Compex WPJ342 Series, WPJ558 Series, WPJ344 Series, WP543 Series, WP546 Series, WPE72 Series wireless router User manual

CompexWRT

11n/11ac User Manual

Copyright

This document contains information, which is protected by copyright. Reproduction, adaptation, or translation without prior permission is prohibited, except as allowed under the copyright laws.

© Copyright 2015 Compex Systems Pte Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

Feedback

Please direct any comments or suggestions about this document to: [email protected]

Trademark Information

Compex® is a registered trademark of Compex Systems Pte Ltd. Microsoft Windows and the

Windows logo are the trademarks of Microsoft Corp. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Disclaimer

Compex provides this manual without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

Compex may make improvements and/or changes to the product and/or specifications of the product described in this manual, without prior notice. Compex will not be liable for any technical inaccuracies or typographical errors found in this guide. Changes are periodically made to the information contained herein and will be incorporated into later versions of the manual. The information contained is subject to change without prior notice.

Publication date and software version

Published 2 March 2015. Manual version 3.05.2. Software version v168_b150225.

Contents

Copyright...............................................................................2

Chapter 1: Overview..............................................................6

1.1 Introduction............................................................6

1.2 Language................................................................6

1.3 Supported Products.................................................6

1.4 System Requirements.............................................6

1.5 Getting Started.......................................................6

1.6 Operating Modes.....................................................7

1.7 Buttons and Changes..............................................7

1.8 Reset Button............................................................7

1.9 LEDs........................................................................7

1.10 Buzzer...................................................................7

1.11 Serial Console.......................................................8

1.12 Modifying the CompexWRT Source Codes............8

Chapter 2: Status Tab............................................................9

2.1 Overview.................................................................9

2.1.1 Wireless............................................................9

2.1.2 Wireless (for AP Mode).....................................9

2.1.3 Wireless (for Station Mode)..............................9

2.1.4 Associated Stations (for AP Mode).................10

2.1.5 System............................................................10

2.1.6 Memory..........................................................10

2.1.7 Network..........................................................11

2.1.8 DHCP Leases..................................................11

2.1.9 Link Status (for Station Mode).......................11

2.2 Routes...................................................................11

2.3 System Log............................................................12

2.4 Kernel Log.............................................................12

2.5 Realtime Graphs....................................................12

2.5.1 Load................................................................12

2.5.2 Traffic.............................................................12

2.5.3 Wireless..........................................................13

2.5.4 Connection.....................................................13

2.6 Hotspot Users.......................................................13

Chapter 3: System Tab........................................................14

3.1.1 System Properties..........................................14

3.1.2 Time Synchronization.....................................14

4

3.2 Administration.......................................................14

3.2.1 Router Password.............................................14

3.2.2 SSH................................................................15

3.2.3 Telnet..............................................................15

3.2.4 Web.................................................................15

3.3 Services.................................................................15

3.3.1 Ping Watchdog................................................16

3.3.2 Auto Reboot....................................................16

3.4 SNMP....................................................................16

3.4.1 SNMP Information..........................................16

3.4.2 SNMP Configuration......................................16

3.5 Reset Button..........................................................17

3.6 LEDs on the Board................................................17

3.6.1 LED Configuration for Signal Strength

Indicator LEDs #1 to #4.........................................17

3.6.2 Loader Mode..................................................17

3.6.3 Summary of the LED Indicators.....................18

3.7 Backup/Flash Firmware........................................18

3.7.1 Backup/Restore..............................................18

3.7.2 Flash new firmware........................................18

3.8 Reboot...................................................................18

Chapter 4: Services Tab......................................................19

4.1 Dynamic DNS........................................................19

4.2 Hotspot..................................................................19

4.2.1 Setting up the Connections............................19

4.2.2 Setting up the Hotspot...................................20

4.2.3 General Settings.............................................20

4.2.4 Network Configuration...................................21

4.2.5 RADIUS Configuration...................................21

4.2.6 Authentication................................................21

4.2.7 User's Configuration......................................21

4.2.8 Logging in to the Hotspot...............................22

4.2.9 Possible Hotspot Scenarios............................23

4.3 Discovery...............................................................23

Chapter 5: Network Tab......................................................24

5.1 Interfaces – WAN...................................................24

5.1.1 Common Configuration..................................25

5.2 Interfaces – LAN....................................................27

5.2.1 Common Configuration..................................27

5.2.2 DHCP Server..................................................28

5.2.3 Static Leases..................................................28

5.3 Wifi – Overview.....................................................29

5.3.1 Radio in AP Mode...........................................29

5.3.2 Spectrum: Interference Analyzer...................29

CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

5.3.3 Radio in Station Mode....................................30

5.4 Wifi – Wireless Network........................................30

5.4.1 Device Configuration......................................30

5.4.2 Interface Configuration..................................33

5.5 VLANs...................................................................41

5.5.1 Options...........................................................41

5.5.2 Scenarios........................................................42

5.6 Hostnames............................................................43

5.7 Static Routes.........................................................44

5.8 Firewall.................................................................44

5.8.1 General Settings.............................................44

5.8.2 Port Forwards.................................................44

5.8.3 Traffic Rules...................................................44

5.9 Diagnostics............................................................45

5.9.1 Network Utilities............................................45

5.10 Quality of Service................................................46

Chapter 6: AP Controller Tab..............................................47

6.1 Getting Started with Managing APs using the APc

....................................................................................47

6.2 L2TPv3 Settings....................................................47

6.3 IPSec.....................................................................47

6.4 APc SNMP Settings...............................................48

6.5 AP SNMP Settings.................................................48

Chapter 7: Final Notes........................................................49

7.1 Troubleshooting steps...........................................49

7.1.1 PC cannot connect to the router.....................49

7.1.2 PC Ethernet and Wifi adapters.......................49

7.1.3 Mobile phone cannot connect.........................49

7.1.4 Mobile phone connects but cannot access

Internet...................................................................49

7.1.5 Unresponsive web page..................................50

7.1.6 Unresponsive router.......................................50

7.2 Resetting to factory default...................................50

Glossary...............................................................................51

6

Chapter 1: Overview

1.1 Introduction

This user manual is a guide to the CompexWRT firmware on a wireless router. CompexWRT combines OpenWRT with the most advanced

Qualcomm Atheros 10.1.x wireless drivers.

CompexWRT also includes a user-friendly LuCI web interface for configuring the router.

OpenWRT is an extensible GNU/Linux distribution for embedded devices. It is built from the ground up to be a full-featured, easily modifiable operating system. It is powered by a Linux kernel that's more recent than most other distributions. The latest stable version of OpenWRT, 12.09 Attitude

Adjustment, is used in CompexWRT.

LuCI is a free, clean, extensible and easily maintainable web user interface for embedded devices. It has high performance, small installation size, fast runtimes, and good maintainability.

The content of this guide is organized the same way as presented on the router's web page. After the

Login and Language sections, the following sections correspond to the top-level tabs: Status, System,

Services, and Network. The last section contains the

Final Notes which include troubleshooting information.

1.2 Language

To change the language, please navigate to the

System page, look for the System Properties section, click the Language and Style tab, and click the dropdown list for Language. You can change the language from English to another language e.g.

Chinese (中文).

1.3 Supported Products

The CompexWRT software resides in the following models of routers: the WPJ342 Series, the WPJ558

Series, the WPJ344 Series, the WP543 Series, the

WP546 Series, and the WPE72 Series.

1.4 System Requirements

Operating System

: Microsoft Windows XP, Windows

Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Linux, or Mac OS X.

Web Browser

: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome,

Apple Safari, or Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 or above.

1.5 Getting Started

To access the CompexWRT configuration interface, perform the following steps:

1. Connect the local area network (LAN) port of the router to the network port of your computer using an Ethernet cable. Ethernet cables are also known as LAN cables or network cables. They connect devices such as computers, routers, and switches on wired networks.

2. Next, take the power adapter that comes with the set and connect it to a power socket as well as the router. Turn on the power.

3. Assign the Ethernet adapter on your computer with a static IP address on the

192.168.1.x network, e.g. 192.168.1.10 and with a subnet mask 255.255.255.0.

4. Launch a web browser and enter the default

IP address of the router, 192.168.1.1, into the address bar. The router's configuration web page should be presented.

The first page that you see is the login page. The words on the top left denote the firmware build version e.g. MimoAP v1.39_b140401.

Figure 1: The login page is presented upon requesting the router's IP address.

CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

The default authorization details are:

Username: admin

Password: password

Advanced information: There is a 'root' user in the

AP's Linux shell. It cannot be used to login to the

AP's web page. You may wish to use the Access

Point Controller (APc) to change the password of the 'root' user to a password of your choice.

Following that, you can access the AP's Linux shell by using a serial cable or by SSH. The PuTTY software can be used for either method. The

Compex APc software is offered free of charge.

1.6 Operating Modes

The router can operate in the following modes:

1. Access Point / Master.

2. Station / Client.

3. Access Point WDS.

4. Station WDS.

A wide area network (WAN) is a network that covers a broad area. The world's most popular WAN is the

Internet.

In a commonly used setup, the WAN port of an access point connects to a modem via an Ethernet cable. A modem can be a cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), or fiber optic modem. A modem translates the signal from the internet service provider (ISP) to Ethernet signals that the access point can understand. This allows the access point to have internet connection.

Other devices called stations connect wirelessly to this access point. These devices can be mobile phones, printers, IP cameras, laptops, or even other routers. The stations obtain internet connection from the access point.

An access point WDS and a station WDS together extend the wireless coverage, like a repeater. More

information on the setup can be found on page 34.

1.7 Buttons and Changes

The buttons are described here.

Reset

: Undo the changes.

Save

: Saves the changes. Currently please do not use this button.

Save & Apply

: Saves and applies the changes.

Please use this button instead of the 'Save' button so that the changes would be applied immediately.

It is recommended to click this button before moving to a different page.

Logout

: Logs out of the router's web page.

Note

: At the top right corner of the router's configuration web page, there may be either of the following texts displayed.

Changes: 0

: Means that all changes on the configuration web page have been applied to the router.

Unsaved Changes

: Shows the number of changes that have not yet been Save & Apply.

1.8 Reset Button

The reset button is a physical hardware button on

the board. Please refer to Section 3.5 Reset Button.

1.9 LEDs

The light emitting diodes (LEDs) on the board are

described in Section 3.6 LEDs on the Board.

1.10 Buzzer

New WPJ344 boards may have a buzzer.

The buzzer makes the following sounds:

•

Power up: Beep once.

•

End of Firmware Loading: Beep twice.

• Alignment: Beep according to signal thresholds defined. The alignment buzzer is

described in Section 2.1.9 Link Status (for

Station Mode).

Overview 7

1.11 Serial Console

A serial console makes it easy to flash the firmware and to debug potential problems. A serial adapter may be purchased from Compex. It plugs into a row of 4 pins on the board. More information can be found in the document 80-Y1005-2 CompexWRT

Firmware Upgrade.

1.12 Modifying the CompexWRT

Source Codes

With the proper tools, the CompexWRT source codes can be modified. The router functions and the configuration webpage can be redesigned. More information can be found in the document 80-

Y1004-1_CompexWRT Build Instructions and FAQ.

8 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Chapter 2: Status Tab

After login, when you click on the Status top-level tab, you can see the second-level tabs of Overview,

Routes, System Log, Kernel Log, and Realtime

Graphs. This is shown in Figure 2.

as a customer-premises equipment (CPE) i.e. a station. The word X is shown if the radio is disabled.

2.1.2 Wireless (for AP Mode)

The Wireless section in the Status → Overview page shows a summary of the wireless parameters. The following describes the parameters when the device is in the AP mode.

