Author Topic: WZR-HP-G300NH and Gargoyle/Openwrt  (Read 7280 times)

KingJL

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WZR-HP-G300NH and Gargoyle/Openwrt
« on: June 10, 2011, 10:16:40 PM »

Well, I received a refurbished wz-hp-g300nh today to replace my whr-hp-g300n (which I sold).  As you may (or may not) know I have been frustrated with both the 'user friendly and dd-wrt (both buffalo branded and community releases) performance in managing the atheros chipsets.  I decided to test out Gargoyle/Openwrt to see if anything it is any better.  I also decided to test the signal strength between the versions, all measured with the unit in the same exact location/position at a distance of 22 ft.   I used InSSider to take the measurements.

 

This unit came loaded with the 'user fiendly' fw.  I have it setting right next to my wzr-hp-ag300h so that I can compare the signal strength between the 2.  I also used the signal measured with the 'user friendly' as a baseline for all further tests.  User friendly=-50, wzr-hp-ag300h=-50.

 

Next I upgraded to the buffalo released dd-wrt 16783.  As expected it had the TX power limited to 17dBm.  While I had the dd-wrt firmware loaded, I also ssh'd to the unit and saved off the mtd partion data for the u-boot, u-boot-env, nvram, and ART partitions, so that if anything really drastic happens I have them to restore.  dd-wrt=-51

 

Next, I tftp'd Gargoyle 1.3.14.  Setting up Gargoyle as an AP was extremely easy.  I was somewhat surprised (ad slightly dissapointed) that the Gargoyle web interface would not allow a TX power setting above 20 dBm.  You could set the power to 27dBm via the CLI, but anytime you uodated anythig with the Gargoyle interface (or re-booted) the power went back to 20 dBm.  Gargoyle w/TX @20dBm=-47

 

Next, I decided to see if I could fix that nasty restriction of 20 dBm of the Gargoyle interface.  I found the controlling script (/www.basic.sh) and found the edit of the tx power input.  I changed the limits to 30 and retried the interface.  Now I can input 0 - 30 dBm using the Gargoyle interface.  One thing to note: if you put in a value greater than what the regulatory limits are (27 dBm in the current version of Gargoyle/Openwrt), the entry will not be written to the wireless config file and will default to 20 dBm regardless of the setting by the Gargoyle interface.  Gargoyle w/TX @27dBm=-45

 

Next, I decided to see if I could increase the TX maximum power to the max allowed by the FCC.  To do this, I modified the regulatory database (regulatory.bin) and set the limits to 30 dBm.  I rebooted and checked the limits reported in dmesg and sure enough, I now have things set at 30 dBm max.  Used the Gargoyle interface and set TX power to 30 dBm.  Gargoyle w/TX @30=-44

 

In summary here are the measured RSSI's:

wzr-hp-ag300h w/dd-wrt:            -50

wzr-hp-g300nh w/user friendly: -50

wzr-hp-g300nh w/dd-wrt             -51

wzr-hp-g300nh w/gargoyle @20dBm: -47

wzr-hp-g300nh w/gargoyle @27dBm: -45

wzr-hp-g300nh w/gargoyle @30dBm: -44

 

One other note:  The advertised max data rate was 300(N).

 

So... the ath9k drivers in Openwrt work great!  Tx power CAN be managed!

 

As an AP, Gargoyle is easy to set up and seems to have most of the features that would be needed.  So far it seems stable.

 

If you are wanting to use it in client mode, though it seems to have it's limitations although you can set it up vi the Openwrt UCI.  I have some more testing/exploring to do for client mode.

EDIT:  Client mode works fine.  Problem was the operator.  After you sort out the procedures, they nake sense!!!  I now have a client that can utilize the hardware and makes reliable connections.  I will see how long this reliability lasts. 

 

BTW: I am using the wzr-hp-g300nh w/gargoyle in client mode connected to a -83 RSSI signal as I edit this post..


buddee

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Re: WZR-HP-G300NH and Gargoyle/Openwrt
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2011, 12:55:00 AM »

Hrm hate to say it but...

 

wzr-hp-g300nh w/gargoyle @30dBm: -44?  

 

wzr-hp-g300nh w/dd-wrt             -51?

