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Setting up a repeater bridge with DD-WRT and D-Link DIR-600

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I wanted to extend the Wi-Fi range by using my D-Link DIR-600 Rev. B. DD-WRT allows configuring a repeater bridge. This seamlessly links up two routers wirelessly. The repeater bridge is especially useful because the second router allows both wired and wireless connections.

Thankfully, repeater bridge is supported on DD-WRT on the DIR-600. I followed the instructions on the DD-WRT wiki, but kept encountering problems. After following through the instructions and applying the settings, I would see two SSIDs broadcasting from the router, and any device connected to the second router could not reach the first router. In addition, the network connections would drop intermittently. After much trial and error, flashing different versions, and searching the Internet, I realised what the problem was! It was from adding the virtual interface!

I re-setup the router, this time omitting the step to add the virtual interface, and everything worked perfectly! My DIR-600 works like a proper repeater, and wireless devices would seamlessly roam across the routers depending on the signal strength. Job well done!

Here are the steps I did (adapted from the DD-WRT Wiki). My primary router is configured with WPA2 AES. The secondary router is running DD-WRT build 14311. The latest build in the DD-WRT router database, build 14896, is buggy.

  • Restore Factory Defaults on Secondary (DD-WRT) Router
  • Connect your computer to the secondary router via wired LAN port.
  • Open the address http://192.168.1.1 in your web browser. Newer versions of DD-WRT will require you to set a password before you can continue.
  • Open the Wireless -> Basic Settings tab
    • Physical Interface Section
      • Wireless Mode : Repeater Bridge
      • Wireless Network Mode : Must Match Primary Router
      • Wireless Network Name(SSID) : Must Match Primary Router exactly including exact case- Make sure you spell this correctly
      • Wireless Channel : Must Match Primary Router (This will disappear once you put it in RB mode, and isn’t needed)
      • Wireless SSID Broadcast : Enable
      • Network Configuration : Bridged
    • Save
  • Open the Wireless -> Wireless Security tab
    • Physical Interface Section
      • Security Mode : Must Match Primary Router and DD-wrt only works reliably with WEP or WPA2-AES
      • WPA Algorithms : Must Match Primary Router
      • WPA Shared Key : Must Match Primary Router
      • Key Renewal Interval (in seconds) : Leave default
    • Save
  • Open the Setup -> Basic Setup tab
    • Connection Type will be: Disabled
    • Set STP for Disabled (Enabled sometimes can cause connection problems) redhawk
    • IP Address : 192.168.1.2 (Assuming Primary Router IP is 192.168.1.1)
    • Mask : 255.255.255.0
    • Gateway: 192.168.1.1 (again assuming Primary Router IP is 192.168.1.1)
    • DHCP Server: Disable
    • Local DNS: 192.168.1.1 (if IP of Primary Router is 192.168.1.1)
    • Assign WAN Port to Switch : Optionally enable this to use the WAN port as another LAN port.
    • Save
  • Open Setup -> Advanced Routing tab
    • Set Operating mode to “Router”
    • Save
  • Open Services
    • Disable Dnsmasq
    • Save
  • Open the Security -> Firewall tab
    • Uncheck all boxes…except Filter Multicast
    • Disable SPI firewall
    • APPLY Settings
  • Reboot the router.

 

 

Written by Jon G

July 6th, 2012 at 10:49 pm

Posted in Techie Corner

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17 Responses to 'Setting up a repeater bridge with DD-WRT and D-Link DIR-600'

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  1. Many thanks for this, after hours of trying different methods this is the only one that worked!!!

    mutrag

    5 Dec 12 at 6:33 pm

  2. Hello, thank you very much for your expertise. Helped me a lot to me. Greetings from Argentina.

    Hola, muchas gracias por tu experiencia. Me sirvio mucho a mi. Saludos desde Argentina.

    Nicolás

    27 Dec 12 at 1:20 pm

  3. Thank you so much Jon! I spent MONTHS (not hours) trying to get the damn DDWRT working with this type of router. Best regards and Happy new year from Colombia

    Menticol

    30 Dec 12 at 4:53 am

  4. I have following the step, but with WEP, the DIR-600B1 can not connect to the main AP.
    The forum of dd-wrt says that there is problem with WEP in repeater mode.
    Do u have any idea?

    spawnho

    3 Jan 13 at 4:32 pm

  5. Really nicely Done..

    Keep it up and good luck

    Aj

    17 Jan 13 at 8:13 am

  6. Sip,, become more fluent this

    bikin resep masakan

    20 Jan 13 at 3:59 pm

  7. Thank you so much!! It worked :D

    Quique

    27 Jan 13 at 7:17 am

  8. hi, I have followed all of the above, but the problem I have is after re-booting the router, I can not seem to access it, I have tried all manor of connections and IP address including the one I set the router up as! what am I doing wrong?

    Dom

    17 Feb 13 at 7:16 pm

  9. Maybe there is a workaround for this issue. I have two DIR-600 routers to play with at the moment. One worked flawlessly “out-of-box” with a physical interface and a virtual interface. The other did his job only without the virtual one (same configuration on both). I managed to get the second one to work with an additional virtual interface by using the MAC clone feature (basic settings tab).

    What you need to do is, just set a cloned MAC address for the wireless interface which “leaves room” for an increase by “1″ (hex). Example:

    On the first router (A), the virtual interface has xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:91. However, the main AP tells me that A connects from MAC …:92. To be honest, I actually haven’t figured out why “1″ is added, but that’s just what happens. Also keep this in mind if you are using a white-list MAC filter on your main AP.

    On the second router (B), the virtual interface has xx:xx:xx:xx:EF. It did not connect, and I assumed that this is because adding “1″ would result in …:F0 (sort of a bit-overflow) which is probably not supported in DD WRT or by the hardware. Then, after setting up a MAC clone for the wireless interface, like …:E0 (just leave room for the additional “1″), the connection worked. The main AP told me that B connects from MAC …:E1.

    Bottom line is, you can probably still use a virtual interface by using a cloned MAC for the wireless interface. At least it worked with my setup :-)

    boyscout

    24 Feb 13 at 10:24 pm

  10. Thank you very much! worked perfectly, greetings from Argentina :)

    anon1301

    2 Mar 13 at 5:09 am

  11. But, why does the DD-WRT site say DIR-600 isn’t supported?

    Igor

    4 Mar 13 at 5:11 pm

  12. Versions B1/B2 are support, B5 is not. Recommended version is v24_preSP2_14896, but I’m using build 20675 w/o any issues so far.

    boyscout

    6 Mar 13 at 4:23 am

  13. Thanks Techie Corner… i spent the whole day and later found out that i was using buggy firmware.. i.e. 14896 Guys first get right firmware that is 14311 and dont add vpn you will sure get it…

    Thanks alot Corner

    Smartguyin

    1 Apr 13 at 8:10 pm

  14. Thanks! Followed your steps and got my DIR-600 connected to my other router within 30 minutes. You’re awesome!

    Howard

    3 Apr 13 at 4:59 pm

  15. Hi, where can I download firmware v. 14311?

    Lorenzo

    9 Apr 13 at 9:24 pm

  16. Thx a lot Jon G! Your tut helped me! Everything works perfectly!

    Mario

    10 Apr 13 at 1:53 pm

  17. Thank you very much!!!!!! So easy configure with your orientations. Well done!

    BetoGYN

    5 May 13 at 12:03 pm

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