Figure 2: The Status → Overview page.

Notice in the figure that the radio is using the latest and fastest 11ac wireless standard that supports a data rate of up to 1300 Mbit/s.

2.1 Overview

The Status → Overview page is divided into the sections Wireless, Associated Stations, System,

Memory, Network, and DHCP Leases.

Uptime

: Displays the duration of time since the router was turned on or rebooted.

2.1.1 Wireless

The wireless chipset model is shown in the little box on the left e.g. QCA9882 802.11ac/an Radio. This box can be removed for OEM customers.

Figure 4: A summary in the Wireless section for a device operating as an 802.11 access point.

SSID

: Displays the name of the wireless network that this access point (AP) is offering, the Service Set

Identifier (SSID).

Mode

: This is 'Master' if the device is in AP mode or

AP WDS mode.

Channel

: Shows the channel number and frequency that this AP is using.

Bitrate

: This is the maximum bitrate supported by the radio in the current configuration.

BSSID

: This is the MAC address of the AP's radio.

Encryption

: Displays the wireless encryption used.

ACK Timeout

: Shows the maximum acknowledgment time in microseconds.

DFS Status

: If DFS is enabled, the AP automatically switches channel if radar is detected on the current channel.

2.1.3 Wireless (for Station Mode)

The following describes the parameters for a device operating in Station mode.

Figure 3: Wireless chipset model.

The word AP in the small callout box means that the radio is operating in the Access Point (AP) mode. If the word is CPE, it means that the radio is operating

Status Tab 9

Figure 5: A summary in the Wireless section for a device operating as an 802.11 station.

SSID

: Displays the name of the wireless network that this station should be associated with.

Mode

: This is 'Client' if the device is in Station mode or in Station WDS mode.

Channel

: Shows the channel number and frequency that this station is using. Normally, it would automatically select the same channel as the AP.

Bitrate

: This is the maximum bitrate supported by the radio in the current configuration.

MAC-Address

: States the MAC address of the device's radio.

BSSID

: This is the MAC address of the AP's radio.

Encryption

: Displays the wireless encryption used.

ACK Timeout

: Shows the maximum acknowledgment time in microseconds.

DFS Status

: If DFS is enabled, the AP automatically switches channel if radar is detected on the current channel.

TX-CCQ

: Displays the transmission quality in %. A higher percentage means a better wireless connection quality.

RX Rate

: Shows the receive bit rate of this station.

TX Rate

: Shows the transmit bit rate of this station.

2.1.4 Associated Stations (for AP

Mode)

This section shows the connected devices, if the router is in the AP mode.

If there are no associated stations, the text “No information available” is displayed. The parameters shown are as follows:

MAC-Address

: Displays the MAC address of the station's radio.

Network

: States the name of the wireless network.

Device Name

: Shows the name of the station.

Last IP

: States the most recent IP address of the station as seen by the router.

Signal

: Displays the received signal strength from the station e.g. -31 dBm.

Signal/Chains

: Shows the received signal strengths from the station on each antenna e.g. -52, -35, -34 dBm. The value of -95 dBm is taken to mean “no antenna” if the radio has only 2 antennas.

Noise

: Displays the received noise power at the AP.

TX Rate

: Shows the transmit bit rate from the AP towards this station.

RX Rate

: Shows the receive bit rate at the AP from this station.

TX-CCQ

: Indicates the wireless connection quality.

2.1.5 System

This section shows the Router Name, Router Model,

Firmware Version, Kernel Version, and Local Time.

Figure 7: System parameters.

2.1.6 Memory

Here, the Total Available and Free memory are shown.

Figure 6: List of Associated Stations.

10 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Figure 8: Total Available and Free Memory.

2.1.7 Network

This section displays the status of the LAN and WAN networks.

Figure 9: Network summary.

Status

: Shows summaries of the interfaces for the

LAN and WAN zones. This may include uptime, MAC address, protocol, bytes and packets received by the device, bytes and packets transmitted by the device, and its IPv4 address.

2.1.8 DHCP Leases

This section shows a table of MAC and IP addresses of connected computers with static DHCP leases.

They are specified in the Network → Interfaces →

LAN → Static Leases section of the device's configuration web page. More explanation is given

in the Network section of this user manual on page

28.

Figure 10: Currently active static DHCP leases.

2.1.9 Link Status (for Station Mode)

This section only applies if the device operates as an

802.11 station.

Status Tab

Figure 11: The Link Status section.

In the Link Status section on the Status → Overview web page, the value in the top left box denotes the current received signal strength e.g. -48 dBm. The box directly below it shows the current TX-CCQ

(transmission client connection quality) e.g. 71 %.

The bottom left box shows a realtime graph of the received signal strength over the last 60 seconds.

The box directly to its right shows a realtime graph of the TX-CCQ over the past 60 seconds.

On the right of this section, there are 3 vertical bars.

Each bar shows the current received signal strength of each antenna e.g. -53 dBm, -44 dBm, and -48 dBm. If the radio has only 2 antennas, the third vertical bar is given a default value of -95 dBm.

Enable Alignment Buzzer

: When enabled, the board would continually emit beeping sounds to indicate the received signal strength. This is currently available on the WPJ344 and the WPJ342 boards with a buzzer. Every 3 seconds, the board would emit a number of beeps (1 to 4) in quick succession.

The number of beeps is the same as the number of

lighted Signal strength indicator LEDs. See Section

3.6 on LED Configuration. Just like for the LEDs,

more beeps indicate a higher received signal strength. This is useful for a person aligning directional antennas at a height, in an outdoor scenario, if the LEDs are not visible. Another person on the ground could adjust the threshold values for the LEDs. There is some delay before the received signal strength gets reported by the alignment buzzer. To turn off the beeping sounds, click the button “Disable Alignment Buzzer”.

2.2 Routes

When you click on the Status → Routes tab, you would see the page that shows the routing rules that are currently active on the device.

11

Figure 12: The Status → Routes page.

ARP

: This address resolution protocol (ARP) table shows the IP address and corresponding MAC address of each device on the network.

Active IPv4-Routes

: This table shows the IPv4 gateway and network ID (Target) for each subnet.

2.3 System Log

When you click on this tab, you can see the log of system messages.

Figure 14: The Status → Kernel Log page.

2.5 Realtime Graphs

Under the tab for Realtime Graphs, there are four tabs titled Load, Traffic, Wireless, and Connection.

2.5.1 Load

Figure 13: The Status → System Log page.

2.4 Kernel Log

This page shows the kernel debugging messages.

This kernel log can also be obtained by typing

“dmesg” in a serial console such as Tera Term if a suitable serial connector is used.

Figure 15: The graph for Realtime Load.

2.5.2 Traffic

12

Figure 16: The graph for Realtime Traffic.

CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

2.5.3 Wireless

Figure 17: The graph for Realtime Wireless.

2.5.4 Connection

Figure 19: The Status → Hotspot Users page.

The details shown are MAC Address, IP Address,

Username, Online Time in seconds, Downloaded data, and Uploaded data.

The “Kick” button allows you to force the user to log out. She would have to login again.

Figure 18: The graph for Realtime Connections.

2.6 Hotspot Users

When the Hotspot feature is enabled on this

Hotspot router, the Hotspot Users page would show the users who are currently online.

Status Tab 13

Chapter 3: System Tab

This section is about the System top-level tab.

Under this tab, there is a row of tabs for

Administration, Services, SNMP, LED Configuration,

Backup/Flash Firmware, and Reboot. This can be

seen in Figure 20.

Logging

: Specifies parameters used for the system log, such as System log buffer size, External system

log server, External system log server port, Log

output level, and Cron Log Level.

Language and Style

Figure 20: The System top-level tab.

Within the System page, you can configure the device parameters such as the hostname and timezone.

3.1.1 System Properties

Within the section on System Properties, there are tabs corresponding to General Settings, Logging, and Language and Style.

General Settings

Local Time

: Displays the local time according to the

Timezone.

Hostname

: Configures the name of the device.

Timezone

: Sets the timezone.

Logging

Figure 22: Modifying the Language and Style.

Language and Style

: Lets you choose the language and design of the router's web pages.

3.1.2 Time Synchronization

Enable NTP client

: Obtains the date and time from specified Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers.

NTP server candidates

: These are the sources of the time information. At least three are recommended for accurate time synchronization.

Figure 23: Time Synchronization settings.

3.2 Administration

Within the System → Administration page, you can configure the Router Password, SSH, Telnet, Web, and FTP settings.

3.2.1 Router Password

14

Figure 21: Changing the system properties for

Logging.

Figure 24: Setting the router password.

CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Password

: Allows you to set the router password, the default being password.

Confirmation

: Requires you to re-enter the password.

3.2.2 SSH

Figure 25: SSH settings in the System →

Administration page.

SSH

: Allows you to access the router's Linux shell and file system using the Secure Shell protocol. For example, the programs PuTTY and WinSCP can be used.

Interface

: Lets the device listen on a given interface or all interfaces.

Port

: Specifies the listening port, the default being

22.

Password authentication

: Allows SSH password authentication.

Allow root logins with password

: This is enabled by default.

Gateway ports

: Allow remote hosts to connect to local SSH forwarded ports.

3.2.3 Telnet

Telnet

: Provides administrator tools for controlling the device or network debugging, over an unencrypted connection.

Port

: Specifies the listening port, the default being

23.

To start using Telnet, enter the command “ telnet

192.168.1.1

” or “ telnet 192.168.1.1 23

” into a

Command Prompt if using Windows, or into a

Terminal if using Linux or Mac OS X. This is assuming that 192.168.1.1 is the IP address of your router.

The splash page of OpenWRT appears after login.

Commands can then be entered into the Linux shell of the router, e.g. ifconfig

, iwconfig

, iwpriv

, uci show

, ls /bin

, ls /sbin

, ls /usr/bin

, or ls

/usr/sbin

.

3.2.4 Web

Figure 27: The router's web server mode and port.

Web Server Mode

: This can be set to Hypertext

Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or Hypertext Transfer

Protocol Secure (HTTPS). For HTTPS, if you see the warning, “The certificate is not trusted because it is self-signed. The certificate is only valid for

OpenWRT,” click “Add Exception”, “Confirm Security

Exception” and proceed.

Port

: Specifies the listening port, the default being

80 for HTTP and 443 for HTTPS.

3.3 Services

In the System → Services page, you can configure the Ping Watchdog and the Auto Reboot.

Figure 26: Telnet settings in the System →

Administration page.

System Tab 15

3.3.1 Ping Watchdog

Figure 28: Ping Watchdog settings in the System →

Services page.

Ping Watchdog

: Configures the device to ping to a remote IP address and reboot if the connection is lost. It is disabled by default.

IP Address to Ping

: Sets the remote IP address to ping e.g. 192.168.1.10 or 8.8.8.8.

Ping Interval

: Specifies the time between successive pings, the default being 5 seconds.

Startup Delay

: Sets the time delay after the router finishes rebooting, before running the Ping

Watchdog, the default being 60 seconds.

Failure Count to Reboot

: Specifies the number of failed pings before the router reboots automatically.

3.3.2 Auto Reboot

3.4 SNMP

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an Internet-standard protocol for managing devices on IP networks. It consists of a set of standards for network management, including an application layer protocol, a database schema, and a set of data objects. SNMP exposes management data in the form of variables on the managed systems, which describe the system configuration.

These variables can then be queried (and sometimes set) by managing applications.

In the System → SNMP Page, you can configure

SNMP V2c and SNMP V3.

3.4.1 SNMP Information

In the SNMP Information section, the text fields for the SNMP Enterprise ID, Contact, and Location information are shown.

3.4.2 SNMP Configuration

General Settings

Figure 29: Auto Reboot settings in the System →

Services page.