 

And i am going to guess that with dd-wrt its @ the default 20dBm? but openwrt @ 30 dBm should be about 37~35 RSSI because were talkin 30dBm vs. 20dBm should make atleast a 10x difference, so i'm not seeing much difference there. But glad your expierience with it so far is good for you. I may have to check it out again, because last i used openwrt on my WZR-HP-G300NH, ath9k didn't make enough of a difference in transmit power for me to continue using it.


KingJL

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Re: WZR-HP-G300NH and Gargoyle/Openwrt
« Reply #2 on: June 11, 2011, 07:44:04 AM »

buddee wrote:

Hrm hate to say it but...

 

wzr-hp-g300nh w/gargoyle @30dBm: -44?  

 

wzr-hp-g300nh w/dd-wrt             -51?

 


Corrected:

-51 vs -44 = +7 dBm difference.  That translates into 2X i(actually 2.23) increase in distance to have the same signal level available as the dd-wrt fw.  I'll take a 2x distance advantage to have the same signal level anytime!!  Especially for the use that I put it to.  In the RV, many times the host AP is 300 ft distant.  That means that I now could be 669 ft with the same signal level.  That is assuming that the RX signal is great enough ( there again the atheros 71xx/82xx provides about 6-8dbm better signal/noise ratio than other 802.11 Soc chipsets).  Most host APs in the campground are 1 watt (30 dBm) units with 6 dBm omni antenna at an elevation of 16 - 20 ft..


buddee

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Re: WZR-HP-G300NH and Gargoyle/Openwrt
« Reply #3 on: June 11, 2011, 07:51:17 AM »

And actually if you want to get ever more techincal about it,  keep in mind that each 3 dB (or dBm) represents a doubling of power and 10 dB is 10X the power.?  i am not sure where you get -151 vs -44, in the above post you listed it as 51 not 151.


KingJL

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Re: WZR-HP-G300NH and Gargoyle/Openwrt
« Reply #4 on: June 11, 2011, 09:27:29 AM »

buddee wrote:

And actually if you want to get ever more techincal about it,  keep in mind that each 3 dB (or dBm) represents a doubling of power and 10 dB is 10X the power.?  i am not sure where you get -151 vs -44, in the above post you listed it as 51 not 151.


actually the -151 should have been -51 (typo).  The same math applies as it was done using the -51 number.  I understand 10 db is 10x (3.16x increase in distance for the same received signal level at the receiving end). My measurement actually measured a difference of 7dB RSSI.  That equates to a factor of 5.01x (2.24x increase in distance for the same recieved signal level)...  I'll take it


buddee

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Re: WZR-HP-G300NH and Gargoyle/Openwrt
« Reply #5 on: June 11, 2011, 11:11:55 AM »

I heard that! Just had to list the facts though, but still even with 7dB more is pretty rockin, like i said, i may have to look back into OpenWRT because with dd-wrt as you know, its locked down @ 20dBm and technically @ 19dBm for me, which is not bad, but i would still like the added range for a client setup that i run to my neighbor's house. Her client signal, which we use a pair g300nh's, always hovers around 55%, so the added 7dBm would most certainly help. Something i'll probably look into within the next days, to busy playing around with the AG300H as i just got it Tue. of this week and since work, haven't had alot of time to test this bad boy out. So this weekend im putting it through the ringer!

 

Best Regards


KingJL

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Re: WZR-HP-G300NH and Gargoyle/Openwrt
« Reply #6 on: June 11, 2011, 12:17:29 PM »
 
buddee wrote:

I heard that! Just had to list the facts though, but still even with 7dB more is pretty rockin, like i said, i may have to look back into OpenWRT because with dd-wrt as you know, its locked down @ 20dBm and technically @ 19dBm for me, which is not bad, but i would still like the added range for a client setup that i run to my neighbor's house. Her client signal, which we use a pair g300nh's, always hovers around 55%, so the added 7dBm would most certainly help. Something i'll probably look into within the next days, to busy playing around with the AG300H as i just got it Tue. of this week and since work, haven't had alot of time to test this bad boy out. So this weekend im putting it through the ringer!

 

Best Regards


buddee,

When you do try openwrt for your client setup, I would suggest that you use the Gargoyle implementation.  It is easy to use and provides a much better 'user friendly' experience.  It is not as versitile as openwrt LuCi, but it offers what you will need for a client.  I can give you specifics on what to change in basic.sh and also give you a modified regulatory.bin... just PM me or send me an email (I am registered with the same user name on and monitor dd-wrt, openwrt, and gargoyle forums).  The Gargoyle interface takes a little playing around with to set up client mode, but after you discover it's methods, it all makes sense.

