahfah.infinitedisk.com
  2. Enter the Shared Secret: you can retrieve this from OpenWISP admin panel (same as Server URL above), in the Organization settings or contact your network administrator.
  3. Click on the Save $ Apply button.

The router should be automatically detected by the server. If the router is not shown, please reboot the router. In the example below, three routers are detected.

devices

Step 3: Adding a USB drive

  1. Use your laptop/desktop computer to format your USB device. Use the default name and format options. This prepares the USB drive for the process below, which will erase those settings (again). Warning: This initial formatting will erase the entire USB drive.

  2. SSH into the router and enter the following command into the SSH window to install the required packages: opkg update && opkg install block-mount e2fsprogs kmod-fs-ext4 kmod-usb-storage kmod-usb2 kmod-usb3

  3. Enter ls -al /dev/sd* to show the name of all attached USB devices. The list may be empty if there are no USB devices.

  4. Insert the USB drive into your router. Enter ls -al /dev/sd* again, and this time you should see a new /dev/sdXX device. sdXX is the device name of your new USB device. In the example below, the USB drive is sda1.

list_usb

  1. Make an ext4 filesystem on the USB device using the device name you just discovered. Note: Be certain you enter the proper device name - this step will completely erase the device. Based on the USB drive detected above, the command is mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1

  2. Create the fstab config file based on all the block devices found by using the command: block detect | uci import fstab

  3. Update the fstab config file to mount all drives at startup by using the command: uci set fstab.@mount[0].enabled='1' && uci set fstab.@global[0].anon_mount='1' && uci commit fstab

  4. Mount the device by using the command: /etc/init.d/fstab boot

To confirm whether the USB device has been detected and mounted, open OpenWrt web interface, select System -> Mount Points. If correctly configured, it will be shown in the Mounted file systems menu. If the USB device is not detected, the router may need to be rebooted.

mounted_file_systems

AR750 Debricking

Mesh Stations are very reliable when in production, however if you "bricked" your Mesh Station during development or at any other time, it can be debricked easily with its uboot failsafe feature.

1. Download Firmware

For recovery download the KERNEL version of firmware from https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org onto your computer.

recovery

2. IP Address

Set your computer’s IP address to 192.168.1.2

set_ip

3. Cable

Connect only one cable to the router, and leave the other port (LAN or WAN) unconnected .

4. Test

Open the terminal of your computer, e.g: the MS-DOS Command Prompt and type "ping 192.168.1.1 -t"

There should be NO response, as the device is bricked.

5. Press

Press and hold the Reset button firmly on the router first and then power on.

6. Release

The 5G LED will blink 5 times before becoming steady, at which time the 2G LED shows up steady as well. Now release the finger, the terminal will show Reply from 192.168.1.1 from the previous "ping" command.

7. Browser

Use Firefox or Chrome and go to http://192.168.1.1. to enter the Uboot Web UI, browse to the location of the firmware downloaded and click on the Update firmware button.

ui

8. Wait

Wait for around 5 minutes.

DO NOT power off your device while upgrading.

Note During this process, 5G LED initially blinks for a while, followed by both 5G and 2G rapidly blinking. Then only power LED remains steady for a while, followed by some blinking on power LEDs again, until it finally remains steady. Only then you will be able to access the router via 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.8.1 again.

AR750 Backup and Restore

Native OpenWrt Backup

https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/troubleshooting/backup_restore

OpenWISP Backup

For those running OpenWISP instead of standard OpenWrt

Advanced Roaming

The usteer package can be added to OpenWrt for advanced steering WiFi clients.