Auto Reboot

: Allows the router to reboot itself automatically, disabled by default.

Mode

: Chooses the Auto Reboot mode By Time or

By Number of Hours.

Time

: Sets the time of day to reboot if the Mode is

By Time.

Number of Hours

: Sets the delay as an integer number of hours after each reboot, if the Mode is

By Number of Hours.

Figure 30: General settings for SNMP.

Enable SNMP

: Enables SNMP.

SNMP V2c Read Password

: Sets the community string for read-only access (to the variables on the

SNMP agent) by the network management station

(NMS). The NMS is the software which runs on the

SNMP manager. (default: public)

SNMP V2c Write Password

: Sets the community string for read-write access by the SNMP manager.

(default: private)

16 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

A community string identifies a group of SNMP agents. It is sent in clear text. It should be changed from the default string “public” or “private”. The variables on the SNMP agent can be classified into read-only or read-write variables.

SNMP V3 Username

: Sets the username for authentication. (default: admin)

SNMP V3 Auth Algorithm

: Shows the authentication algorithm used e.g. MD5.

SNMP V3 Auth Password

: Configures the password for user authentication. (default: password)

SNMP V3 Privacy Algorithm

: Shows the data encryption algorithm used e.g. DES.

SNMP V3 Privacy Password

: Sets the password for data encryption. (default: password)

Trap

0 - 3 seconds

4 - 30 seconds reboot reset to factory default more than 30 seconds do nothing

3.6 LEDs on the Board

On the WPJ344 and WPJ342 boards, the LEDs starting from the one nearest the corner are: Power,

LAN, LED#1, LED#2, LED#3, and LED#4.

3.6.1 LED Configuration for Signal

Strength Indicator LEDs #1 to #4

The System → LED Configuration page customizes how the LEDs indicate the received signal strength.

Signal strength indicator interface

: Chooses the

Wireless interface, which is the wireless network name.

Signal strength indicator LEDs

: Sets the received signal strength thresholds (in dBm) above which

LEDs #1 to #4 would light up.

Figure 31: SNMP trap configuration.

Enable SNMP Trap

: Allows the SNMP agent to notify the SNMP manager of events.

SNMP Trap IP Address

: Sets the IP address of the

SNMP manager which receives the trap messages.

SNMP Trap Port

: Sets the port number.

3.5 Reset Button

The reset button is a physical hardware button on the AP hardware board. Depending on how long the button is pressed, you can reboot the board or reset it to factory default. First make sure that the power is on and wait a minute for the board to finish starting up. The following table shows the duration of the button press and the corresponding action.

Duration of button press

Action

Figure 32: Signal strength indicator LEDs and their default threshold values in dBm.

3.6.2 Loader Mode

The loader mode allows the board to listen to a

TFTP server for downloading a new firmware.

To enter the loader mode of the board, power off the board, hold down the reset button, power on the board, and then release the reset button.

The LED farthest from the corner (LED#4) would start blinking steadily. The IP address of the board becomes 192.168.168.1. The program TFTPD32 can be used to create a TFTP server on a computer, by running this program in the same folder as the firmware to be loaded.

System Tab 17

3.6.3 Summary of the LED Indicators

The LED indicators are summarized in the following table.

LED

Description

Power

(green)

LAN

(green)

The Power LED emits a steady light when electrical power (normally at 24 V) is supplied to the board.

The LAN/Diagnostic LED is lighted dimly when the LAN ports are not connected.

The LAN LED blinks whenever packets are transferred through any of the LAN ports.

LED#1

(red)

LED#1 indicates the received signal strength (low).

LED#2

(orange)

LED#2 indicates the received signal strength (medium).

LED#3

(green)

LED#4

(green)

LED#3 indicates the received signal strength (high).

LED#4 indicates the received signal strength (very high).

When the board is in the Loader mode, this LED blinks steadily. LEDs #1 to #3 are not lighted up.

Note

: The physical arrangement of LEDs on the board may differ for different models.

3.7 Backup/Flash Firmware

The System → Backup/Flash Firmware page lets you perform backup and restore, or flash a new firmware.

3.7.1 Backup/Restore

Download backup: Generate archive

: Downloads a tar archive of the current configuration files.

Note

: The backup archive file should be stored in a safe place because it contains the wireless password in clear text.

Reset to defaults: Perform reset

: Resets the firmware to its initial state.

Note: If radio card is changed from an 11ac card to a non-11ac card, please perform a reset. This is because the configuration for the radio cards are different.

Restore backup: Upload archive

: Lets you upload a previously generated backup archive to restore configuration files.

3.7.2 Flash new firmware

You can upload a new firmware to replace the currently running firmware.

Keep settings

: Retains the current configuration.

Firmware

: Shows the current version of the firmware and allows you to upload a new firmware.

3.8 Reboot

Perform reboot

: Reboots the operating system of your device. This is similar to the power-off and power-on cycle. The system configuration remains the same. Any changes that are not applied are lost.

18 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Chapter 4: Services Tab

The Services top-level tab contains the configuration pages for Dynamic DNS, Hotspot, and Discovery.

4.1 Dynamic DNS

The domain name system (DNS) translates a URL like www.yahoo.com to an IP address like

206.190.36.45. Dynamic DNS (DDNS) allows the router with the public IP address to be reached from the internet via a URL even if its IP address is dynamically changing.

Figure 33: The Services → Dynamic DNS page.

Enable

: Enables the dynamic DNS.

Event interface

: Chooses the interface, e.g. LAN or

WAN, for which “interface up” would run the DDNS script process.

Service

: Chooses the DDNS service provider e.g. noip.com.

Hostname

: Specifies the hostname e.g. y0033.noip.biz.

Username

: Sets the username registered for the

DDNS service.

Password

: Sets the password registered for the

DDNS service.

Source of IP Address

: Configures the source of the

IP address information. The default is URL.

URL

: Sets the URL of the source of the IP address information e.g. http://checkip.dyndns.com/.

Check for changed IP every

: The default is to check the IP address every 1 minute.

Force update every

: The default is to force update every 72 hours.

4.2 Hotspot

The Hotspot service allows you to control the access and usage of the Internet by connected devices.

4.2.1 Setting up the Connections

The following subsections contain advice on configuring the router to implement the Hotspot.

This router is referred to here as the Hotspot router.

It is recommended to configure the LAN, Wifi, and

WAN, then test it before enabling the Hotspot setting.

LAN Interface: DHCP Server

It is recommended to enable the DHCP server, because network address translation (NAT) occurs between the WAN zone and the LAN zone. To do this, you may go to the Network → Interfaces →

LAN (Edit) → Physical Settings → DHCP Server section, then uncheck the option Ignore interface

(Disable DHCP for this interface).

Devices or computers that connect to this Hotspot router can then obtain their IP addresses automatically. In addition, the default gateway IP address and the DNS server IP address are automatically configured for these connected devices.

If the DHCP server is left disabled, it is still possible for devices to connect to the Hotspot. Each device

Services Tab 19

would need a unique static IP address on the same subnet as this Hotspot router. Set the default gateway and DNS server for the device both to be the IP address of this Hotspot router.

It is not necessary to set the Hotspot router's default gateway and DNS server in the Network →

Interfaces → LAN page. This information is obtained automatically from the WAN interface.

Wifi Settings

The wireless networks should be set up to allow any user to access the Internet, assuming that the

Hotspot is not yet enabled.

WAN Interface: Physical Settings

The Hotspot has no effect if there is no WAN interface. To use the Hotspot, please set the WAN interface in the Network → Interfaces → WAN (Edit)

→ Physical Settings. The WAN interface should be the zone where the Internet access is available. It could be one of the Ethernet adapters or one of the wireless networks. All interfaces other than the

WAN interface are considered as in the LAN zone.

Any user in the LAN zone would see the Hotspot login page after the Hotspot is set up.

Test Internet Connection

At this point, before setting up the Hotspot, it is good to test the Internet connection by connecting a mobile phone to a wireless network in the LAN zone of the Hotspot router.

The Internet browser may cache web pages, so to be sure, one may perform an Internet search of a random string of numbers. If the search results are returned, this means that the Internet connection is working fine.

4.2.2 Setting up the Hotspot

The Hotspot can then be set up and enabled either by using the AP itself or by using a Compex Access

Point Controller (APc).

The following sections show the Hotspot settings available in the AP's LuCI web page.

It is recommended to click “Save & Apply” for each page if you did any changes. If the Hotspot was already running, users would be logged out and would have to log in again. This is because the

CoovaChilli is restarted.

4.2.3 General Settings

By clicking on the Services → Hotspot tab, you can see the general settings.

Figure 34: The Services → Hotspot page.

Enable Hotspot

: Turns on the Hotspot service. You may wish to enable the Hotspot after all the settings are completed.

Hotspot Mode

: Selects your desired mode of

Hotspot. You can choose to use the Hotspot together with a third party or external RADIUS authentication server.

Note

: Remote Authentication Dial In User

Service (RADIUS) is a networking protocol that provides centralized Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) management for users that connect and use a network service.

The choices for the Hotspot Mode are:

•

User Name + Password (Radius Required)

•

Agreement (Radius Required)

• Password (Radius Required)

• Agreement (Radius not Required)

20 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

• Password (Radius not Required)

Login Page Title

: Sets the title shown on the Login

Page e.g. “HotSpot”.

Idle Timeout

: Configures the default idle timeout

(max idle time) in seconds unless otherwise set by

RADIUS (Set as 0 to mean unlimited time).

4.2.4 Network Configuration

Network Parameters: Auto Config

: Automatically configures the network parameters. It is recommended to keep this enabled.

4.2.5 RADIUS Configuration

Here you can set the RADIUS parameters.

Radius Server 1

: Sets the IP address of Radius server

1 e.g. 203.120.12.127.

Radius Server 2

: Sets the IP address of Radius server

2 e.g. 203.120.12.127.

Radius Secret

: Sets the Radius shared secret for both servers.

4.2.6 Authentication

Here you can set the Universal Access Method

(UAM) parameters.

UAM Server

: Sets the URL of the web server to use for authenticating clients. For example:

• http://203.120.12.127/apc/hotspot/login.ht

ml

UAM Secret

: Configures the shared secret between uamserver and chilli.

Walled Garden (Domain)

: Shows a comma separated list of resources the client can access without first authenticating. Each entry in the list is a domain name. Do not put www in the domain name. For example, enter “name.com” instead of

“www.name.com”.

Walled Garden (IP Address)

: Shows a comma separated list of resources the client can access without first authenticating. Each entry in the list is

Services Tab

a IP Address. The AP's web page is always accessible.

Note

: To avoid clicking “Save & Apply” which logs out the users, the walled garden entries can be added by this command:

chilli_query addgarden ip 0.0.0.0 data <ip/domain>

For example:

chilli_query addgarden ip 0.0.0.0 data 74.125.200.138

chilli_query addgarden ip 0.0.0.0 data mail.google.com.sg

To view the list inside the walled garden:

chilli_query listgarden

The entries added using this command line method would not be reflected in the LuCI web page.

Warning: On the next “Save & Apply”, all the walled garden entries added by the command line would be lost.

4.2.7 User's Configuration

Here you can configure the users' network access and bandwidth limitations.

21

Figure 35: The Services → Hotspot → User's

Configuration page.

Bandwidth Limitation

This section only applies if the Radius Server is not required. If the Radius Server is required, this section is ignored.

You may add entries consisting of the following three fields:

• User's MAC Address

• Download (DL) Speed (kbits/s)

• Upload (UL) Speed (kbits/s)

By default, there is an entry:

• User's MAC Address

◦ All Others

•

Download (DL) Speed (kbits/s)

◦

5000

•

Upload (UL) Speed (kbits/s)

◦

5000

This means that all Hotspot users are subjected to

5000 kbits/s bandwidth limitation. To prevent any limitation, it may be set to a high value like 5000000 kbits/s.