 

Kind regards,

J L King


yo5ofm

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Re: WZR-HP-G300NH and Gargoyle/Openwrt
« Reply #7 on: September 22, 2011, 03:40:51 PM »

Can somebody please explain me why in the lates version of Gargoyle firmware (1.4.2) the max txpower that can be obtained is 21dBi, even if iwconfig and iw allowes to set 27dBi. When I install Gargoyle 1.3.14 as was suggested above post, the TXpower that iwconfig reports is 27dBi wich is good. I couln't reach 30dBi but also 27 (which I think the maximum of the hardware) is enough. Also in the latest DD-WRT firmwares the max tx power that can be set is 21dBi indiferently from the regulatory domains that allowes more.

 

 


KingJL

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Re: WZR-HP-G300NH and Gargoyle/Openwrt
« Reply #8 on: September 23, 2011, 02:12:04 PM »

yo5ofm wrote:

Can somebody please explain me why in the lates version of Gargoyle firmware (1.4.2) the max txpower that can be obtained is 21dBi, even if iwconfig and iw allowes to set 27dBi. When I install Gargoyle 1.3.14 as was suggested above post, the TXpower that iwconfig reports is 27dBi wich is good. I couln't reach 30dBi but also 27 (which I think the maximum of the hardware) is enough. Also in the latest DD-WRT firmwares the max tx power that can be set is 21dBi indiferently from the regulatory domains that allowes more.

 

 


There have been significant changes to the ath9k drivers in openwrt (which is also the basis for Gargoyle).  The end result is as stated above.  The ath9k drivers are currently in a constant state of change.  They MAY get them to work correctly sometime in the future.  Personally, they were working better fore me 3 months ago.


buddee

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Re: WZR-HP-G300NH and Gargoyle/Openwrt
« Reply #9 on: September 23, 2011, 07:35:12 PM »

KingJL, curious question here and perhaps you may know...

 

Can gargoyle do multiple wireless lans? Like have it setup in client mode to link to another AP and have virtual access points on the client mode linked router for "repeater" style setups?

 

Currently, because dd-wrt supports this...

 

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Multiple_WLANs?

 

Is the only reason i still use it, if i can find this feature set in Gargoyle, i believe it may be worth a shot. I use this feature for my neighbors link to me, but as you already know, dd-wrt doesn't give the power it should for this unit and if gargoyle does, i may roll with it.


KingJL

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Re: WZR-HP-G300NH and Gargoyle/Openwrt
« Reply #10 on: September 23, 2011, 07:59:21 PM »

buddee wrote:

KingJL, curious question here and perhaps you may know...

 

Can gargoyle do multiple wireless lans? Like have it setup in client mode to link to another AP and have virtual access points on the client mode linked router for "repeater" style setups?

 

Currently, because dd-wrt supports this...

 

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Multiple_WLANs?

 

Is the only reason i still use it, if i can find this feature set in Gargoyle, i believe it may be worth a shot. I use this feature for my neighbors link to me, but as you already know, dd-wrt doesn't give the power it should for this unit and if gargoyle does, i may roll with it.



buddee,

I don't believe that you do that in Gargoyle, but I believe you can with openwrt.  I have since moved on from Gargoyle (after the first week) to standard OpenWrt w/LuCi.  Gargoyle presents a  'user friendly' interface to the openwrt fw with a basic limited feature set.  With your skillset and level of understanding, I would think you would want the openwrt (either pre-built from the Backfire RC5 branch or set up and build the trunk yourself).  LuCi (included with the Backfire builds) provides a web based administration interface that is fairly robust.  After you 'play' with it a while, it'll grow on you!  I can't think of any capability that you really lose vs dd-wrt... you may have to get to it in a slightly different manner.


nchall

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Re: WZR-HP-G300NH and Gargoyle/Openwrt
« Reply #11 on: December 10, 2011, 07:08:32 PM »

Do you know which version of Gargoyle/OpenWRT  would work on the WHR-HP-G300N?


KingJL

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Re: WZR-HP-G300NH and Gargoyle/Openwrt
« Reply #12 on: December 10, 2011, 07:34:00 PM »

I do not believe that they have a version that works with the whr-hp-g300n.  When I was checking into it (before I got smart and unloaded my g300n and moved to the wzr-hp-g300nh), there was no interest in the dev community to port to this router.