Always Blocked User's List

You may add entries for: User's MAC Address.

These users would be blocked from accessing the network.

This list works for all Hotspot Modes.

Authentication Free User's List

You may add entries for: User's MAC Address.

These users would not need any authentication at all and can get immediate access to the network.

For example, the boss of the company could be in the authentication free list.

This list works for all Hotspot Modes.

4.2.8 Logging in to the Hotspot

When a Hotspot user opens an Internet browser on her computer, it would automatically show the

Hotspot login page. To quickly see the Hotspot login page, she could enter a simple URL (without https) in the Internet browser e.g.

•

1.0.0.1

• 8.8.8.8

• bing.com

Once connected, this webpage can be closed. To see the Hotspot page again, please enter “1.0.0.1” as the URL.

When a user connects her smart phone to the

Hotspot wireless network, the Hotspot login page should automatically appear after a few seconds.

This is the case for newer Apple iPhones and

Android phones. For some Android devices, there would be a dropdown notification to “Sign in to wireless network”. She can click on that to see the login page. Otherwise, she could open the default

Internet browser app or Chrome app and enter

“1.0.0.1” as the URL to see the login page.

HTTPS and privacy tunnelling using VPN is also supported. Please disable VPN if you intend to visit the “1.0.0.1” URL.

22 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Microsoft, Samsung, Huawei, etc. smart phones are also supported.

4.2.9 Possible Hotspot Scenarios

The WAN interface could be set as one of the

Ethernet ports. This means that the wireless networks provided by the Hotspot router would be in the LAN zone. Users can connect within the LAN zone to see the Hotspot login page.

The wireless distribution system (WDS) can also be used to increase the coverage. More information is

found in Section 5.4.2 Interface Configuration.

4.3 Discovery

Figure 36: The Services → Discovery page.

Enable

: Allows the Device Name and Last IP address of the wireless station to be discovered by the wireless access point. The functionality is similar to the Cisco Discovery Protocol. Discovery is enabled by default.

Services Tab 23

Chapter 5: Network Tab

The Network → Interfaces tab shows an overview of the network interfaces. You can view and configure the interfaces of the local area network (LAN) zone as well as the wide area network (WAN) zone.

Network address translation (NAT) occurs between these two network zones. The router that performs the NAT is called a gateway. A gateway is a network point that acts as an entrance to another network.

Figure 38: The Interface Overview on the Network

→ Interfaces page.

The Network column shows that the WAN zone has the physical port “eth1” as its interface.

24

Figure 37: The Network top-level tab.

Figure 39: An infotip appears when hovering the mouse over an icon.

In Figure 39, the LAN zone (icon with two Ethernet

ports) has the bridged interface “br-lan” which consists of one physical port (icon with one Ethernet port) and two wireless networks (each icon looking like a short standing fan) on the device. Hovering the mouse over each icon would give the name of the interface it represents. In this example, the infotip shows that there is a (virtual) access point on the device with “M78” as its network name.

5.1 Interfaces – WAN

The Network → Interfaces → WAN page configures the interface for the WAN zone.

CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

5.1.1 Common Configuration

General Setup

Status

: Shows a summary of the interface for the

WAN zone. This includes uptime, MAC address, bytes and packets received by the device, bytes and packets transmitted by the device, and its IPv4 address.

Figure 40: Status of the “eth1” interface of the WAN zone.

Protocol

: Chooses between DHCP client (default), where the device obtains it IP address automatically, or Static address, where you can specify the device IP address. Other protocols are

PPTP, PPPoE, and L2TP.

Protocol – Static address

IPv4 address

: Sets the IP address of the device as seen from the WAN zone.

IPv4 netmask

: Sets the subnet mask e.g.

255.255.255.0. The IP address and netmask together determine the subnet or network ID e.g.

192.168.3.0/24. Two devices must be in the same subnet in order to establish a (Layer 2) link between them.

IPv4 gateway

: Specifies the IP address of the remote router that allows the device's shell to gain internet access.

IPv4 broadcast

: Specifies the IPv4 broadcast address, optional.

Use custom DNS servers

: Configures the IP address of the DNS servers e.g. 165.21.100.88 for the

SingNet DNS server in Singapore or 8.8.8.8 for the

Google DNS server in the USA. The computers in the same subnet as this device can then set this device's

IP address as their preferred DNS server to obtain the same DNS service.

Network Tab

Protocol – DHCP client

The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a standardized networking protocol used by servers on an IP network to allocate IP addresses automatically to client devices.

Hostname to send when requesting DHCP

:

Specifies the name of this device as seen by the remote DHCP server.

Protocol – PPTP

The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) is a method for implementing virtual private networks.

PPTP uses a control channel over Transmission

Control Protocol (TCP) and a Generic Routing

Encapsulation (GRE) tunnel operating to encapsulate Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) packets.

VPN Server

: Specifies the IP address of the remote

PPTP server for the virtual private network (VPN).

PAP/CHAP username

: Sets the username for the

Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) or the

Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol

(CHAP).

PAP/CHAP password

: Sets the password for the PAP or CHAP.

Configure PPTP IP settings

: Upon clicking the

“Configure...” button, the PPTP Common

Configuration page would be displayed. The protocol DHCP client or Static address can be selected. The corresponding options are explained

within this section (5.1.1 Common Configuration).

Protocol – PPPoE

The Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) is a network protocol for encapsulating PPP frames inside Ethernet frames. Most DSL providers use

PPPoE, which provides authentication, encryption, and compression.

The options PAP/CHAP username and PAP/CHAP

password have been explained earlier.

Access Concentrator

: Identifies the PPPoE server.

Leave empty to autodetect.

Service Name

: Specifies the PPPoE service name.

The server will accept clients which send an

25

initialization message with the service name that matches the server's configuration. Leave empty to autodetect.

Protocol – L2TP

The Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) is a tunneling protocol used to support virtual private networks

(VPNs) or as part of the delivery of services by ISPs.

It does not provide any encryption or confidentiality by itself. Rather, it relies on an encryption protocol that it passes within the tunnel to provide privacy.

The options PAP/CHAP username and PAP/CHAP

password have been explained earlier.

L2TP Server

: Specifies the IP address of the remote

L2TP server.

Configure L2TP IP settings

: Upon clicking the

“Configure...” button, the L2TP Common

Configuration page would be displayed. The protocol DHCP client or Static address can be selected. The corresponding options are explained

within this section (5.1.1 Common Configuration).

Advanced Settings

The following are options in the Advanced Settings section tab. Some of these options are shown, depending on the protocol being used.

Override MAC address

: Allows you to specify a different MAC address other than the router's original MAC address. This is useful if the ISP uses the MAC address of a router to identify a customer.

Suppose that the router needs to be replaced. The new router can take on the MAC address of the previous router in order to continue having internet access.

Override MTU

: Sets the maximum transmission unit

(MTU), the default being 1500 bytes. Unless, your

ISP requires, it is not recommended to change this setting.

Use gateway metric

: Allows you to specify a gateway metric. This acts as a cost for choosing the gateway when a connected device has to select between multiple available gateways. The gateway with the smallest metric is chosen.

Use broadcast flag

: When sending DHCP requests, a client can indicate if it wants an answer in unicast or broadcast, by setting the broadcast flag. This is required for certain ISPs. Unchecked by default.

Use default gateway

: Configures a default route.

Checked by default.

Use DNS servers advertised by peer

: Uses the DNS settings advertised by the DHCP server. Checked by default.

Client ID to send when requesting DHCP

: Sets the identifier that may be required by the ISP or network administrator. If not stated, the MAC address of the client will be sent.

Vendor Class to send when requesting DHCP

:

Identifies the vendor of a DHCP client for the enhancement of vendor-specific DHCP functionality.

The following three options are specific to the PPTP and PPPoE protocols:

LCP echo failure threshold

: Sets the number of link control protocol (LCP) echo failures before the peer is presumed to be dead. Use 0 to ignore failures.

LCP echo interval

: Specifies the interval in seconds to send LCP echo requests. This is only effective in conjunction with failure threshold.

Inactivity timeout

: Sets the number of seconds of inactivity, after which the connection is closed. Use

0 to persist connection.

Physical Settings

Interface

: Chooses which physical interface to use for the WAN zone. This can be the Ethernet Adapter

“eth0” or “eth1” that corresponds to each of the two ports on the device for example. It could also be set as the Wireless Network. If there is a physical interface selected for the WAN zone, this can be referred to as the “NAT mode”, because network address translation occurs between the WAN zone and the LAN zone.

If No Interface is selected for the WAN zone, all interfaces would be within the LAN zone. This may also be referred to as the “Bridge Mode”.

26 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Note

: For boards with 2 ethernet ports, both ports would be LAN ports in the default configuration. You can still designate the WAN port in the firmware. For routers with power over

Ethernet (PoE), only the port further away from the

DC Jack (right port) would be the PoE input port

(ethY). The port nearer to the DC Jack (left port) would be the PoE output port (ethX).

For older boards/firmwares, the port further away from the DC Jack (right port) is the LAN port (eth0).

The port nearer to the DC Jack (left port) is the WAN port (eth1).

5.2 Interfaces – LAN

5.2.1 Common Configuration

General Setup

Status

: Shows a summary of the current LAN port status, which includes uptime, MAC address, received bytes and packets, transmitted bytes and packets, and IPv4 address.

Figure 41: Status of the “br-lan” interface of the LAN zone.

Protocol

: Chooses between Static address, where you can specify the device IP address, or DHCP

client, where the device obtains it IP address automatically. Static address is necessary if other devices obtain internet connection through this device. Static address is also recommended if you wish to configure the device via the LuCI web interface.

Note

: After modifying the Protocol option, please click the “Switch protocol” button. If using the Static address protocol, please fill in the IPv4 address, IPv4 netmask, IPv4 gateway, and a custom

Network Tab

DNS server. Finally, please click the “Save & Apply” button.

Protocol – Static address

IPv4 address

: Sets the IP address of the device e.g.

192.168.21.1, where you can access the router's configuration web page.

IPv4 netmask

: Sets the subnet mask e.g.

255.255.255.0. The IP address and netmask together determine the subnet or network ID e.g.

192.168.21.0/24. Two devices must be in the same subnet in order to establish a (Layer 2) link between them.

IPv4 gateway

: Specifies the IP address of the remote router that allows the device's shell to gain internet access.

IPv4 broadcast

: Specifies the IPv4 broadcast address, optional.

Use custom DNS servers

: Configures the IP address of the DNS servers e.g. 165.21.100.88 for the

SingNet DNS server in Singapore or 8.8.8.8 for the

Google DNS server in the USA. The computers in the same subnet as this device can then set this device's

IP address as their preferred DNS server to obtain the same DNS service.

Protocol – DHCP client

The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a standardized networking protocol used by servers on an IP network to allocate IP addresses automatically to client devices.

Hostname to send when requesting DHCP

:

Specifies the name of this device as seen by the remote DHCP server.

Advanced Settings

The following are options in the Advanced Settings section tab. Some of these options are shown, depending on the protocol being used.

Override MAC address

: Allows you to specify a different MAC address other than the router's original MAC address. This is useful if the ISP uses the MAC address of a router to identify a customer.

Suppose that the router needs to be replaced. The

27

new router can take on the MAC address of the previous router in order to continue having internet access.

Override MTU

: Sets the maximum transmission unit

(MTU), the default being 1500 bytes. Unless, your

ISP requires, it is not recommended to change this setting.

Use gateway metric

: Allows you to specify a gateway metric. This acts as a cost for choosing the gateway when a connected device has to select between multiple available gateways. The gateway with the smallest metric is chosen.

Use broadcast flag

: When sending DHCP requests, a client can indicate if it wants an answer in unicast or broadcast, by setting the broadcast flag. This is required for certain ISPs. Unchecked by default.

Use default gateway

: Configures a default route.

Checked by default.

Use DNS servers advertised by peer

: Uses the DNS settings advertised by the DHCP server. Checked by default.

Client ID to send when requesting DHCP

: Sets the identifier that may be required by the ISP or network administrator. If not stated, the MAC address of the client will be sent.

Vendor Class to send when requesting DHCP

:

Identifies the vendor of a DHCP client for the enhancement of vendor-specific DHCP functionality.

Physical Settings

Enable STP

: Enables the Spanning Tree Protocol on this bridge. It is unchecked by default.

5.2.2 DHCP Server

This section allows you to configure the device as a

DHCP server.

General Setup

Ignore interface

: Disables DHCP for this interface.

You should uncheck this to enable DHCP.

Note

: All the following options in this DHCP

Server section depend on DHCP being enabled.

Start

: Specifies the lowest leased address as offset from the network address, the default being 100.

Limit

: Sets the maximum number of leased addresses, the default being 150.

Leasetime

: States the expiry time of leased addresses, the default being 12h.

Advanced Settings

Dynamic DHCP

: Dynamically allocates DHCP addresses for clients. If disabled, only clients having static leases will be served. Checked by default.

Force

: Forces DHCP on this network even if another server is detected, unchecked by default.

IPv4-Netmask

: Overrides the netmask sent to clients. Normally it is calculated from the subnet that is served.

DHCP-Options

: Defines additional DHCP options, for example "6,192.168.2.1,192.168.2.2" which advertises different DNS servers to clients. Normally, connected devices would take this board's IP address as the default gateway. To set an alternative default gateway, add the DHCP option

"3,192.168.2.3" for example. More information can be found in this link: http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/uci/dhcp.

5.2.3 Static Leases

In this section, you can specify that a particular

DHCP client obtain an IP address that you define.

The MAC address of the client is required. Click the

Add button to add a static DHCP lease, then click

Save & Apply to apply the changes.

Figure 42: Adding a static DHCP lease.

28 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

The static DHCP lease shows up on the Status →

Overview page if the client is active.

Figure 43: The static DHCP leases on the Status →

Overview page.

5.3 Wifi – Overview

Clicking on the Network → Wifi tab would bring you to the Wireless Overview page. This page shows the radios present on the device. These may include the on-board radio and the miniPCI/miniPCIe radio card.

The wireless local area networks (WLANs) are displayed under each radio.

Add

: Allows you to add virtual access points (VAPs) to the radio. By default, there is only one VAP on the radio. Each VAP corresponds to one network.

Enable

: Enables the radio.

Disable

: Disables the radio.

Edit

: Brings you to the configuration page of the network. Clicking this button is equivalent to clicking the corresponding tab above e.g. wifi1:

Master “M7” for the radio with SSID given as “M7”.

5.3.1 Radio in AP Mode

When a radio is operating as an AP, the section for

Associated Stations shows a list of stations connected to this device.

Figure 45: The Associated Stations are also shown on the Wireless Overview page.

The MAC address, network name, received signal strength, noise power, transmit rate, receive rate, and transmission quality for each station are displayed.

5.3.2 Spectrum: Interference Analyzer

For a radio in AP mode, clicking the Spectrum button would bring up the Channel Scan Report.

Figure 44: The Wireless Overview page showing two radios.

In Figure 44, two tabs are shown at the top, wifi0:

Master “M8” and wifi1: Master “M7”. These correspond to the two radios shown below.

The buttons are explained as follows.

Spectrum

: Shows the Channel Scan Report and allows you to run the Interference Analyzer.

Network Tab

Figure 46: The Channel Scan Report.

29

The button 'Radio 1 View' shows the number of neighbouring access points for each channel, the

Min RSSI, Max RSSI, Noise Floor, and Channel Load.

Min RSSI

: Shows the minimum received signal strength indicator due to the neighbouring access points.

Max RSSI

: Shows the maximum received signal strength indicator due to the neighbouring access points.

Noise Floor

: Shows the level of the noise on the channel.

Channel Load

: Shows how much the channel is utilized. A lower channel load denotes a channel with less interference.

You can click 'Radio 1 Scan' to do the full channel scan again and get the latest results.

The buttons for Radio 2 would be shown if Radio 2 is enabled on the device.

Return

: Brings you back to the Wireless Overview page.

Figure 47: A Channel Scan Report for the 5 GHz band.

5.3.3 Radio in Station Mode

A radio can operate as a Station. This can be set in the Interface Configuration → General Setup →

Mode option, after clicking on the Edit button.

Figure 48: The Wireless Overview page showing a radio as a Client (station).

The following buttons are for a radio operating as a station.

Scan

: Scans for available wireless networks. This button is available if the device is operating as a

Station. You can then select the network to connect to.

Join Network

: Associates this device with the selected wireless network.

5.4 Wifi – Wireless Network

As mentioned earlier, clicking on the Edit button for a network would bring you to the configuration page. This page contains the sections Device

Configuration and Interface Configuration.

The Device Configuration section covers the physical settings of the radio hardware such as channel, transmit power, or antenna selection. These are shared among all defined wireless networks of the radio. Per network settings like encryption or operation mode are grouped in the Interface

Configuration.

5.4.1 Device Configuration

The Device Configuration section consists of the section tabs for General Setup and Advanced

Settings.

General Setup

Status

: Shows a summary of the wireless network.

30 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Figure 49: The Wifi Device Configuration section.

Enable

: Enables the wireless network.

Disable

: Disables the wireless network.

Country Code

: Selects the country. Each country has its own transmit power and frequency regulations.

To ensure regulatory compliance, you must select the country where the device is operating in. The transmit power levels for each channel are tuned accordingly.

Wireless Profile

: Chooses the wireless standard used. 802.11a and 802.11g are older standards while 802.11n is a newer standard that offers higher data rates. The choice of 802.11g+n is a combination of 802.11g and 802.11n, and operates in the 2.4 GHz frequency band. The choice of

802.11a+n is a combination of 802.11a and

802.11n, and operates in the 5 GHz frequency band.

The 802.11ac is the latest standard that offers even higher data rates (up to 1300 Mbps) and it also operates in the 5 GHz frequency band.

Channel Spectrum Width

: Selects whether 20 MHz or 20/40 MHz bands are used. A 40 MHz band has twice the throughput of a 20 MHz band. A smaller bandwidth may allow more devices to be connected. The 20/40 MHz option allows both 20 and 40 MHz bands to be used. When the 802.11ac wireless standard is used, the 20/40/80 MHz band can be selected. An 80 MHz band can carry twice the amount of data of a 40 MHz band.

Network Tab

Channel

: Chooses the frequency channel. The default setting of Auto is may be used. For an AP, it would select the channel with the least interference from other APs. For a station, it would automatically select the same channel as its AP. The frequency channel may also be manually selected. An AP and its station must have the same channel in order to communicate.

Obey Regulatory Power

: Obeys the power regulations specified by each country. This would satisfy the legally permitted maximum for the equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) limits of the selected country, based on the specified

Antenna Gain (dBi). The result is that the maximum transmit power may be less than the capability of the radio. Once activated, a refresh of the webpage may be needed to show the settings correctly. If “No

Country” is selected, this is not in use.

Antenna Gain (dBi)

: Represents the gain relative to an isotropic antenna. A higher antenna gain results in the transmit power more focused towards a certain direction. When Obey Regulatory Power is checked, the value of the antenna gain would be taken into account to limit the selectable transmit power, such that the EIRP limits of the country are satisfied.

Transmit Power (dBm)

: Limits the maximum transmit power of the card at that particular frequency, e.g. 4 dBm, 5 dBm, …, 22 dBm or “Max”.

This is the power supplied to the antennas of the radio. The minimum transmit power values for the radios are:

•

For 1-Chain: 1 dBm

•

For 2-Chain: 4 dBm

•

For 3-Chain: 6 dBm

The “Max” power depends on both the country and the frequency channel used.

Outdoor Channels

: Limits the available channel frequency selections to 5500-5700 MHz if the country is in the European Union (EU). Based on the

EU-Rule 2005/513/EC regulation, only this frequency band is allowed for outdoor use.

For non-EU countries, this is not in use.

31

Understanding the Maximum Transmit

Power Calculation

The maximum transmit power calculation is illustrated with the following examples.

Example 1

• Country Code: US, Channel = 36

• Obey Regulatory Power is enabled

• Antenna Gain is 5dBi

•

Transmit Power is 15dBm

•

Outdoor Channels is disabled

In the US, Channel = 36 would mean the maximum power is 17dBm for EIRP. Transmit Power is 15dBm, so when adding Antenna Gain of 5dBi, it would be

20dBi, which would EXCEED the EIRP. Thus the

“Max” transmit power of the card has to be 12dBm, so that when added with 5dBi, it would be 17dBm.

Example 2

•

Country Code: US, Channel = 149

•

Obey Regulatory Power is enabled

• Antenna Gain is 5dBi

• Transmit Power is 15dBm

• Outdoor Channels is disabled

In the US, Channel = 149 would mean the maximum power is 30dBm for EIRP. Transmit Power is 15dBm, so when adding Antenna Gain of 5dBi, it would be

20dBm, which would NOT EXCEED the EIRP. Thus the “Max” transmit power of the card is 15dBm, as

Antenna Gain has no effect.

Example 3

• Country Code: CZ, Channel = 100

•

Obey Regulatory Power is enabled

•

Antenna Gain is 5dBi

•

Transmit Power is 15dBm

•

Outdoor Channels is enabled

In the Czech Republic, Channel = 100 would mean the maximum power is 30dBm for EIRP. Transmit

Power is 15dBm, when adding Antenna Gain of

5dBi, it would be 20dBi, which would NOT EXCEED

32

the EIRP. Thus the “Max” transmit power of the card is 15dBm, as Antenna Gain has no effect.

Advanced Settings

Figure 50: Advanced Settings for the Wifi Device

Configuration.

Distance Optimization (Auto-ACK Timeout)

:

Determines the distance of the connected station from the AP and automatically adjusts the ACK timeout. This is disabled by default. If the stations are positioned over a wide area at different distances from the AP, it is recommended to disable this option to prevent the ACK timeout from fluctuating widely.

Distance (meters)

: Specifies the distance between the AP and the station, if the previous option is unchecked. Min: 300, Max: 12000 (80MHz), 24000

(40MHz), 48000 (20MHz). This value may be set to slightly more than the physical distance between the AP and the farthest station.

Chainmask Selection

: Sets the antenna port selection on the radio. For example, 2x2 means that

2 antennas are being used.

Note

: The following options are for the device operating as an access point (AP).

Beacon Interval

: Specifies the interval between beacon transmissions by the AP, in ms. A beacon is a frame broadcast by the AP to synchronize the wireless network. For the multiple VAP case, the beacons are transmitted evenly within this interval.

Thus, if four VAPs are created and the beacon interval is 200 ms, a beacon will be transmitted from the radio portion every 50 ms, from each VAP

CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

in a round-robin fashion. The default value of the interval is 100 ms.

Adaptive noise immunity

: Controls radio sensitivity in the face of noise sources. Adaptive noise immunity allows the AP to reject spurs and non-

WLAN noise. An advantage is that the AP would have to spend less time decoding the signal, resulting in lower packet loss rate.

Dynamic channel selection

: Automatically switches channel to avoid interference. Dynamic channel selection is feature to detect and avoid continuous wave (CW) interference. CW interference or spurs cause the noise floor to be high. This stops transmissions as well as causes receives to fail frequently. The noise floor is monitored by the calibration logic. When the noise floor is above a threshold, the AP is performs an automatic channel selection. It would disconnect from the stations (it would already have due to the interference) and move to a new channel. The stations are expected to re-associate with the AP on their own.

5.4.2 Interface Configuration

The Interface Configuration section contains the section tabs for General Setup, Wireless Security,

MAC-Filter, and Advanced Settings.

General Setup

Figure 51: The Wifi Interface Configuration section.

Mode

: Selects whether the device is operating as an

Access Point (AP) or a Station. Other options are

Access Point WDS and Station WDS.

Note

: Setting more than 1 station on a board is not supported because there can only be one default gateway. This is true even if a board has both an onboard radio and a card radio. Both radios cannot be in Station mode at the same time.

Network Tab

ESSID

: Specifies the name or extended service set identifier (ESSID) of the wireless network as it is provided in the beacon message. The network name can be up to 32 characters in length and can contain spaces. When running in AP mode, it is the name of the network as advertised in the beacon message.

In Station mode, it is the network name that the station associates with.

BSSID

: Sets the MAC address of the AP. This option is available for a device operating as a station. This is useful because there can be multiple APs with the same ESSID. Setting the MAC address would prevent the station from roaming to other APs.

Guard Interval

: Chooses between Short and Long guard intervals. Guard intervals are used to ensure that distinct transmissions do not interfere with one another. Data rate is improved in downlink and uplink if both AP and station use the Short Guard

Interval.

Data Rate (Mbps)

: Selects the data rate or the modulation and coding scheme (MCS). The default setting of Auto is recommended. The MCS and data rates are adjusted automatically depending on the wireless channel conditions.

Hide ESSID

: Hides the network name (ESSID) from being broadcast publicly. (This option is for a device operating as an AP.)

Note

: If the goal is securing your network, use

WPA or preferably WPA2 encryption. Hiding the

ESSID does not provide complete security.

WDS

A Wireless Distribution System (WDS) is a system enabling the wireless interconnection of access points in an IEEE 802.11 network. It allows a wireless network to be expanded using multiple access points without the traditional requirement for a wired backbone to link them. The notable advantage of WDS over other solutions is it preserves the MAC addresses of client frames across links between access points.

WDS may also be considered a repeater mode because it appears to bridge and accept wireless clients at the same time (unlike traditional bridging).

33

However, with this method, throughput is halved for all clients connected wirelessly.

Setup for the WDS Modes

The wireless distribution system (WDS) allows the

Station WDS to bridge wireless traffic transparently, providing the functionality of a repeater. The

Station WDS is a transparent client and would need to associate with an AP WDS. The WDS protocol is not defined as a standard so there may be compatibility issues between devices from different vendors. The following figures show an example of a setup.

Figure 52: The first router is set to the AP WDS mode.

can be the Station WDS and the other radio can be the AP WDS. Therefore the Station WDS with AP

WDS on the same board functions as a repeater.

In the non-WDS mode, the Station translates all the packets that pass through it to its own MAC address, thus resulting in a lack of transparency. A consequence is that the ARP table of the access point would show the MAC address of the Station assigned to IP addresses of both the Station and the computer connected to it.

Mesh

A mesh network can be set up using CompexWRT

APs. Redundancy is achieved because if one AP dies, the other APs would automatically link up and calculate the most efficient path.

For the WDS described earlier, the topology is fixed, while for the mesh network, the topology is determined automatically in real-time.

A CompexWRT AP can be configured as one of the following three mesh modes:

• Root AP (RAP)

•

Mesh AP (MAP)

•

Root AP + Router Client (RRC)

Figure 53: The second router is set to the Station

WDS mode.

Multiple stations or Stations WDS can connect to an

AP WDS. In Figure 53, the Add button creates a

virtual access point (VAP) on the second router. You should choose AP WDS mode for the VAP's wireless network e.g. “M8” so that devices in Station WDS mode can connect to this network. The pair of

Station WDS and AP WDS on the same board extends the wireless coverage. If the board has two radios, one onboard and one card radio, one radio

34 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Figure 54: APc web page showing an RAP connected to 3 MAPs in a mesh network.

RAP

An RAP is connected to the Internet or main network by a wired LAN connection and broadcasts a wireless mesh signal.

MAP

MAPs connect wirelessly in a mesh configuration and at least one MAP connects to an RAP.

This RAP functions like a gateway for the MAPs to connect to the Internet network.

A mesh network can have multiple RAPs.

RRC

Suppose that you already have an existing wireless router without the mesh capability, and already broadcasting on the same channel that you would use for the mesh. An RAP just beside this router would introduce an unnecessary wireless network.

In this case, you can use an RRC placed some distance away.

An RRC functions as a station associated with the wireless network of the existing router. It then broadcasts the wireless mesh signal just like an RAP.

Network Tab

A mesh network can be set up using the AP

Controller (APc). Please refer to the APc user manual for the instructions. Otherwise, the steps to configure the mesh APs using the APs' LuCI web page are explained in the following sections.

Steps to Set Up a Mesh Network

In a mesh network, all the APs have to use the same wireless profile (e.g. 802.11a+n), channel (e.g. 149), spectrum width (e.g. 20/40 MHz), and encryption

(e.g. WPA/WPA2-PSK).

RAP Configuration

The

LAN/WAN Settings

and the

Wireless Settings

are described in the following subsections.

LAN/WAN Settings

For this RAP to act as a router (NAT mode), add in a

WAN interface. (Refer to Section 5.1.1 Common

Configuration > Physical Settings). If this RAP is to

act as a bridge to the network, just leave the network settings as it is.

Wireless Settings

Click on Network > Wifi and click the “Edit” button for the radio to be used for the mesh. Alternatively, click on the SSID name on the Status page to go straight to the wireless settings.

In the Interface Configuration > General Setup tab, please select “Mesh” for the “Mode” option.

Figure 55: Please select "Mesh" for the "Mode" option.

You would be prompted with the “Really switch mode?” option. Please click “Switch mode”.

35

Figure 56: Please click "Switch mode".

You would then see the following options.

Mesh ID

: The default Mesh ID created is “meshid”.

Key in the Mesh ID that would identify this mesh. All the mesh APs would be linked by this common

Mesh ID.

Mesh Mode

: The default Mesh Mode is “Mesh AP”.

The available options are

• Mesh AP (MAP)

• Root AP (RAP)

•

Root AP + Router Client (RRC)

Figure 58: Setting the Mesh ID and the Mesh Mode options.

Next, please go to the “Wireless Security” tab to set the wireless encryption (e.g. WPA/WPA2-PSK).

After that, you may set up additional wireless networks to provide coverage.

You could create an additional wireless network on the same radio as the mesh network by adding a virtual AP (VAP).

You could also have a wireless network on the other radio to provide coverage for a different wireless profile (e.g. 802.11g+n).

Figure 57: The default Mesh ID and Mesh Mode options.

For this AP, you would set it as an RAP. Following that, please click “Save & Apply”.

Figure 59: The Status > Overview page of an RAP.

The VAPs can be seen in the Network > Wifi page.

36 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Figure 60: The Network > Wifi page of an RAP.

The RAP is now configured.

RRC Configuration

The “Router Client” is to connect to another router that has wireless connectivity. Mesh networks can then expand the connectivity using wireless instead of using cables.

Figure 61: An existing AP is connected to an RRC which is in turn connected to 2 MAPs.

This AP should not have any WAN interfaces. That is, it is operating in bridge mode.

In the Network > Wifi > Interface Configuration >

General Setup tab, please select “Mesh” for the

“Mode” option.

You would be prompted with the “Really switch mode?” option. Please click “Switch mode”.

You should set the following options.

Mesh ID

: The default Mesh ID created is “meshid”.

Key in the Mesh ID that would identify this mesh. All the mesh APs would be linked by this common

Mesh ID.

Network Tab

Mesh Mode

: This should be Root AP + Router Client

(RRC).

Please click “Save & Apply”.

Next, please go to the “Wireless Security” tab to set the wireless encryption (e.g. WPA/WPA2-PSK).

After that, you may set up additional wireless networks to provide coverage.

The steps are the same as described in the previous section for the RAP.

This RRC is now configured.

MAP Configuration

Now, disconnect your PC's LAN cable from the RAP

(or RRC) and connect it to an AP that would function as an MAP.

This AP should not have any WAN interfaces. That is, it is operating in bridge mode.

Based on the wireless profile, channel, and spectrum width you had decided earlier, apply these settings to the radio that you would use for the mesh.

In the Network > Wifi > Interface Configuration >

General Setup tab, please select “Mesh” for the

“Mode” option.

You would be prompted with the “Really switch mode?” option. Please click “Switch mode”.

You should set the following options.

Mesh ID

: Please use the same Mesh ID as the RAP.

Mesh Mode

: This should be Mesh AP (MAP).

Please click “Save & Apply”.

Next, please go to the “Wireless Security” tab to set the wireless encryption (e.g. WPA/WPA2-PSK).

After that, you may set up additional wireless networks to provide coverage.

The steps are the same as for the RAP.

37

Also, you would also not be able to ping to the RAP from your PC.

This could happen if the AP was connected by a LAN cable to the network and then the mesh was enabled on the AP.

Once you see this, please disconnect the MAPs from the wired LAN network.

Connecting to the Mesh Network

Once the RAP and MAPs have been configured, devices can now connect to the wireless networks that provide coverage. The APs in the mesh network can also be monitored and managed with an AP

Controller (APc).

Wireless Security

Figure 62: The Status > Overview page of an MAP.

The VAPs can be seen in the Network > Wifi page.

Figure 63: The Network > Wifi page of an MAP.

This MAP is now configured.

You would then repeat the same process to configure all the MAPs.

Potential Network Looping and Solution

If there are network loops, you may see the error message on the serial console of the root AP: br-lan: received packet on ath1 with own address as source address

38

Figure 64: Setting the Wireless Security for the Wifi

Interface.

Encryption

: Chooses between No Encryption (open) and the following encryptions: WEP Open System,

WEP Shared Key, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, WPA-

PSK/WPA2-PSK Mixed Mode, WPA-EAP, and WPA2-

EAP.

WEP

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is the oldest and least secure encryption algorithm. Stronger encryption using WPA or WPA2 should be used where possible. The WEP option may be removed from the future releases of the firmware.

For the WEP Open System and WEP Shared Key encryptions, you can specify up to 4 keys and only 1 would be used at a time. We have the following options:

Used Key Slot

: Chooses between Key #1 to Key #4.

Key #1

: Specifies a string of characters to be used as the password. It may consist of 5 ASCII characters or

CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

10 HEX characters, implying a 64-bit WEP key length. Otherwise, it may consist of 13 ASCII or 26

HEX characters, implying a 128-bit key length.

Key #2, #3, and #4

: Similar to Key #1.

Note

: Valid HEX characters are numbers 0-9 and letters A-F, case insensitive. Valid ASCII characters are numbers and the letters of the

English alphabet, case sensitive. Based on the number of characters, the key is automatically checked for validity. Invalid keys are represented by red dots while valid keys are represented by black dots. Click the green arrows icon beside the text field to reveal/hide the password.

WPA or WPA2 with PSK

Wifi protected access (WPA) is a stronger encryption than WEP.

Furthermore, WPA2 was developed to strengthen the security of WPA and is stronger than WPA and

WEP.

For WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK

Mixed Mode encryptions, we have the following options.

Cipher

: Can be set to Auto, CCMP (AES), or TKIP and

CCMP (AES). The Temporal Key Integrity Protocol

(TKIP) was developed as a temporary replacement for WEP. The Counter Mode Cipher Block Chaining

Message Authentication Code Protocol (CCMP) is based on the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and is the most secure protocol.

Key

: The pre-shared key (PSK) is the password for the wireless network. This may consist of 8 to 63

ASCII characters.

WPA or WPA2 with EAP

The Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) is encapsulated by the IEEE 802.1X authentication method. IEEE 802.1X is equivalent to EAP over LAN or WLAN. Enterprise networks commonly use this authentication method.

WPA or WPA2 with EAP (AP Mode)

Figure 65: Encryption options for WPA-EAP or

WPA2-EAP in AP mode.

Cipher

: Can be set to Auto, CCMP (AES), or TKIP and

CCMP (AES).

Radius-Authentication-Server

: Specifies the IP address of the RADIUS authentication server.

Note

: Remote Authentication Dial In User

Service (RADIUS) is a networking protocol that provides centralized Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) management for users that connect and use a network service.

Radius-Authentication-Port

: Sets the port number for the RADIUS authentication server. Normally, the port number is 1812.

Radius-Authentication-Secret

: Configures the password for the authentication transaction.

Radius-Accounting-Server

: Specifies the IP address of the RADIUS accounting server.

Radius-Accounting-Port

: Sets the port number for the RADIUS accounting server. Normally, the port number is 1813.

Radius-Accounting-Secret

: Configures the password for the accounting transaction.

NAS ID

: Specifies the identity of the network access server (NAS).

Network Tab 39

WPA or WPA2 with EAP (Station Mode)

Password

: Sets the password used by the supplicant for EAP authentication.

MAC-Filter

This section tab is only available for a device operating as an AP.

Figure 66: Encryption options for WPA-EAP or

WPA2-EAP in Station mode.

Cipher

: Can be set to Auto, CCMP (AES), or TKIP and

CCMP (AES).

EAP-Method

: The authentication protocol can be set to Transport Layer Security (TLS), Tunneled TLS

(TTLS), or Protected EAP (PEAP).

Path to CA-Certificate

: Selects the file for the CA certificate.

Note

: The certificate authority (CA) is a trusted third party that issues digital certificates. In a public key infrastructure scheme, a digital certificate certifies the ownership of a public key by the named subject of the certificate.

Path to Client-Certificate

: Selects the file for the client certificate.

Options for TLS as the EAP method

Path to Private Key

: Selects the file for the private key.

Password of Private Key

: Configures the password for the private key.

Options for TTLS or PEAP as the EAP method

Authentication

: Selects the authentication method used by the AP, e.g. PAP, CHAP, MSCHAP, or

MSCHAPV2.

Identity

: Sets the identity used by the supplicant for

EAP authentication.

Figure 67: Configuring the MAC-Filter for a Wifi AP.

MAC-Address Filter

: Lets you allow only devices with the listed MAC address to associate with this

AP, or lets you block devices with the listed MAC address.

MAC-List

: Adds the MAC address of the remote device to either block or allow.

Advanced Settings

Figure 68: Advanced Settings for the Wifi Interface.

RTS Threshold

: Sets the threshold for the packet size above which the request to send (RTS) mechanism is used. The default is 2346 octets.

There is a trade-off to consider when setting this parameter. On the one hand, using a small value causes RTS packets to be sent more often, consuming more of the available bandwidth, and therefore reducing the throughput of the network packet. On the other hand, when more RTS packets are sent, the system recovers faster from interference or collisions. This is useful in a heavily loaded network, or a wireless network with high electromagnetic interference.

40 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Note

: The following options for Station

Isolation, Maximum Stations, Minimum Stations

RSSI, and 802.11n Only are available only for a device operating as an AP.

Station Isolation

: Prevents station-to-station communication, unchecked by default. When

Station Isolation is disabled, wireless clients can communicate with one another normally by sending traffic through the AP. When Station Isolation is enabled, the AP blocks communication between wireless clients on the same AP.

Maximum Stations

: Specifies the maximum number of associated stations, the default being 127.

Minimum Stations RSSI

: Sets the minimum received signal strength indicator for a station to be associated. The default value of 0 means that the AP would allow a station to associate independent of its RSSI.

802.11n Only

: Forces the device to use only the

IEEE802.11n standard, unchecked by default.

HT 20/40 Coexistence

: Allows the network to use both 20 MHz and 40 MHz bands. Required on AP side primarily to support co-existence. The station can also send intolerant bit status to AP to signal use of 20 MHz channel. The station will follow the

AP's channel bonding and channel switching HT

20/40 mechanism. Disabling this setting forces the use of 40 MHz bandwidth/channel bonding, and results in high data rate.

WMM

: Provides Quality of Service (QoS) features, checked by default. Wireless multimedia enables the classification of the network traffic into 4 main types, voice, video, best effort, and background, in decreasing order of priority. Higher priority traffic has a higher transmission opportunity and would have to wait less time to transmit. As a result, an existing video stream would not be interrupted by additional background processes.

5.5 VLANs

A local area network (LAN) can be divided into multiple distinct virtual LANs (VLANs) with the use of VLAN switches. This improves the management and security of the network. The broadcast domain

Network Tab

of a device on a VLAN is confined to all devices on the same VLAN.

The next section describes the options available on the web page.

Following that, some scenarios that use the

CompexWRT VLAN Management and VLAN

Ethernet Trunk are explained in detail.

5.5.1 Options

The Network → VLAN page contains the sections for

VLAN Management and VLAN Ethernet Trunk.

VLAN Management

The VLAN Management section controls individual

VLANs according to the IEEE802.1Q standards.

Within the subsection for VLAN entries, each row represents one VLAN ID.

Figure 69: VLAN entries in the VLAN Management section.

The first row is given by default. It is the native or untagged VLAN.

Add

: Inserts a new row corresponding to a new

VLAN. The IP address field should be distinct for different devices.

Managed VLAN

: Allows computers on this VLAN to access the device's configuration web page.

VLAN ID

: Specifies the identifier for the VLAN. It is an integer from 2 to 4094.

Priority

: Chooses the priority for transmitting packets, which is IEEE802.1D compatible. This is a number from 0 to 7. The number 7 represents the highest priority.

IP address

: Sets the IP address of the router as seen by other devices on this VLAN.

Netmask

: States the netmask of the subnet defined by this VLAN.

41

Bridge WIFI

: Selects the wireless network for which its interface would be bridged to the tagged VLAN

Ethernet interface. The choice All Others would select all other wireless networks that are currently not selected.

Wifi Tagging

: This tags the Ethernet frames sent over Wifi.

Description

: Provides a short description of the

VLAN.

VLAN Ethernet Trunk

The VLAN Ethernet Trunk links the tagged Ethernet interfaces to the untagged wireless interfaces.

Within the subsection for the VLAN Ethernet Trunk

Entries, each row represents one VLAN ID.

SSID3 (ath2) with VLAN1700 – Intranet Traffic

SSID2 (ath1) has Managed VLAN ticked, and

192.168.4.0/24 is able to use webpage to manage the devices.

Figure 71: AP connected to 3 stations with different

VLAN IDs.

VLAN Management Scenario 2:

Multiple VAPs in same interface

Add multiple VAPs in same interface with VLAN ID.

Figure 70: VLAN entries in the VLAN Ethernet Trunk section.

Ethernet Trunk VLAN ID

: Sets the VLAN ID of the separate VLANs to connect.

Priority

: Chooses the priority for transmitting packets. This is a number from 0 to 7. The number 7 represents the highest priority.

Bridge WIFI

: Selects the wireless network

(untagged) that would be linked to the Ethernet interface (tagged).

5.5.2 Scenarios

VLAN Management Scenario 1:

3 SSIDs with different VLAN IDs

Examples of usage:

SSID1 (ath0) with VLAN1500 – Internet Traffic

SSID2 (ath1) with VLAN1600 – Wireless Radio

Management

Figure 72: Clients with different SSIDs to connect different servers.

VLAN Management Scenario 3:

SSID with different VLAN IDs

42 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Figure 73: AP connected to Station with 3 different

VLAN IDs on same SSID.

SSID1 (ath0) with VLAN100 – Network Service

Provider

SSID2 (ath1) with VLAN200 – Telco Server

SSID3 (ath2) with VLAN300 – Application Service

Provide (ASP)

If you want to add more VAPs in same interface that allow you to add it in as below figure.

SSID4 (ath3), SSID5 (ath4) and SSID6 (ath5).

Figure 74: Virtual AP (VAP) on the same Station with

VLAN ID 1500 (Untagged).

In Figure 74, the VAP would be connected with the

Station with VLAN ID 1500, and forward Internet

Traffic to the users who are connected to the VAP.

VLAN Management Scenario 4:

DHCP client at VLAN Management

Device enabled DHCP client with VlanID at Ethernet port, set IP at Vlan Management as 0.0.0.0. If you ticked at the box, you can access the web page with

DHCP client IP after device gotten IP from DHCP server. Please check the IP status at network status page.

VLAN Ethernet Trunk Scenario:

VLAN IDs at Ethernet port and untagged

VLAN IDs at SSIDs

Example of usage:

Examples of Applications:

Broadband Remote Access Servers (BRAS)

The BRAS makes use of VLAN ID to differentiate the services to the end-users. It would then provide the different services to different end-users connected with different SSIDs.

5.6 Hostnames

In the Network → Hostnames page, you can specify custom hostnames (URLs) with their respective IP addresses. This is an additional local DNS.

Network Tab 43

Zone Settings

Figure 75: Custom hostname entries.

Note

: The computers in the same subnet need to set the IP address of this device as their preferred

DNS server in order to interpret these custom hostnames.

5.7 Static Routes

The Network → Static Routes page shows the static

IPv4 routes.

Figure 77: General Settings for the Firewall Zones.

Enable SYN-flood protection

: Checked by default.

Drop invalid packets

: Unchecked by default.

Input

: To accept by default.

Output

: To accept by default.

Forward

: To reject by default.

Zones

Figure 76: Static IPv4 Routes.

Each row shows the interface and gateway over which a certain host or network can be reached.

5.8 Firewall

The Network → Firewall page contains the subpages for General Settings, Port Forwards, and Traffic

Rules.

5.8.1 General Settings

The firewall creates zones over the network interfaces to control network traffic flow.

The Network → Firewall → General Settings page contains the zone settings.

Figure 78: The Zones section showing the default settings for the firewall zones.

5.8.2 Port Forwards

Port forwarding allows remote computers on the

Internet to connect to a specific computer or service within the private LAN.

The Network → Firewall → Port Forwards page lets you define the protocol and port number to access an internal IP address.

Figure 79: Adding a port forwarding rule.

5.8.3 Traffic Rules

The Network → Firewall → Traffic Rules page configures the traffic rules and source NAT.

44 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Traffic Rules

Traffic rules define policies for packets travelling between different zones, for example to reject traffic between certain hosts or to open WAN ports on the router.

used for outgoing traffic, for example to map multiple WAN addresses to internal subnets.

Figure 82: Source NAT.

5.9 Diagnostics

5.9.1 Network Utilities

Figure 83: Network Utilities consist of Ping,

Traceroute, and Nslookup.

Figure 84: Result of Ping.

Figure 80: Firewall Traffic Rules with the default settings.

Figure 81: You can choose to open ports on the router or add new forwarding rules.

Source NAT

Source NAT is a specific form of masquerading which allows fine grained control over the source IP

Network Tab

Figure 85: Result of Traceroute.

Figure 86: Result of Nslookup.

45

5.10 Quality of Service

The Network → QoS page configures the quality of service (QoS). With QoS you can prioritize network traffic that passes through the WAN port. You can limit the download and upload speeds. Network

QoS is disabled by default.

Figure 87: Network QoS settings.

46 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Chapter 6: AP Controller Tab

APs running the CompexWRT firmware can be managed by a Compex Access Point Controller

(APc).

The Compex APc sends and receives information from CompexWRT APs using the SNMPv3 protocol.

6.1 Getting Started with Managing

APs using the APc

For each AP, please perform the following steps in the AP's web page:

1. Set the APc IP address.

2. Set the AP's IP address, default gateway, and custom DNS server.

• The web page may not jump automatically to the new IP address if the subnet changed, so please re-enter the new IP address in the browser.

• Click on the network tab to check that the L2TP is communicating packets with the APc.

3. Set the hostname of the AP to better identify it.

The following describes the “APController” top-level tab.

Figure 88: The APController Tab.

In later versions of CompexWRT, from b140814 onwards, you would see the following page.

Figure 89: The new AP Controller tab.

When using the APc for the first time, you only need to set the IP address of the APc. This has to be done in the AP's configuration web page itself. All other settings should remain as the default values for now.

Please always click “Save & Apply”. Do not click

“Save”. This is to apply the settings immediately.

6.2 L2TPv3 Settings

The following are the settings for the Layer 2

Tunneling Protocol Version 3 (L2TPv3).

Remote Server

: Configures the IP address of the

APc e.g. 192.168.3.178.

Chap-username

: Sets the username for the

Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol

(CHAP).

Chap-secret

: Sets the password for the Challenge-

Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP).

6.3 IPSec

By default, the Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) is disabled for the CompexWRT WPJ342 and WPJ342 boards to decrease the usage of the CPU resources.

It can also be enabled.

The L2TPv3 itself already provides data channel protection against malicious data insertion.

Pre-shared key

: Sets the password for the IPsec.

AP Controller Tab 47

6.4 APc SNMP Settings

The “SNMPv3 AP to APC” section contains the APc

SNMP settings.

Figure 90: APc SNMP Settings.

Currently, the following default values must be used.

User Name

: “admin”

Auth Password

: “apc0ntr0ll3r”

Privacy Password

: “apc0ntr0ll3r”

6.5 AP SNMP Settings

For communication from the APc to the AP, the settings in the following section of the LuCI web page is used:

System → SNMP → SNMP Configuration → General

Settings

The description of the SNMP options are mentioned

in Section 3.4.2 SNMP Configuration.

48 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Chapter 7: Final Notes

Logout

: Logs out of the router's web page.

Figure 91: The Logout button is circled.

7.1 Troubleshooting steps

7.1.1 PC cannot connect to the router

The configuration web page for the router would not be able to show up if the router and your computer are not connected.

If the PC and the router are joined to the network by LAN cables, they would not be able to connect if any of the network cable connections are loose. A possible indicator is that there is no light at the LAN port of the PC. In Windows, if you click the network icon and click to “View network connections”, the

LAN port shows “Disconnected”. Please ensure that all the connections are tight.

Sometimes, disconnecting and reconnecting the

LAN cable solves connection problems if DHCP is used, because the DHCP server and DNS server are reset.

(Also, dis-associating and re-associating to the wireless network has a similar benefit as unplugging and re-inserting the LAN cable.)

The router, the computer, and the gateway must have IP addresses on the same network. For example, if you use a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and the gateway IP address is 192.168.3.1, all the IP addresses must be unique and be of the form

192.168.3.X.

Check whether the router and your computer are connected on the same network by running the ping command to ping the IP address of the router.

Alternatively, type the following in the router's Linux terminal:

• ping 192.168.3.77 (if your computer's IP address is 192.168.3.77 for example.)

They should be able to give the ping responses.

An IP address conflict would cause unstable pings.

Switch to another address and ping the conflicting address to check.

If using a Windows computer, you should run the command arp -d * if the network configuration has changed. This is to delete the address resolution protocol (ARP) table in Windows as it may not update fast enough.

If the ping still cannot get responses, try disabling the firewall on your Windows computer. The

Windows Firewall on your computer may prevent it from sending back a ping response. Disabling the firewall may be a security risk, so you should take the precaution of disconnecting the Internet first.

7.1.2 PC Ethernet and Wifi adapters

If your PC has both Ethernet and Wifi adapters, they must not have the same subnet. Otherwise, packets from the PC may not be directed to the correct network.

7.1.3 Mobile phone cannot connect

A mobile phone or any Wifi user would not be able to connect to a wireless router if there does not exist a DHCP server on the network. Please make sure that there is one, and only one, DHCP server to assign IP addresses automatically to users.

You may refer to Section 5.2.2 DHCP Server to

enable the DHCP server for a router. The option is found in Network → Interfaces → LAN → DHCP

Server.

7.1.4 Mobile phone connects but cannot access Internet

A mobile phone or any connected Wifi user would not be able to access the Internet if the default gateway is not set correctly on the router.

Final Notes 49

The option for the default gateway is found in

Network → Interfaces → LAN → Common

Configuration → General Setup → IPv4 gateway.

If this router has enabled a DHCP server but the gateway is at a different IP address please add a

DHCP option according to Section 5.2.2 DHCP

Server.

The DNS server should also be set. This option is found in Network → Interfaces → LAN → Common

Configuration → General Setup → Use custom DNS

servers.

7.1.5 Unresponsive web page

Symptom: The 'XML Parsing Error' may occur if a certain option was changed and the web page did not update in time.

7.2 Resetting to factory default

To reset the router to the factory default settings, while the power is on, hold down the reset button for 8 seconds and then release.

Another method is to enter the following command into the router's Linux terminal:

• mtd -r erase rootfs_data

After a while, the flash would be erased and the router would reboot into its factory default state.

The firmware version remains the same as the latest firmware loaded onto the board.

Figure 92: XML Parsing Error.

Solution: Re-enter the IP address into the browser.

For example, if the current URL is 192.168.21.1/cgibin/luci/;stok=7266f0d55..., delete the right hand side to leave the IP address of 192.168.21.1 and press Enter. This would bring you back to the login page of the device.

7.1.6 Unresponsive router

Symptom: The router does not respond.

Solution: Turn off the router for 10 seconds and then turn it on again.

50 CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Glossary

Term

Access

Point

(AP)

Definition

A device that provides network access to associated stations (connected wireless devices). A wireless router can function as an AP.

ACK

ARP

CHAP

CPE

Acknowledgment. This is a response to a transmission to indicate that the data packet was received correctly.

Address Resolution Protocol. This is a broadcast protocol for mapping IP addresses to MAC addresses.

Challenge-Handshake Authentication

Protocol. This is a protocol for authenticating users to an ISP.

Customer-Premises Equipment. This is also known as a station.

Decibels. This is a measure of intensity.

dB dBm Decibel-milliwatts. This is a measure of power relative to 1 mW. This is commonly used to measure wireless signal power. A higher power leads to better signal quality.

DDNS Dynamic DNS. This is a system for updating domain names in real time. It allows a domain name to be assigned to a device with a dynamic IP address.

DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.

This is a protocol for allocating IP addresses dynamically so that addresses can be reused when hosts (e.g. computers) no longer need them.

DNS

EIRP

Domain Name System. This is a distributed and hierarchical naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network.

Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power.

Each country sets the legally permitted maximum for the EIRP limits on each

Glossary

Term

ESSID

FTP

HTTP

Definition

channel.

Extended Service Set Identifier. This is the name of the wireless network. It is case-sensitive and up to 32 alphanumeric characters in length. The

ESSID differentiates one wireless network from another. All access points and devices trying to connect to a specific wireless network should use the same ESSID (and password) to enable effective roaming.

File Transfer Protocol. This is a protocol for transferring files between network nodes.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol. This is a protocol used by web browsers and web servers to transfer files.

IP Internet Protocol. This is the primary communications protocol used for relaying network packets (also known as datagrams) across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite. IP is responsible for routing packets across network boundaries. It is the principle protocol that establishes the Internet.

ISP

L2TP

Internet Service Provider.

Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol. This is a tunneling protocol used to support virtual private networks (VPNs) or as part of the delivery of services by ISPs. It does not provide any encryption or confidentiality by itself. Rather, it relies on an encryption protocol that it passes within the tunnel to provide privacy.

LAN

MAC

Address

Local Area Network.

Layer 2 Data link layer of the Open Systems

Interconnection (OSI) model. This corresponds to the Link layer of the

Internet protocol suite.

Media Access Control Address. This is a globally unique identifier attached to a network adapter. It also identifies the

51

Term Definition

hardware manufacturer.

Mbps Megabits per second. Also Mbit/s. This is a measure of the data rate.

MiniPCIe Mini Peripheral Component

Interconnect Express. A miniPCIe radio is a radio card that can be inserted into a router's circuit board.

MTU

NAT

Maximum transmission unit. This is the size, in bytes, of the largest packet that can be passed on. The MTU for Ethernet is a 1500-byte packet.

Network Address Translation. This is the process of rewriting IP addresses as a packet passes through a controller or firewall. NAT enables multiple computers (or hosts) on a LAN to access the Internet using the single public IP address of the LAN's gateway controller.

NMS

NTP

Network Management Station. This is a software which runs on the SNMP manager. It is sometimes simply referred to as an SNMP manager.

Network Time Protocol. This is a protocol for synchronizing a controller to a single clock on the network, known as the clock master.

PAP

PPPoE Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet.

This is a protocol for connecting a network of hosts to an ISP without the

ISP having to manage the allocation of IP addresses.

PPTP

Password Authentication Protocol. This is a protocol for authenticating users to a remote access server or ISP.

Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol. This is a protocol for the creation of VPNs for the secure transfer of data from remote clients to private servers over the

Internet.

QoS Quality of Service. This is the prioritization of network traffic. Voice

52

Term Definition

traffic gets the highest priority, followed by video, best effort, and background traffic, in this order.

RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial In User

Service. This is a networking protocol that provides Authentication,

Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) management for remote users. The

RADIUS provides centralized management of usernames and passwords.

SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol.

This is an Internet-standard protocol for managing devices on IP networks. It consists of a set of standards for network management, including an application layer protocol, a database schema, and a set of data objects. SNMP exposes management data in the form of variables on the managed systems, which describe the system configuration. These variables can then be queried (and sometimes set) by managing applications.

SSID Service Set Identifier. This is also known as the ESSID or the wireless network name.

Station A device that connects wirelessly to an access point.

Subnet A portion of a network that shares a common address component. On TCP/IP networks, subnets are defined as all devices whose IP addresses have the same prefix. For example, all devices with IP addresses that start with

192.168.7 belong to the same subnet.

TCP

UDP

Transmission Control Protocol. This is a protocol for transmitting data over the

Internet with guaranteed reliability and in-order delivery.

User Datagram Protocol. This is a protocol for transmitting data over the

Internet quickly but with no guarantee

CompexWRT 11n/11ac User Manual

Term

VAP

VPN

WAN

Definition

of reliability or in-order delivery.

Virtual Access Point. A VAP simulates a physical access point. A VAP is configured on a per-radio basis. By default, only one VAP is enabled. Up to

16 VAPs can be created for each radio, each with its own SSID.

Virtual Private Network. This is a network that enables IP traffic to travel securely over a public TCP/IP network by encrypting all traffic from one network to another. The VPN uses tunneling to encrypt all information at the IP level.

Wide Area Network. This is a network that covers a broad area. The world's most popular WAN is the Internet.

Web

Browser

WDS

A software that allows the user to surf the Internet.

Wireless Distribution System. This is a system enabling the wireless interconnection of access points in an

IEEE 802.11 network. It allows a wireless network to be expanded using multiple access points without the traditional requirement for a wired backbone to link them.

WLAN Wireless Local Area Network.

Glossary 53